As of this posting, eight hours have passed since news broke of Brian Billick's firing, and it's about time we started indiscriminately and irresponsibly throwing names around as potential replacements.

Well, not all irresponsibly. Not to scoop my own column in tomorrow's paper, but I voted for Rex Ryan.

Other names tossed around in various venues include:

* Bill Cowher

* Marty Schottenheimer

* Jason Garrett

* Mike Singletary

* Kirk Ferentz

* Charlie Weis - ha ha! Just kidding.

Seriously, throw your own suggestions in. Or say who you prefer from the names mentioned above.

Have a happy and safe new year. See you and the Ravens' new coach in 2008.

Posted by David Steele at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
                    

Before we commence this tirade about the NFL Network, let's pause to be thankful that on days like this, with world leaders being assassinated and tigers mauling people at the zoo (the zoo across town from where I'm staying for the Emerald Bowl), we can go on tirades about safe, relatively trivial subjects like the NFL Network.

Now ... do we DirecTV customers get refunds for Saturday's Patriots-Giants game?

That didn't cross my mind until this morning, but it's a worthwhile question. Believe me, I didn't get DirecTV because I enjoy watching a screen that's completely blank except for the notation "Searching for signal ...'' whenever a storm blows through, which has happened way too often in the past year. (Note to Verizon Fios: what's the deal with not having NBA League Pass? You're losing a customer on that one.) I didn't necessarily get it for the NFL Network, either, but that was a nice perk.

I could look at it as the NFL's version of the free Showtime weekends, planned specifically to attract possible subscribers, and the NFL is trying to spin it in much that way. However, there are plenty of other movie channels I could choose to pay for. There is only one place you can get that slate of NFL games every season. You make the sacrifice, whatever sacrifice it might be, to get the network, and then they give it away for free at the last second, giving away the exclusivity we grudgingly pay for, whether it's financially in paying for a higher sports tier, or getting a satellite that can be unreliable, and that doesn't have On Demand, which killed any chance for me to catch up on last season's The Wire.

Not that everybody shouldn't have regular access to the games. The NFL shouldn't be forcing its fans to make those kinds of choices. It was a stupid, arrogant plan to begin with, albeit perfectly suited to what's still the most arrogant sports league around (amazing with the continued existence of Major League Baseball). If the NFL wants to make people jump through hoops for its programming the rest of the year, fine. If you're that much of a fanatic that you'll pay a premium for combine coverage and live minicamps and, you know, cheerleading competitions, then you ought to be able to. NBA fans do it, with both NBA TV and League Pass. They know what they're getting, they know what they're paying for, they've made a conscious choice.

But this whole idea of withholding a product that was smartly and fairly distributed for the last several decades - yes, including to ESPN, which has been on basic cable forever and has blocked out a far, far smaller percentage of the audience - and try to flip the blame onto the cable companies and tell the fans to leave them alone and go complain to Comcast or whoever? That's so brazen, so obnoxious, so greedy, that the NFL deserves to pay mightily and for a long time for trying it.

That includes not only caving in and giving the game away to two major networks (wonder why Fox was left out - possibly because Fox and DirecTV are both owned by the same company) but also refunding whatever extra subscribers to all the systems carrying the game had to pay for the network strictly to see the restricted games.

I got holiday bills to pay. I expect my refund check ASAP.

Posted by David Steele at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
                    

Welcome to not-as-rainy-as-earlier-today Seattle, where kickoff is minutes away, as long as they clear the field of the snoke from the pregame intros. Thanks for being patient, and sorry for leaving you so long with that Arthur Blank fried-chicken comment. Not a good way to freeze the blog.

No one expects this to be a good game. The Seattle papers this weekend are full of stories of how the Seahawks fell on their faces last week against Carolina, and how they either have no running game, or Mike Holmgren apparently hates using the running game. We know what there is to watch from the Ravens' side: Troy.

Here's the problem. The rest of the NFL is unwatchable, too. So far: the Browns, with a chance to keep pace with the Steelers, just gagged against Cincinnati. So the Steelers clinch the AFC North, but they have to go the rest of the way without Willie Parker.

The Cowboys may have lost T.O. for God knows how long, so they're suddenly vulnerable. Door's open for the Packers, right? Nope, they just got shellacked in Chicago by the Bears, who, as we all know, really stink. The Sportsman of the Year threw two picks, one that got returned 85 yards by Brian Urlacher for a TD, and totaled 153 yards. So the Packers have to go through Dallas, if they get there. And if Dallas gets there.

And last but not least, the Saints turned back into the Saints at home, losing to the Eagles handily. They're pretty much out.

This all continues to reduce the prospects of a postseason that follows a pretty pathetic regular season to what it had seemed to be from the beginning: the Patriots-Colts AFC championship game. The elite in the NFC aren't so elite anymore: you can't trust the Cowboys without T.O., and you can't trust the Packers on the road. In the AFC, the Steelers are weakened and the Browns aren't quite the team of destiny yet. Jacksonville, you say? They drilled the Raiders at home, but that doesn't prove anything.

Nope, we're back to a one-game postseason, and that game isn't even the Super Bowl.

Oh well, at least there's Maryland basketball to look forward to. I mean ... uh ... never mind.

Posted by David Steele at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

OK, I wasn't going to say anything else about the Michael Vick situation, honestly I wasn't. Then I saw and heard this YouTube clip from last night's Falcons-Saints game, featuring Falcons owner Arthur Blank speaking on whether Vick would ever play again.

What Blank said was: "If he doesn't watch himself and eat a lot of fried chicken and fries in prison and come out at 215 pounds, he's not going to be the same athlete he was.''

Now I'm done for the week.

Posted by David Steele at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

Before I get started, I want to let readers know that I have a few days off coming, so I likely will not post again after today until this weekend, around the time the Ravens play in Miami. I'll bring the laptop to the beach. (Maybe.)

Anyway ... as much as I'd love to tear off another piece of the Michael Vick story, and slap him around for all the things he did to get himself such a long sentence and for his bizarre definition of "accepting responsibility'' ... and wonder aloud what Ravens fans would say if the team was in the same dire straits at quarterback in 2010 and Vick came out of jail and became available ... and ask whether people really do care more about dogs getting killed than people getting killed (comparing the continued round-the-clock debate about Vick to the total abandonment, just two weeks later, of the Sean Taylor story) ...

... I'd rather pore over David Segui's comments in this morning's Sun and how it bodes poorly for the Mitchell report.

Think about this: Segui has been out of baseball for three years, and clearly he still maintains the clubhouse loyalty from his playing days. He said in the article that he didn't speak to the Mitchell people at all, not about himself and not about any of his fellow players. Or even about Jason Grimsley or Kirk Radomski, even though he talked about both of them to this paper in the past year-plus.

We already knew that the Mitchell people were having a hard time getting current players to cooperate. The group had no subpoena power, the union was advising everybody not to talk, and players in general didn't have to be reminded not to snitch. (Yes, there's a Stop Snitching policy in places other than West Baltimore.) Unless you were like Jason Giambi and were given immunity in exchange for talking, you had to figure Mitchell was left milking ex-players for info. In fact, some of their leaked info two summers ago involved ex-players.

Now, Segui's comments make you wonder what other ex-players turned Mitchell down. Who else said, in essence, I have nothing to hide, but I'm not going to rat out the guys I shared the life with. He wouldn't even turn on Radomski; in the story, he more or less defended him, making him out to be just a guy hustling a little in the clubhouse to make an extra buck. Never mind that it's the same rationale the mobsters used in Goodfellas and what Denzel used in American Gangster.

In fact, the entire tone of Segui's comments is, "Hey, I did it, so sue me.''

All of which raises the question: After all this buildup, and the anticipation growing with the speculation that the report will come out this week, is it even going to be worth the paper it's printed on? Not only won't it move the issue forward, it won't even move it backward. Maybe I've been naive all along, or just a garden-variety sucker, or someone only hearing what I want to hear, but I'm no longer buying the propaganda about the "big names'' in the report. Segui really soured me on that prospect.

I've lost a lot of faith in the idea that this report will solve anything, fix anything, even embarrass anyone into making major change, or convince anyone that baseball has this under control. All it's going to do it start a raging cycle of debates, commentaries, reactions and vacant speculation that can't be substantiated, just like with every other sports story lately (see Vick, above). Not a thing will be resolved. Probably, when it's all wrung out, we'll just be back to blaming everything on Barry Bonds.

Of course, it's my own fault for having any faith in it in the first place.

Have a great week, and I'll check in again this weekend. (Unless something really crazy happens in the meantime.)

Posted by David Steele at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

This has not been a sterling week for the concept of full disclosure.

Between the fudging of facts, the sins of omission and the outright lying, we're once again, as that Sports Illustrated writer once famously said about Bob Irsay, fighting a losing battle with the truth.

I'm not sure if I'm more tired of Jay Gibbons, who couldn't even come convincingly clean in his big admission/apology yesterday, or Samari Rolle, who duped me and a lot of other people into backing his "boy'' claims by leaving out a particular detail of the argument with the official -- that he started it.

He sparked it all in the final seconds of Monday's game by griping to Phil McKinnely that he "never played the game.'' He was incorrect. He was unnecessarily antagonistic. And he didn't mention that in the locker room the night of the game, only a day later, after the firestorm had blown up and the debate had begun. Neither did the other players who picked up on that theme. They took that word out of its real context, and then went further and shoved it into a different context (based on the timeline of when everything actually happened, Bart Scott hurling the flag into the stands had no connection whatsoever with the Rolle-McKinnely confrontation).

The NFL backed McKinnely and the crew. The league should never have been in the position to have to back them on the so-called controversial calls; every game is full of them, but every game doesn't end with players on the losing team insisting, in essence, that the games are fixed. As the NBA's David Stern has said throughout the years of accusations about his league, by doing that, you're charging him with a crime.

As for the Rolle-McKinnely confrontation, I still say refs have to be above that, and belittling Rolle with such a personal, loaded response is out of line. On the other hand, can these guys grow up at some point and stop resorting to name-calling when they don't like the way things are going? Oh, and can they also tell the whole truth next time they try to publicly bury somebody and his reputation?

Gibbons? There's nothing else to say about him except, "You're completely full of you-know-what.''

The chronology of lies laid out by Rick Maese this morning was priceless. Here are two further reasons why everyone should be sick to death of Gibbons: All the previous denials had to do with failing drug tests and using steroids. Well, Fibbons (er, Gibbons) was using hGH, not steroids, and testing was not a factor.

Then, in his statement, he played the injury-rehab card. Oooh, good one. I've never heard that one before. Hey, it was all on the up-and-up, which is why he made sure he didn't tell anybody about it and carefully worded every response over the years to avoid mentioning anything about it. You do that all the time when you take meds to get over injuries. Besides, doesn't everybody get help with recovering from an injury by getting a prescription from a doctor they don't know, going online to an out-of-state pharmacy and using a credit card? I did the same thing when I hurt my shoulder a couple of years ago, except it was the exact opposite.

Of course, if you're a ballplayer like him, why not lie? As long as you don't do it in front of a grand jury, you're pretty much in the clear (pun intended). Then again, he eventually told the truth, way after the fact, after he got busted, and didn't snarl at any reporters while doing it, so I guess we can all move on. His cap size never grew, his numbers never grew, he didn't challenge any hallowed records, so what's the big deal?

OK, so the entire premise of this item, about our athletes needing to be honest? Uh, never mind.

Posted by David Steele at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
                    

Rick Maese broke it down for you in a column posted on the Web site about a half-hour ago. The Ravens committed some unconscionable mistakes at the end of last night's game. And afterward, they heaped a lot of abuse on the officials about the critical calls, on Jamaine Winborn and on Jabar Gaffney's touchdown. As I said in my late-edition column, those were the right calls. And if that's all that was involved last night, then the Ravens need to stop the conspiracy talk.

Except the "boy'' allegations are involved, too.

Go ahead, say the Ravens should have ignored that, or been stronger mentally than that, and played through that. But even if you take the raging emotion of the situation out of it -- even with the dire consequences that came with Bart Scott exploding in rage -- how on earth can you put yourself in the shoes of a man like Samari Rolle, and teammates like Scott and Derrick Mason, and say they had no cause to react that way? True, opposing players yell things, fans yell things, sometimes coaches yell things, all worse and more vile than "boy.'' Game officials saying things like that, though, is another story entirely. There isn't even remotely, under any circumstances, an acceptable reason for that.

(Brief disclaimer: because of approaching deadlines last night, the last word I heard on what Scott did before I had to submit my final column, came from Brian Billick in his press conference, the comment about doing "dumb'' things. When our other reporters emerged from the locker room with the "boy'' complaints, it was too late to substantially change the column. It happens sometimes.)

It's easy, of course, for a lot of readers out there to say how they'd react to such a slur, or how the Ravens' players should have reacted -- if they've never had to deal with an insult like that, or their fathers or grandfathers or uncles or ancestors or anyone that looks like them. Loaded words like that, of course, are more loaded for some groups than for others. I think we know what we're talking about here.

Now, take the weight of a demeaning word like that and impose it onto the charges of favoritism flung around in the locker room last night. Without it, they sound petty and childish. With it, you now have to say, "Whoa, what was the deal with those calls, and maybe some others, and maybe a few more that weren't made?''

In other words, if what Rolle says the official said to him is true (and what Mason said about what else was being said by the refs to the players), it calls into question the integrity of him and the crew, and the integrity of the game they called. It becomes personal, completely unnecessarily so. And if the Ravens' charges are confirmed, there is no penalty severe enough for the officials to have to pay.

Let's not forget how quickly everybody condemned Milton Bradley after his run-in with an umpire late in the baseball season, and then how it turned out that the ump not only stepped over the line, but relieved himself all over it, and got properly punished for it. Bradley's reputation preceded him, as does the Ravens', and that affects the public reaction. But when you're right, you're right.

Composure and discipline are paramount, and the Ravens have lost either or both enough times to make them deserve the record they have. But you can only suppress your humanity so much. They haven't figured out how to play the game with robots yet.

What a rotten final chapter to this game this might turn out to be.

Posted by David Steele at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
                    

This is pretty certain to fall along party lines, and it's a sure thing that more Baltimoreans are tuned in on this blog than are Washingtonians. But having been to both games, the question immediately came to mind (and it came to the minds of everyone in the press box who attended both games, as well as anyone who knows the details of them):

Which way of losing was more painful? The way the Redskins lost to the Bills Sunday, or the way the Ravens lost to the Patriots Monday?

To recap:

* The Redskins played with all the baggage of Sean Taylor's death and his funeral the next day, led the entire way, then blew it when Joe Gibbs called two timeouts in a row and handed the Bills a game-winning field goal from 15 yards closer in.

* The Ravens were within minutes of pulling arguably the greatest upset in NFL history, but called a stupendously bad timeout of their own that negated the defensive stop that would have clinched the win. Then they committed two costly penalties, including one on another fourth down, then killed their last chance to win with two unsportsmanlike conduct flags in a row on Bart Scott.

I can't say if I've ever seen two games total with endings like that, and I know I've never seen two on back-to-back days, and I have to believe there never have been two that happened within 40 miles of each other. And two where inexplicable timeouts have cost both teams the game.

As I mentioned in my column for later this morning, this game will never be forgotten here in town, but for all the wrong reasons.

Posted by David Steele at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

A five-minute video tribute to Sean Taylor just finished playing on the scoreboard at FedEx Field, and it was very emotional and very well done. The clips included moments from his high school, college and pro career, and speaking were his teammates and coaches. Throughout, the fans waved white towels with his number 21 in burgundy and gold.

Before the video tribute, the marching band stood at midfield and played a somber, funeral version of "Hail to the Redskins'' that almost certainly has never been played before.

On the face of the concourse above the luxury suites in one end zone, Taylor's name and number are displayed with black ribbons flanking it.

The tribute to Taylor outside the stadium, however, packed much more of a punch. The memorial set up on a grassy patch in front of the stadium's Redskins apparel store - where the Redskins painted Taylor's number on the grass - took a steady stream of fans from at least 2 1/2 hours before kickoff. The crowd got larger, obviously, as gametime approached, and they took pictures, spoke in low tones, moved efficiently in and out of the area to allow others to see up close - and gazed in silence, mostly reflective and respectful, much of it still stunned, as if they were at Taylor's funeral and were about to see the casket closed for the last time. There probably were tears, but most looked just numb, even if they were smiling at his memory.

It didn't rain on them, although it threatened for a while around 11 in the morning. It was windy and cold, and that kept the crowd moving as well. But the crowd kept coming, until it was time to go inside for the ceremony and the game.

Posted by David Steele at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Reggie Campbell's numbers: 227 all-purpose yards, including 98 on kickoff returns, 73 on punt returns, 47 rushing and 9 receiving. Two touchdowns, one on the kickoff return, one on a 12-yard run. He set a school record with two kickoff return touchdowns in one season, with the longest kickoff return ever and for most single-season kickoff return yardage. He tied a school record for most career returns for touchdowns (two) and the Army-Navy record for longest return (with Army's Charles Daly in 1901). He set an Army-Navy record for best single-game punt-return average and for the longest punt return. He moved into third in single-season all-purpose yardage for Navy (the top two totals are by Napoleon McCallum), and added to his school record for career kickoff return yardage. His all-purpose game total is his second-highest ever, behind the 290 in the Poinsettia Bowl in 2005.

Other big records: this is the longest win streak by a team in this game, with Paul Johnson now being 6 for 6. That means since his arrival, Navy has gone from three games under .500 against Army lifetime to three games over. The three points by Army were also the fewest scored by either team in a game since the 1991 game, a 24-3 Navy win.

Navy has five straight Commander in Chief trophies; the record is seven straight, during Air Force's heyday from 1989-95. Would you believe Army hasn't held the trophy since '96?

Navy set single-season school records for points scored and points allowed.

Most unexpected stat of the day: 13 combined punts. Possibly because so few were expected, neither side did it well: a handful of shanks and a block, by Navy.

Next on the list: Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada had 34 total yards and the game was still a rout.

I'm outta here, off to catch some of the Earl Monroe festivities (I hope). Tipoff is in about two minutes, and I'm still at the stadium.

Posted by David Steele at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's a final from M&T Bank Stadium! Navy 38, Army 3. And it could have been a bigger margin, because the final play ended at the Army 4. Navy cleared its bench for the final possession. Troy Goss, a senior, finished the game at quarterback. He got to play in two Army-Navy games. Was Paul Johnson lighting a cigar there on the sidelines at the end? Nah, just an illusion. He also wasn't giving forwarding addresses to his coaching staff, either, although that might happen later.

They just sang the joint alma maters in front of the Cadets. Now they're racing to the other side of the stands for the Navy alma mater. And Reggie Campbell - a senior, if I haven't mentioned it - is leading it.

More later, from the locker rooms, including some final stats. Campbell's career high in all-purpose yardage is 290, in that crazy Poinsietta Bowl game two years ago. He didn't top that, but this was second best in his career.

Posted by David Steele at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The CBS Chevrolet Most Valuable Player, or whatever they're calling it these days, is pretty well locked up now. Reggie Campbell just scored from 12 yards out - another perfectly-executed option by Kaipo-Noa Keheaku-Enhada. Navy 31, Army 3 with 10:18 to go. That was Campbell's second touchdown, and the fourth of his career against Army. Still, the 31 points, and Campbell's all-purpose totals (212) isn't as impressive as the 3 points given up by the defense. The previous season low was 19, in the opener against Temple. Go figure.

And the piling on continues. Navy's Bobby Doyle blocked a punt, and Navy recovered it at the Army 7. Jarod Bryant came in at quarterback, and two plays later he scored from the 1. Navy 38, Army 7, with 7:50 left. But the Cadets haven't given up. A Cadet just bolted out of the stands and tackled the Navy flag-waver, then made it back into the stands (with the help of his mates) before security could get to him. Gotta admire that.

Posted by David Steele at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Start of the fourth quarter: Navy 24, Army 3. Army was briefly moving, until Navy smothered quarterback Carson Williams near midfield, and as the final quarter begins, it has to decide whether or not to punt or go for it (to stay in this game, you have to figure they've got to go for it).

Reggie Campbell nearly broke another one - on a punt return early in the quarter, before Marcus Millen grabbed his ankle and held on for dear life. No one was in front of Campbell at the time. He has exactly 200 all-purpose yards, his second such game this season.

Army went for it - and missed on a pass to Tony Dace, who was yelling (justifiably, it seemed) for a pass-interference flag. There was none. Navy ball at Army's 49. Things are looking good for the Midshipmen.

Posted by David Steele at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Navy defense, ranked about 7,000th in the country, is having the game of its life. With seven minutes left in the third quarter, another goal-line stand - this time, on second and goal at the 1, Jonathan Alvarado forced a fumble from a diving Mike Viti, and in the scramble at the goal line, Ross Pospisil recovered. Army challenged (rare in college ball), and the call was upheld, costing them a timeout. Now Navy is marching out of the shadow of their own goal line, heading near midfield, under four minutes left in the quarter and still leading 24-3.

Posted by David Steele at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

At the half, Navy 24, Army 3. And what a way to get there. Reggie Campbell broke loose again, this time on an Army punt with 17 seconds left. He took off around the right side, ran into a big cluster near the Army sideline - and came out the other side, tightroping the sidelines. A couple of sweet cutbacks toward the middle of the field, and he was brought down at the Army 34 - and with one second left, at that. On came Joey Bullen for a 51-yarder, into the wind. Insane. But he kicked a line drive that hit the crossbar on the left side and flopped over. End of half.

Posted by David Steele at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Navy 21, Army 3. Shun White just ran 1 yard for the touchdown, after the fumble recovery by linebacker Irv Spencer at the 6. So that's 14 points in 1 minute 42 seconds.

However, Army's Corey Anderson ran the next kickoff to the Navy 43. Wow, have things picked up fast. Closing in on five minutes left in the half.

Posted by David Steele at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Navy had another goal-line stand, and this time Army hit its 28-yard field goal to make it Navy 7-3 with 7:45 to go in the second quarter. But immediately after, Reggie Campbell made history - he ran the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown. Navy 14-3 with 7:31 left in the half. It was the longest kickoff return in Navy history, his second kickoff-return score this season, a school record, and the second of his career, tying a school record. The last time Navy ran one back in the Army-Navy game was 1985.

And now, Navy has recovered a fumble on Army's first snap after the touchdown - they have it at the Army 6. Stay tuned.

Posted by David Steele at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

With 2:20 left in the first quarter of Army-Navy CVIII (uh, the 108th meeting), there is, believe it or not, no score. And believe it even less, two punts. Army got to the Navy 10 on its first possession, got held, and missed the chip-shot field goal.

Packed M&T Stadium and horrendous traffic, but reportedly, no President Bush, contrary to reports that he was going to attend. There is a cardboard cut-out of him in the lower bowl. No jokes. Non-partisan posting today.

Whoops, update: Zerbin Singleton just ran 38 yards, untouched, down the right sideline for a touchdown. Navy, 7-0, wiht 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

Anyway, this begins a big weekend here in the area, separate from all the action around the rest of the country. At 4, college hoops, Morgan State at Coppin State. At 7 at Verizon Center in D.C., Wizards vs. Raptors, with Earl Monroe's No. 10 being retired at halftime.

Tomorrow, at FedEx Field in Landover, the Redskins' first game without Sean Taylor, against the Bills. Fans are being told to be in their seats by 12:15 for the 1 p.m. kickoff, for a pregame ceremony honoring him. (By the way, here's the latest on the arrests of the suspects in his murder, from the Miami Herald.)

Later, at Verizon Center, the BB&T Classic tripleheader, starting at 2:30 with George Washington vs. Auburn, then George Mason vs. East Carolina at 5 and Maryland vs. Virginia Commonwealth at approximately 7:30.

Last but not least, Ravens-Patriots on Monday night at the stadium. Current spread is 20 1/2.

Still Navy 7-0, 12:20 left in the second quarter. Now up to an astounding four combined punts.

Posted by David Steele at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)