With the usual apologies to former Baltimore Sun Columnist John Eisenberg, here is another submission of my version of ‘Fact & Opinion.’
Fact:
Derrick Mason is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, and mightmiss training-camp.
Opinion:
Mason can miss all of training-camp, and I have full confidence he willbe ready for Week 1… but I find it irritating, that the Ravens knew that Mason went through off-season surgery, and were not active as anorganization to further address the WR core. D. Williams has a ton of physical talent… he has also played a totalof 16 games the past two years… you can not rely on him. I do not believe a Ravens WR other than Mason or Clayton caught a ball after Week 10… Heap, and LJ Smith are going to have to produce over the middle for this team to take the next step with their passing offense.
Fact:
Mason is ‘very confident’, an extension will be signed prior to thestart of the regular season.
Opinion:
Mason earned a tremendous amount of respect in this City last year forhis ability, and willingness to play with pain… but the man is 35years-old… signing him to an extension can not be a priority overfirst extending Suggs, Ngata, Gaither, and Clayton.
Fact:
At the end of mini-camp, Coach John Harbaugh stated the following about LB Tavares Gooden, “Tavares looked fast. To me, he looked like alinebacker. He was really patient on runaways, stayed square, played downhill, stayed on the backside of the play. It wasn’t just running around like crazy. He played fast as a LB, which is good to see.”
Source:http://www.baltimoreravens.com/News/Articles/2009/05/Questions_Still_Unanswered.aspx
Opinion:
Gooden is going to play out of position at times, but he has fresh legsand is going bring some athleticism back to the Ravens defense.
Fact:
Lorenzo Neal signed with the Oakland Raiders, and the Ravens announcedthat McClain would return to a more traditional FB role.
Opinion:
The Ravens have talented RB’s with McGahee, Rice, and Peerman… but McClain was the one that led the Ravens in rushing yards, and the one that allowed the Ravens to win the battle of the clock.Without Neal, and with the idea that the Ravens will have Heap spending less time on the offensive-line blocking… the Ravens will have a different look offensively this year.
I think you see less ‘jumbo’ packages, and more traditional single backsets.
Fact:
The Houston Rockets beat the LA Lakers last night to force a Game 7 inthe Western Conference Semi-Finals.
Opinion:
The Rockets forcing Game 7 against LA, without Yao Ming or McGrady, says more about LA than it does about Houston. Scola, Battier, and Artest are all good players… but they have no-business forcing a Game 7, if LA was in-fact a truly elite team.
I expect LA to win Game 7, and lose in 6 games to Denver.
Fact:
The Washington Capitals lost Game 7 of their series vs Pittsburgh, after falling behind 5-0 at home. Nestor Aparicio stated yesterday on WNST that over 55,000 people from Baltimore watched the game.
Opinion:
Those television ratings were increased in Baltimore by the number of TV’s Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk had dedicated to the game during the WNST KOBST Semi-Finals. Myself, I was ducking to the back to watch the O’s game.
Fact:
Each of the four proposals for a new Baltimore Arena, calls for a 18,500 seat venue to be built. A decision on the winning bid is expected bymid-2009.
Here is a link to my Round 1 audition where I make a case for the winning bid to be the Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse proposal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWSiTuW7h9g
Opinion:
If you were the Washington Capitals, and you knew that a new Arena wasgoing to be built in Baltimore… complete with the requisite amount of luxury-suites necessary to potentially lure an existing team…. The logical response would be for the Capitals to try and build ties in Baltimore, and claim the area as their own.
Fact:
Nolan Reimold has been promoted to the Majors, and Rich Hill is expectedto start tomorrow.
Opinion:
The Orioles are becoming more watchable by the day. I can not wait forearly-to-mid June when Wieters has become the everyday catcher, and the O’s have replaced Eaton with either Hernandez, or Patton.
Fact:
Izturis batted 2nd for the Orioles last night, and was 2 for 5 with a triple and 3rbi.
Opinion:
It was a strong game for Izturis, but he should never be batting 2nd. In 3,268 Major League at-bats, Izturis has a .299 career on-base %.
Fact:
DeShawn Painter has verballed to NCST over the University of Maryland.
Opinion:
Painter would have been a good addition to the program… an active big that was ranked Top 25 Nationally a year ago, that has fallen out of thecurrent 100 rankings now. Just shows you how in-flux the rankings canbe.Losing him though is not a death-blow…
Fact:
The Terps have signed PG T. Stoglin, and SG T. Ross for the 2010 class.With Painter not signing for 2009, Stephenson not expected to sign for 2009, and the recent departure of Steve Goins… MD has 3 scholarships available for 2010.
New names will emerge… but MD is currently involved with 2010 players such as Mychal Parker, JD Weatherspoon, Hippolyte Tsfack, Antonio Barton, Will Barton, Will Regan, CJ Leslie, Terrence Jones, and Victor Oladipo.
Opinion:
To me, the ideal situation would be one of W. Barton, Parker,Weatherspoon for the 3… Leslie or Jones for the 4…. And either Tsfack or Regan for the 5….The fact that Stoglin is actively recruiting Weatherspoon, and that Ross is actively recruiting Jones can only help.
Fact:
The Preakness is tomorrow.
Opinion:
I am Baltimore born and raised, and have never been to the Preakness….Just have never had interest in going. My Wife grew-up in Hagerstown owning horses, and she has no interest in going. Despite not have interest in the race, or Horse Racing in general, I can get behind the idea of protecting the industry.
There are a lot of MD jobs tied to the equine community… I guess my general feeling is that Horse Racing is gambling… and if it would help the Horse Racing community if slots were allowed at the tracks, then go ahead and do it.
Though, I think in the end that is a rather limited point of view. You have to make the entire venue a destination of choice… and if the main-event does not draw people there, the secondary reasons (slots) can only help so much.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.