Crab Soup Bowl 4 of Orioles, Ravens, and Maryland Sport Stories
Dec 8 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; The Army Black Knights stand during the West Point alma mater after Navy beat the Army Black Knights 17-13 at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
This is the fourth of what is a regular weekly feature on The Baltimore Wire of links to interesting Baltimore and Maryland sports stories on the web.
In the bowl of crab soup this week are these stories …
Ingredient #1 – According to this piece in ESPN’s coverage of the Ravens, Ed Reed has expressed the desire to play two more years. Really? Yes … but … well … read about it HERE …
Ingredient #2 – Seldom has a sports story tickled me quite as much as this one, and the reason for this is my own college background. I had the unusual mix of being an athlete (baseball) while also being a music major. Well, I’m not alone! Justin Tucker – the Ravens’ kicker – was the same at the University of Texas, and he can sing opera in four languages! Been there; done that! I HAVE TO meet this guy someday. Apparently Tucker is a favorite guy in the locker room. Story HERE.
Ingredient #3 – So what does the Jim Johnson trade and the acquisition of Jamile Weeks mean for any Baltimore future with Brian Roberts? If he is not to return to the Orioles, where might he end up? HERE is an article that ponders some of the possibilities …
Ingredient #4 – There was speculation after the Jim Johnson trade that Orioles owner Peter Angelos was in fact behind the exit of the all-star closer. This caused an unusual public reaction from Angelos. It is very unlikely he had anything specific to do with it, but the whole story can be seen HERE …
Ingredient #5 – The past couple of weeks have made for an extremely uneasy fan base for the Orioles. Watching teams sign free agents left and right – including Scott Feldman going to the Astros and Nate McLouth to the Nationals – is a bit painful. Add to this the Dumpster Dan no-name signings that we saw (check my article on that from Friday), and then realize that in the midst of this, the Orioles raise ticket prices 5% — does not someone in the front office understand the optics of this? I am not convinced however that Duquette is a fool – he might laugh last. Everyone thought the Jays and Angels were totally loaded up at this point of the offseason last year, and that clearly did not work out for them. But HERE is an article that verbalizes the frustrations well … not sure I agree with all of it, but it lays it out.
Ingredient #6 – Here is a quick article that demonstrates with some stats that Ryan Webb is basically Jim Johnson at an 8-million-per-year savings to the Orioles.
Ingredient #7 – As we have two articles on the site about the Terps men’s soccer team going to the final four called “The College Cup” – to be held in Philadelphia this weekend – HERE is the NCAA’s web site’s article on UMD’s win over California last Saturday.
Ingredient #8 – The annual Army-Navy game will be played at 3:00 this coming Saturday in Philadelphia. HERE is a terrific article about that game 50 years ago – in the wake of the assassination of President Kennedy, with Heisman winner Roger Staubach as QB for the Midshipmen.
Ingredient #9 – Speaking of the Army-Navy game, HERE is a link to details about a great new book that looks at the game of 2001 … in the wake of the 9/11 attacks upon America. The book by Steve Eubanks is called “ALL AMERICAN: Two Young Men, the 2001 Army-Navy Game, and the War they Fought in Iraq.” It is the story of two men – former Army quarterback and Ranger Cpt. Chad Jenkins and former Navy linebacker and Marine Cpt. Brian Stann – who played against each other in that 2001 game and who went on to do extraordinary things in the decade that followed.