Iggy’s Baltimore Sports Report – October 6, 2015

News and Personal Thoughts:
The GoogleDoc ticket sharing status: Seats still available for Jax, StL, KC, Sea and Pit; Tickets wanted for @Mia. Check it out at Ravens Roost 4 Ticket Exchange.


Ravens:
Josh Scobee has left the employ of the Ravens, having fulfilled all the terms and conditions of his contract, allowing the Ravens to win their first game of the year, and to declare “We’re not dead yet!” A win is a win, but the cost was high. Although Steve Smith has 4 micro-fractures in his vertebrae and listed as game-by-game, Michael Campanaro was diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back, and forced to the season-ending IR list because the “designated to return” spot was already occupied. Since these are BOTH are kick return men, the Ravens traded a future late round draft (2018 7th round) pick to St. Louis for Chris Givens, who had fallen down their depth chart. Givens is a speedy guy and can cause some damage if we can get him the ball. At 1-3, all is not right with the world yet, as the Ravens are 3 games behind undefeated Cincinnati, and face their other arch-rival, Cleveland this Sunday. Look for another hard hitting affair, as we hope to extend our winning streak.

Orioles:
The Orioles put up a valiant season ending effort, winning 5 in a row, and darn near putting the yanks on the road for the wild card game. House cleaning is next up on the list, as the Orioles hold a bake sale to try and raise enough money to save Chris Davis. They Orioles are in quite a quandary because signing Davis will bankrupt the team, but letting him go will destroy the team, future and fan base. The top free agents are O’Day, Wieters, Chen and Davis. I fully expect Wieters to be gone, O’Day and Chen are probably gone as well, but if Davis goes, expect Adam Jones to demand a trade. He is already on record with his displeasure after losing Cruz and Markakis last season, and he will not tolerate another reigning AL HR champion going elsewhere for bigger bucks.

Alouettes
Montreal (5-8) lost to Ottawa 39-17, but remain 3 games back. This team is just not the same since Marc Trestman left 2 years ago to be head coach of the Chicago Bears.

Blast (MASL):
The Baltimore Blast have announced their promotional schedule. See their website for details.

Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
Nothing new to report.

Capitals (See website for more details):
Season starts Saturday against New Jersey.

Wizards (See website for more details):
Preseason starts October 6, and the regular season starts October 28.

Mystics (See website for more details):
Nothing to Report.

D.C.United (See website for more details):
United (14-12-6, 48 points) broke their losing streak and moved back into 2nd place, 3 points behind New York.


What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, never mind. No one is reading this anyway so you probably won’t know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!

Relevant Football Links

Iggy’s Predictions


“Past performance does not guarantee future success, but it sure is the way to bet!”

  • NFL, Week 4
    • Pittsburgh (+2.5) over Baltimore. I high school quarterback could shred our Defense (please prove me wrong, please prove me wrong) Glad to be wrong!
    • Jet over Fins (+1.5). Fins are looking as bad as the Ravens these days. May be worse. They just fired their head coach!
    • Colts over Jags (+8.5), but take the points. Lucky has apparently turned color blind. Colts struggled without Luck, but won barely
    • Falcons over Houston (+6.5). Two teams going in opposite directions. Falcon got medieval on them.
    • Panthers over Tampa (+3.5). Carolina heading to a division title. Tampa still in a funk.
    • Bills over Giants (+6.5), but take the points. Tyrod Taylor, but McCoy won’t play this weekend. Taylor wasn’t up to beating the other Manning.
    • Oakland over Bears (+2.5). Raiders might have found a QB. Bears win by 2.
    • Philly over Skins (+3.5). Skins stink worse. Apparently not.
    • Cincinnati over KC (+3.5). Bengals getting anxious for their 1 and done playoff run. Bengals still undefeated.
    • Chargers over Cleveland (+7.5), but take the points. Chargers win at home, but Cleveland to keep it close. Took a last second FG for charges to win.
    • GB over SF (+9.5). Definitely not enough points. Not as much scoring as expected but SF still failed on Offense.
    • Denver over MN (+6.5). Vikings could make this interesting. Peyton is starting to look like Eli.
    • Zona over StL (+6.5). The Desert. Does anyone else get confused when the Cardinals play against St. Louis?
    • Saints over Dallas (+4.5). Dallas hurting more than NO. Saints score OT TD to FTW.
    • Seattle over Detroit (+9.5). Seahawks to ride Defense. …and Detroit should have won!
    • This Week: 10-5 SU (Straight Up), 9-6 ATS (Against the Spread)
    • This Season: 39-24 SU, 34-29 ATS
  • NFL, Week 5
    • Indy (+0.5) over Houston. A lot will depend on Luck.
    • Jags (+3.5) over Tampa. Jags have some Mojo this year.
    • Buffalo over Tennessee (+2.5). I expect a close game with 2 teams fighting for respect.
    • Ravens over Cleveland (+6.5), but take the points. One win doesn’t make us good.
    • Falcons over Washington (+7.5). Didn’t anyone see what Atlanta did to Houston last week? Repeat week.
    • Chefs over Da Bear (+9.5). Contender and pretender.
    • Saints (+4.5) over Philly. Gee, Philly 0-3 as favorite, and Saints 0-2 as the under dog.
    • Packers over Rams (+9.5). Packers 4-0 so far as the favorite.
    • Bengals over Seattle (+2.5). Not seeing the Seattle of recent years yet.
    • Arizona over Detroit (+2.5). Ngata can’t save the Lions this year.
    • NE over Dallas (+8.5). Only 8.5?
    • Denver over Oakland (+5.5), but take the points. Denver is not running up the score, and the Raiders are looking decent.
    • Giant over SF (+7.5). This is NOT the NFC Championship game of recent years.
    • Steelers (+3.5) over SD. Steelers are still a concern to me.

Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net