1. Is a 2-6 start to the season driving Ravens fans to drink?
The short answer, apparently, is no. According to a study conducted by BACtrack using a smartphone breathalyzer app—cross-referenced with data from a Twitter map of NFL fan bases—Ravens fans (thankfully) rank in the bottom half of the league in terms of Sunday debauchery. There’s even a handy, interactive infographic where you can compare the results of each team’s fans. Overall, BACtrack reports, there’s no direct correlation to a team’s record and how much alcohol its fan base consumes. That said, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns (combined 9-22 mark) fans are NFL’s greatest imbibers—so maybe it’s a combination of factors, like cold weather, Rust Belt state economies, and annually poor teams that explains their fans, ahem, high standing.
2. Orioles won a court battle and now we have the cash to pay Chris Davis!
The New York State Supreme Court vacated a lower court decision that would’ve forced the O’s to turnover another $20 million—give or take—annually in MASN TV money to the Washington Nationals. The Orioles possess a huge majority ownership stake of MASN, and thus its profits, but the Nats receive a slice of the pie each year, which they filed suit, along with Major League Baseball, to increase. Biggest win of the season for the O’s, but will Peter Angelos spend that savings—$20 million a year is around the going rate for a big-time slugger—on Davis? Probably not.
3. Cal will NOT be managing the Washington Nationals.
Can you even? On The Rich Eisen Show last month, Baltimore’s favorite son said he’d take a call from Nats general manager Mike Rizzo if he wanted to talk about running the rival city club down I-95. “Yeah, everybody wants a phone call like that,” Cal said. Okay, Cal, if you read this, there are three teams the greatest Oriole ever (you) can’t manage: the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Nats. (Big thanks to Dusty Baker for taking the D.C. job and good luck with that nutcase Jon Papelbon.)
4. Preakness logo unveiled.
The Maryland Jockey Club unveiled its logo for the 141st Preakness. That’s a lot of races and it’s gotta be tough to keep coming up with a fresh marketing image each year. Other than that, we don’t have a lot to say except we like this one:
5. The 100th Gilman-McDonogh Game.
This rivalry started when Woodrow Wilson (a former Hopkins’ grad student, by the way) was president, with Gilman holding a 59-35-5 edge. There’s a bunch of events before Saturday’s 3 p.m. game at McDonogh Stadium, including a morning 5K run and breakfast, an alumni football photo shoot, a “memory lane” reception with memorabilia from both schools, and a giant community tailgate party, featuring more than a dozen and a half local food trucks. All great stuff. Good luck to the boys playing on both sides on a day they’ll never forget. (Photo below from the 1956 game, courtesy of the Gilman archives.)
