1. Snoozing fan gets wake-up call from Chris Davis.
What a symbolic moment in light of the Orioles recent slump. On Wednesday night, a fan was literally laying down asleep across a few seats at Camden Yards—only to be awakened by a Chris Davis walk-off bomb that landed in his center-field section. Truly, after losing 11 of the last 12, the Orioles and its fanbase needed a wake-up call to jolt them back to life. Hopefully, the team will feed off that burst of Orioles magic as they travel to tough division rival Toronto this weekend and try to keep their diminishing playoff dreams alive.
2. Steve Smith gets ejected, sits with his kids.
Saturday’s preseason Ravens-Redskins game was wild on many levels. But all the tension came to a head late in the first quarter when Joe Flacco completed a pass to Kamar Aiken and Redskins linebacker Keenan Robinson lifted Aiken off the ground and drove him, head first, into the turf. There has been some debate whether or not it was a “clean” hit (but even The Washington Post called the tackle “brutal”), but it set off a few tussles—first between Steve Smith Sr. and Chris Culliver and even between coaches John Harbaugh and Jay Gruden. The two players were ejected from the game, but our Smith made the most of it—by joining his kids in the stands.
1st time I’ve ever gotten to watch a game with my dad. Thanks @NFL pic.twitter.com/8qyhHaKZJY
— P (@peytondsmith) August 30, 2015
3. Cal Ripken Jr. is honored at Camden Yards on streak’s 20th anniversary.
We know, we know. It’s unbelievable that Cal Ripken’s record-breaking 2131 game was 20 years ago. But the Orioles dedicated Tuesday night’s game to the former shortstop, hanging replica numbers from the warehouse, conducting a pregame ceremony, and having Ripken throw out the first pitch (down the middle, natch). It’s really too bad the O’s couldn’t pull it out for the Hall of Famer (they lost 11-2), whose streak continues to be honored everywhere from beer cans to Old Bay tins.
4. M&T Bank Stadium unveils gargantuan Tailgate Burger.
As if the typical football game diet of hot wings and nachos isn’t bad enough, this week Aramark announced that things just got a little more caloric. Starting at the Ravens first regular season home game on Sept. 27, you can order a Tailgate Burger at concession stand 152 on the lower level. The $18 monstrosity consists of a grass-fed patty* with American cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, a kielbasa sausage, Maryland crab dip, and beer-battered onion rings. And, oh yeah, on top of the pretzel-roll bun are two Buffalo chicken wings. I think a trip to the gym is in order just after typing that.
*Thank god it’s grass fed. The Whole Foods crowd is going to be all over this.
5. Sports Illustrated picks Ravens to win Super Bowl 50.
In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated—which has multiple covers of quarterbacks creepily paying homage to Rob Lowe’s DirecTV commercials—writer Greg A. Bedard picked the Ravens to win Super Bowl 50. “The Ravens are due for some luck,” Bedard writes in his piece, which is accompanied by a full-page photo of running back Justin Forsett. “If Baltimore has health on its side, this team has the toughness to march through a wide-open AFC.” He predicts that the team will go 11-5, beating the Steelers at home in the wild card game (!), taking out the Patriots in the divisional round, the Broncos in the championship, and beating the Seahawks 23-20 in the Super Bowl.
Though it certainly sounds like a fun scenario, there are a lot of “what ifs,” including Lardarius Webb staying healthy, tackle Brandon Williams filling Haloti Ngata’s void, the team being better off without Matt Elam, Kyle Arrington adding depth to the secondary, and Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil (both over 30) having as impressive a year as last. The piece also banks on the fact that Flacco and Forsett will adjust seamlessly to new offensive coordinator Marc Tressman. “Yes, the Ravens’ offense has a lot of issues to work out, starting with the integration of Tressman’s scheme,” Bedard writes. “But the defense, if healthy, could take this team to its second Super Bowl in four years.” While some may view this as a curse, a la Madden covers, knee injuries to key players and a controversial preseason makes this music to our ears.
