1. The Boston Globe‘s Dan Shaughnessy says the Ravens are cursed.
In a semi-humorous article (at least we hope it was humorous—it’s honestly hard to tell with these Boston types), Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy proclaimed that there is a Deflategate Curse. His evidence? All the teams involved in uncovering or fanning the flames of the Deflategate scandal—the Ravens, Colts, Texans, and Cowboys—are off to abysmal starts. He starts the column by noting that that the Ravens are 0-2, having lost the second game to the lowly Raiders, and that team leader Terrell Suggs is out for the season. Of course, this is crazy talk, but things have been dismal in Ravens Nation. That being said, we have a pretty good hunch the so-called curse is going to end this Sunday, when the Ravens finally come home and take on the Bengals.
2. The O’s take the high road.
Here’s a question for you: Why do opposing pitchers keep plunking the Orioles? Last week, Royals pitcher Franklin Morales hit O’s slugger Chris Davis, after giving up a grand slam. (The Orioles responded by hitting another grand slam later in the inning. Ah, sweet justice.) Then, on Wednesday night, the Nats Jonathan Papelbon hit Manny Machado, apparently in retaliation for the Machado having the temerity to look happy when he hit a home run. But here’s the thing: The Orioles aren’t a showboaty team at all. Sure, they have a little bit of flavor—but they are hardly among the worst offenders in the league. (Indeed, nobody admires a home run quite like the Nats Bryce Harper). Anyway, according to the ridiculous unwritten rules of the game, the O’s were supposed to retaliate on Friday, ideally by plunking Harper, the Nats’ best player. Except . . . they didn’t. In fact, at one point in the game, the O’s issued Harper an intentional pass—which would have been an ideal time to plunk him, were they revenge-minded. We want to take this moment to congratulate Buck Showalter on being an adult and having class. And of course, the O’s exacted the best revenge of all—they swept the three-game series. Which brings us to number 3….
3. Don’t look now, but the O’s are in a Wild Card race.
With that sweep of the Nats, the O’s are now 3.5 games out of the Wild Card. It’s still a long-shot for sure, but the team definitely has a reason to hope. The Orioles have won 11 out of their last 15 and are definitely on a tear. Is the surge too little too late? With 10 games to go, only time will tell, but it sure is fun to be playing meaningful baseball in September.
4. Donald Trump weighs in on Flacco.
The “Is Joe Flacco Elite?” debate has always been a funny meme—a symbol of the silly labels we put on athletes and the meaningless debates that dominate sports radio. (As far as Ravens fans are concerned, whether or not Joe Flacco is elite is irrelevant. He’s just a guy who wins big football games for us ALL THE TIME.) But lately, the meme has really gained steam. It started when some random dude held up a “Is Joe Flacco an Elite Quarterback?” sign at the first Republican National Debate. Then, last week, someone posed the question during an #AskTrump Twitter chat. The Republican frontrunner’s response? “Yes, Flacco is a actually a very elite quarterback.” So there you have it. Donald Trump: Wrong on building a giant wall. Right on elite quarterbacks.
5. Mr. Wrong becomes Mr. Right.
Okay, so technically this isn’t sports (though certainly a game!), but we had to give a shoutout to City Paper‘s own Mr. Wrong, aka Joe MacLeod. MacLeod went on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (yes, it still exists) and won $250,000! Not too shabby. What’s more, he represented Baltimore. While most contestants are bland, generic, polished, MacLeod was his hilarious, unruly, unshaven, unhinged self. He did it his way! Also, he gave us this, undoubtedly the greatest screen shot in the history of the show.
Way to go, Joe!