I was mid-way through developing a post for this week about how well John Harbaugh has handled this team so far - how well he has done transforming it from a collection of stars into a real unit - when a couple of stories broke in the last 24 hours that simply have to make you wonder.

First, as everyone knows, there is the Chris McAlister situation. McAlister was apparently benched (actually, not even apparently, he was) in Sunday’s win over Miami by John Harbaugh. Reports about why exactly this happened and what led to it have been sketchy at best; some point to McAlister’s poor play against the Colts while others point to a larger issue of subordination. Either way, it’s not good.

Honestly, the McAlister situaton was going to lead my article on Harbaugh’s incredible turn around with this team. That is, before today.  Had the issue remained quiet, it would have been the perfect example of the kind of change that Harbaugh has brought to this team. Brian Billick rarely called out his players publicly, but the players never hesitated to call out Billick, it seemed. That was a major issue late in the Billick administration.* Rather than handle their business in-house, too many players thought they had the right to question Billick, his decision-making, and his authority in front of the media. Read the rest of this entry »

The Baltimore Sun today published two articles, oddly similar to one another, about scrutiny of John Harbaugh’s conservative decision-making in the Ravens 23-20 loss to the Steelers on Monday. The first piece, from Jamison Hensley, seems a bit more like reporting the mood around town following the loss. The second piece, from Mike Preston, is simply picking for the sake of picking.

My question: why is Harbaugh taking any heat for the loss on Monday?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Ravens have officially announced their training camp schedule for the summer. While things kick off for the players on July 22, the public won’t have access until July 25 when the team starts its two-a-day sessions. Ravens rookies, quarterbacks and injured veteran players will report to training camp July 21 and will participate in four practices before all the veterans arrive July 23.

Training camp is the time of year that let’s us all know that football is right around the corner. McDaniel College is sure to be packed this year, as fans flock to Westminster to get their first live glance of Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and John Harbaugh.

Will you be attending any sessions of training camp this year? What are some of your most memorable training camp stories?

It’s been nearly a month since this team finished the most disappointing seasons in club history. In that time, we’ve seen plenty of change and plenty of talk about more change to come. So in these days of silence and uncertainty, I present to you the three most pressing issues facing the Ravens as they move into the off-season and truly move towards a more successful 2008…

Read the rest of this entry »

Poke around the internet a bit reading info on the Ravens and you’ll find some interesting stuff these days. A few other blogs and news sources pointed me in the direction of Kevin Byrnes’ blog. Byrnes is the Senior VP of Public and Community Relations for the Ravens. His latest blog entry, posted this week, gives a wonderfully in-depth look at the process that led to John Harbaugh’s hire, but it has some wondering about the final decision…

Byrne details the entirety of the last four weeks in Ravens’ headquarters - from Billick’s firing through the hiring committee’s actions and thoughts. Harbaugh and Garrett nailed their first interviews and became the team’s first choices. When Harbaugh returned for his second interview, he made a small handful of very powerful answers and won the committee over.

Or did he?

Read the rest of this entry »

The Baltimore Sun’s Jamison Hensley reports that Rex Ryan has hopes of staying on with the Ravens as the team’s defensive coordinator. Hensley also reports that Ryan denied rumors that he has spoken to other teams about vacant defensive coordinator positions. If Ryan really does want to stay, where does this leave newly hired head coach John Harbaugh? Between a rock and a hard place, quite frankly.

Read the rest of this entry »