I’m über-busy at work, so it’s time for a link dump Quick Hits. It’s my way of making sure Ravens Nation has something to read while I toil away at my 9-to-5…

• I think I know why Corey Ivy couldn’t finish tackles on Sunday — he and his wife just had a baby! Congrats, Corey! [Celebrity Baby Blog] (and no. I don’t read this blog)
• “Iron” Mike Duffy of BaltimoreRavens.com wrote a nice piece about the luxury of having a competent backup QB. For the record, I thought Boller played a great game. [Baltimore Ravens] With the Ravens far from elite status in the AFC, Peter Schmuck of the Sun really puts things into perspective. Even our hometown rag is blowing the Patriots. What gives? [Baltimore Sun]
• Jamison Hensley of the Sun delivered the news that we all don’t want to hear (but knew was coming): Trevor Pryce is out 3-5 games with a broken left wrist. Billick thinks that he could be back as soon as the October 14th game against the Rams — I hope so… the Ravens will have a franchise-best 15 sack game against the pathetic Rams O-Line. [Baltimore Sun]
• Gary Lambrecht of the Examiner believes that the Ravens defense might be vulnerable. Uh-oh. [The Examiner]
• Mike Preston continues to caterwaul about the Ravens. It’s almost comical at times… however, this time he has a good point — the Ravens secondary forgot to play a 60 minute game. Take that, Gary Lambrecht! [Baltimore Sun]

What is it with the AFC East?

Edward Lee of the Sun has a blurb about those cheating Jets. Yes, the Jets. Apparently, Billick caught the Jets defense barking out the snap count to confuse the offense.

“Their defensive line and linebackers did a very, very effective job of illegally simulating the snap count,” Billick said. “They did it the whole game long. [That] needs to be caught. I saw it called in a game earlier in the day.

“That’s not an excuse by any stretch of the imagination, but it is illegal. Our guys have to deal with it, but that was a couple of the incidences there. Now it can sound like an excuse, but the fact is it was a fact, and I don’t know how to help my linemen with that.”

You can take the coach out of New England, but you can’t take the New England out of the coach. This story will blow up… everyone loves blasting cheaters.

“For if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
“If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”

- Sun Tzu

In this season’s inaugural version of Quick Hits (the team preview edition), we’ll be previewing the upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Sun Tzu said to know your enemy, so keep checking back for more Quick Hits throughout the week!

For more information about the Bengals, the Sports Cartel’s Bengals Blog, Bengals Brigade, is an excellent resource.

For the first time in franchise history, the Ravens are featured in the season-opening Monday Night Football game. Coincidentally, it’s also the 4th road opener in the past five seasons. Unfortunately, of those four road openers, the Ravens have only won one game (last season at Tampa Bay) while losing three.

(A little side note: the win last year at Tampa Bay was the only shutout game the Buccaneers have ever played at home - kind of cool, eh?)

Strangely enough, this is the first meeting ever between the Bengals and a Baltimore football team (either the Colts or Ravens) on Monday Night Football.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Ravens lead the all-time series against the Bengals, 13-9, however, the Bengals lead 6-5 in games played in Cincinnati. Adding more fuel to the fire, the Bengals are 5-2 playing at home in the MNF game, and 3-15 on the road. Why couldn’t this game have been in Baltimore?!

Cincinnati Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh destroys the Ravens (working against Samari Rolle, who wouldn’t?). In last year’s Bengals win against the Ravens at Paul Brown Stadium, Houshmandzadeh lead all receivers in catches (10) and yards (106). His 40-yard TD pass from QB Carson Palmer proved to be the game winner. If he’s on your fantasy team in week 1, start him.

The Ravens do a good job controlling the ground game against the Bengals. In ten games against Baltimore, RB Rudi Johnson is averaging 51.5 yards per game (143 carries, 515 yards and 4 TDs).

HEAD TO HEAD

• Marvin Lewis vs. Baltimore Ravens: Lewis leads, 5-3.
• Marvin Lewis vs. Brian Billick: Lewis leads, 5-3.
• Brian Billick vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Billick leads, 10-6.

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

There are a lot of Ravens/Bengals connections. Most notably, Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis was the Ravens defensive coordinator from 1996-2001, helping Ravens Head Coach Brian Billick lead the Ravens over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. Here are some others:

• Ravens DT Kelly Gregg entered the NFL as a Bengals sixth round draft pick in 1999.
• Rex Ryan was on the University of Cincinnati staff in 1996-97.
• Bengals Safety Madieu Williams played at the University of Maryland, and is from Lanham, Maryland.
• Bengals WR Chad Johnson and Ravens CB Samari Rolle are cousins. SHOCKING!

QB CARSON PALMER

“There’s no excuse for us not being the best offense (in the NFL). We’ve got the best offensive line, one of the best receiver corps, and Rudi Johnson’s a Pro Bowl runner. We’ve got all the positions and all the spots and a no-huddle offense that really fits the guys we have. So we expect big things.”

In addition to making bold claims about the Bengals offense, Carson Palmer, along with DT John Thorton, were named season-long team captains to comply with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s initiative to strengthen the leadership roles of a team’s players.

QUOTABLE

“Overall we’re a better football team than we were last year. We have a team that’s on the same page, that goes out and fights together all the time. The maturity of the secondary guys will be big. The level of play and maturity at linebacker. The returning guys played a lot of football last year at the end of the year. Justin Smith and Bryan Robinson up front continue to be very steady. (DE) Robert Geathers is coming into his own. Also on the line, Michael Myers joins John Thornton and just gives us a better group of people, doing the things we need to get done play in and play out.”

- Marvin Lewis on looking towards the 2007 season.

“I’m not going to lie. God made me close to perfect, but the one thing he missed was my blocking. But I’ve been working on it.”

- Chad Johnson

Well, it’s the Thursday before a three-day weekend, football is right around the corner, the draft for my work league is set for this upcoming Tuesday (and I’ve got the 12th pick). Life is good…

With that in mind, I’ve got a lot of links to pass along today. This is the largest Quick Hits yet — so maybe I should amend the title to Long-winded Sprints?

• WBAL has a nice piece up on the fiscal impact of M&T Bank Stadium. Did you know that it brought $216M into the local economy last year? And the Ravens couldn’t afford to pay Adalius Thomas. Tsk, tsk. [WBAL]
• We’re not in a Minneapolis airport bathroom, but if you need a fix, the Professional Cheerleader Blog has a piece up about one of the dudes on the Ravens squad. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…. [Professional Cheerleader Blog]
• Cuts are coming. The Carroll County Times’ Aaron Wilson hazards a guess as to where the chips will fall. [Carroll County Times]
• Another CCT story — this one about Fullback Justin Green. He’s baaaaaack! [Carroll County Times]
• ProFootball365, one of Ravens Touchdown’s favorite football sites, has a nice article about Jared Gaither, and the opportunities he’ll have to play with Jonathan Ogden’s toe giving him the fits. While I’d much rather see Ogden play and Gaither groomed, it ain’t so bad. [RealFootball365]
• USA Today loves Ray Lewis. No, really, they do. Larry Weisman waxes poetic about Ray Ray, comparing him to a supernova. Sounds like someone has a crush! [USA Today]
• Hey, look! Another story about Jared Gaither! This guy rules, and I’m really glad that we picked him up in the supplemental draft. I think the DeCosta/Newsome tandem may have netted the Ravens another start in the making. [The Gazette]
• It wouldn’t be a Quick Hits without Mike Preston caterwauling about Brian Billick and how he handles training camp. [Baltimore Sun]
• Saturday’s roster cuts are looming. 73 down to 53. Edward Lee of the B’more Sun has a look at the decisions that have to be made. [Baltimore Sun]

Quotable:

“Preseason is boring. You’re watching film, and it means nothing. You risk injury for nothing. If I can just stay even keel until the first game, I’m good.”
- Ray Lewis

With the NBC Sunday Night Football massacre right around the corner, I thought I’d throw out a quick edition of Quick hits before doing my recap of the last time the Giants and Ravens met (you know, when it really counted).  A game preview is on its way, too.

So, without further delay, your Friday, August 17 Quick Hits:

• Steve Davis, of WBAL AM 1090, has an AFC North preview up.  Are you surprised that he picks the Ravens to go 11-5? [WBAL]
• Over at AOL Fanhouse, Ryan Wilson points out that Ozzie Newsome knows what he’s doing. I’ve been saying it here since the birth o’ the Sports Cartel.[AOL Fanhouse]
• Jim Wexall of the The Tribune-Democrat wants to know if the Steelers have closed the gap on the Ravens.  My magic 8 ball says: not likely. [Tribune-Democrat]
• Yo!  Antwan!  Tone it down a bit, okay? [Carroll County Times]
• Speaking of rookie Linebackers (and depth at the position), the Daily Times has a nice little ditty about how our rooks are making an immediate impact.  Here’s lookin’ at you, Antwan, Prescott and Edgar! [The Daily Times]

Quotable:
Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News on the Ravens:
“Baltimore is the most complete and best team I’ve seen to this point.”

Gosselin also visited camps in New England, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Chicago.  That’s quite the quote!

I’ll be honest - between Madden 08 … and then work, meetings, conference calls, et cetera, I’ve been one busy guy.  Fortunately, since I can’t grab an hour of time to put together a post, I’ve got Quick Hits on my side to keep you covered like Chris McAlister.

So, without further adieu, Quick Hits for Thursday, August 16:

• The Professional Cheerleader Blog has a nice feature on the Baltimore Ravens squad.  You do like cheerleaders, don’t you? [The Professional Cheerleader Blog]
• Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times gives us a glimpse at first-rounder Ben Grubbs, and why he’s so down on himself.  Hey, let’s hug it out you big lug. [HometownAnnapolis]
• David Ginsburg of the Evening Sun has a very touching piece (heh) about Todd Heap and children.  No, not like that you pervert.  It’s worth a read.  [Evening Sun]
• The Worldwide Leader chimes in (Sorry, everyone - Insider credentials required) about just how great our O-Line will be this year.  So tell me something I don’t already know… we’ve got depth coming out of our asses.  This, ladies and germs, is how you build a franchise.  [ESPN]
• Mike “Everyone’s favorite” Preston of the Baltimore Sun has a piece up about the Ravens draft picks pulling their own weight this season.  This, ladies and germs, is how you build a franchise. [Baltimore Sun]
• The Sun has a Q&A with Haloti Ngata.  I hope they asked him about his trip to Hawaii in early 2008. [Baltimore Sun]

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow I’m breaking down Sunday Night Football: vaGiants/Ravens.  Ah, football in HD — the way it’s meant to be!

The morning after a night of anything can be brutal - maybe it was drinking, maybe it was partying, maybe it was dogfighting - you get my point.

That said, nobody takes the morning after harder than Philadelphia Eagles fans.  This special edition of Quick Hits will highlight some of the lowlights of last night’s vicious prison-raping of the Eagles at the hands of the Ravens.

• Andy Reid needs to lay off the chicken wings and learn parenting skills.  Philly may be a tough place to live if you’re the son of an NFL coach, but is it so tough that you need to pack heat?  Britt Reid, Andy’s 22-year old son pleaded guilty to a whole bevy of pending chargers, including carrying a firearm without a license.  Yup, that’s a felony.  The real crime?  He probably needed it so Eagles fans wouldn’t lynch him when they found out he was Andy’s kid. [Detroit Free Press]
• Philly took this one hard on the chin.  So hard, in fact, that Philly.com declared the game ‘Nearly Pointless‘.  Nail, meet head. [Philly.com]
• More of the same from the Philadelphia Inquirer.  The ‘Birds never quite got off the ground‘.  Well, some birds did, but they were wearing purple and black. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Philly Blurbs wonders what the hell happened last night.  You got torqued, that’s what. [Philly Blurbs]

Bring on those vaGiants.  I can’t wait to make another Manning look bad.

In Missouri, there are evangelical nutjobs who are pushing to have intelligent design taught in our public schools.  If only they knew what I know.

If you want proof that God doesn’t exist, look no further than the fact that ESPN is showing the 49ers/Broncos game in St. Louis instead of the Ravens/Eagles tilt.

F*ckers.

That said, here are some Quick Hits for tonight’s game:

• Monday Night Football Preview from a sports handicapping perspective.  YOU MEAN PEOPLE BET ON SPORTS?  NOOOOOOO! [Cappers Mall]
• Interesting take on the game from The Olympian Online.  They highlight the two former Bills players on display - Willis McGahee for the Ravens and Takeo Spikes for the Eagles. [The Olympian]
• A McNabb-less Eagles offense?  YOU DON’T SAY!  The Worldwide leader reports that Donovan McInjury will sit this one out.  Look, I don’t want to see anyone injured, either.  Way to go, Andy Reid.  You big pussy. [ESPN]
• Jamison “wyldchyld” Hensley (not his actual nickname) waxes poetically about how Willis McGahee wants to start off on the right foot against the Eagles.  I just hope that he doesn’t get hurt. [Baltimore Sun]

Finally, one for the road (not game related):

• The Ravens WR corps have plenty of “emotional Oprah/Dr. Phil moments.”  My best guess is that Derrick Mason is the cog that drives the machine. [Washington Post]

How will the Ravens fare?  They’re 3 point favorites tonight, as of this writing.  Because I won’t be in attendance, nor able to watch, they’ll win.

I really don’t have that much time to write this morning, so I’ll take the easy way out and throw out a Quick Hits. For those of you not familiar with Quick Hits, it’s my way of highlighting stories for Ravens fans that I think are worth reading.

• McGahee seems excited about playing in Baltimore, going so far as to say that he actually feels that he’s been set free. Well, good! Start out on the right foot by tearing off 150 yards on the Bengals! [Yahoo! Sports]
• Adam Schein of FOX Sports is coming around to the idea that the Ravens will have a great offense to match the defense this season. It could be because the linebackers threatened physical violence for not spelling Gaither’s name correctly… who knows? [FOX Sports]
• Sports Illustrated has a look at the top-10 defenders under the age of 25. Coming in at number 10… Haloti Ngata! [Sports Illustrated]
• Great Scott! Bart says that Big Ben was lucky (the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review really outdid themselves with that headline). But really, Ben was lucky:
  
  It’s a fun read for those who want to relive that magical hit. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

Quotable:
Ravens owner Steve Biscotti:
“The window? We’re not going to run this team with windows opening and closing. Our goal is to figure out how to run this team so that that window never closes.”

Willis McGahee:
“You better have an attitude here as an offensive player, because that defense is cocky. You’ve got to bring yourself to their level. They demand that from you. There’s a lot of trash talking, and to be honest, I was a little surprised because the coaches don’t say anything about it. You have to be man and step up to it. I got here, and I was like ‘Whoa, it’s like this? Ok, let’s go.’ “

Dr. Bart Scott on if he let up on the Roethlisberger hit:
“You’re thinking, ‘Am I going to try to hurt him, or am I going to hit him hard?’ He was exposed, wasn’t tensed up because he didn’t see me coming. I saw all of his chest, and I could’ve gone anywhere from the kidneys to the sternum to underneath the chin. I had a 15-yard start. I could have done some serious, serious damage.”

Lots to catch up on from the weekend. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to extrapolate these nuggets into a long-winded diatribe, so you’ll have to do the leg work:

• Football Gameplan has a good write-up on the Ravens. With all that talk of the Patriots, Chargers, Saints, Broncos, Colts, et cetera all having monster years, it’s easy to overlook the Purple and Black. Well, not on Football Gameplan. They’ve got us at 12-4, exactly what I predicted. [Football Gameplan]
• The Ravens front office is workin’ on a contract with T-Sizzle. Hooray! He’s younger than Adalius Thomas… and although not as versatile, I think he’s actually worth the long-term dollars the Ravens would need to throw at him. C’mon, guys. Get this deal done so my Suggs jersey isn’t on the 50%-off rack. [WBAL]
• Ravens edge ‘Skins in a pre-season game. Who cares about the Stealers and Saints. We’ve got it goin’ on. [Baltimore Sun]
• Ray Lewis plays old-school football. As if we didn’t already know. Jay Glazer from Fox Sports has a nice little puff-piece on everyone’s favorite linebacker. [Fox Sports]
• McGahee is a difference maker. Oh yeah? I sure hope so. Len Pasquarelli from ESPN chimes in with his take on the latest Raven to pick up the rock. [ESPN]

So, there you have it. Quick Hits for Monday, August 6, 2007.

It’s really warm outside (current temperatures in St. Louis are in excess of 100 degrees), so make sure to drink plenty of Purple Kool-Aid!

I can’t stop listening to Spoon’s new album “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”. It’s hypnotic.

But, I digress.

It’s been a while… so it’s time for some Quick Hits!

• Time running out for Ravens’ 34-year-old McNair.  USA Today nails it: The window is closing… and we sure aren’t getting any younger. [USA Today]
• Gaither could come up big on Baltimore Ravens.  I bet he’ll be protecting McNair’s weak side sooner than later. [Yahoo Sports]
• Grubbs in doubt for scrimmage against ‘Skins. Knees suck. Boooooo! [Baltimore Sun]
• Sun Q&A with Dawan Landry. Will his brother send him a gift with that$41.5M contract? That’s insane monies, dude! [Baltimore Sun]
• Mason says he won’t “take a backseat to anybody”.  Ahhh, problems. Getting old is hell, and when you’ve got Clayton and D-Williams breathing down your neck, you have every right to be worried. I like the idea of Mason as a slot receiver. He’s sneaky like that. [Carroll County Times]

Quotable:

Bart Scott on Marshall Yanda:

“We don’t have a lot of nasty guys over there on the offensive side, but he brings an attitude and a swagger,” Scott said. “I heard he was a pig farmer, and it doesn’t get any more gutter than that. You got farmer street cred.”