A sad realization...

Remember when I asked if we would see the Orioles team who would fold or the Orioles team who would resurrect itself following a wretched series in Anaheim? Well, yesterday and tonight, we just saw...the Orioles...

That's right, the same old Orioles who have continued to install false hope in die-hard fans (including myself) by winning six in a row and then losing 5 in a row...if they lose tomorrow, that six game winning streak will be a wash...but hasn't it been already?

When the Mariners saw that the Orioles were coming to town, how did they feel? I'm certain they weren't scared of this team, and I'll take it a step further...they relished the opportunity to play the Orioles at home. Sadly, the O's are now held in the same place as the Royals and Devil Rays in the American League, and probably have been held in that regard for longer than most of us would like to admit, myself included.

I continue to watch this team with an unwavering bias and false sense of hope. Did any of us REALLY think that we had a shot at finishing second place in the AL East? Be honest...my heart said yes but my brain said no...I may have been tricked into thinking that at one time, mostly due to the passionate feelings I still have for the Ghost of Orioles' past...Davey Johnson, Pat Gillick, Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Dave McNally, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Boog Powell...the list ends sometime around the late 90's with the FORCED exodus of Jon Miller.

For Pete's sake (pun intended), I STILL watch the O's with my family during family functions, including anniversaries and even freakin' Easter! We cheer our hearts out, and usually, sadly, to no avail.

Everytime we gather around the big screen at my house (by the way, we can't watch MASN in high-def) we always naively talk about the possibility of the O's turning the corner and becoming a winning team...but, as it looks right now, all of us are clinging to a sense of false hope and a stubborn hubris that connects all Baltimore Orioles fans to a past filled with excellence...unfortunately, the present is filled with disappointment.

As I'm writing this, I am watching SportsCenter...check it out this morning...Sal Palantonio does a great piece on the Ravens. Ray Lewis is apparently more motivated than ever...he is leaner and faster than he has been since the 2000 Super Bowl season...that's scary.

I also hear that Willis McGahee has a new sense of motivation, which is great considering that our running game severely under-achieved last year behind an offensive line that shattered a team record for sacks allowed. Sure, pass blocking and run blocking are different parts of the game, but you can't tell me that they would be that dominant in one aspect of the game and suck in the other. Did McNair's quick release and pocket presence play a role? Certainly...but Ogden had one of the best years of his career last year, and the young guns who replaced injured veterans continued to surprise all of us throughout the entire season. I never thought that the bowling-ball style that Jamal Lewis brought to the team last year fit our offense with McNair as the signal caller (see Eddie George). We were in dire need of a running back who could break one off for 50 or 60 yards once in a while to balance the offense and keep the defense guessing...Jamal couldn't do that last year...some don't like the McGahee acquisition...I say they'll be eating crow come January...his style reminds me of an Eddie George...he just needs to run behind a line that can block and not behind the porous Buffalo Bills O-line who allowed more penetrations than Pam Anderson last year.

The Ravens OTA's this week are chock-full of star power...Ed Reed, Derrick Mason, Trevor Pryce, Ray Lewis, Jonathon Ogden...it's exciting to see the important team leaders make an appearance at these camps...a few years ago, would you expect to see #52 or #75 suiting up in June? Hell no...this team is hungry, and it's sad to see the disparaging comparison between the ultimate organization at One Winning Drive and the insulting mockery at the Warehouse.

"The Orioles' nightmare season continues as another late inning lead slips away...Mariners beat them tonight."

"The Orioles blow another lead...that's what they do...Mariner's win"

~Those two quotes from Scott Van Pelt...the first occurred this morning at the end of SportsCenter and the second closed the 11 PM night-cap edition...isn't it sad the SportsCenter doesn't even show O's highlights half of the time? They only get on when Markakis makes a spectacular defensive play...

Let's make that deal for Teixiera...