Welcome To Baltimore, Anquan Boldin!

Four days later, and the grin has yet to leave my face. The Ravens finally get their #1 receiver, when they traded for Arizona Cardinals Anquan Boldin. Finally! A huge missing piece to the near-perfect puzzle, as arrived.

Since the trade, I've done everything imaginable to show my excitement. I sent out mass text messages, phone calls and blackberry messages. I've joined just about every Anquan Boldin Facebook group there is. And I'm officially looking for a new Boldin Ravens jersey as we speak. To say I'm excited about Boldin's arrival is a huge understatement.

While the Ravens have other holes in other positions (manly DB and DL positions), the wide receiver position was the biggest hole, and has been for some time. A lot of Ravens fans give GM Ozzie Newsome a hard time, but there aren't too many times you can say The Wiz didn't get it right. This time, he got it right.

Some folks are asking why didn't the Ravens front office pull this trade off last year, when the team initially showed interest on Boldin. But it's real simple- the asking price went down considerably from a year ago. Last year, the Cardinals wanted a 1st and 3rd round draft pick in exchange for Boldin. In hindsight, that means the Cardinals would have had Michael Oher and LarDarius Webb, the Ravens 1st and 3rd round draft picks in last years draft. Both have shown that they are great assets to this team. And while the Ravens still needed Boldin, they finished the season 9th in total scoring. Pretty impressive for a team without a true #1 WR.

It's too early to call what this season will be like. But it's never too early to get excited. As soon as I heard that the Boldin trade was a done deal, the Ravens NFL Shop commercial came on (my favorite commercial, BTW). Coincidence??? Maybe, especially since they play that commercial 50-11 times on the NFL Network. But at that very moment, it was all coming together. Maybe this is our time. Time to get over the hump.. time to be REAL contenders.... time for another Lombardi Trophy for the Baltimore Ravens.

Welcome to Baltimore, Q! We're glad to FINALLY have you with us.

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Bills' James Hardy Motivates Kids to Read

Buffalo Bills wide receiver James Hardy made a special visit to Country Parkway Elementary School in Williamsville, NY on Tuesday in support of National Reading Month and Read Across America Day. Hardy read Dr. Suess’s Horton Hears a Who! in the Country Parkway Library to all of the kindergarten students and Oh the Places You’ll Go in the second grade classroom. Hardy also took the time to visit with the fourth grade students to stress the importance of reading.

“The importance of reading has been instilled in me since I was in elementary school, by teachers and family members, so I wanted to come here today to encourage these students to read every day” said Hardy. “Reading is fundamental, and necessary for students to be successful in life, so I wanted to show these kids that reading is important and fun.”

He didn't contribute during the season, so this is a good look for him. With WRs Josh Reed and Terrell Owens out of the picture, Hardy has to step up big time if he wants to remain a Buffalo Bill. Being involved in the community is definitely a sure way of winning over some of the fans. The rest will decide his fate come September.

Source

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So Long T.O. -Thanks for the Memories...

...and just like that he's gone.

Terrell Owens is on the market after the Buffalo Bills announced Saturday they do not plan to offer him a contract. The Bills also declined to offer contracts to defensive end Ryan Denney and wide receiver Josh Reed, allowing them to become unrestricted free agents at midnight on March 5.

“We wanted to inform all three players ahead of the start of the free agency period so they could begin making their plans,” Bills general manager Buddy Nix said. “We just felt that was the right thing to do. All three have represented our organization with class and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.”

Owens, who will turn 37 in December, caught 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns in his only season in Buffalo. He also ran for a touchdown. “I would like to thank the great fans in Buffalo, Ralph Wilson & the Bills organization for all their supports this past season,” Owens said on Twitter.

The six-time Pro Bowl receiver caught his 1,000th pass in Week 16 at Atlanta to become the sixth player in league history to reach the milestone. Owens then moved into third place on the career list with 14,951 yards receiving in a 30-7 win over Indianapolis in Week 17.

Let's give him his credit. He maintained his composure throughout the season and that's what teams were looking to see, "a change." Will it be enough for a contender to offer him a contract? Anything is possible in the NFL, he was a Buffalo Bill wasn't he.

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Video- Gridiron Gals Super Bowl XLIV Picks

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I See You James Allard

On Friday night I had an interesting conversation with a friend/Chargers fan. He told me rather smugly that he'd be an available shoulder to cry on after Sunday afternoon's game between the Jets and the Chargers. He then went on to list all the reasons why the Jets would lose.

Phillip Rivers is evidently the greatest thing since Dan Fouts.
Vincent Jackson was going to make Revis look silly.
Tomlinson/Sproles were going to run all over the Jets Defense.
Sanchez wasn't going to throw anything but interceptions all afternoon.

All the things the pundits on ESPN/Fox/Random sports outlets were saying. I was kind of hoping for originality, but I guess when they all watch the same shows, they all form the same opinions right?

Me? I said what I've learned to say since Santa Claus-well got into the picture-"we'll see." And we saw. We saw the Jets hold the Chargers to their lowest point total all season, Rivers held to 1 touchdown and two interceptions. We saw Ladainian Tomlinson held to 24 yards on 12 carries, and Darren Sproles held to 33 yards on 3 carries. We saw Vincent Jackson make some great catches, including one that lead to a touchdown, but be held relatively in check.

Here's what else we saw...

The Jets, while held scoreless in the first half, came out and ran. Then they ran some more, including a 52 yard touchdown run by my new favorite rookie-Shonn Greene, Sanchez connect with Dustin Keller for a touchdown, and Jay Feely actually make his 43 yard FG attempt.

I can't write this without touching on the ineptitude of the kicker, Nate Kaeding, who in addition to making this year's Pro Bowl had missed only three field goal attempts all season. He missed three yesterday, within and outside of 40 yards. He has failed in the playoffs before, missing 40 yard attempt against the Jets in '05, and a 54 yard attempt against the Patriots in '06. A point I brought up during the conversation that was quickly dismissed. Oh well.

The way young Mr. Allard was talking, this game was supposed to end somewhere on the order of 55-10. So yeah, we all know what happened, and I find it very interesting that I haven't gotten a response to any of my offers for a shoulder to cry on. I mean really-I'm just trying to be a pal here. He offered me his right?

And now the Jets are going to the AFC Championship, to play the team that made all of this possible. No matter what happens in that game, this playoff run has turned out to be more than I ever could have asked for considering how the regular season went. So yeah, I see you JJ, and I'll see you again-next year. Jokes.

Terita Murphy

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Ray Lewis- NFL All Pro And... Blogger????

Ravens LB was just selected to the 2009 All-Pro Team, it's his 7th time being honored for his hard work on the football field. But in addition to being a great teammate and All-Pro linebacker, Lewis has taken on a new title- celebrity blogger.

Lewis started a new blog with Global Grind, the popular site that celebrities tend to express their thoughts and views through blogging. In his inaugural blog post, Ray states the following:



Click here to view Ray's actual page.

Welcome to the blogging world Ray!

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2009 is a wrap! On to the next one!

Yes, I have been avoiding this site. My Bears, my Bears, my Bears.
*le sigh* I have been dreading writing this blog. This is simply the
poorest overall performance the Bears have put out in recent history.
We had some highs but we had more lows…since we didn't even make the
playoffs, I'm putting in my 2 cents on our season...

How do we respond to a 7-9 season? BY FIRING EVERYBODY! Lol! Well,
that is EXCEPT for Lovie. Admittedly, I was really nervous about his
coaching job. Jay Cutty has thrown 26 interceptions in the year (a
record setting poor performance) but hey, it could have still cost
Coach Smith his job. Coaches have been fired for far less.
Traditionally, I’ve liked him as a coach (and he seems like a very
likeable gent). But this year I saw him make questionable challenges
resulting in wasted time outs and wasted opportunities. Really? If
I’m being honest? I wouldn't mind seeing Coach Cowher take the helm.

Am I still glad Orton’s out? Yup! He was exposed for who he really
is after those first 6 wins in Denver. He’s not good enough. And Jay
Cutler? I take back everything I said about being excited about him.
WE STILL NEED A QUARTERBACK!

We dealt with a lot of injuries to key players this year, such as
Devin Hester. And next season (yup, I’m already on to the next one),
The Lac is back baby! The team DEFINITELY missed him. And since
we’ve tricked off our first AND second round draft picks to Denver and
Tampa Bay I’m just at a loss right now. Oh well, I still love my
Bears! Here's to a better season in 2010!

@iBleeze on Twitter

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