27
Feb 09
From the NYer:
According to sources familiar with the case, the Obama Justice Department indicted [Kahlah al-]Marri this afternoon. The sealed indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury in Peoria, Illinois.
While I was reading the original story about al-Marri’s five-year imprisonment in South Carolina over lunch, my middle-aged, bleached-blond waitress asked “Can I read over your shoulder?” Temporarily stunned that she was interested in a long-form civil liberty article, I stammered, “Uh, sure.”
Then she read the “Narcissist cards” cartoon and guffawed.
27
Feb 09
Apparently Ray Lewis is pissy about…something…and doesn’t want to re-sign with Baltimore, according to Adam Schefter. Maybe they wouldn’t let him keep knives in his socks anymore. More likely, he feels disrespected, since the teams supposedly interested in his “stability and leadership” (primarily the Jets and Cowboys) aren’t calling. He’s supposedly going to take a few days off to “gameplan.”
What’s the problem here, Ray? Is $8 million a year not enough for you? Are you angry that no one wants to pay a 33-year-old linebacker $10 million a year for three years? Hey, here’s something to gameplan for: if Jerry Jones, Al Davis and Dan Snyder won’t overpay you, no one will. Get over it. Man the fuck up, finish your career in our glorious rusting metropolis, then retire at 36 with millions of dollars, (at least one) Super Bowl ring and a sure spot in the Hall of Fame.
Also, please don’t stab me.
26
Feb 09
PFT (temporarily publishing on SportingNews.com thanks to an apparent inability to understand “bandwidth”) is reporting that the Ravens won’t re-sign interior offensive lineman Jason Brown, apparently in an attempt to re-sign linebackers Ray Lewis and Bart Scott. I like Brown–and judging by this BS poll and what I remember from Dr. Z’s columns, I’m not alone–but I admit Baltimore’s better off letting him walk. The Ravens already have plenty of young guys who can hold up in the middle, Brown wants top-flight guard money, and this year’s crop of centers and interior linemen is pretty loaded. The money saved by not re-upping Brown could go towards new deals for Lewis (maybe), Scott (probably) and Terrell Suggs (franchised, but still looking for a long-term contract). If they can keep that trio of linebackers intact, I’d say it’s worth losing one quality lineman.
If they can’t get deals done with either Lewis or Scott, on the other hand, the Ravens will be in a rough spot next year. As Football Outsiders points out, Baltimore’s linebacking corps is the strength of the defense; good as they are, Haloti Ngata and Ed Reed can’t do everything, the Ravens currently have one starting-quality cornerback, and none of Baltimore’s backup linebackers look ready for prime time. The next few hours should be interesting to watch.
Update: Bart Scott is going to the Jets for $8 million per year. Given that it’s “only” about $1M more per year than the Ravens were offering, I’m not sure it’s a great idea. On paper, the Ravens look a lot better than the Jets. Unless Rex Ryan was secretly the juice behind the Baltimore defense all these years (and hopefully “juice” doesn’t equal steroids), it looks like forgoing a shot at a Super Bowl, when he’ll already be making more money than most people could dream of.
Update update: Scott is giving the Ravens a chance to match the Jets’ contract. Given that it’s not much more money, Lewis is dragging his feet, and Ravens management is supposedly more enamored with Scott’s youth, this looks like a pretty good deal.
24
Feb 09
That’s either less or more funny because Quizno’s has sandwiches unironically called “sammies.” Anyway, since Caroline just told me I haven’t posted enough and I don’t have enough time to post anything more valuable, here’s a free Quizno’s sub, courtesy of Quizno’s and Erin (who told me about it). They’ll sign you up for email blasts, but you can unsubscribe.
