Raven Roadkill

Yesterday after church, John and I went to Champps in Columbia near where we live to watch our Ravens in what we hoped would be their second victory of a thus far disappointing season. We sat for three and a half hours in front of a big screen TV that broadcast the complete travesty of game that yesterday's match turned out to be. Prior to the game, both the Ravens and the Lions were 1-2. We thought we stood a fair chance of winning. But then we started racking up the fouls. One by one by one until we came one short of the NFL record for the most fouls ever in a single game. Most of the fouls were easily preventable--holding and unsportsmanlike conduct. We even got two of our players ejected from the game for their treatment of the officials. By the end of the game when it was obvious that the Ravens had no chance of a comeback, I was actually rooting for them to break the foul record so we could say we at least did something right. But apparently we can't even foul well. While I certainly agree that one of the Lions' supposed touchdowns was questionable, I do not think that the refs started out the game with malice towards the Ravens. But after so many fouls and such dishonorable behavior, it's not completely incomprehensible to think that the officials' eyes might have blurred. I love my Ravens, but we were acting undoubtedly foolish yesterday. I understand that losing can be frustrating, but they were only making matters worse for themselves yesterday. During one play, they got two penalities that added up to 30 yards. 30 yards makes a big difference in a football game, espcially for a team that has never been strong offensively. Even when they weren't fouling, they seemed to frequently pass the ball to the Lions making the Lions' job that much easier with the high number of turnovers.

At least Navy and Penn State are doing well this year. Penn State remains undefeated after beating Ohio State on Saturday. They now have their highest ranking in 6 years, which, of course, will only fuel Joe Pa's fire ensuring that he continues to coach no matter how old and senile he seems to be to the rest of the world. This season is so far only proving his point that he's still got it somewhere even if whatever it is has been lying dormant for the past several years. Navy is not undefeated, but John and I enjoyed watching them pull ahead of Air Force with a field goal with 5 seconds remaining in their game this Saturday. Since we have Navy season tickets this year, we sat in the drizzle to watch that game instead of the climate-controlled Champps where we sat the next day to watch the Ravens embarrass themselves.