Ray Lewis Denies The Use Of PED’s

Can’t this guy get a break?

Ever since the allegations of Ray Lewis’ use of PED’s was brought to light during the Super Bowl Media Day, it seems that every sports media source from Sportscenter to ESPN’s First Take has taken a strong stance that Lewis’ response to this controversial has been cause for scrutiny and suspicion.

Yet not only has the man never tested positive for any PED’s throughout his 17-year career, he has never been involved in any form of criminal controversy since the double homicide incident in which he was acquitted of the felony charges (although many users throughout the online community toss around the word “murderer” as if they were referring to a convicted serial killer).

While I understand that the HGH substance that is a component of the Deer Antler extract that can’t be tested currently by the NFL, until there is indisputable proof that Ray Lewis not only purchased this substance for use but also that he used it knowingly, why are we so quick to judge someone who is still innocent?

Also, if these allegations are just and true, then why wasn’t the issue been brought up at an earlier point in time?

This could have been discussed as soon as Ray Lewis was removed from the injured reserve list. Hell, this issue could have been acknowledged at any point in time leading up to the Super Bowl.  In my opinion, it seems awfully convenient that a controversy of this magnitude would be kept under wraps until less than a week before the Super Bowl.  If these allegations were in fact undeniably true, then this wouldn’t this have been the first suspicion discussed immediately following Ray Lewis’ miraculous recovery?

While I will admit that Ray Lewis could have been more forward and specific in addressing the allegations that were brought to light in an untimely fashion, at the same time why should he have to address an issue that he believes he shouldn’t be associated with in the first place?  Especially during the Super Bowl, when the media should be asking pertinent questions about the game and the player’s personal views on the event, rather than on a unproven topic that has no relevance in this particular moment in time.

Based on what I’ve seen here, it seems to me that the media is using this particular topic as a means to insight an uproar not only from the Ravens organization as a whole, but also to distract Ray Lewis from enjoying a moment which he has deserved and honestly worked for his entire prestigious career.

Ultimately, this will be a difficult test for a team to unite under dire circumstances that they have unfairly dealt with all season long.  Between the death of Torrey Smith’s brother, to the complete decimation of the Ravens defense throughout the regular season, to the announcement of Ray Lewis retirement, hasn’t this team proven its worthiness and willingness to succeed gallantly against insurmountable odds?  Moreover, hasn’t Ray Lewis, a dedicated and passionate leader both on and off the field been through enough undeserved scrutiny and dealt with enough groundless accusations?

I understand if people are suspicious and concerned about his specific involvement, but how is bringing up this issue right now going to solve or completely determine anything definitive?  Until more information surfaces and is determined as the factual basis for what is actually going on, this type of media suspicion and speculation is both pointless and unacceptable at this time.

Until then let Ray Lewis enjoy this last glorious and monumental moment.  Give him the opportunity to do what he does best one last time.  Allow the man to play football.

Pro Bowl: Improved But Still Useless

The Pro Bowl is nothing more than a glorified exhibition game.

Despite the fact that these iconic players appeared to display more effort and professional candor on the field, it is still evident that this precursor to the Super Bowl is still not taken seriously.

Between the utilization of multiple quarterbacks in the same game, to players playing out of position just for the fun it i.e. defensive end J.J. Watt playing at wide receiver, it still seems to be a comical display of lackluster athleticism.

On top of all of that, while enough tickets were sold to lift a blackout on national television, the stands were relatively empty throughout the games duration.

While it can be amusing and even entertaining to see veterans and rookie quarterbacks alike to flex their athletic abilities, this results in an unbalanced affair that results in massive points being scored leaving the defensive performances as something to be desired.

What is the point of watching any sporting event if there aren’t any competitive implications to allow for an engaging experience that utilizes strategy and innate skill over long winded, pathetic attempts to show off?

The only reason I can see that the Pro Bowl should be allowed to exist as an annual event is to allow individual players from different walks of life to interact and give advice to up and coming rookies who need athletic words of wisdom to up their game to a higher and consistently competitive level.

Beyond that, I don’t believe the Pro Bowl should be allowed to be a yearly-anticipated moment.  The best thing the NFL can do at this point is to completely eradicate this sub par athletic attempt at entertainment and instead pave the way for a much more prominent game that fans take more seriously: The Super Bowl.

Disappointing Devils: Lost But Not Defeated

Leadership is everything.

It is the driving force that not only allows a prolifically sound team to function in the sports realm, but it is also a form of unity that allows teams to excel and flow in a cohesive manner.

The Duke Blue Devils, once the pinnacle of College basketball dominance and the juggernauts to beat in the first half of their successful season, have now become a shell of their former selves.  In their hard fought loss to NC State, and their demoralizing blowout they suffered at the hands of a supremely confident Miami team, you get the sense that a key component is missing.

Ever since the Blue Devils lost their dominating power forward, Ryan Kelly, they have lost two consecutive games to top 25 teams in both NC State and Miami.  While players such as Seth Curry and Mason Plumee have made adequate attempts to pick up the slack in both perimeter and 3-point shooting respectively, without Kelly, they become a predictable duo that is unconfident and inconsistent.

In the loss to Miami, Duke only completed 22 of their 74 shorts from the field, while Miami nearly doubled that number by making 33 out their 58 shots attempted.  Even more alarming is the fact that Duke, normally lights out from the perimeter, only made four 3-point shots while Miami boasted a more consistent perimeter attack of nine 3-pointers. 

While Duke’s abysmal shot making could be equivocated to sound defense by the Hurricanes, for the most part this was not the case.  I can’t tell you how many times I watched Curry miss wide open perimeter shots that he seamlessly makes day in and day out.  Even Plumlee who is by far one of the most aggressive and consistent paint players in the league, couldn’t corral any rebounds or make any easy lay ups.

Simply put, from the moment of the tip-off to the waning seconds of the game, Duke looked totally and utterly deflated.

But don’t count them out just yet.

Traveling across to the other side of the sports spectrum to the NFL, it is easy to see how a lack of on field leadership can be a detrimental loss of the highest order.  Case in point: The Baltimore Ravens.

On October 14^th, after a close home win over the Dallas Cowboys, Ray Lewis, the heart and soul of the Ravens aging defense, suffered a detrimental triceps injury that effectively ended his regular season.  After losing their 2011 defensive player Terrell Suggs in the preseason, this seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for a Ravens defense that had been struggling since the beginning of the season.  The impact of this loss was not only a disappointing defect for the Ravens going into the next game (they were blown out by the Houston Texans 43-13) but in every game they played without Lewis after that, even the victories, were indecisive.  The only strong win the Ravens had after the departure of Lewis was a dominant win over the struggling Oakland Raiders at home (The final score was 55-25). 

Not only that, but the Ravens loss of Lewis was truly felt in the last 5 games of the season where they dropped four of their last five and were decimated handedly by a red hot Denver Broncos team in one of those games.  At that point it seemed the Ravens hopes of making another strong playoff run was a long winded pipe dream at best.

However, it was not the end.  The strong and defiant 37 year old two time defensive player of the year came back for the playoffs, despite only two months of recovery, for his last ride.  Since then not only has Ray Lewis been the top defensive player with 44 tackels in 3 games, but the underestimated yet extremely determined Baltimore Ravens have defied all the odds and are now playing in the Super Bowl for the first time in 12 years.

While this is an impassionate and inspiring Cinderella story to say the least, what does it mean for the lost and currently inconsistent Blue Devils?

It means, that despite all the struggles and disappointments the Devils have faced since losing Kelly, that ultimately once they get him back they will be stronger than they were before.

While having a consistently present leader is both encouraging and empowering for any team, learning how to play without him teaches both discipline and resilience in the face of defeat.  The fact that the Blue Devils are playing their worst basketball we’ve seen since their championship loss to UNLV (103-73) is an encouraging sign because once you’ve hit the bottom of the barrel, you work that much harder to avoid being there again.

After the Ravens loss to New England in the AFC championship game a year ago, they didn’t squander their hopes and dreams, or give up because they robbed themselves at a chance to go to the Super bowl.

They kept on fighting, and never lost faith in themselves or the unwavering potential this team had to do it all over again.  Just look at where they are now.

In the end, while Duke is going through a self-destructive slump and may appear to be doomed to potential disappointment when March Madness begins,  that would be a conceded mistake.

The Devils will be the reinvigorated and recharged team we’ve come to know every season once their injured leader rises from the ashes.  Then and only then, will the mighty Blue Devils become the dominant force to reckon with come tournament play.

Which Quarterback Will Have A Bigger Impact In The Super Bowl

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It doesn’t get much better than this.

Witnessing powerhouse offenses that were not only outplayed but were utterly dominated by two teams that made extravagant changes to their respective offensive schemes is nothing short of incredible. The fact that they were able to utilize these facets to go to the biggest stage in all of sports is an amazing feat unlike anything professional sports has ever bared witness to in recent memory.

Between the 49ers questionable quarterback change to the Ravens unexpectedly firing their offensive coordinator, it seemed highly probable that these risky calls would come back to haunt them both come post season play.

Instead what football fans witnessed was nothing short of an unbelievable success.  Joe Flacco proved that he is an unflinchingly consistent player and also a dominant leader who is capable of leading a now offensively competent team to The Big Easy.  At the same time, a young and untested quarterback proved to be not only efficient and instinctually effective, but also displayed his natural ability to make decisive plays that most veteran quarterbacks could never quickly conceive in the same circumstances.

Now that the Cinderella stories have been told and the ultimate stage has been set for these two teams to duke it out in what will be the most physical football game we’ve seen all post season, one looming question still remains: Which player has what it takes to lead their team to the ultimate destiny of being champions of the world? Kaepernick or Flacco?

Looking at the regular season numbers Kaepernick hands down wins the overall match up despite his late season debut.  While Kaepernick only sports a slightly higher completion percentage rating than Flacco (64.3 % as opposed to 63.6%) he takes the cake in both interceptions (2 Int as opposed to Flacco’s 4 overall in games won) and dominates in an overall quarterback rating (111.3 to 97.6 respectively). 

While these statistics would seem to convey Kaepernick’s ability at both consistency and overall efficiency, you really have to look at the post season numbers to fully gauge the all encompassing ability of both these players.

In the post season Flacco nearly doubles Kaepernick’s overall yardage (853 to 496) while also completely dominating in passing touchdowns (8 as opposed to just 3 for Kaepernick).  However the most telling number is the number if interceptions these two foes have thrown in the playoffs (1 Int for Kaepernick to Flacco’s 0) While this may not seem like a meaningful discrepancy consider the teams Flacco had to play deceive in order to be this flawless in the passing game.

First of all, Flacco and the Ravens had to play three playoff games as opposed to 49ers receiving a first round BYE week along with getting home field advantage in the divisional round.  Given this crucial intangible along with the fact that Flacco has proven time and time again to be utterly inconsistent at times on the road during the regular season, it would only seem obvious which quarterback would be more effective. 

However, between his dominant performance in the wild card game to his unwavering ability to not only effectively string multiple drives against the best defense in the AFC but he also able to effectively deceive one of the best veteran safeties in the league not once…but twice!!!  Everything that Flacco has done in the regular season in terms of consistency and overall prowess has been complete and definitively disproven by what he has been able to do time and time again in the playoffs throughout his five year career.

This in no way discredits Kaepernick’s ability to be nearly as effective in his own manner.  Despite throwing a early interception in the divisional round against the Green Bay Packers, Kaepernick didn’t flinch or even succumb to a seemingly demoralizing mistake.  Instead he came back out and not only went toe to toe with the 2011 Superbowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, but he also outplayed him in terms of confidence and overall dynamics.

After this surprisingly dominate win, Kaepernick and the 49ers went on the road to play the top seeded Atlanta Falcons who narrowly won their divisional game against the Seattle Seahawks.  Again Kaepernick showed his quarterback prowess by staying confident and composed despite the Falcons dominant 17-0 run at the beginning of the game.  Even at half time the 49ers were down 24-14 and the possibility of them making a glorious comeback seemed unlikely.  But this was not the case. Not only did the offense completely erase and overcome the imposing deficit, but also their defense likewise put on an impressive performance by shutting out the Falcons in the second half.

While this is a discussion about the effectiveness and solo efforts accomplished by these two sleeper quarterbacks, like with all team sports, the individual player is only as good as the team that surrounds him week in and week out.

Without Kaepernick’s dominant offensive line that gives him time and space to flawlessly pull off the read option, which is the crux of what separates him from the one-dimensional quarterbacks of the NFL, he would become less dynamic and much more predictable.  Similarly, Flacco’s deep ball success is built around the foundation of his talented receivers being able to deceive and make physically tasking maneuvers in order to gain the necessary momentum needed to progress.  Even the defenses have to be taken into account because they provide the passive rhythm that allows these iconic players to stay on the field and to create these memorable moments that have defined their impressive post season runs.

 

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 However, only one quarterback will truly be worthy of hoisting the Lombardi trophy in the air as the endless rain of confetti blankets their battle torn bodies in the most satisfying moment of their sports affiliated lives.

And that leader will ultimately be Joe Flacco.

While Kaepernick’s read option attack has been crucial in his recent victories, it can only be effective if he isn’t under pressure and is given time to make the proper decision of whether to throw or run.  Without this allotted time, Kaepernick will become exposed and like all quarterbacks who are put under pressure whether they’re a 16-year veteran of the league or a fresh rookie, they all will eventually make an uncalculated mistake.

All of them have succumbed to this, except for Joe Flacco.

Whether it’s dealing with the intangible pressure of being 10 and 9 point underdog or making a 70 yard precision play with less than a minute left in the game with the already condensed pocket closing around him, Cool Joe always finds a way to make the impossible possible.  And when you’re playing in the Superbowl against a relentless defense on the biggest and most prominent stage in the NFL you need that intangible ability to shake the emotional jitters and to be completely composed for the entire sixty minute duration of the winner take all sporting event of the year.  You have to no not only be driven and consistent, but supremely confident in not only your teams ability to complete this victory but also in your skill set to accomplish this Cinderella tale of destiny and unwavering determination.

In the end only one man can make this happen. Only one stand out underrated player can bring that glorious moment to fruition.  That man is Joe Flacco.