Sports fans love to talk about sports — especially here in Baltimore — so we’d like to give our readers with sports-savvy an opportunity to rant and rave about what’s going on in the world of sports, both locally and nationally. Each weekday, we’ll pose a new question for you to discuss at the water cooler. Here’s your chance to be an armchair quarterback. Now speak up, play nice and let us know what you think.

Today’s topic at the water cooler:
What’s the Ravens’ biggest need now?

Finally, the Ravens have made the big move you’ve all been clamoring for.

According to Jamison Hensley of The Baltimore Sun, the Ravens are on the verge of trading for Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin. The Ravens will send a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft to Arizona for Boldin and a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Ravens will sign Boldin to a four-year, $28-million deal.

So what are the Ravens getting in Boldin? Well, based on the physicality he brings to the football field, Boldin is like a younger, more explosive version of Steelers receiver Hines Ward (I know you hate Ward, but admit it, at least once you’ve thought that he wouldn’t look bad in purple). Boldin is a valuable possession receiver with a running-back mentality. He doesn’t shy away from contact, and he can turn routine catches underneath coverage into big plays. He also has the speed to get downfield, too, but he’s not a total burner.

There is one concern, though, now that a new contract already appears to have been hammered out. While Boldin reminds me a lot of Ward, he doesn’t possess that same sort of durability, which is worrisome considering the way Boldin plays the game. He’s missed nine games over the past three seasons. That’s not too alarming, but it’s something that probably gave the Ravens a little pause. Still, for the low cost at which he was required, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome smartly overlooked the small amount of risk.

Make no mistake, acquiring Boldin is a home run.

In seven seasons, Boldin has made 586 catches for 7,520 yards and 44 touchdowns. He’s the go-to guy the offense sorely lacked (no offense to Derrick Mason). Joe Flacco should be doing cartwheels right now. With the trade for Boldin and the signing of Donte’ Stallworth, his weapons have been considerably upgraded. Now the pressure is on Flacco, as Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti suggested a few weeks ago, to take the team to the next level.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts running through my head right now, which I will scribble down and convert into a print column early next week, but I wanted to get the news out there. What do you all think of the deal?

Of course Greivis Vasquez won his last game at Comcast Center {thanks, AP}

A lot went down the past few days, with the O’s starting the spring season and the Ravens getting tender with players, but let’s be honest: This week was all about Greivis and the Terps.

[1] The Terps secured their signature win of the season Wednesday night, beating Duke to pull in a first-place tie with the Blue Devils in the ACC. The Terps are red-hot at the right time, but don’t worry about brackets and seeding and selection committees just yet. Take a few days to celebrate this win — though not like what went down in College Park (but hey, if you want to set the family sofa on fire, go nuts.) I’m all for a good sports-related riot, but I’ll admit, I was surprised by this one. Did they really think there was any way Greivis Vasquez would lose his last game at Comcast Center?

Read the rest of this entry »

The NFL’s annual meat market, the scouting combine, wrapped up Tuesday. As always, these draft hopefuls’ performances in spandex — and sans shoulder pads — will cause the stock of some to soar (Taylor Mays and Jason Pierre-Paul) and others to decline (Joe Haden and Jonathan Dwyer).

That’s why it’s a good time to make market adjustments to my first mock draft from three weeks ago. The workouts in Indy did nothing to affect the first three picks. But things are all shook up after that in mock No. 2.

1. Rams: Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska. Speculation is growing that the Rams will take a quarterback first overall because it makes more sense financially. But how smart will St. Louis look if that QB is a bust? I hope this struggling franchise does the right thing and takes Suh.
2. Lions: Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma. I’ll be stunned if the Lions don’t take one of the big two defensive tackles at this spot. And I don’t know who they would pick if the Rams passed on Suh.
3. Bucs: Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, S. Florida. Pierre-Paul, at South Florida for only a year, didn’t disappoint scouts at the combine who were eager for him to show off his freakish but untapped potential.
4. Redskins: Russell Okung, OT, Okla. State. It appears Mike Shanahan is leaning toward giving QB Jason Campbell another chance, so look for the team to address its most glaring need.
5. Chiefs: Eric Berry, S, Tennessee. The Chiefs have a lot of holes, so they are in a good spot here. They’ll get great value on a star player such as Berry who gets passed in the first few picks. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not going to lie, I was downright giddy this weekend when I heard the Ravens — well, maybe just their head coach — were officially “interested” in mercurial wide receiver Terrell Owens.

The T.O. show finally coming to Baltimore? Based on history, it probably won’t happen, but I’m still getting my popcorn ready.

My voice recorder and reporter’s notepad, too.

It is a columnist’s dream to cover a drama queen like T.O. (I don’t care if you want to lump me in with Owens in the selfish category).

But I also think adding the 36-year-old future Hall-of-Famer — and specifically his volatility and big-play ability — to the Ravens offense could be the spark needed to ignite Joe Flacco.

Admit it: There have been times when you desperately wanted to see Flacco show some fire. It was fun at first to call him “Joe Cool” as the Ravens carried him to the AFC championship game in his rookie season. But these past two seasons, we have rarely seen him show his emotions. In big spots, he’s been too-laid back, too much of an automaton.

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are cool customers, but they know when to flip the switch in crunch time.

I guarantee you Owens’ antics, in moderation, would help Flacco find his switch. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back, Miguel! And baseball, too. We’ve missed you {thanks, AP}

Spring training is in full swing, so we finally have something to discuss besides the Terps, Ravens and Caps. Sure, we’ll still talk about them, too, but it’s nice to have another option.

[1] The gang’s all there in Sarasota, Fla., after the Orioles position players reported to spring training Tuesday morning. Miggy Tejada rolled in at the last minute, of course, but hey, at least he made it. Making the switch from shortstop to third base, Tejada says he feels “like a little kid with a new toy.” His transition is one of a few major concerns for the O’s this spring. How will Dave Trembley manage his newfound bench? Will the O’s young starters live up to expectations? Has Koji Uehara finally mastered the art of the high-five? We’ll find out the answers soon enough, but it’s a good sign that there are fewer question marks than usual this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maryland freshman Jordan Williams is a beast {thanks, AP}

There’s a lot going on up there in Vancouver, but it was impossible to ignore what the Terps and Ravens were up to this week.

[1] With back-to-back wins this week, the Terps reclaimed second place in the ACC and pretty much solidified their spot in the NCAA tournament (now the question is where they’ll be seeded). Greivis Vasquez continues to carry the Maryland men with his emotional play and scoring. But the difference between this squad and last year’s is the interior play of senior forward Landon Milbourne and fab frosh Jordan Williams. Williams, who is averaging 8.8 points and 8.1 rebounds, is a beast. The Terps will be a dangerous team in the tourney.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sports fans love to talk about sports — especially here in Baltimore — so we’d like to give our readers with sports-savvy an opportunity to rant and rave about what’s going on in the world of sports, both locally and nationally. Each weekday, we’ll pose a new question for you to discuss at the water cooler. Here’s your chance to be an armchair quarterback. Now speak up, play nice and let us know what you think.

Today’s topic at the water cooler:
What are your thoughts on the Ravens signing troubled WR Donte’ Stallworth?

The Ravens brought in a troubled wide receiver Wednesday, but he wasn’t the one fans have been pining for the past two offseasons.

Newly signed Donte’ Stallworth doesn’t have the on-field pedigree of a Brandon Marshall. He’s not the problem-solving go-to guy the Ravens still lack. Plus, he has the off-field baggage — chiefly one “huge mistake” as GM Ozzie Newsome put it, perhaps understatedly — that could make even Marshall grimace.

But that doesn’t mean inking Stallworth, 29, to a low-risk one-year deal for a reported $900,000 isn’t a shrewd move by a calculating franchise desperate for receiver help.

In case you forgot about his fatal lapse in judgement, Stallworth was suspended by NFL commish Roger Goodell for the entire 2009 season for killing a pedestrian with his Bentley while driving drunk in Miami Beach last March. Make no mistake, that’s far worse than anything Michael Vick and Pacman Jones have ever done.

Well, at least that we know of.

Stallworth has since shown remorse. He quietly accepted punishment from the legal system (he served a 24-day jail sentence after a guilty plea) and his employer (he was reinstated to the NFL last week).

In a statement Wednesday, the veteran wideout conceded that his apology “will never be strong enough for some.” Stallworth also said that he’s a new man, that he’s “trying to be a positive influence.”

But will he go the way of Vick, a good citizen in his return to the NFL, or the way of Pacman, a total hooligan? Read the rest of this entry »

Who doesn’t love a good mailbag? Some good sportswriters do them — including two of my favorites, ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons and SI’s Peter King. Maybe having my own will make me a good writer, too.

Wait, Stuart Scott has one, right? Nevermind, I guess it’s not a cause-effect relationship after all. Oh well, you’re getting my mailbag anyway. It won’t be monthly, just whenever I feel like doing it. So send over your questions, and they might make it in b.

jeffw171 on Twitter responds to Wednesday’s mock draft where I had the Ravens taking Illinois WR Arrelious Benn: “Why not Jermaine Gresham or Brandon LaFell?”

Jeff added that he’s not a big Benn fan because he played in the Big Ten and didn’t put up big stats with Juice Williams, who is atrocious.

Benn is going to be a good player, trust me. He’s a raw talent, but is fast and strong with good hands and an NFL body. He’s the bigger, physical target Joe Flacco needs to work the middle of the field. I’m not sold on LaFell, who can’t stretch the field, as a first-rounder. But I wouldn’t complain if the Ravens took Gresham, the top tight end in the draft. He can run. He can catch. And he can block, which is important in Baltimore.

wheelsee on Twitter writes: “Do you foresee the Ravens taking [Boise State CB] Kyle Wilson in Round 1 under any circumstance?

It’s a possibility. The Ravens have to draft a corner at some point, that’s for sure. But they will draft for value, not need, in the first round. If Wilson is at the top of their board when they pick, they’ll take him. He’s a bit on the small side, but he’s quick and has good cover skills. Read the rest of this entry »