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| This is the sign under which I shall reign.... |
I decided to start this blog to show the differences, and the similarities between the two places, outside of the obvious.
Obviously, Baltimore is a major metropolitan area, there are some two million people who live in and around the city, McMechen is a small town just south of Wheeling, where the area might have fifty thousand people. Baltimore is a major American Port, McMechen has a park on the Ohio River. The scenery in McMechen is beautiful, the rolling hills, the forests, the Stream, Creeks, and Rivers, not fighting for space, but flowing through the area complimented by the homes and businesses, in Baltimore the waters seem to be more urbanized...
We will never forget our love for the Family and Friends we left behind, we will never abandon our Loyalty to the Ravens or Orioles, we will always long for those sweet sweet Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs.
Yet as a committed Christians we look on this as an opportunity, granted by God, to share His love with the men and women here, as well as an opportunity to spread the Purple Light in a place that is in sore need of it...
This is the last run of Raymond James Lewis, the second pick of the first draft the Ravens ever had.
Ray has been the heart and soul of the team for its entire existence. He has given the speeches, he has rallied the troops, he has won it all, as well as stood tough during the bad times...1996, 1997, 1998, 2007... all years that would make any Ravens fan cringe with bad memories.
He has won the awards, he has hoisted the trophies, he IS Baltimore football. He will go down in the history of football as the Greatest Middle Linebacker of his era... and in the minds of many, the greatest ever... there will be NFL specials that will detail his career and (in the near future at the least) he will be mentioned during every broadcast of every Ravens game.
I would like to look at his successor the man I have come to call Thumbs...
The 4th year Dannell Ellerbe has displayed consistently strong play and showed a nose for the ball that causes him to be in on tackle after tackle, game after game.
2012 POSTSEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
• Started and finished third on the team with 9 tackles (8 solo) for a defense that kept the Colts out of the end zone in the 24-9 victory in the Wild Card game vs. Ind. (1/6/13)
2012 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Played in 13 games (7 starts) and established career highs in tackles (89 - second on team), solo stops (66), sacks (4.5 - tied for third on team) and posted 2 PD...Also recorded 3 tackles and 1 FF on special teams
• Started after missing the previous three games (ankle) and led the team with 5 solo tackles for a defense that held the Giants to 186 total yards and 20% (2-of-10) on third down in the 33-14 victory in game 15 vs. NYG (12/23)
• Led the team with a career-high-tying 12 tackles (8 solo) in the 13-10 victory in game 10 at Pit. (11/18)
• Started and led the team with a career-high 12 tackles (career-high 9 solo) and had a PD in game 7 at Hou. (10/21)
• Recorded 8 tackles (7 solo) and 1.5 sacks (-12.5 yards) in the 31-30 victory in game 3 vs. NE (9/23)...Also produced a special teams stop against the Patriots
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• Established a career high with 12 tackles at Hou. (10/21/12)
• Recorded his first-career INT vs. Oak. (1/3/10)
• Was the only rookie free agent to make the Ravens’ opening-day 53-man roster in 2009
The Undrafted Free Agent out of Georgia will not make you forget 52, but he will make the loss somewhat less painful...
As to why I call him Thumbs.... when the team was suffering through a massive injury list, Dannell played with two broken thumbs in the victory over the Steelers in Pittsburgh, they caused him to miss a sure interception, yet he recorded 12 tackles, 8 of them solo WITH TWO BROKEN THUMBS... if that is not being the next man up... what is?
next time, the strange looks I get from people around here when they see my Ravens gear... and a few pics of the new digs...
Goodbye for now, from the Purple Bunker, in enemy territory..
