Tag Archives: ravens

Football

2010 AFC North Preview, by Big Dawg

With the NFL season about to kickoff, Scratchbomb has asked a few luminaries to give us their takes on the upcoming football season. Next up, Cleveland Browns superfan John “Big Dawg” Thompson.

browns.jpgWho, me? You’re not gonna ask somebody from somewhere else?

You’re goddamn serious? *sigh* Okay, great here we go. Whoopee.

Yeah, I’m excited about this season. Gonna be great watching Jake Delhomme do the…thing…with the football. Mike Holmgren should be able to, um, do some things with this…team.

Gonna be tough, of course. The Ravens have Joe Flacco and Ray Lewis and Ray Rice, but we’ve got Colt McCoy!

And the Steelers have won two Super Bowls in the last five seasons and Troy Polamalu looks healthy again. But hey, Cleveland’s got Bobby Engram.

And the Bengals have T.O. and Ochocinco and Carson Palmer, but the Browns…the Browns have…

FUCK YOU! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO ASK ME TO DO THIS?! FUCK YOU IN HALF! YOU SEE THIS DOG MASK? IT ISN’T A MASK ANYMORE! I GOT PLASTIC SURGERY TO MAKE MY FACE LOOK LIKE THIS! I DID THIS FOR A FOOTBALL TEAM! A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE FOOTBALL TEAM! WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

At least Cleveland still has the best basketball player in the world. OH WAIT, NO WE DON’T. HE SHIT ALL OVER US TO PLAY SECOND FIDDLE IN MIAMI. LEBRON WOULD RATHER BE #2 THERE THAN #1 HERE. THANK GOD WE DON’T HAVE A HOCKEY TEAM, BECAUSE THEY’D JUST SHIT ALL OVER MY DREAMS, TOO!

WHY DO YOU THINK I GOT CAUGHT ON A DUI RAP LAST YEAR? I JUST WANT THIS VALE OF TEARS TO END! LET ME DIE AND COME BACK AS AN ASSHOLE COWBOYS FAN AND MAYBE I’LL KNOW HAPPINESS IN THE NEXT LIFE! ARRRRRRRRRGH!

You know what, though, I think Josh Cribbs is gonna have a monster year, I can just feel it.

Football, Skitch Hanson

Up the Middle with Skitch Hanson: The Keys to the Keystone State

Scratchbomb hands over the reins to nationally syndicated sports columnist Skitch Hanson, as we’ve done many times before. You may know him as the author of the highly popular syndicated column “Up The Middle.” You may also have read his best-selling book I Liked It Better When Home Run Hitters Drank Like Fish. He’s also a frequent guest on ESPN’s sportswriters panel show 4th and Forever. Without further ado, here’s Skitch.

Within the week, we could witness something truly historic. Something that people have been waiting for, hoping for, some even praying for, for years. Centuries, even. And when that moment happens, I will stand and applaud with my fellow Americans, maybe choke back a tear, and wonder what wonders the future holds for all of us.

Of course, I’m speaking of the possibility of an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl.

Some people like to think of how far we’ve come, but I wonder why it’s taken us this long. Do you realize that before this weekend, two Pennsylvania teams had never even made the semifinals of any major professional sport at the same time? That is a shame our nation must live with.

Continue reading Up the Middle with Skitch Hanson: The Keys to the Keystone State →

Football

Playoff Preview: Ravens at Titans with Ray Lewis

Today, we preview the weekend’s playoff games with a whole buncha celebrity guests. To discuss the exciting Baltimore-Tennessee matchup, here’s Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who agreed to talk with Scratchbomb as long as I didn’t broach certain subjects.

raylewis.jpgThis has to be a great season for the Ravens. No one expected you to do anything this year, and now you find yourself one win away from the AFC Championship game. How does that feel?

I always believed that we could cut through the competition in the AFC, ever since training camp, when I saw Joe Flacco firing those absolute daggers down the field.

He’s turned out to be quite a draft steal.

I bet there’s a lot of teams out there who feel like stabbing themselves for passing him up!

That’s a curious turn of phrase, but yes, I would think so. Of course, the backbone of your team remains the defense, with veterans like you and Ed Reed. How do you stay so fresh after so many years in the league?

I don’t know how you can’t stay fresh! This is the greatest job in the world! Every time I go out on the field, it’s like the first time I put on pads. I just wanna go out there and slash that offense to ribbons!

So how do you explain your continued success? Is it a strong work ethic or a rigorous training regimen?

Any success I have in my life, it all comes from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through Him all things are possible. When I let Him into my life, it was like I’d been stabbed in the soul with a 13-inch knife. But His knife filled me with love and forgiveness, rather than caused me to bleed to death from my carotid artery.

That’s some curious religious imagery.

Faith is a curious thing. To the faithless man, it may make no sense. But to those who believe, it’s an exhilirating, transcendent feeling. The only thing I can compare it to is, oh, I don’t know, stabbing two guys to death and totally getting away with it.

C’mon, you’re not even trying anymore!

It’s so hard, man, it’s so hard.

SB prediction: Ravens 24, Titans 12.