Baltimore Ravens

If you are one of the local football fans who has been chomping at the bit to see the Baltimore Ravens in action since the 2011-12 season closed, you might not have to wait another four months to do so - several of the purple-clothed heroes will be at Ripken Stadium Sunday for the Lardarius Webb Charity Softball Classic. In addition to Webb, who began organizing the games in 2010, Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco, running back Ray Rice, wide receiver Torrey Smith, tight end Ed Dickson, cornerback Jimmy Smith, cornerback Cary Williams and wide receiver Anquan Boldin are slated to compete in Sunday's contest.

Forgive Keith Parsons for being a tad blissed out. The 35-year-old salesman, born in Redskins country, married into a Ravens clan and carrying a lifelong torch for the Orioles, is pretty sure he's having the best sports year of his life. "I can't even really put it into words how cool it is to see the teams I root for not be jokes," he says. "It's truly been magical. " In recent days, when Parsons, who lives in Owings Mills, isn't trying on the RGIII jersey he got for Christmas, he's singing the praises of Ray Lewis and sending out giddy Twitter messages portending a Beltway boy's dream: a Ravens-Redskins Super Bowl.

Priest Holmes gained 8,172 yards in his 10-year career with the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. That is even more impressive when you consider that he was occasionally hit so hard that his very perception of the world changed . Holmes, who won a Super Bowl during his four-year stint with the Ravens, told Fox Sports' Chris Corbellini that after helmet-to-helmet collisions, the sky would sometimes appear to change colors. “This color obviously isn't going to be blue.

Big games almost always have great back stories, and the 2013 Super Bowl, won by the Baltimore Ravens over the San Francisco 49ers, is no exception. Here are five books that could be crafted from the team members involved in Sunday's game. My bet is that at least one will be written within a year. -- The Fall and Rise of Ray Lewis. On the night of the 2001 Super Bowl in Atlanta, a promising young player is ensnared in a street fight and charged with murder. Lewis pleads guilty to a lesser charge, while two other defendants are acquitted of murder.

According to the BMI chart, the Baltimore Ravens should rename themselves the Baltimore Fat Boys. BMI stands for "body mass index." It's basically a ratio of weight to height that's supposed to tell if you're normal, overweight or an obese fatso. The weights and heights of 12 of my beloved Ravens are on my 2007 Baltimore Ravens calendar, which I proudly display on my bedroom wall. Before I tell you why the BMI chart shows that several Ravens are either fat or overweight, I'll tell you a quick story about why I even bothered to compute a body mass index for them.

I would like to pass on sincerest praise to the Baltimore Ravens for an amazing effort against the 49ers. My son and many of his mates watched the game here in Australia. Enjoy your success. Marie Hall, Albury, New South Wales, Australia Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Congratulations to the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. The entire town celebrates their win - and would have loved to have seen the victory parade to honor their achievement ("'Epic moment,'" Feb. 6). So I'm just wondering why that parade couldn't have happened on Saturday, Feb. 9 when the thousands of school-aged children who idolize these men could have witnessed it as well without missing a day of school. D. Taylor, Baltimore Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

Ravens officials said Thursday they won't extend an open invitation to fans again without first passing out free tickets, after this week's Super Bowl celebration at M&T Bank Stadium where larger-than-expected crowds amassed and an 11-year-old boy was trampled. Tiffany Hodge said she brought her son to the stadium from East Baltimore with hopes that he could see his hero, running back Ray Rice, but an unruly crowd overwhelmed them and both were knocked unconscious. She said her son, Tyrek, suffered a concussion, an injury to his eye, and still has a swollen face.

Two Baltimore Ravens have bared their talons, preparing to go to battle over the right to retain their name.The Baltimore Raven Wheelchair Basketball Club Inc., founded in 1970, filed suit in U.S. District Court yesterday against the Baltimore Ravens football team and NFL Properties Inc. over the exclusive right to use the Ravens name.The basketball Ravens are asking for unspecified damages for trademark infringement, as well as an injunction prohibiting the team from using the names "Baltimore Ravens" or "Ravens" in the Baltimore market.

Wedding day: Sept. 29, 2012 Her story: Elizabeth Lerie, 24, grew up in Baltimore and is a coordinator of information technology for the University of Maryland. Her parents, Vincent and Debbie Lerie, are both X-ray technicians. His story: Zachary Zentz, 26, grew up in Baltimore. He is a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technician, as well as a part-time bartender. His father, John Zentz, is also an HVAC technician. His mother, Lesley Zentz, is a homemaker.