David Steele

Not that I'm breaking any news here, but the Ravens really do own this town. ... When I was little, living down the road in the District Whose Name Dares Not Be Spoken, I got the sense that this city loved the Orioles but was passionate, borderline crazy, about the Colts. ... Now, talking about the losing Orioles makes people mad, but talking about the losing Ravens makes people want to kill somebody, even if it's just for talking about the Ravens losing. david.steele@baltsun.com For more of David Steele's blog, go to baltimoresun.

Last week: Overall: Today's games Ravens at Bengals Dolphins at Rams Panthers at Packers Giants at Redskins 49ers at Bills Colts at Browns Saints at Buccaneers Falcons at Chargers Broncos at Jets Chiefs at Raiders Steelers at Patriots Bears at Vikings Tomorrow's game Jaguars at Texans Peter Schmuck 11-5 117-58-1 Ravens Dolphins Packers Giants Bills Colts Saints Chargers Jets Raiders Patriots Vikings Texans Edward Lee...

*Quiet as it's kept, a lot of cities get more excited about the day rookies and selected veterans report than the day pitchers and catchers report - and this is one of them. *Actually, the pitching predicament at the All-Star Game last week wasn't as dire as it seemed. Whitey Ford was ready to take the mound if needed. *When we were all speculating about who would carry golf while Tiger Woods was away, did any of us guess Greg Norman? And in hindsight, is there a better choice? *Shaquille O'Neal finds Jesse Jackson's comments about Barack Obama to be crude, tasteless and juvenile.

* Wow. To hear some people's reaction, you would think Daniel Cabrera drove drunk, shot steroids or spit on an umpire, instead of just developing too slowly. * Some fair-weather fans the Chicago Cubs have. One measly century of failure and they jump off the bandwagon. * Isiah Thomas, Wes Unseld, now Elgin Baylor - how old do you have to be to remember how great they were as players, instead of how bad they were as team executives? * Maybe more attention would be paid to the twists and turns of Matt Jones' cocaine-possession case if he had a catchy nickname like "Pacman."