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Maybe now some of the Ravens fans will stop whining. Oh, they let Ed Reed go, they let Dannell Ellerbe go, they let Paul Kruger go, they cut Bernard Pollard ... Whine, whine, whine ... The entire time I kept saying the Ravens were making the right moves and they still could make a big, major acquisition. Forget the salary cap baloney -- when a team wants to make a deal, when they feel a player is a priority, then they can make the deal regardless of cap status. It might cost them a veteran or two, and it might hurt in the future, but it can happen.

Ed Reed doesn't want to say goodbye, but he does want to say thanks. The former Ravens safety took out a full page ad in the Sports section of today's Baltimore Sun  to deliver a message to the fans who have cheered him for more than a decade. The ad reads:    Ravens Nation, My eleven seasons in Baltimore were more than I would have ever imagined, which is why I have such deep love for you all. I will forever cherish my time with the Ravens and the chills that ran down my spine when I finally kissed the Lombardi Trophy.

It still felt like winter at Oriole Park on Saturday morning, but spring was in the air and baseball was already on the minds of the fans who showed up to shop for season tickets at the Orioles' first "Tag Day" since 2009. No, it wasn't a special promotion that allowed fans to take the field and play a rousing game of touched-you-last. It was an opportunity to walk around the ballpark and sit in the seats that are still available for purchase on a full- or partial-season basis.

Welcome back to Morning Shootaround, a regular feature this season the day after Maryland basketball games. We will recap what was said in the news conference afterward by Maryland coach Mark Turgeon and his players. We will give some of our own insight into what transpired on the court during the previous day's game and what the Terps will be working on at practice looking ahead to their next game. Maryland 62, Denver 52 @ Comcast Center Tuesday night (NIT second round) As Maryland was about to fall behind by nine points midway through the second half, a fan sitting behind press row yelled sarcastically at Turgeon, “Let's see what you got, Coach.” Another chimed in, “What would Gary do?

Now that the Orioles and Ravens have announced they could not reach a compromise on the Sept. 5 date, and the NFL says the Ravens will start the season on the road, it's fair to say that nobody won this debacle. It's a losing proposition all around. The Orioles lose because they're going to get ripped for not finding a way to move the game, and subsequently having a crowd of about 5,000 for the Sept. 5 night game against the Chicago White Sox. The Ravens lose because they have to open the season on the road, probably against the New England Patriots, Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers.

For Baltimore sports fans, now is the early spring of our discontent. Could it really be that just six weeks ago, we were living in sports fandom ecstasy? The Baltimore Ravens were parading down Pratt Street hoisting a Vince Lombardi Trophy, having won the Super Bowl , the highest honor in U.S. professional sports. There was even a bit of afterglow leftover from the Orioles' surprising season and playoff effort, the first time Baltimore's Major League Baseball franchise had reached the post-season since 1997.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker, editor Matt Bracken, and Sun intern/Diamondback co-sports editor Josh Vitale weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. What will the environment be like at Friday night's Maryland-Duke game in the ACC tournament? Jeff Barker: First of all, the Terps usually have a pretty decent fan contingent. Their red-clad group was louder than the Wake Forest fans during Maryland's win Thursday night at Greensboro Coliseum.

Maybe you think Ozzie Newsome has lost his mind this time. Now it's hard-hitting Bernard Pollard who's been shown the door by the Ravens' general manager, joining the mini-parade of Anquan Boldin, Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe as salary-cap casualties. I know, I know . . . since the start of free agency, it's felt like "Ozzie Gone Wild" over at the Castle as the re-making of the Super Bowl champions gets underway. But Ravens fans need to chill. Before the mass freak-out gets out of control, let's remember that it's still early in free agency.

Less loud and fun Matt Murschel Orlando Sentinel Military flyovers are just as much a part of major sporting events in America as beer and hot dogs. It's seems like a long-standing tradition and that's what makes sporting events, well, an event. It's the tradition and pageantry that keeps fans coming out to stadiums and parks. Will they be missed? Sure. Major League Baseball's opening day won't be the same without them. Are they a necessity? Not really. Fans at a NASCAR races are already on the edge of their seats with excitement.

Last month, on the night Rihanna won her seventh Grammy award, the 25-year-old singer performed "Stay," a sparsely arranged ballad from her latest album, "Unapologetic. " Often known for bombastic performances of uptempo dance songs, Rihanna instead gambled on raw emotion and vulnerability. The lack of flash, and flesh, was uncharacteristic, but the risk paid off. It was one of the few highlights of an otherwise lackluster night. Unsurprisingly, CBS panned to Chris Brown, dressed all in white, for the first reaction.