Houston

The rest of the country considered Houston's win over UTEP in the Conference USA tournament to be an upset. After all, UTEP had won 16 games in a row and was ranked 25th nationally. But Houston coach Tom Penders said the win was not an upset. I profiled Penders and Houston in today's paper. Here are some quotes not in the article. "I told the team going into the playoffs that we had the best team in the conference. We had beaten UTEP in the regular season," Penders said. Prior to the title game, the team had battled injuries.

As the Orioles and Ravens try to work out a scheduling conflict that has put in jeopardy the NFL's hopes of opening up the regular season on Thursday, Sept. 5 at M&T Bank Stadium, the relationship between the two downtown neighbors has again come under scrutiny. That's a shame because over the past year or so, the synergy between the Orioles and Ravens never appeared better. Ravens players wore cartoon bird hats and frequently brought up the Orioles during their playoff run. When the Orioles played the New York Yankees at home in Game 2 of their playoff series, half the Ravens' roster was at Camden Yards.

Dave Dickerson has a dilemma this week going into Friday's opening-round NCAA tournament game between Maryland and Houston in Spokane, Wash. Will he root for the school where he played four years, earned his degree and won a national championship as an assistant coach? Or will the fourth-year Tulane coach pull for a fellow member of Conference USA? Don't ask. "It's going to be an interesting matchup for me. I'm right in the middle of this thing," said Dickerson, who played at Maryland for Lefty Driesell and Bob Wade from 1985 through 1989.

For so long, they had been the two faces of one of the league's most dominant defenses, Ray Lewis the punishing tackler and Ed Reed the unrelenting ball hawk. Now, they are both gone and the mass exodus from the Ravens defense continues. About six weeks after Lewis retired following his last game as a Raven, Reed moved closer to signing a two-year deal with the Houston Texans, who aggressively pursued the 34-year-old safety over the last week. Terms of the deal aren't known and there are still a few things that have to be worked out, but it's clear that Reed and the organization that he had played with for the last 11 years have parted ways.

Et cetera Randallstown alum Womack is Houston-bound Former Randallstown basketball guard Tione Womack has signed with Houston. The former first-team All-Metro player, who led the Rams to two state titles, has spent the past two years at Hagerstown Community College. Womack averaged 10 points, 7.6 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9steals as a sophomore. "Tione has a pass-first mentality that creates easy scoring opportunities for his teammates and is a quick, solid on-ball defender," Cougars coach James Dickey said in a news release.

On July 26 2004, HOUSTON R. KNIGHT SR., husband of Marjorie E. Knight. Friends may call at the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 East North Avenue on Sunday after 10 A. M where the family will receive friends on Monday at 11:30 A.M. Funeral services will follow at 12 noon. See www.marchfh.com

Dave Dickerson has a quandary this week going into Friday's opening-round NCAA tournament game between Maryland and Houston in Spokane, Wash. Will he root for the school where he played four years, earned his degree and won a national championship as an assistant coach? Or will the fifth-year Tulane coach pull for a fellow member of Conference USA? Don't ask. "It's going to be an interesting matchup for me. I'm right in the middle of this thing," said Dickerson, who played at Maryland for Lefty Driesell and Bob Wade from 1985 through 1989.

On January 28, 2005, EARLINE V. HOUSTON devoted wife of James E. Houston. On Sunday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICE, 5151 Baltimore National Pike, from 3 to 8 P.M. On Monday, Mrs. Houston will lie instate at Sacred Full Gospel Church, 20 W. North Avenue, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A. M with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.

Suddenly on November 4, 2007 JOHN C. HOUSTON, JR. Devoted father of Amanda Heffner and Samantha Houston. Loving grandfather of Robert W. Wetzel, Jr. Loving son of Juanita Houston. Dear brother of Bonita Riley. Visitation at Kaczorowski Funeral Home, P.A., 1201 Dundalk Ave. on Thursday from 2-4 & 6-8 P.M. Funeral Service on Thursday at 7:30 P.M. Interment Private.

On July 13, 2004, SANDRA L. HOUSTON, devoted wife of Jerome E. Houston Sr. Beloved mother of Christine Mines, Esther Johnson, Chanel Farmer, Sharon, Jerome Jr., and Jonathan Houston. She is also survived by twelve grandchildren, one sister, Darlene Gross, and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC. 4300 Wabash Avenue on Sunday after 10:00 am. where the family will receive friends on Monday at 6 PM., follow by Funeral Services at 7 PM. See: www.marchfh.

The Ravens almost lost another key player in free agency. Oh, ho-hum, another day, another top player gone. Who cares, and at this point, did anyone expect anything different? Despite the exodus of players, the Ravens haven't made any major mistakes in cutting players or not re-signing them. So far, the offseason has gone as expected with the Ravens losing six starters from last season's Super Bowl championship team. On Friday, future Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed almost became the latest before he left Houston without a contract.

Jacoby Jones ended up being the Ravens' top free-agent acquisition during last offseason. This past season, Jones tied an NFL record with a 108-yard kickoff return and became the first player in NFL history to record multiple KOR-TD of at least 105 yards (108 and 105). He set franchise records for kick return TD's in a season (2 KOR and 1 PR) and averaged 30.7 yards per kickoff return. With 31 seconds left in regulation, Jones also had the 70-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco which tied the game before the Ravens beat the Denver Broncos in double overtime on Jan. 12. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said he had some help in signing Jones.

A few months ago, during my first trip to Houston, I did what anyone whose knowledge of Texas is defined almost entirely by movies and television might do. I bought cowboy boots from a man with a handlebar mustache, went to a honky tonk, got thrown off a mechanical bull and mastered the "Boot Scootin' Boogie. " If I hadn't gone back to Texas last week, this story might have ended right about there, but during my second trip, with my cowboy itch already thoroughly scratched, I paid closer attention.

The Ravens' regular-season finale Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals is like the final preseason game - it's just one more test before the new season begins. So, you can yawn through that one like you do during actual preseason games, and then once it is over, the real fun begins. Right now, the Ravens are the No. 4 seed in the AFC and could move up to No. 3, depending on the outcome of a few other games Sunday. But they don't need anything to change. With the current seeds, the Ravens are in good position.

The excuses from Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron about not using running back Ray Rice are getting old. They are about 3 years old, which coincidentally, is the time the Ravens and Cameron have spent trying to build the offense around quarterback Joe Flacco. I understand what they were trying to do, and I think they fell in line with everyone else about the NFL becoming a pass happy league. Maybe that's true, but to adopt that theory you need a great quarterback. In Flacco, the Ravens have a good one, but one not consistent enough to carry an offense.

With the Ravens in their bye week, Baltimore Sun reporter Aaron Wilson takes an in-depth look at their 43-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. Strategy: The Ravens' approach was wildly ineffectual, struggling mightily against the AFC South-leading Texans. The no-huddle was abandoned by Cam Cameron because it rarely works in noisy road venues; it was used once for a run by Ray Rice that lost 2 yards. The running game was scrapped hastily after Rice gained 27 yards on his first three carries.

Every Tuesday, blogger Matt Vensel breaks down a critical play, sometimes with the help of Ravens players, from that week's game. Today he looks at Joe Flacco's interception that Houston returned for a touchdown. There weren't many positive highlights from Sunday's 43-13 loss to the Houston Texans. So instead, let's take a look at the play that blew the game wide open for the Texans. On the first play of the second quarter, the game was still within the Ravens' control. They trailed, 9-3, but they had the ball a few yards shy of midfield.

The reality smacked the Ravens in the face like one of Joe Flacco's passes that got batted back toward the line of scrimmage by a swarming Houston Texans defense. Over 60 frustrating minutes Sunday, all the Ravens' flaws through the first six games came to the surface. Flacco struggled, running back Ray Rice never was established and the Ravens' offense wilted again on the road. On defense, not even the successful return of linebacker Terrell Suggs could save a group that struggles to tackle, get pressure on the quarterback and provide adequate coverage.