Senior Bowl

10:30 a.m. [NFL Network] You want to be Mel Kiper Jr.? Watch 1 1/2 hours of practice coverage from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Then, at 5 p.m., watch two hours more. After that, go over your notes until bedtime. Then realize doing this every day, day after day after day, only means some jerk in the newspaper will make a lame joke about your hair.

In theory, the defending Super Bowl champion isn't supposed to get stronger through the NFL draft because the team has the last pick in each round. That's not the case with the Ravens. After two days, they have picked up one of the top three players at two different positions. On Thursday, it was University of Florida safety Matt Elam with the No. 32 overall pick. On Friday night, they got another gem in Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown. The Ravens also picked Missouri Southern defensive tackle Brandon Williams in the third round, but he doesn't have the acclaim of Brown.

Members of the Ravens' coaching staff are spending the week in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl looking over some of the nation's best prospects, especially defenders who could help a pass rush that produced only 30 sacks last season.Ravens owner Art Modell has said he plans to release about one-third of his present roster, mostly defensive players, and that's where the Ravens have concentrated their efforts at the Senior Bowl.The Ravens have been impressed with Virginia outside linebackers James Farrior (6 feet 1, 232 pounds)

I'll be honest with you. I don't know anything about Missouri Southern State nose tackle Brandon Williams, whom the Ravens picked in the third round of the NFL draft on Friday night. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. The Ravens raved about his strength and character and how he held his own at the Senior Bowl, so I'm eager to find out more about him in the next couple of days. One thing I do know about Williams is that he can do this (see video above).

MOBILE, Ala. -- Each day, University of Maryland linebacker Eric Barton wakes up in amazement. He is living the opportunity of a lifetime, performing in front of coaches like Tony Dungy, Mike Ditka and Dennis Green every day. The 6-foot-3, 229-pound Barton will play for the North squad today against the South in the Senior Bowl. "You read about these guys and see them on TV all the time, but it's great playing in front of them," Barton said. "But you can't become too awe-struck because there is too much intensity here.

The Ravens' coaching staff has been selected to coach the North squad in the 1998 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., which the Ravens believe will give them an upper hand headed into the NFL draft in April.According to Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens' vice president of player personnel, the Ravens' staff will head to Mobile on Jan. 11 to begin coaching for the game that will be played Jan. 17. Washington Redskins coach Norv Turner will coach the South squad.This is the third time Ravens coach Ted Marchibroda has participated in the game.

I'll be honest with you. I don't know anything about Missouri Southern State nose tackle Brandon Williams, whom the Ravens picked in the third round of the NFL draft on Friday night. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. The Ravens raved about his strength and character and how he held his own at the Senior Bowl, so I'm eager to find out more about him in the next couple of days. One thing I do know about Williams is that he can do this (see video above).

WEDNESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS M. bask. Navy@Army (T) CBSCS9 a.m. Navy@Army (T) CBSCS3 Iowa@Penn State BIGTEN6:30 Whip-around coverage ESPNU6:30 West Virginia@Louisville ESPNU7 St. John's@Georgetown MASN7 Texas@Oklahoma State ESPN7:30 North Carolina@Miami ESPN27:30 ...

Tony Vinson and Matt Steeple had drastically different experiences on the football field last fall. This weekend, they will be nervously anticipating the same phone call.The NFL conducts its annual draft tomorrow and Monday. Vinson and Steeple, the area's outstanding seniors last year, stand solid chances of being picked Monday during the final five rounds of the two-day, seven-round draft."It's been a long week already, and it's going to be a very long two days," said Vinson, a running back at Towson State.

Art Modell was a hero in Baltimore, and for good reason. But Baltimore has known him mostly as an elderly man. I was fortunate enough to be in the company of the young Art Modell , when he first became owner of the Browns. I was a football writer for the Pensacola, Fla. News-Journal 50 or so years ago. I covered the Senior Bowl each year back then when it was a struggling enterprise trying to get national recognition. In the course of that, I came to know the two guys who used to do the broadcast for the Senior Bowl - Red Grange and Steve Owen, who had been coach of the New York Giants.

For some reason, there has always been speculation that if the Ravens got to another Super Bowl, general manager Ozzie Newsome would retire. Newsome says that isn't true. "That's not even close," Newsome said. "Really, I enjoy the guys I work with and I think we have a great staff. I really, really enjoy the players and my relationships with them and that helps me in coming to work every day. Of course, winning helps, too. " Newsome is in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl.

Art Modell was a hero in Baltimore, and for good reason. But Baltimore has known him mostly as an elderly man. I was fortunate enough to be in the company of the young Art Modell , when he first became owner of the Browns. I was a football writer for the Pensacola, Fla. News-Journal 50 or so years ago. I covered the Senior Bowl each year back then when it was a struggling enterprise trying to get national recognition. In the course of that, I came to know the two guys who used to do the broadcast for the Senior Bowl - Red Grange and Steve Owen, who had been coach of the New York Giants.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh took the bold initiative of stating that rookie Kelechi Osemele could start at right tackle. The organization's second-round pick in April's NFL draft didn't disagree with that sentiment. “Right now, it'll come down to practices and reps and stuff,” Osemele said after Saturday's practice at the team's training complex in Owings Mills. “I still don't have it down 100 percent. So right now, I'm just trying to learn from the older guys, but come September, I'll be ready.” Osemele's confidence comes on the heels of Harbaugh's post-practice comments on Friday when he was asked whether Osemele could open the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept.

At one point during Wednesday's neighborhood rivalry between No. 2 Bryn Mawr and No. 14 Roland Park, the host Mawrtians were winning almost every draw and finishing more than half their shots. Eventually, they built a commanding 10-3 lead with 10:27 remaining, weathered a late rally by the Reds and secured a key 12-7 Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference victory. Parlaying efficient shooting with dynamic play on the circle, Bryn Mawr (7-0) scored five of the first six goals in the second half to pull away from a Roland Park (2-3)

Los Angeles County Coroner's officials announced Wednesday that the official cause of death for Bubba Smith, the former Baltimore Colts defensive end who died August 3, was acute drug intoxication and other conditions. According to The Los Angeles Times , an autopsy found that Smith, 66, had the weight-loss drug phentermine in his system. The coroner also said that he suffered from heart disease and high-blood pressure. The report noted that Smith's heart was nearly twice the weight of a normal heart and some vessels were nearly blocked.

WEDNESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS M. bask. Navy@Army (T) CBSCS9 a.m. Navy@Army (T) CBSCS3 Iowa@Penn State BIGTEN6:30 Whip-around coverage ESPNU6:30 West Virginia@Louisville ESPNU7 St. John's@Georgetown MASN7 Texas@Oklahoma State ESPN7:30 North Carolina@Miami ESPN27:30 ...

1 Announcer 4 U: The Maryland-Duke game (noon, ESPN) is being called by Mike Patrick and Len Elmore. We're still waiting for Patrick to bring up Britney Spears in the middle of a basketball game. 2 Not so intense: DePaul and Marquette are natural rivals, but these days the Golden Eagles are ranked No. 11 and the Blue Demons are winless in the Big East (2 p.m., ESPN2). 3 Ode to Oden: Could this be the first 30-point game for Greg Oden (left)? The Blazers host the Wizards (10 p.m., Comcast SportsNet)

SATURDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS M. bask. James Madison@George Mason CN8, CSN Noon Louisville@West Virginia ESPN Noon La Salle@Temple ESPN2 Noon Marquette@Connecticut MASN Noon Duke@Georgetown 13, 9 1 LSU@Mississippi State CSNP 1:30 St. Louis@Richmond ...