Super Bowl

A little more than a month since the Super Bowl XLVII victory parade, the party has officially ended for the Ravens. When they next take the field for the start of organized team activities, the Ravens will have a significantly different look from the group that beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, on Feb. 3 to capture the second world championship in franchise history. Since their offseason began, they have lost eight players who were starters at different points of this past season.

If you want to understand what the Ravens have been doing over the past week - other than dismantling a Super Bowl champion - it might be instructive to look back at the final week of the regular season. The Ravens had a longshot opportunity to improve their seeding for the playoffs, but chose instead to play a pared-down roster against the Cincinnati Bengals to gather their strength for what would turn out to be a wildly successful postseason run. Did they tank the Bengals game?

With little salary cap room and other priorities, the Ravens knew that they'd lose several key contributors from the team that beat the San Francisco 49ers last month to win Super Bowl XLVII. Their first free agent defection came less than an hour after the market opened today as outside linebacker Paul Kruger agreed to terms on a five-year deal with the Cleveland Browns worth $40 million, according to league sources. Kruger's loss was expected after the 27-year-old linebacker had a breakout 2012-13 season, leading the Ravens with nine sacks to go along with 42 tackles, one interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

After the Ravens celebrated the release of their Super Bowl DVD Monday, not everyone was ready to go home. Ray Lewis and Joe Flacco kept the party rolling, heading over to Chazz: A Bronx Original in Harbor East . Chazz manager Peter Stala tells Insider that the Ravens arrived at the restaurant after 8 p.m., settling into the private dining room. "They were in good spirits," he said. "They'd just been watching their Super Bowl run on the DVD and were having a good time.

The media cover Ray Lewis' faith and his role as spiritual leader of the Ravens frequently. Ray Lewis makes it so. Anyone who has seen him once knows that he understands how to use pageantry to reveal deeper meaning. From taking off his jersey following the post-season win over the Indianapolis Colts to reveal a shirt with "Psalms 91" emblazoned across it to the inimitable way he enunciates each syllable as if he were beseeching God (even when he is talking about what he ate for breakfast)

Ready to relive Super Bowl XLVII? Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, the NFL and NFL Films are teaming up to release Super Bowl XLVII Champions: 2012 Baltimore Ravens on March 12. The video includes bonus footage and interviews with members of the Ravens and coaches.  Interviews with Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, parents of Ravens coach John Harbaugh and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, along with excerpts from Media Day and postgame interviews are among the...

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is back into the routine at the Castle. He is turning down speaking engagements and book deals and watching video of potential draft picks. The euphoria of being a winning Super Bowl head coach is finally starting to die down. "I'm getting into the routines again," said Harbaugh, about to enter his sixth season in Baltimore. "I'm watching every guy in the draft. I've got to do that, I've got to know who we're drafting and if I can help. "I get a report every night from our coordinators on what they did and it gives me a chance to weigh in as well.

Baltimore loves its Ravens. And it loves Old Bay. And for just a little while, the city can have the two together. Old Bay maker McCormick is releasing a limited-edition commemorative can to celebrate the Ravens Super Bowl victory. The can is purple, with the Ravens logo and the date of the Super Bowl win. The company plans to make 30,000 of the 16-ounce collector's tins and sell them in Maryland, southern Pennsylvania and Delaware. “We always BAYLIEVED in our Ravens and couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the win than with a limited edition Baltimore Ravens commemorative OLD BAY can,” Jill Pratt, vice president of marketing for McCormick consumer business, said in a statement.

Watching NFL players dance can be awe-inspiring. Or it can be like watching hippos on rollerblades. Donald Driver, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were terrific on "Dancing with the Stars. " So was Warren Sapp, who turned out to be a 300-pound Michael Jackson without the emotional baggage. But Lawrence Taylor looked like he was trying to start a balky lawnmower engine when he danced the jive. And Michael Irvin showed all the hip action of a geriatric patient doing the cha-cha. Now the latest football player to join the show is Jacoby Jones, who wants to see if his famous swivel-hipped end zone celebrations can help him on dancing's biggest stage.

The Ravens - our champions! They are still topics of discussion as are those Super Bowl parties. Mary Lee and Dick Hilgartner divided their time between parties. They had great fun with friends from St. Pius X, out in Phoenix, for the first half and a happy time with each other at home, in Rodgers Forge, for the second half due to an early call on Monday morning. Kristy and Pete Knuppel and children ( Lindsey, Emmy and Augie ) had a front yard tailgate party on Jan. 29 with fellow Gaywoodites, Ira and Dawn Katz ( Cole, Landon and Blake )