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Manny Ramirez being banned 50 games for steroids means nothing positive for Major League Baseball. Ramirez has long been one of the game’s brightest stars and dullest minds, revered for his hitting prowess as much as he is reviled for antics and loafing with former teams.

But another death knell for the sport at least gives the Washington Nationals momentum on a West Coast swing that could turn out well for them, and for the rest of the season if they play it right.

The Nats took down a Los Angeles Dodgers team that had not lost at home on the season. Drubbed the night before, you can imagine much of the air and arrogance quickly exited Dodgertown on the news that Manny Being Manny involved cycling off of steroids, which if you’re a conspiracy theorist, sheds new light on what took him so long to agree to new contract in the first place - he likely was waiting for the juice to clear out of his system for the drug tests he knew would be soon coming.

Apparently, he didn’t wait long enough.

Anyway, the Nats were drummed out of the building the night prior, thanks to another stellar performance from Mr. Triple Crown, Daniel Cabrera. But last night, the Nats offense got it in gear, and despite a poor pitching effort, pulled it out against a heavy-hitting Dodger team.

The Nats now travel to face an Arizona Diamondbacks club that will be with a new manager, and lots of questions surrounding the future of their season. Maybe it’s a lot to ask, but the Nats are showing signs of offensive stability - enough that they can overcome no pitching and at least compete in more games than they don’t.

Go figure that the worst news to hit baseball in a week or so works out well for MLB’s worst team.

I don’t think so, but Candus Thomson, one of the few sports reports remaining at the Baltimore Sun, seems to think the Skins be an appropriate professional stop on the Michael Vick comeback trail.

In a perfect world, disgraced quarterback and dog-fighting mastermind Michael Vick would end up working for bullying and clueless Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, allowing current quarterback Jason Campbell to tunnel out to a happier world.

There’s a couple of angles to this kind of remark. Looking beyond the snarkiness from a Baltimore writer to a D.C. based franchise, you can see that Thomson believes Vick deserves to suffer in a deserved return to football, and that there’s no better suffering place than the Washington Redskins. If you’re Jason Campbell, that’s true; but it’s still a ridiculous proposition - even in humor.

If the intent is to rile up Redskins fans, this isn’t the way to go. Either Thomson wanted the Redskins to look bad, or Vick to look worse. Either way, there’s no reason to do so. Her post points to Vick deserving another chance, so why paint Vick into a bad situation with the league’s worst owner? Why advocate for him getting another shot at the NFL, but only if it’s in a situation that will likely turn out bad for him?

And what’s the need to point out that the Redskins are a horribly-run team? Redskins fans know it, and love them for it all the more. It’s almost like a weird rallying point for the fan base - the more the owner runs us into the ground, the more support they need from us. Besides, it’s not like taking subtle shots at the Skins works well for the Ravens; he recently attended Game 2 of the Caps-Penguins series in full red regalia, and was roundly booed by Metrolites.

So, for as much love as I have for the now-depleted Toy Department blog, it’s a post fail from Thomson. Although her running series on bringing down the striped bass black market is breathtaking.

No one is really surprised that the Redskins are targeting Mark Sanchez in the 2009 NFL Draft; inexplicably, they no longer want Jason Campbell, and with a failed pursuit of Jay Cutler combined with the Sanchez rumors, they aren’t shy about letting the world know.

But it is quite surprising that the Redskins are also targeting Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo, mostly because the move to draft him would make great sense. Most anticipate that he will gone before the 13th pick comes around, but the Redskins certainly aren’t above trading up for what they want - especially when you consider their inability to pressure on the defensive line.

Much of what ailed the Skins up the middle will be presumably solved with the acquisition of Albert Haynesworth, but there will remain significant questions about their off-the-edge speed. Allegedly, the Redskins would like to have Orakpo in the Terrell Suggs hybrid - lining up at end or linebacker in various situations.

But it is the Redskins, and you can’t trust them to do the sensible thing until the possibility for the ridiculous is all but eliminated.

I never thought that Kyle Boller got a fair shot with the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously, you would have liked to see him perform better in certain situations where his decision making and his reaction were the only thing that mattered. But over his tenure in Charm City, with fans hating, coaches changing, and teammates growing in frustration, it just wasn’t meant to be. You think about having to play for the mind-game ringmaster in Brian Billick, and all of the offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches Boller had to sift his way through, and its a wonder that he hasn’t sued the Ravens for slander against his career. There’s a reason why Boller is the franchise leader in passing yards and career wins, and its not because he’s a slouch; it’s because other Ravens quarterbacks have been slouchier.

Joe Flacco had the benefit of learning under a true offensive mind in Cam Cameron, and having a laid-back “nothing-to-lose” mentality that blended so well with Cameron’s simplistic approach last season. Everybody always talked about Boller’s failures, but never about the lack of receiving help, the changes in coaching, the porous offensive line, or the injuries he suffered as a result. Boller never had a bad thing to say, and by all accounts, always brought it in practice and in games.

He needed to go for the Ravens to arrive at this point, but I hope Boller eventually becomes the starter in St. Louis and brings the Greatest Show on Turf back to life. He’s worked for it, and deserves another shot at success in the NFL.
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What was one more loss going to hurt the Washington Nationals anyway? It’s not like Manny Acta was about to be replaced by Flip Saunders, or Stan Kasten was giving away 2-for-1 tickets to every fan able to prove their hatred of the Nats. It was going to be business as usual for a Nationals team that had no motivation other than pleasing a somewhat-partisan crowd. But no one could really be partisan yesterday, after hearing the news of the sudden death of Harry Kalas, a longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and the echoing voice of NFL Films for many years. He went out the way many of us would like to, at an age so few of us ever imagine reaching.

Just dropped. Right in the booth. 73 years old.

So as much as I would’ve liked the Nationals to get their first win of the year on yesterday afternoon, I’m sure the franchise didn’t mind my star-crossed loyalties on the day. Maybe after everyone has said an appropriate goodbye, maybe after children can gather a glimpse of appreciation for one of sports radio’s golden voices, who was still relevant in a cable television world, will I and many other young baseball fans get back to a regular sense of animosity towards the Phillies.

But today, having learned so much about a guy that I knew but never really knew, I’ll won’t hate any success the World Champs may take away from Nationals Park this week. Lord knows they really will be able to use it.

The University of Maryland women’s basketball team is the only basketball ticket in town right now. Men’s or women’s, collegiate or professional,  the Lady Terrapins are putting on a show that locals can be proud of, and a national audience can take serious notice of. Yep, everything you wanted out of the men’s basketball program in College Park, the ladies are that and a little bit more.

Brenda Frese has come in and made Maryland into a national powerhouse, that, after this tournament, will join Tennessee and UConn as the top women’s programs in college basketball. Consider the ten years prior to Frese’s arrival, where the Lady Terps three appearances in the national tournament turned into three first rounds losses.

Since Frese’s arrival, the Lady Terps are 15-4 in post season play, including three Sweet Sixteen appearances, three Elite Eight appearances, and a national title.

And they are in serious contention for this year’s championship, thanks to the play of seniors Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver. And did I mention that Coleman and Toliver are nearby recruits from Maryland and Virginia, respectively?

So what does all of this mean for Gary Williams? Does it further dampen perspectives on his recruiting, given that Frese can find players generally without getting off I-95? Does it heighten expectations for winning in the ACC, considering that Duke and North Carolina are top women’s programs in the mold of their male counterparts?

Most of all, does the minimize the number of “wait-until-next-year, we-recruit-clean” excuses that Williams can offer for the Terps’ underachievement?

Probaly not, fan-wise. Marissa Coleman pulled off the greatest Terps post-season performance in school history, and nobody was there to here it or see it. People in this area barely pay attention to the Lady Terps until their on the verge of a national championship, and despite leading the conference in home attendance, Lady Terps basketball doesn’t make the UMD athletic budget rise or fall on an annual basis.

But its clear that Gary Williams has to watch his back, because the better the Lady Terps get, the more it makes Garyland look like nothing more than a lonely island with a stubborn coach and a vivacious Venezuelan running it.

You could take the perspective that a few comments from mouthy Maryland Terrapins’ guard Greivis Vasquez should not have made the difference against the Memphis Tigers in yesterday’s second-round game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. You could say that Memphis would’ve shot well and Maryland would’ve played poorly even if Vasquez’ ego wasn’t driven by providing bulletin board material.

But on the season, Vasquez’ mouth is 0-2 prior to big games, and for all of the work he put in to saving the Terrapins’ season, he’s also been the one most bent on destroying it throughout the year. And yesterday’s 89-70 rout against the Tigers was the appropriate finish to what never should’ve been for the Maryland Terrapins’ post-season hopes.

“If [Memphis] played in the ACC Conference, they’d have a losing record in the league,” Vasquez said. “They’d probably win all of their games outside the league and have a losing record in the league. The ACC is too tough.”

Right. This is the the reigning national runner-up he’s talking about. And perhaps, his intent was genuinely harmless. Maybe it was something to get himself riled up to have a big game. Maybe it was something he spoke to get more out of his teammates.

But knowing how much coverage he received in cursing out his own fans, and the attention that is paid to the less-inflammatory-yet-equally-idiotic things that he says, there’s good money on the fact that he should’ve known better.

Or at least, Gary Williams should’ve instructed him to know better.

We all know that Maryland isn’t built to respond to manufactured challenges created from within, particularly those created by General Greivis. It didn’t work against Duke, and it certainly was doomed to be an epic fail against a Memphis team that has been slighted throughout the season playing in a disguised mid-major conference.

As a result, the almost-Cinderella Terps got burned into cinders yesterday, drawing an intense focus from a Memphis squad whose motto could be handpicked from a bag of revenge cliches like “unfinished business” or “us against the world.”

And to make mattes worse, Vasquez’ play didn’t match the intensity of his mouth. In a game where Vasquez had to have dang-near 40 for the Terps to compete, he managed dang-near 20. The Terps’ perimeter defense allowed more threes than a little bit (10), and they couldn’t get into the lane against a bigger, stronger Tiger front line.

And what does Vasquez get to do? Go onto the NBA as a late-first round, early second-round draft pick, and leave the drama behind him. He’ll get a chance to tell the world how mature he’ll be in the pros, and how he’s grown since leaving College Park. The mark of his mouth will be so far behind him in just a few months.

But the bitter taste of underachievement will remain fresh in the mouths of Terrapins’ faithful, who will long remain the sabotage job Vasquez put on the UMD squad for some years to come. They won’t speak ill of him, because he gave all of himself on the floor more times than not. But in the moments that counted most, the mouth that ran never became the mouth that bit in big moments.

And in the end, Greivis Vasquez will be known as the one who bit Maryland Basketball one too many times.
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D.C. sports fans don't have it easy. And while they may not have the Hibachi around this season, or a decent football team, they can claim the NHL’s most talented and reviled player in Alex Ovechkin. Last night’s 'comeuppance' win over the Philadelphia Flyers has all but solidified Ovechkin’s place as the “hate me because I’m beautiful” player in a league that is not hating on such an investment of hatred and attention in its best player.

Ovechkin gets the hate because of his talent. Not because of clashes with teammates or coaches, or because he has an unapproachable air about him.  He’s inexplicably drawn the ire of Don Cherry, has an ongoing rivalry with hockey’s second-best player Sidney Crosby, and gets booed all over the place.

Yet, he’s a heel in a Jeff Gordon kind of way. He’s smiling all the time, and with the English he has mastered, rarely has an overly negative thing to say about his competitors. D.C. fans eat it up. Opposing fans can’t get their fingers down their throats fast enough.

In a market devoid of any hope across a number of pro sports leagues, Washington is in love with Ovie. He plays hard, plays well, and doesn’t have the ghosts of rape charges or the destruction of championship dynasties following him around on the road. The most flack he can catch is for his talent, and for his new role as an Eastern Motors pitchman.

And I’m sure he, and any Caps fan, will take that any day of the week.

Say what you will about Ray Lewis and his place in NFL history, but in the discussion of the greatest Baltimore Raven of all-time, Matt Stover is and always will be the final answer. He’s been informed by the Ravens to look for other opportunities, for reasons that are painfully apparent to both sides of the equation. But there is no one person more responsible for the team’s first Super Bowl then Matt Stover. The magical 2000 run is the blueprint for how defense wins championships, and there’s no denying that the Ravens romp through the latter part of the season was directly attributable to a Ray Lewis-led defensive unit that took up the mantra “no yards allowed.”

But the object of football, and any sport for that matter, is to have the most points on the board at the end of the game. And through five games in the fall of 2000, Matt Stover’s nickname could’ve have been “Stimulus” for all of the times he served as the Ravens only scoring bailout.

Stover scored 49 points through that stretch. Two of the games resulted in victory for the Ravens. Would there have been a Super Bowl run if Matt Stover hadn’t single-footedly defeated the Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars to take the Ravens to 5-1 on the year going into mid-October?

No.

Let’s not forget his NFL records for kicking proficiency. Fifth leading scorer in NFL history (1,944 points) , all-time leader in consecutive successful extra point attempts (389), the most game-winning field goals (14), and most games with four or more field goals (26).

Stover’s production did dip a little last season, and his leg isn’t as big as it used to be. But I can think of one team down the road that would sign Matt Stover up right now if they get the chance, and for once, it wouldn’t be a free agent move Redskins fans should hate.

Here’s to you, Matt Stover. The greatest Baltimore Raven in team history.

Adam Jones and I have much in common. He is the only African-American player in spring training for the Baltimore Orioles, and I am the only black person I know that likes the Orioles. Or baseball, for that matter. He wants more black folks to play baseball, and so do I.

The problem for both of us is that the big wall between African-Americans and baseball is not one easily torn down with role models and diversity initiatives. It’s not something where you can take black kids to a game and expect them to fall in love with an American past time that, to this day, is unreasonably regarded as exclusionary of black players.

The reasons are many why black folks don’t particularly care for baseball, but they begin with Jackie Robinson. No force was as good or as bad for minorities in baseball as Jackie Robinson.  We cherish what he did and how he did it, but loathe that it was necessary to be done.

And if you consider that most black sports fans born after 1975 couldn’t tell you anything about the man other than breaking the baseball color barrier, you get to one of the surface issues of a deeply-rooted breakdown between a sport and a people.

Jackie Robinson was a six-time all-star, Rookie of the Year, National League MVP, and a World Series champion. I thank Wikipedia for much of that info, because I honestly didn’t know it off hand. And that’s the problem. Robinson, Bob Gibson and countless others, they’re more pioneers more than players. For most black folks, we stop at the line for bravery and tenacity in the face of angst. Forget your RBI’s and ERA, white folks didn’t like you, and that’s good enough for me to love you eternally.

Baseball shouldn’t tell black folks over and over again about breaking color barriers. Baseball should tell black folks about baseball. The odds are against the sport already with the lack of baseball fields in black communities, but it doesn’t help that our scope of reference with the sport is just civil rights.

And black families should be willing to step outside of our usual tastes and try to embrace something different. Something diverse. Something that presents a much better chance for our children becoming professional athletes than football and basketball combined.

Black kids don’t think about Fritz Pollard when introduced to the NFL, or Earl Lloyd when introduced to the NBA. But Jackie Robinson? There is no “blacks in baseball” discussion with out his name being mentioned.

And it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

All Adam Jones has to do is be a center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles. If he plays well and lives a clean life, kids of all races will take notice and be inclined to follow his lead. No one ever talks about a disparity of black interest in lacrosse or swimming, because America is used to black kids not being interested. But with America’s game, it appears that racial harmony and inclusion must be a part of it’s ultimate presentation of purity.

Baseball has the misfortune of being the sport most aligned will racial segregation, even though it was second among the major sports leagues to desegregate, just years before the NBA. And don’t get me wrong, baseball is still evil when it comes to managerial and front office opportunities for minority candidates.

But for the conversation of attracting black children, Major League Baseball has to concern itself with convincing black children that a strikeout is as impressive as a three-pointer, and that a full count is as exhilarating as 3rd and 2 on the opponent’s 36-yard line.