Counselor of Carnage

Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh disagrees that the dirty play and over the top play of the Ravens may be part aggression, part coaching.

 

 

 

When I think of a Ravens/Steelers game at M&T Bank Stadium, I immediately think about sitting in a press box which is basically at eye level with the fans seated on the upper first level, which is weird.  Covering the game itself almost always seems to mirror a carnival-like atmosphere especially for me because I always overindulge; eating more crab cakes than any human being should ever ingest.

 

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Culinary interests aside, I recently participated in a media conference call with Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh.  Before the call, I jotted down a few questions to ask Coach Harbaugh.     One of the questions that I asked Harbaugh was; ‘in light of the historically overly aggressive play between both teams. Could the questionable behavior of both teams be tempered by more disciplined coaching? He responded. “I would disagree with the premise on that I think this has always been played clean and certainly tough and hard hitting but its always been very clean football and I think both sides are pretty proud of that.” Don’t you hear the screeeeeeching sound of smoke coming out of my digital recorder as if ground to a halt.  Did he just say that the Ravens and the Steelers play clean games?

 

That might be debatable because if anyone looks at footage of past games it is not a fantasy to assume that two or three times the penalties could have been called during those contests, especially on the home team. An article posted on profootballtalk.nbcsports.com by Mike Florio on October 21, 2008.  In his article Florio wrote that; “recent comments from Ravens linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs regarding the existence of a bounty on Steelers receiver Hines Ward.  Shaggy from 2 Live Stews has sent us the audio from Suggs’ appearance on the show and, indeed, Suggs declares that there’s a still-pending bounty on the MVP of Super Bowl XL. Suggs said that the Ravens wanted to get Ward during the September 29, [2008] game between Baltimore and Pittsburgh, but that they couldn’t line him up during a live play.  The problem is Ward’s reputation for knocking the blocks off of unsuspecting defenders.  “He does a little cheap shot,” Suggs said.  “It’s legal but it be cheap.” So what happens when the Steelers go to Baltimore? “We’ve got something in store for him,” Suggs said   .

 

Suggs also admitted during the radio segment that the Ravens had a bounty on rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall, whose season was ended via a broken shoulder sustained against Baltimore.”

 

If players are passing gas in  the Baltimore Ravens locker room the only way that a John Harbaugh cannot smell it would be if that team has become stockholders with Proctor & Gamble, the company the manufacturers Febreze or if that coach has went nose blind.

 

In my opinion, John Harbaugh is and has always been a “control freak” and like a person that sits in a nice tidy mansion located at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue in D.C., I am reasonably certain that John Harbaugh knows even when anyone gets a drink of water from the water fountain in the Baltimore Ravens locker room.  Ex-Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis and John Harbaugh both seem to just have these dark smirks on their faces when one of their players did something to the opposition that should I say might have been “less than appropriate.”

 

When John Harbaugh denies the obvious, It also causes me wonder about his genealogical connection to the “bizarre” when one thinks of his connection to his brother Jim Harbaugh the former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the current head coach of the Michigan Wolverines.  Jim Harbaugh once allegedly told former Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight “not to eat chicken because it's a nervous bird.'"  There is an old saying that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”  What phrases has John Harbaugh coined inside of the sacred walls of the Ravens home fortress?  When preparing to face the Ravens, the Steelers should be prepared to face anything.

 

 

 

(Photo Credit: Brian Cook / Golden Sky Media)

(Photo Credit: Brian Cook / Golden Sky Media)