What in the wide, wide, world of sports is going on here?

So after being assured that his job was safe through 2008, Brian Billick was fired by the Ravens this week. I must admit, this came as a fairly big shock to me and I still don’t know how I feel about it. Billick can coach and if you don’t think he can, ask yourself how many Super Bowl rings you have and how many he does. Billick was wrongfully labeled an “offensive guru” because he was the offensive coordinator for the Vikings team that put up what was at the time, the record for points scored in an NFL season. In reality, Billick just had an awesome offensive team that made him look like the guru that people still like to call him. He played to his team’s strength and rode our defense all the way to the Super Bowl XXXV title. He did say “I know quarterbacks” but part of the blame for Baltimore’s quarterback turnstile has to be placed on Ozzie Newsome an his inability to rate/value not only quarterbacks, but also wide receivers. The Ravens are great at evaluating talent on the defensive side of the ball, as well as on the O-Line and running back. But if they were half as good at evaluating wide receiver and quarterback talent as they are when it comes to defensive talent, we’d be as dominant as the patriots currently are.
The biggest problem I’ve had with Billick is the lack of discipline that the Ravens have on the field and off of it. Throwing an official’s flag into the stands, no matter how frustrating, shouldn’t be tolerated, and Billick should have disciplined him and didn’t. It was almost as if he was afraid to do so. If that was the case, then it was definitely time for Brian to go.

Mr. Bisciotti’s decision to fire Billick is probably a good thing overall, but there are bad things associated with it. He shouldn’t have said Billick’s job was safe. Period. But even though he did, he still made what was probably the right move if you want the Ravens to be winning next year. Now how kosher that move was is another story. I think Mr. Bisciotti issued that vow of confidence because he is Brian Billick’s friend and he thought he could right the sinking Ravens ship in 2008. I think he was thinking with his heart and not as an owner of the team. He finally realized on the morning of December 30th that as the owner of the Ravens, he needed to do what was right for the Ravens, even if that hurt and went against everything he wanted to do as a friend of Brian’s. From what people have said, several players no longer listened to what Billick said. One of those players was probably someone I use to admire and speak very highly of, so that is why its so hard to say this – I wish Ray Lewis was no longer a Raven.

This guy has the audacity to question all of these coaching decisions because he wants the Ravens to do what Ray wants. Guess what Ray, you’re a middle linebacker, not a coach. If you want to coach, hang up your cleats and coach. But don’t you dare call out your quarterback, coach and then not play in the last game because of a “broken finger.” I bet if Rex Ryan was your head coach you’d would have been playing against Pittsburgh. The Ravens aren’t paying you to talk or criticize Ray – they’re paying you as the best middle linebacker to ever play the game. So shut up and play. You got Brian out of Baltimore, so shut your yap. You’ve already had way to much influence on who has played in Baltimore (Deion Sanders, Steve McNair, etc) and it hasn’t worked out. Shut up Ray and play.


I wish Brian Billick the best of luck wherever he ends up and part of me almost hopes the Ravens go 0-16 next year. I’m often embarrassed to be a Baltimore sports fan because of how fast the fans here will turn on their team. Billick wins a super bowl and people are kissing his feet. Then he struggles and people think they’re Vince Lombardi and start criticizing things they have no knowledge about. Do you idiots not remember why the Colts left Baltimore in the first place? Its partially because Baltimore’s fair-weather fans stopped going to the games when the team was down! Granted, Irsay (may he continue to rot in Hell) didn’t put a good product on the field, but still, Baltimore’s “what have you done for me lately” attitude prevails until this day.

I’m not saying Billick shouldn’t have been fired, because it was clear that this group of players need a different message, but some of the players acted and said things the helped get him fired, and I don’t think that is right.