Bird Brains on the Half Shell

Musings on baseball, football and college sports

Wide receiver Derrick Mason has returned to Baltimore. This time it’s for two more years.

Mason was leaning toward retirement at the end of the 2009 season, but had stated he would come back if he got a two-year contract. He didn’t really test the free agent market and the Ravens gave him the length on a deal that he wanted.

The Ravens now have a formidable three-receiver set with Mason, the recently acquired Anquan Boldin and Donte’ Stallworth. In addition, Baltimore has Mark Clayton, Marcus Smith and possibly Demetrius Williams. Quarterback Joe Flacco has new targets to throw to in 2010.

Baltimore’s offense should now be much improved with a passing game that can strike fear in to teams and a running game that has always been solid.

Mason is now welcomed back and Flacco has his favorite target back on board.

The No. 22 Maryland Terrapins had to grind it out, but they defeated rival Virginia 74-68 to close out their regular season. Maryland moved to 23-7 and 13-3 in the ACC which was good enough to share the regular season title with Duke. The share regular season title is Maryland’s first since their championship season of 2001-02. Of course, earning a share of the title wasn’t easy at all.

Maryland never trailed in the game, and led by as many as 14 points, but still needed clutch plays down the stretch to beat the Cavaliers on their Senior Day. Greivis Vasquez scored 23 points, but it wasn’t his best shooting day. Vasquez took 18 shots, making only seven, while turning the ball over three times.

His teammates, Eric Hayes and Sean Mosley in particular, added to the scoring. Hayes and Landon Milbourne, along with Vasquez, had never won in Virginia and wanted to end their senior seasons on a good note. It wasn’t pretty, but the seniors pulled out a win.

The keys to the game were rebounding and foul shooting. Maryland outrebounded Virginia by 13 and also dominated the offensive glass having 22 second chance points. At the line, Maryland was 20-26 compared to Virginia’s 7-8. Without their star, the Cavaliers struggled to get contact on the offensive end and Maryland took advantage of the Cavaliers defense.

With the win, Maryland is now the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament. They will play their next game Friday night against the winner of the 7-10 matchup. A bye is good for the Terps who are possibly very tired physically and emotionally after a seven game stretch of exciting wins and games very close together with very few days off.

The Baltimore Ravens struck first in their division when the NFL’s free agency period opened on Friday. Baltimore’s front office traded for Anquan Boldin and a fifth-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals for a third- and fourth-round pick in the NFL Draft. Not a bad deal, but I’m not crazy about it.

Boldin fills a hole on the Ravens roster, but he’s not the speedy receiver that the Ravens need. He’s big, fast and physical, but I don’t think he can blow by cornerbacks. I like his physical style of play, but it sometimes costs him some games every season. Boldin hasn’t played a full season since his rookie year in 2003.

Baltimore extended his contract by three years, guaranteed him $10 million and gave him up to $25 million. He is now a receiver for the Ravens until 2013. The contract is fair for a wide receiver and makes the player happy. Boldin had 84 catches for 1,024 yards in 15 games in 2009 which is fine, but not No. 1 productivity. A reason Boldin may not have had great productivity is because on the other side of the field was Larry Fitzgerald.

We’ll see how it goes with Boldin in the Ravens offense with Donte’ Stallworth and Mark Clayton.

On the other end of the free agency spectrum, Denver agreed to a contract with defensive lineman Justin Bannan. Bannan will be the starting defensive tackle in Denver’s 3-4 scheme.

The Ravens now have a need at defensive tackle. Before Bannan left, they needed a younger defensive lineman to play along side Haloti Ngata. I wouldn’t be surprised if Baltimore drafts defensive tackle in the first round of the Draft.

Also, with the absence of Bannan, the Ravens may feel more inclined to re-sign Dwan Edwards. Edwards has a chance to sign a big contract for the first time ever in his career, but if the Ravens want to keep him, he will be back in Baltimore in 2010.

The Maryland Terrapins cracked the rankings for the first time in a quite while this week. Wednesday night they had a chance to live up to their spot in the rankings. No. 22 Maryland proved they belonged in the rankings by beating conference rival and No. 4 Duke 79-72.

Greivis Vasquez celebrated his Senior Day in vintage Vasquez form. He scored 20 points, including the game-clinching shot in which he was falling backwards as the ball went through the net. That shot put Maryland up by four points with under a minute to go in the game and iced the Terrapins victory.

Vasquez was helped by freshman Jordan Williams, who had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, classmate Eric Hayes and sophomore guard Sean Mosley. With those four in double figures, Maryland was solid on offense hitting right under their 80 point average. They also got contributions off the bench from Adrian Bowie (nine points) and Dino Gregory (five rebounds). Bowie has been playing some really good basketball over the last three weeks. He will be important when Maryland gets to postseason in a couple weeks. Gregory is also solid coming off the bench. His inside presence, next to Williams, has made the defense much better.

Saturday, Maryland will close out the season in Charlottesville, VA. The Terps have had problems in the last few years against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, but I don’t expect them to have too many problems this time. With a win, Maryland will clinch at least a share of the regular season ACC title, and if Duke falls to North Carolina, the Terps will get the No. 1 overall seed in the ACC Tournament.

The beginning of the NFL free agency period is approaching quickly and teams are starting to put tenders on their restricted free agents. Baltimore has been no different.

The Ravens placed first-round tenders on Jared Gaither, Fabian Washington and Le’Ron McClain Wednesday. They could also put a first-round tender on wide receiver Mark Clayton before Friday’s free agency deadline. Gaither’s tender, which could have been higher, almost insures he will be back with the team next season unless a team is willing to give up their first round pick for the athletic left tackle.

Washington is recovering from a torn ACL and could be either the starting cornerback or nickel back behind Domonique Foxworth and Lardarius Webb in 2010. I’m happy Washington will be back as he is fast and athletic.

McClain is a two-time Pro Bowl selection for the Baltimore Ravens and it will be good to see him back in the running game fold next season. He’s a tough fullback that has continued his development for the Ravens in his career.

Baltimore handed out two second-round tenders. One went to punter Sam Koch who is a key member to the Ravens special teams and the other second-round tender went to Dawan Landry. Landry had a comeback season in 2009 and played fairly well at his safety position.

Chris Chester and John Beck each got third-round tenders. Tony Moll got a fifth-round tender. Prescott Burgess got a sixth-round tender and kicker Billy Cundiff got a low tender from the Ravens.

It is unclear if the Ravens tendered wide receiver Demetrius Williams a contract, but if they did it comes as some sort of a surprise because Williams has struggled for much of his career in Baltimore.

It started three hours late and lasted about a half hour too long, but the Maryland Terrapins pulled off a 104-100 double overtime victory against previously undefeated at home Virginia Tech. The Terps were led by ACC Player of the Year candidate Greivis Vasquez who scored a career best 41 points.

Vasquez shot the ball 33 times, including 15 three point attempts, while getting booed and taunted all night long by the Hokies fans. He did distribute the ball, ending the game with six assists, but still took the majority of the Terrapins’ shots. However, he got help from fellow guards Eric Hayes and Sean Mosley.

Hayes ended the game with 12 points and made crucial free throws in both overtime periods to keep the Terps tied and then ahead. He also had 10 assists and turned the ball over just two times.

Mosley made the last four free throws of the game to finally ice the win. The sophomore guard followed up his 20 point performance Wednesday night with 17 points on Saturday night. If the Terrapins want to go deep in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, they will need more performances like Mosley’s last two games. A third scorer, aside from Vasquez and Landon Milbourne or Hayes, will be needed in March.

Junior forward/center Dino Gregory contributed big time for Maryland, playing 32 minutes and filling in nicely for Milbourne. Gregory has really been playing good basketball since he’s come back from his suspension.

With the win, Maryland moved to 11-3 in ACC play and clinched second place in the league. Saturday night’s win also raised the importance of Wednesday night’s game. Duke will come to visit Maryland with the regular season conference title on the line. Considering the Terrapins were picked to finish fifth in the ACC this season, the season is already a success. Also of note, I would expect the Terps to be ranked in the Top 25 when the polls come out Monday afternoon.

The Mojo 6 Tournament is looking for a 16th player. The event will be held in April, but televised in May. Mojo 6 features 15 players in cluding Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Christina Kim. Mojo 6 will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The purse for the event is $1 million, but will be more focused on the charity aspect for Jamaican children.

For more information on this event and to vote for the 16th player, visit www.TheMojo6.com.

Wednesday night’s Maryland game was very similar to the one last Wednesday night against N.C. State. The Terrapins fell behind by a significant amount and used a strong second half to pull out a win. Down by as many as 15 in the first half, the Terrapins caught and flew by Clemson in the second half en route to their 88-79 win.

In the first half, both teams started with hot shooting, then Maryland cooled down. Clemson took advantage of Maryland’s struggling offense and iffy defense to build a 15 point lead. In the second half, however, the power of the gold uniforms, which hurt my eyes, took over.

Sean Mosley had his biggest game in about a month Wednesday night. Scoring early, late and any time in between for 20 points. Mosley led the Terps, but three other Maryland players were in double figures for scoring. Jordan Williams had 18 points to go with five rebounds. Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez each had 15 points.

Again it looked like Maryland got outrebounded badly, but the margin was only minus seven, like the Georgia Tech game, but they were able to compensate for that shortcoming by getting to the foul line 24 times. Of course, Maryland only made 18 of their free throws. They will have to do better if they plan on getting beyond the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

What I did like was seeing Maryland come back and James Padgett getting big minutes. Padgett came in during the first half while Williams was on the bench with two fouls. He produced two points and three rebounds, one of which was offensive. Padgett could be a key part to the team moving forward toward the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.

This win moves Maryland to 7-0 at home in ACC play, 20-7 overall, but only 19-7 for NCAA purposes. The Terps have 19 wins because one of their wins came against Chaminade in the Maui Invitational and Chaminade is not a Divison I school, so the win doesn’t count towards their tournament push. Maryland has 10 league wins and sit in second place by themselves. Wednesday’s win was important for a couple reasons. First, they have separated themselves by two games from Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Florida State. Secondly, it keeps them within striking distance of Duke. They will have their shot at Duke next Wednesday night.

The win helped their NCAA cause because it was over a top-50 RPI squad and they played to a split with the Tigers for the season. Ahead of them now is Virginia Tech on Saturday, in Blacksburg. A win in Blacksburg would be huge, but not as important as it would have been had they lost to Clemson. The Hokies will present a challenge to the Terps, but with the experienced Vasquez and Hayes, Maryland could weather the storm.

The Maryland Terrapins needed a buzzer-beating shot to defeat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Cliff Tucker’s shot, the biggest of his Terrapin career so far, was the first Maryland shot to go in at the buzzer since Drew Nicholas in the NCAA Tournament in 2003. Tucker had a good look when he caught the pass from Eric Hayes and drilled it. Tucker only had eight points, but his last three were the most important.

How we got to that point was entertaining. Maryland only held a two point lead at the half when they probably should have either been tied or behind. The Yellow Jackets pounded the boards, only winning the rebounding battle 45-38, but got key rebounds for second chance points. The home team, however, just kept hitting shots to maintain their lead or remain within striking distance of Georgia Tech.

Greivis Vasquez carried the Terps even with a poor shooting day. Vasquez still had 18 points, including 7-for-7 from the foul line, and eight assists. Of course he had some help from Hayes who snapped out of his funk with 15 points. Freshman Jordan Williams came down with 12 rebounds and was a point shy of another double-double.

Where Williams had problems was on defense. Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal did what they wanted inside all day, just couldn’t execute. Eventually, Williams helped Maryland come through, but he had a tough go of it for awhile against a bigger, more physical Georgia Tech team.

The win puts Maryland at 19-7 overall, 9-3 and in second place in the ACC and cruising to an NCAA berth. With four games plus the ACC Tournament to go, the Terrapins are in a good position. Their next game will come Wednesday against Clemson. They will be looking to be beat Clemson and stay perfect at home in conference play. It’s very possible that they could finish out the home conference schedule unbeaten, but that would mean beating Duke on Mar. 3. I’m looking for a win Wednesday to move them to 10-3 in conference play.

Good news on the Derrick Mason situation. Sort of.

Mason talked to BaltimoreRavens.com Thursday and said he wants a two year contract if he’s going to come back and play for the Baltimore Ravens.

From his standpoint I see what he’s saying. Mason, who asked for a contract extension before abruptly retiring and coming back in 2009, wants security and continuity for his family. He is also trying to get the maximum value out of what his possibly his last contract.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Ravens oblige Mason’s request. Even though he’s been around for quite some time, he was productive this past season. Mason’s numbers may have dropped because the Ravens offense was predictable at times, but he had a solid season nonetheless. I don’t know how much Mason is worth at this point in his career, but I would give him a fair contract.

Another Ravens veteran that there was news about on Thursday is reserve running back Willis McGahee. Wednesday there was some thought that McGahee could be traded to San Diego for cornerback Anotonio Cromartie, but that appears extremely unlikely now. Jason La Canfora of NFL.com reported Thursday that the Ravens are indeed inclined to keep McGahee for next season.

The problem, of course, is McGahee’s salary. McGahee is due to make $3.6 million in 2010 which is awfully expensive for a reserve running back. However, McGahee scored 14 touchdowns for the Ravens offense in 2009. In his current role he could continue to be very effective in the offense. He could also spell budding star Ray Rice more than he did this year. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a Ravens uniform in 2010.