Thursday, January 31, 2013

No One Can Resist PUPPIES!!


Troy is a big ol' snugglebunny inside, we all know this. However, I think that if he weren't playing the final, most important game (arguably) of his career, Ray-Ray would be watching the Puppy Bowl too. After all...PUPPIES!! It's adorable chaos: puppies playing, fighting, and occasionally running a toy into the end zone for a touch down. There are piggy cheerleaders, a human referee, and guinea pigs in a blimp to give everyone a "bird's eye view." I think there may also be a bird... Oh! And there's the Kitten Halftime Bowl, which will always hold a special place in my heart because that's when Steve proposed to me in 2010. <3

Here's this year's starting line-up: ZOMG YOU GUYS PUPPIES
If I could adopt Aberdeen, that'd be great, thanks.

And here's a special behind-the-scenes look at last year's Puppy Bowl: SERIOUSLY HOW CAN YOU NOT MELT A LITTLE INSIDE LOOKING AT THESE PUPPIES?!
I have this link bookmarked at work for whenever I need emergency puppies.

BONE-US (hee hee! It's a pun!) PUPPIES!

A viewer asked Jimmy Fallon to predict the Super Bowl using puppies. I think these pups did a fine job.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A HAIR-raising Accusation


Apparently, there have been several Ray Lewis-related "scandals" brewing this week as the media craps itself like little fangirls meeting one of the cast members of Dr. Who. Stupid questions are being tossed around, and sadly, most players are answering them with straight faces. (No, Dennis Pitta, that is NOT a "good question.") (BTW: #5 and #6 are my favorite dumb questions.)

One of the smaller big stories about Ray is that he wore spray-on hair to a press conference. I can't even comment any further on this because it's too ridiculous for words.

The bigger "controversy" is that Ray-Ray used deer antler spray (WTF?! That's a thing?!) as a way to heal his torn tricep quicker. The spray contains a chemical that's on the list of substances banned by the NFL for being performance enhancing, hence the controversy. I doubt that Ray would put his career and legacy in jeopardy by using something as stupid-sounding as "deer antler spray," and Shawn hypothesized that the two stories above are being "leaked by someone in the 49ers organization to distract everyone before the game." He might not be wrong.

There were other questions Ray had to answer and smile through and bullshit his way through, but that's just part of Media Day, as I understand it. I'm sure everyone will be a lot happier when everyone just shuts up and plays football.

Special blog shout-out: Brittany Rants about Football wrote this great post summing up the Ravens' 2012 season using gifs. I love it, so check it out.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Everyone Wants to be Ray-Ray

The ending of this video from Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" made me tear up with laughter at work. I always used to joke that when Ray-Ray was ready to retire from playing football, he'd sack a quarterback so hard that he'd turn into dust and float away in the breeze to end the game in a victory. This is pretty good too.



Thanks to my friend Kelsey for sharing this lovely little gem with me:


From this article in The Baltimore Sun

Saturday, January 26, 2013

*yawn* Pro Bowl Weekend

Why does the Pro Bowl even exist? It's an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii for millionaire football players. The fans vote for the players they think are the best, but many times, the first-stringers don't even go. (Even when he's NOT in a Super Bowl, Tom Brady opts not to play well with others.) Some don't go because of injuries; others decline the trip because they're preparing for the big game next Sunday. Those who DO go.take it easy on each other, practically playing flag football. Playing real defense is an unwritten no-no in the Pro Bowl. It's a good time for players across the league to relax, play some golf, and have fun with their friends on other teams, but that's not at all entertaining for the fans. Why not just give guys that week off? Let them do what they want to do where they want to do it? Because Goodell is all about making money, and somehow, I guess the Pro Bowl makes money.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Murder was the Case That They Gave Him

Quick link about the 5 Common Misconceptions about Ray Lewis' Murder Trial.

I was originally going to write an opus trying to explain what Ray Lewis meant to the city of Baltimore, but I decided against it. People who live outside the city, people who truly believe that Ray is nothing but a murderer who got a get-out-of-jail-free card, and people who think he's "overrated" (which is, in my opinion, ridiculous) would barely skim the entry and say that I'm just another rabid Ravens fan. I've drunk the Kool-Aid too many times. I'm making excuses for a man who played a key part in robbing citizens of their lives. Perhaps that's all true; perhaps I'm just more willing to give someone a second chance who has proved over and over and over again that he understands what he did wrong and has tried to atone for that sin every second of the day, not for publicity reasons, but because he wants to make it right.

When I posted the link on my Facebook page, this is the blurb I included with it:

"I'm SO SICK of people (mostly non-Ravens fans) going on and on about Ray being a "murderer." Our country doesn't believe in rehabilitation obviously, and everyone seems to overlook the ENORMOUS amount of good that Ray has done for his colleagues in the NFL and for the citizens of Baltimore City. He's not doing it as part of a plea deal or a way to get back into everyone's good graces; he's doing it because he grew up, realized the horrible mistakes he made and the horrible consequences of those mistakes, and became a better man because of it."

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

My Mom is Adorable

You all may recall that my mom is a big Ravens fan. She works for a health care billing company, and to boost company morale, they always have special events like picnics, costume contests for Halloween, and Purple Fridays and Mondays during football season.

For the days leading up to the Ravens-Patriots game, her office decorated their cubicle areas by department and had a "contest" of sorts as to who had the best decorations. Here is the winning department, and some pictures of my mom and her friends.

How awesome is this?! Not pictured: a chunk of turf, like Ray picks up during his entrance out of the tunnel

"Me and my Twin" (Mom and her work friend Terri)

Mom, I don't think you're fully prepared to block for Joe Flacco in that position!

View from my mom's cubicle

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Choppers Sports Grill Representin'

Amy is our usual bartender at Choppers. She's loved us, and we've loved her since week one. Today she's reppin' the Ravens, like any good friend would.

 There are many reasons why we love Amy. ;)

 Chris, seen here attempting to photobomb my picture inappropriately, is my "bar boyfriend"

Tailgating Our Way to Victory!

The Ravens fans from all over the world (thanks, Gordon, for letting me be able to say this!) gathered at 10:00am MST on the day of the big game to tailgate in the parking lot of a Baptist church a couple of blocks away from Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (Because blasphemy is the best.) As you already know, the day was gray and cold as a witch's tit (to use an underutilized idiom). That didn't stop us from playing cornhole, blasting some phat beats (including some Baltimore club music), chugging beer and booze, and huddling around the few heaters in the lot for warmth.

Good turn-out! There were even more people than pictured here.

Oh, thermal jackets. How I wish I owned one of you.

Cornhole!

Victory!!

Our "invisible" DJ? ;)

S-s-s-so c-c-c-cold-d-d...

Meatballs, crab cakes, and other hot foods provided by Captn Crabby

The next group of pictures are of some of our fans, getting drunk* and pumped for the game.









*The pregnant lady in this photo is obviously ONLY getting pumped, NOT drunk.






Pictured: Steve (back left), Sarah (front left), and Amy (right)

We're #1!!




One of these things is not like the others...hint: it's the dude in the Ngata jersey instead of the Ray jersey. ;)


My bro James is in the back in the O's hat! <3

Maggie with a COMPLETELY LEGAL beverage in a stylish brown paper bag.

We're a welcoming, open-minded group (except to Steelers fans), so we allowed these Broncos fans to hang out with us.

Reppin' the purple in a sea of orange

The only team that mattered to us that day. <3

An Important Message from the Baltimore City Police Department




My friend Kelsey lives and works in some sketch parts of Baltimore, so she receives email alerts from the po-po whenever something goes down in her selected hoods. This video arrived through that official email service the other day, and I've been saving it for today.

Shawn told me I'm (once again) the only one who put any faith in the Ravens to win this game. Fingers crossed my faith is rewarded.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Defeating Mr. Bundchen



Me: "How do you spell Gisele's last name?
Steve: "I don't know because I don't care."

After last year's GLORIOUS Super Bowl loss, Tom Brady's wife Gisele gave some hecklers a piece of her mind about Hubby's team mates' skills...or rather, lack thereof. Brady quickly lost ANY cred he may have once possessed, as he now looked like a whiny Pee-Wee footballer whose helicopter mommy swooped in to yell at the coach and the other kids' parents.

Sorry this post is out of order chronologically. (It should have been posted on Monday after the Ravens' win in Denver.) I found it on my phone while posting something else online, and after checking my post list for the blog, realized it'd been omitted.

EDIT: The geniuses at the Ravens sub-Reddit came up with this great drinking game for today!! Follow the rules all the way to the emergency room.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Best Friends and Betting

As always, the Ravens are underdogs in their latest game. They're returning once more to Foxboro for another shot at becoming the AFC champions.

While Troy admits that he supports Mr. Lewis as a friend and competitor, he's making a "smart bet" by putting his money on the Patriots. Here's hoping Troy loses his money on Sunday.

Pre-PRE-Game Party - Ravens Fans Edition

Last weekend Ravens fans from all over - Colorado, Utah, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Scotland! - met at Stoney's Full Steam Tavern in downtown Denver to party hard. In addition to our usual Denver crew, we had a large contingent of fans fly in from Baltimore through the social group BMORE Around Town. Some of the fans even made it onto ABC 2 News in Baltimore. (My scene was, unfortunately, cut, which is balls, considering putting a girl in a pandahat on television would be AWESOME.) Behold the craziness of some of the best fans on earth.

The front bar, which ended up being PACKED by the end of the night

Small part of the back bar. It was also packed, but mostly with fans from out of town


Gordon, our Scottish superfan, was one of the people who made the news broadcast (obviously!)

 
Speaking of news broadcasts, this is the videographer who filmed an interview I did with ABC 2 News (the video of which I can't find, much to my frustration) about my role in convincing the Baltimore Orioles to make an anti-bullying video for the "It Gets Better" campaign. We thought we recognized each other, but the story was filmed a couple of years ago, and pandahat can be an excellent disguise.

Time to party!!

Steve, my adorable novio (in theory, that shirt is purple; it doesn't show well in the picture)


I have no idea WTF is going on in this picture.


Dave and Caroline, two of our Denver regulars

Rockin' the Joe Flacco jersey from his time at the University of Delaware (Go Blue Hens!)

Hannah is Dave's girlfriend; they actually met through the Ravens group! Here were are showing off our matching Ravens scarves.

Charlie is our youngest member and one of the greatest cornhole players our Denver group has.

For organizing all of our Ravens activities through the seasons, including the AWESOME "home game" weekend, the group present Nicci, a.k.a. "Mama Bird", with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Bill is second-in-command of the Denver group and also received a Certificate of Appreciation.

Here I am congratulating Bill with an awesome selfie.

I was given an award too - a Team Spirit Award for "Most Intense" (although I maintain that I should have been "Loudest" and our friend James "Most Intense")

When they asked me what superlative Steve should get on his Team Spirit Award, I suggested (and it was agreed) that he get "Most Patience."

We had to use Maggie's long(er than mine) arms to take this sweet selfie of us. She and I ALWAYS sit next to each other at the bar during games. We're intense like that.

INFILTRATED BY THE ENEMY!!

WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, NEW ENGLAND!!