BALTIMORE, Maryland October 21, 2014 - On a weekend when Maryland's Soccer team beat a top five team again - probably assuring themselves a berth in the upcoming NCAA tournament - and Maryland's Football Team won its second Big Ten conference game in three tries, Burnley suffered a dispiriting home loss. The Ravens also won, and even though they remain below the radar at 5-2, and even though their opponent is in the middle of a disasterous campaign, the fact is that the Ravens moved into undisputed possession of first place in the AFC North on the eve of their weekend showdown with the second place Bengals in Cincinnati. It was also the first weekend since the first one in April that baseball fans faced without Oriole baseball.
Just 16 days ago, on October 5, Maryland's soccer team was 3-5-2 and had just lost an overtime match at Northwestern. It appeared that the unthinkable was occurring: an NCAA soccer season in which the University of Maryland was no factor. The Terps, it appeared, had a decent defense but no offense at all. And what's worse, they were terrible when the game was on the line. They had been beat by Michigan State at home and did not seem to be able to do anything right. The one thing they had going for them was their amazing coach, Sascho Cirovski. It might just be that he was all the very young Terps needed to turn it around. Two weekends ago the Terps routed Big Ten Leader Penn State, 4-0, in College Park. Then, on Sunday, they scored an impressive and convincing 2-1 win over No. 5 Indiana in Bloomington. Suddenly, Maryland is back in the National Picture. Their record is now, 7-5-2 (3-2-1 in the Big Ten) with an important non-league game against Santa Clara on the horizon this Saturday night at Ludwig Field. After the Indiana win, Cirovski said on the team web site that "The team was extremely connected and competed on every play. It’s clear that we are on an upward trend and the adversity we faced in the beginning of the year is paying dividends for us now. It was extremely important for us to get a road win and to do that at Indiana is extra special.”
Here are the up-to-the-minute soccer standings in the Big Ten:
1. Penn State: Big Ten: 4-2-0, 12 points, .667 pct; overall: 10-2-1, .808 pct
2. Michigan State: Big Ten: 3-1-1, 10 points, .700 pct; overall: 9-2-2, .769 pct
3. Maryland: Big Ten: 3-2-1, 10 points, .583 pct; overall: 7-5-2, .571 pct
4. Ohio State: Big Ten: 3-2-0, 9 points, .600 pct; overall: 5-5-3, .500 pct
5. Northwestern: Big Ten: 2-1-2, 8 points, .600 pct; overall: 7-2-4, .692 pct
6. Michigan: Big Ten: 2-1-2, 8 points, .600 pct, overall: 4-6-2, .417 pct
7. Indiana: Big Ten: 2-2-1, 7 points, .500 pct; overall: 8-2-3, .731 pct
8. Rutgers: Big Ten: 1-4-1, 4 points, .250 pct; overall: 4-8-1, .346 pct
9. Wisconsin: Big Ten: 0-5-0, 0 points, .000 pct; overall: 2-9-2, .231 pct
points are awarded as follows: 3 for each conference win, 1 for each conference tie
In football, the Terps fell behind Iowa by 14 points, then ran off 24 unanswered points en route to a convincing 38-21 victory. Will Likely intercepted a Hawkeye pass and ran it back 45 yards for one of the touchdowns Maryland scored, and the remarkable wide-out Stefon Diggs caught nine passes for 130 yards and another of the touchdowns, as the Terps recorded their first-ever Big Ten home victory. The Terps are now 5-2 overall in this 2014 season, and 2-1 in the Big Ten. This puts the Terps in third place in the Big Ten East Division, behind Ohio State and Michigan State, who play each other this coming weekend. The Terps now embark on a two-game road trip, playing this Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin at the Badgers, and next Saturday in University Park against Penn State. Here are the up-to-the-minute Big Ten standings:
EAST DIVISION
Michigan State: overall: 6-1; Big Ten: 3-0; Vs. Big Ten East: 1-0
Ohio State: overall: 5-1; Big Ten: 2-0; Vs. Big Ten East: 2-0
Maryland: overall: 5-2; Big Ten: 2-1; Vs. Big Ten East: 1-1
Penn State: overall: 4-2; Big Ten: 1-2; Vs. Big Ten East: 1-1
Michigan: overall: 3-4; Big Ten: 1-2; Vs. Big Ten East: 1-1
Rutgers: overall: 5-2; Big Ten: 1-2; Vs. Big Ten East: 1-2
Indiana: overall: 3-4; Big Ten: 0-3; Vs. Big Ten East: 0-2
WEST DIVISION
Minnesota: overall: 6-1; Big Ten: 3-0; Vs. Big Ten West: 2-0
Nebraska: overall: 6-1; Big Ten: 2-1; Vs. Big Ten West: 2-0
Iowa: overall: 5-2; Big Ten: 2-1; Vs. Big Ten West: 1-0
Northwestern: overall: 3-4; Big Ten: 2-2; Vs. Big Ten West: 1-2
Wisconsin: overall: 4-2; Big Ten: 1-1; Vs. Big Ten West: 1-1
Purdue: overall: 3-5; Big Ten: 1-3; Vs. Big Ten West: 1-2
Illinois: overall: 3-4; Big Ten: 0-3; Vs. Big Ten West: 0-3
Updated through all games of October 18
In the United Kingdom, meantime, Burnley suffered a real downer of a loss. The Claret were at home against West Ham, and, what's more, Danny Ings was back on the pitch for the first time since early September. The final score is misleading. Ings almost immediately scored - in the 8th minute - but an "Assistant" referee called the Claret offside (they were not) and took the goal away. Remember that. Without that boneheaded call, Burnley would've been ahead, 1-0, at the break. Such a result would've forced West Ham to go an all-out offensive in the second half, opening themselves for counter-attacks. West Ham then scored two goals early on in the second half, before George Boyd scored for the Claret. Boyd's goal should've tied the score, and at that point, both sides, and certainly West Ham, would've played for a tie. But instead, Boyd's goal only pulled Burnley within one goal. Burnley hardly needs Assistant Referees making awful calls to take goals off the board.
The Ravens went back to work Sunday against hapless Atlanta and their once-great QB, Matt Ryan. Falcon fans and other smug NFL hooters once laughed when Raven fans said Joe Flacco was the better of the two quarterbacks. They don't laugh at all, anymore. One week after he threw five touchdown passes on the road in Tampa, Flacco returned home to pick apart the Falcons. The final score was 29-7, and combined with the Colts' decimation of the Bengals put the Ravens in first place in the AFC North. The up-to-the-minute standings look like this:
1. Baltimore Ravens: 5 wins, 2 losses, 0 ties, .714 pct
2. Cincinnati Bengals: 3 wins, 2 losses, 1 tie, .583 pct*
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 4 wins, 3 losses, 0 ties, .571 pct
4. Cleveland Browns: 3 wins, 3 losses, 0 ties, .500 pct
*In calculating win percentage for a team with a tie on its record, count the tie as one-half of a win and one-half of a loss. Thus, the Bengals record when figuring win percentage is 3.5 wins and 2.5 losses, which figures out to .583.
The Ravens have given up fewer points (104) than any other team in the NFL. Only three teams have scored more points than the Ravens, who have 193 points, those teams are the Colts (216), the Packers (199 points) and the Cowbodys (196 points). Strangely, the Bengals and Steelers are on the negative side of the points parade. The Bengals have scored 134 points and given up 140 points; and the Steelers have scored 154 points and given up 162 points. The Browns, in last place in the division, have scored one more point than they have given up. The AFC North is the only division in the league with all of its teams at .500 or better. Were the Browns in the NFC South, they'd be tied for first. What all of this means is that the Ravens are pretty darn good, so far. What the standings look like after the Bengal game is quite important. What they look like in two weeks, after the Bengal and the Steeler game, is even more important. Obviously, if the Ravens sweep those two road games, their season will be in just fine shape.
The Baltimore Sun was filled with articles over the weekend telling the Orioles what they need to do in the off-season to make it into next season's World Series. The cold reality for the Birds is that a lot of other teams will be bidding against them for their two most coveted free agents: Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller. The Orioles have a few advantages with both. In the case of Cruz, they were the only team interested in signing him last winter when he was just coming off a substance suspension. The Orioles and their owner, Peter Angelos, paid Cruz $8 million for 2014. Since Cruz led the AL in home rums and runs batted in, he'll get offers for a lot more this off-season. Miller, also, has a lot to commend himself to suiters. He was awesome for the Orioles, especially in the playoffs when he was all but unhittable. What will work hard against the Birds and for Miller is that most of the teams that will compete with the Birds want to make Miller their closer. This observer makes the wild and unsupported prediction that the Orioles will resign Cruz but not Miller. I wish it were the other way around, even though I would dearly want both.
The other Oriole free agent of note will be Nick Markakis. The Orioles and Markakis have a mutual option for next season at $17.5 million. The club has let it be known that they will decline the option in hopes of working out a more economical multi-year deal. So Markakis will test the market, most observers agree.
In going after both Cruz and Miller the Orioles will have to bear in mind that they are on the cusp of several other key players becoming free agents, including Matt Wieters, Manny Machado, and Chris Davis. They have made long-term deals with J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones. The club also has options on Darren O'Day and Wei-Yin Chen that they almost certainly will exercise. They also have one on catcher Nick Hundley that they probably won't, even though they want to keep him in the organization.
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