FanHouse Baltimore

We noted this morning that longtime NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer had an Achilles injury that would likely end his playing career, and this afternoon Dilfer made it official.

It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

Why isn't this competition on TV again?

The Charleston Battery obliterated FC Dallas, 3-1, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, scoring before an after an hour-long lightning delay in the first half and shutting down all but one meaningless strike in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders fought the Kansas City Wizards to a 0-0 draw and advanced 6-5 on penalties, thanks in part to a 12-save performance by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, who also saved two PKs to help Seattle advance.

Meanwhile, USL Second Division club Crystal Palace Baltimore pushed the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution to penalties, but lost the shootout, 5-3. In Boyds, MD, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Mark Burch were shown red cards in extra time, while Bryan Namoff scored the winner in the 99th minute to push D.C. United past the Chicago Fire, 2-1.

D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, one month after their testy match in Toyota Park in which three red cards were given and Luciano Emilio got a surprise goal in stoppage time to lift 9-man D.C. to a 2-1 win.

If you want to watch this rematch, though, you'll have to go to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds and buy a ticket. By all accounts, this match will not air on TV or online. Neither will tonight's New England Revolution v. Crystal Palace Baltimore match, providing further proof that the U.S. Open Cup -- a competition in which the winner receives a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, no less -- is truly the most disrespected competition in American soccer.

The other two quarterfinal matches at least have online video feeds. FC Dallas v. Charleston Battery will be shown on MLSLive at 8:30 PM ET, while Seattle fans log on to USLLive get a free glimpse of their future MLS club's home when the USL-1 Seattle Sounders face the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field at 10:00 PM ET. Let's hope the groundskeepers actually try to cover up the gridiron lines this year.

I'm not going to read The Wire's obituary again, but if you don't know who David Simon is, he's one-half of the creative duo that breathed life into the best television show of the past decade, The Sopranos (arguably) excepted. He's also been labeled by The Atlantic as "The Angriest Man in Television," a title one imagines Simon is honored by.

Simon is also a baseball fan, and in this conversation with Washington Times writer Thom Loverro, Simon has a few words for Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Specifically, that they can "kiss [his] pale, white ass,"

But let me say this about the official side of Major League Baseball: They can kiss my pale, white ass. Seriously. Although that sequence reflected in no negative way on baseball itself -- a reporter was making up a story about a handicapped fan for his own benefit -- MLB considered our request to film on stadium property and use MLB logos and then denied the request. Unless our drama pretty much exalts baseball as the greatest game ever played by the greatest bunch of people ever to play a game, MLB will not allow the use of its logos or facilities in any act of storytelling. I find this cowardly and venal and offensive. A game that claims to be the national pastime should be confident enough and respectful enough of independent storytelling to allow itself to be seen within the context of ordinary American life.

Fortunately for the show, the sequence Simon is referring to suffered little for MLB's obstinance. I can understand the league's desire to not be a target in The Wire's dangerously precise purview, but to deny an innocuous request like that one seems really weird. Then again, weird is just another day in Bud Selig's office.

Crystal Palace supporters still suffering from the loss of that Premier League promotion playoff last May might be taking a little solace in their American counterparts today.

USL Second Division side Crystal Palace Baltimore upset an uninspired New York Red Bulls side, 2-0, last night in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. The win prompted many sports fans in Baltimore to say, "Wait, we have a soccer team here?"

Indeed, the club was founded in 2006, 101 years after Crystal Palace FC was founded in London, and it serves as a player development wing for the Coca-Cola Championship club. Clearly, player development is going pretty well there, though as Ives Galarcep notes, too many Red Bulls just didn't come to play last night.

Two other USL clubs pulled off upsets, as USL-1 leaders the Charleston Battery defeated MLS Cup holders the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks, while the Seattle Sounders topped Chivas USA, 2-0. Other USL clubs didn't get away so easily. The Kansas City Wizards came back from a 2-0 deficit to topple the Carolina Railhawks, 4-2, in extra time, and FC Dallas scored a 2-1 comeback win against Miami FC. D.C. United, the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution also cruised to victory over USL clubs.

The U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals are scheduled for next Tuesday.

It's pretty common to see a college team using a live animal as their mascot. Ralphie the Buffalo leads Colorado's football team onto the field, for example, and a succession of bulldogs named Uga have inspired Georgia. It's not quite as common in the NFL, though. Most of the time NFL players and animals meet up, the consequences aren't that great for either side.

The Ravens are trying to change that, however, by using a pair of actual ravens as part of pre-game festivities. That caught the eye of PETA who are urging the team to rethink their plan.

"[The] bright lights, screaming fans, and loud noises - such as air horns, bands, and amplified sound systems - are terrifying for animals who can't possibly understand what is going on. Regardless of how these birds are trained, they are likely to be severely distressed by the overwhelming confusion of the situation."

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun asks a good question: Why should they be treated any differently than Kyle Boller?

I'm all for treating animals with respect but judging from the amount of birds that seem to make their homes in stadiums, this seems a bit overblown. They might lack understanding of what's going on but that doesn't seem to affect them enough to steer clear of loud, bright places. The Ravens appear to agree and indicated that they won't be changing their plans.

If the Orioles didn't have to play on Sunday, they'd be one of the best teams in the majors. No, seriously: as pointed out by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the Orioles are 1-12 on Sunday this year -- their 40-27 record the rest of the week is good for a .598 winning percentage. If they played that well all week long, they'd have the third-best record in the league, trailing only the Rays and Cubs.

Since fans attending Sunday games have been screwed all season long, the Orioles have decided to hold a promotion to help convince fans to turn out. If the O's win this Sunday, every fan in attendance will be given a voucher good for any other game this year. From the team's press release:

"The circumstances surrounding the team's Sunday struggles are highly unusual and inexplicable. We believe the situation calls for added assistance from our loyal fans to help the team deliver another Sunday victory. And if the Birds win on Sunday, anyone who does help us break this hex will be rewarded with a complimentary ticket to a future game of his or her choice."

Maybe it's me, but this seems backwards. Given the team's struggles, shouldn't the fans get another ticket if the O's lose? Maybe the team doesn't want to risk having the home crowd cheer against the O's -- that happens enough when the Red Sox come to town -- but this should about rewarding the fans who stick with the team even through the hard times.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin was arrested over the weekend for marijuana possession. Since Martin isn't a big name, that's the kind of story that usually gets reported and then forgotten.

But Martin lied about it, and the Baltimore Sun showed absolutely no skepticism at all about that lie, so here we are, still talking about it.

To review: As soon as Martin claimed that he hadn't been arrested, the Baltimore Sun put up a headline reading, "Ravens' Martin Mistakenly Linked to Drug Arrest: Initial media reports implicated cornerback for Cleveland airport stop, but clarification revealed man had same name, birth date."

Hell of a coincidence, huh? Two guys with the exact same name and exact same birth date, both listing addresses in Owings Mills, Maryland, the city where the Ravens' headquarters are located.

Now the Sun has finally caught on that no, it wasn't another guy named Derrick Martin who was born on the same day as the Derrick Martin who plays for the Ravens and lives in the city where the Ravens are based. It was the Ravens' Derrick Martin who was arrested. Glad we've cleared that up.

Jay Gibbons is suddenly a sad story. I don't know why, exactly; he's always seemed like kind of a jerk, and he cheated, and those things typically result in one being vilified forever. (*Cough* Roger Clemens *cough*.) But here Gibbons is today, the subject of a semi-empathetic story in the Baltimore Sun about how much he wants to get back to the majors. It starts out just moderately sad. Then we learn the horrifying truth:

"It's a league of misfortune," said Everett, who had a 14-season career in the majors that includes a World Series ring and dustups with umpires, managers and the media. "A lot of times mistakes are made by whomever, whether it is the club on judgment or the player. If you are one of those players that they made a mistake on you, you are going to hope someone else sees you."

Ah! Carl Everett! Where did you come from, man? Have you been here the whole time? No kidding.

Poor Jay Gibbons: He just wanted to keep playing baseball. Now he's stuck in the Land of Misfit Dinosaur Theorists.

Yesterday's news that Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin got arrested in the Cleveland airport for marijuana possession didn't raise much of an eyebrow. Sadly, we're all to accustomed to NFL players running afoul of the law and TSA agents finding weed in a travel bag is all too believably routine to elicit surprise. Martin denying it was him, though, is a new twist.

The Baltimore Sun apparently believes Martin's story, since they are running a story about the case under the headline "Ravens Martin mistakenly linked to drug arrest." A click on the link, however, finds an AP story which merely says that a man with the same name and date of birth as Martin was arrested in the Cleveland airport.

A Ravens spokesman, Kevin Byrne, says that Martin denies the incident ever happened. According to the Carroll County Times, the Derrick Martin who was arrested listed his hometown as Owings Mills, Maryland. Raven watchers know that's where the team's headquarters are located, which makes it a pretty plausible address for a player on the team.

That all adds up to one helluva coincidence. There are eight Derrick Martins living in Maryland listed on Whitepages.com, though none of those men live in Owings Mills. If Martin is telling the truth, great, but if he isn't he may be making things much worse for himself. The marijuana charge carries a $100 fine as penalty but the NFL frowns upon players trying to cover up arrests.

(H/T PFT)