Ravens Week 2 - Wipe Out

I was thirsty. Jeff and I had just crossed the 2-mile mark on his wrist pedometer, which we're using to track how far we run along the sidelines this season, and after following Derrick Mason around all day, I was seriously lacking in electrolytes. I'm just guessing I'd sweat purple if Gatorade had its way, although despite Syracuse being called quite possibly the worst football team in Division 1-A, I still bleed orange. Well in order to quench said thirst, I ventured over to the hydration center on the field. Each week, two tables are set up between the benches and both are consistently covered in cups, some with water, some with the yellow. Bobby Boucher would certainly approve as the tabletop is rarely seen through the sea of green and orange. Therefore, it would stand to reason that there would be more than enough fluid for the camera crews to stay cool. But when I grabbed a cup from the back of the assembly line I was immediately told to return to sender, the cup in question belonged to Mr. Heap. Now I could understand if number 86 was hovering nearby and waiting for a drink. But Heap was nowhere to be found. What I found out next were not only fascinating facts for the blog, but a few finds that may have actually factored into the outcome of the game. Seriously. I'll start at the end, or at least with the end result, since I had a front row seat. As I alluded to earlier, we had Mason wired on Sunday and he ran us ragged in the first half as Jeff and I sprinted up and down the sidelines while the offense drove up and down the field. We finally got a chance to catch our breath in the end zone just before halftime as the Ravens faced third and goal. Now Mason had been a primary target throughout the first two quarters, which was good news for this fantasy GM as D-Mase was holding down the spot left open by Greg Jennings and his apparent disappearance from fantasy relevance. And even though my fellow team managers would have you believe that somehow the wire worked both ways on Sunday, allowing me to give some extra incentive for #85 to rack up the receptions, he seriously just decided to have a good game. Thank you Kyle Boller and thank you Red Bull as Derrick routinely referenced the taurine tornado for the extra pep in his step. It might not give you wings, but it does seem to help with the hands. As I was saying, Jeff and I were squatting in the corner of the end zone and on third and goal, Kyle threw a fade route to me, or so it seemed, until Todd Heap came to the rescue to reel in the catch. Now the referees called him out of bounds initially and I have to say, in real time, watching his hand and toes simultaneously is nearly impossible. And I apologize, because when Heap spun back and asked the ref to take another look, I had flashbacks of Monday night, when no replay would reverse the touchdown taken away from Todd. [LINK: http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d8024a9ca] Upon further review, not only was the pass intended for Heap the whole time, he managed to make a one handed catch and tip toe two toes in the end zone for the touchdown. "They tried to take that one away from me." Said Heap on the reversal of fortunate. "I tried to get my feet in as best I could. I really didn't know, or couldn't see. I thought I was in." The focus on his feet, however, managed to curtail the comments about the catch itself, which happens to be much more relevant to my Waterworld theme. Dick Enberg did touch on it during the CBS broadcast as he commented, "Talk about talent. One handed catch and having the presence to get both the feet in bounds." So what does an acrobatic catch have to do with my attempt to swipe some high quality H2O? Find out at Coffee on the 50: www.coffeeonthe50.com