Street sign gives Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake personal credit for the paving of Luddington Road in Mount Washington. (VoB Photo/David Maril)

AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT ALL THE SIGNS AROUND TOWN SAY;
BUT GUESS WHO ENDS UP PAYING FOR ALL THE POLITICAL
SIGNAGE THAT TAKES CREDIT FOR THE MAYOR’S ‘WORK’?

R.I.P., Paul Blair:  Former Oriole great set high standard
for excellence in outfield defense  with 1960s/70s Birds

BUT BLAME THE RAVENS’ WEAK OFFENSIVE LINE,
NOT FLACCO, FOR TEAM’S 2013 SHORTCOMINGS
 
By David Maril
 
While wondering if the mistake-filled campaigns of Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler in the contest for governor have made State Comp- troller Peter Franchot regret having dropped out of the race, it’s interesting to note the following:

  When will our elected politicians learn that it’s bush-league and insulting to the voters when they use their public offices to put up needless publicity signage that amounts to little more than campaigning?

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the latest Baltimore mayor to do this. It seems that every time a side street has a few potholes filled or gets some paving, a metal signpost and sign has to be installed to remind the public that routine maintenance we’re all paying for is being done.

In many places throughout the city, we are informed that thanks to the mayor, with her name fully spelled out, and the Department of Transportation, “Operation Orange Cone” has taken place.

Wasting our money on this type of signage has been going on for years. Even though most of us wouldn’t want our names on garbage cans, many of the yellow recycling containers around Baltimore still display former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s name. Going back a number of years, many people resting on “The City That Reads” public benches were sitting or leaning on former Mayor William Donald Schaefer’s name.

Do we really need money being spent on signs and lettering promoting what these elected officials are supposed to be doing in the first place?

Funny thing, I don’t see any signage when I look for attribution every time I pass one of the disabled speed cameras put in place by Brekford Corp. of Anne Arundel County. The mayor’s spending board gifted $600,000 last month to this vendor so the city can escape its speed camera contract.

NO REMINDER OF WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR FIASCO

Brekford will end up being paid, according to the Baltimore Sun, a total of $2.2 million for a system that was hardly used and which the vendor operated for less than two months. I wonder why there isn’t any signage reminding us who’s responsible for this fiasco.

But maybe we don’t need the speed cameras working. A national car-insurance-company survey just released doesn’t put Maryland in the top 10 for worst drivers. Louisiana holds down first place, followed by South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Montana and North Dakota. Wonder if we could sell some of the never-used speed cameras, which are soon to be replaced, to any of the southern states that have high accident rates and numerous violations?

  Paul Blair, who died on Dec. 26th at the age of 69, was one of Major League Baseball’s greatest fielding center fielders of all time. When you stop and think about it, we are pretty fortunate in Baltimore to have had Blair and Brooks Robinson (16 straight Gold Gloves at third-base) — the all-time best defensive players at their positions — play together here at old Memorial Stadium.

There was more to the eight Gold Gloves Blair won as an Oriole than speed, quickness, agility, a powerful and accurate arm plus overall defensive grace. What separated him from other great defensive outfielders was his excellence in getting a jump on the ball. He made tremendously difficult plays look easy.

Former Orioles’ center fielder Paul Blair died Dec. 26th while participating in celebrity bowling tournament at AMF Pikesville Lanes in Northwest Balto. He was 69.

Rarely did Blair have to leave his feet. He always seemed to be in the right place, waiting for the baseball to come down and land in his glove. And unlike 99 percent of the outfielders today, he was always in position to make a strong throw after catching the ball.

  I think all the way back to Jim Plunkett’s days with the New England Patriots and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders when listening to many fans — and a few “experts” in the sports media who should know better — single out Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco as the reason the team missed out this year on the playoffs.

OFFENSE FAILED TO PROVIDE PASS PROTECTION

Plunkett, selected in 1971 as the first pick in the NFL draft after winning the Heisman Trophy for the year before, had great talent as a passer and team leader but struggled at times with the Patriots because of a weak offensive line that didn’t provide pass protection.

Drawing more than his fair share of criticism in New England, Plunkett resurrected his stardom at the age of 33 with the Raiders after injuries held him back during a couple of seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

He became the first quarterback to lead a wild-card team to victory in the Super Bowl with a 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in 1981, earning Super Bowl XV MVP honors. Plunkett was also the winning quarterback in Super Bowl XVIII, when the Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins 38-9.

The point here is that a drop-back, golden-arm quarterback is only effective when receiving decent protection from the offensive line.

Plunkett struggled with the Patriots and was often injured because he seldom had time to pick out receivers and make good passes. When he later played on a Raiders’ team that gave him protection, he was a great quarterback again.

Anyone who watched how poorly Baltimore’s offensive line played this year, and how many times Flacco was sacked, has to wonder how he was physically able to even finish out the season.

It’s true that quarterbacks usually get too much credit when a team wins. Too many other factors in the success are overlooked. But this unfairness with quarterbacks in the spotlight works both ways.

FLACCO SINGLED OUT UNFAIRLY FOR RAVENS’ SHORTCOMINGS

This year, Flacco is being singled out unfairly for the team’s shortcomings. Hopefully he will find more tolerance and a better offensive line in future years in Baltimore than Plunkett did in his seasons with the Patriots.

  The next time you hear Washington politicians pontificating about giving a boost to American manufacturers, consider a report recently in the New York Times that our government spends more than $1.3 billion buying from garment companies overseas. Many of these companies use inexpensive labor to produce uniforms, shirts and other clothing for security workers and people serving on American military bases.

Speaking of government dysfunction, how about the Postal Regulatory Commission’s approval of a three-cent increase taking effect on Jan. 26 for first class stamps, raising the price to 49 cents?

While ignoring recommendations to eliminate Saturday service, which would go a long way toward alleviating the heavy losses the department has suffered, the commission endorsed an increase raising the price to a clumsy, difficult figure instead of adding another penny and making it 50 cents.

Think of all the time that will be wasted with people in line waiting for a penny or two in change. And instead of being forthright with the public, they are calling this a temporary (two-year) increase that is only being instituted to offset the impact of the recession.

OTHER INCREASES DOWN THE ROAD

In truth, the only thing temporary is that there will be other increases down the road.

  Isn’t it time the Arts and Entertainment (A&E) Network dropped the word “Arts” from its title? It seems like over a decade since anything remotely connected to the arts was broadcast on this cable network.

And is anyone really surprised that one of its stars on “Duck Dynasty” makes irresponsible and embarrassing statements about race relations and homosexuality? The absurd nature of the show is what attracts its high — for cable TV — ratings.
 
davidmaril@hermanmaril.com
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.

Editor’s note: “Duck Dynasty” is an American reality television series on A&E that chronicles the lives of the long-bearded Robertsons, who became wealthy from their family-operated business, Duck Commander, in West Monroe, Louisiana, that makes the eponymous best-selling duck call and other duck and deer hunting merchandise under the Buck Commander brand.

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