Brendon Ayanbadejo rips Patriots

ESPN - The war of words between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots already is under way.

While New England was in the process of defeating the Houston Texans on Sunday to set up an AFC Championship Game rematch with Baltimore, Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo ripped the Patriots on Twitter, particularly criticizing their no-huddle offense.

"New England does some suspect stuff on offense. Can't really respect it. Comparable to a cheap shot b4 a fight," Ayanbadejo tweeted.

In tweets that followed he also called the Patriots' hurry-up offense "a gimmick" and made references to the Spygate scandal.

He apologized Monday for comments with another tweet.

"I made selfish comments on twitter last night that reflected poorly upon myself, my teammates, and the organization. For that I apologize," he wrote.

Ayanbadejo will get an opportunity to see New England's offense in person next Sunday when the Ravens visit the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive season. New England won last year's meeting 23-20 thanks to a missed field goal by Baltimore's Billy Cundiff as time expired.

The Patriots gained 457 yards of total offense in Sunday's 41-28 victory over the Texans, asTom Brady passed for 344 yards while orchestrating a hurry-up offense that confounded Houston throughout the contest.

But Ayanbadejo was unimpressed, referring to the Patriots' approach as "a gimmick" Sunday.

"Are you watching the game pats vs texans?" Ayanbadejo tweeted. "If so you see the hurry snap offense catch em b4 they set up. It's a gimmick."

He later tweeted: "Their offense is good enough to be successful with out that."

Ayanbadejo proceeded to make a critical reference to the Spygate scandal and Patriots coach Bill Belichick's decision to cut wide receiverTiquan Underwood one day before Super Bowl XLVI.

"You know the same organization that did spygate and cut a guy the day b4 the Super Bowl," he tweeted.

Ayanbadejo also referred to the Patriots' 2007 season, when they completed the only 16-0 regular season in NFL history but lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

"18-1," he tweeted.

Tom Brady, in his weekly radio interview with WEEI on Monday, took the high road when asked about the tweets.

"I think we've had a lot of people comment about our team and our players this year, and I think the best thing that we do is ignore the noise and we go out and try to prepare, and nothing really that anybody says or does is going to affect what happens next Sunday," he said. "I think it's best for us to just focus on what we can do and that's prepare and work and do what we've done all season. People want to say things, write things, they have the liberty to do that, but it doesn't really have any bearing on what we do."

Brady made it clear that he didn't need the remarks for motivation, instead focusing on the fact that his team is one win away from a return to the Super Bowl.

"That's the only motivation we need," he said. "That's the ultimate motivation."

Ayanbadejo, a standout player on the Ravens' special teams unit, started three games this season and registered one sack.

The Ravens rallied past the Patriots for a 31-30 victory in Week 3 this season. Ayanbadejo, who did not record a tackle in that contest, posted several tweets stating that he "Can't Wait!" for the latest rematch between the rivals.

These guys are unbelievable. Is it just me or does every team we play just ruthlessly attack us for no reason? No one in the Patriots organization said anything, I mean the game wasn't even over yet and they already start talking trash. I can understand if someone tweeted something against the Ravens from the Patriots organization, but there's no rhyme or reason for any of this. Not to mention, it's coming from a guy who can't even make a tackle in a game that practically went 6 quarters.

Don't even get me started with the hurry up offense either. "New England does some suspect stuff on offense. Can't really respect it. Comparable to a cheap shot b4 a fight,". Comparable to a cheap shot before a fight? Are you serious? Do you expect them to get up to the line and wait for the defense to get ready and then snap the ball? That's the whole point of a HURRY UP OFFENSE. Catch the defense off guard. Nothing like a guy who doesn't make a difference say that he doesn't "respect" one of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen. I can't wait what to hear what he has to say after the game on Sunday when the Patriots demolish what used to be the best defense in the league.

Bernard Pollard: NFL should use replay on illegal hits

NFL.com - Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard expects a stiff fine from the NFL for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne in Sunday's wild-card win over Indianapolis. Pollard was flagged for the collision, but believes these type of hits are worth a second look from the replay booth.

"They (replay) touchdowns, fumbles, turnovers, all this other stuff," Pollard told Peter Schmuck of The Baltimore Sun. "They need to have somebody up there to say, 'No, the hit was legal, the guy tried to dodge him, but the (receiver) ducked his head.' We make a lot of money. I'm talking about the NFL. Why can't we can't do that?"

Pollard has a point. We've seen flags thrown for helmet-to-helmet contact that involves an offensive player lowering his head at the last second. Defenders stand no chance of altering their trajectory on some of these plays, and that could use a second look.
The league's stand against legitimate head-to-head collisions shouldn't go away, but replays would give defenders like Pollard a fair shake.

It's not something the NFL is likely to pounce on. Replays already slow the game -- and bringing heightened attention to the sport's most gruesome hits isn't a priority -- but Pollard makes a fair point, one worthy of debate.


Not quite sure what Pollard is thinking here. He expects a big fine from the NFL for his helmet to helmet hit on Reggie Wayne last weekend but thinks these hits need to be reviewed? Not sure if anyone has told him, but these plays get reviewed before every fine is given out. Considering almost all helmet to helmet hits get reviewed and the players get fined, I don't think he has anything to worry about. What the refs need to be more concious of, is missing the helmet to helmet hits. I've seen too many hits this year where a guy clearly get knocked out due to a hit to the head and no flags are thrown. If the league is serious about player safety, they need to get this in tune.

iPad Alone Would Be America's 11th Largest Company

FORTUNE -- Just how lucrative has Apple's iPad become? Let's put it this way: if the tablet were spun off into a standalone business, it would be the 11th largest U.S. tech company.
According to a recent report from Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, the iPad line brought in $32 billion in sales last year -- accounting for just over 60% of all tablet sales -- and will grow 75% in 2013 to $46 billion. With numbers like those, Sacconaghi estimates that would make the iPad business, on its own, the 11th largest tech company.

Even more impressive, it would make the Fortune 500, slotting in at No. 98, above long-established companies like McDonald's (MCD) (No. 107, $27 billion), Macy's (M) (No. 110, $26.4 billion), and Nike (NKE) (No. 136, $20.9 billion). Put another way, the iPad business handily makes more money than Gap (GPS) (No. 185, $14.5 billion) and Toys "R" Us (No. 194, $13.9 billion) combined. Not too shabby for a device launched just shy of three years ago.

Looking ahead, although Sacconaghi projects healthy sales growth over the next two years, he sees adoption flattening out in 2015 due to a heavily saturated market. In other words? By then, many consumers -- even your mom -- will likely be tapping, swiping, and pinching around a tablet of their own.

These are some pretty impressive numbers to say the least. As I've said many times before, I love my iPad. Pretty much couldn't live without it, don't know how I did before I had one. One thing I would like to see is where Samsung would stand in overall tablet sales compared to everyone else.