Baltimore Orioles need to rise up and take it

My personal belief is that the Baltimore Orioles are still the best team in the American Leauge East going into the 2015 season, top to bottom. However the fact is that things have shifted in the division. Boston and New York have probably improved themselves a bit, as in theory has Toronto. Tampa on the other hand has probably lost a couple of steps, however either way the fact is that you never know how things shake out once league play begins.

In watching yesterday’s NFL conference championship games, I would submit that Green Bay lost the NFC title game more so than Seattle won it (not to take anything away from Seattle and face the wrath of Richard Sherman). But in watching that yesterday, I feel that there’s also a lesson that the Orioles can take with them: seize the day and take what’s yours.

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While Seattle was the top seed in the NFC, Green Bay way far and away the better team on the field yesterday. However the fact is that they didn’t take the opportunity that was given to them and run with it. When the opposing quarterback throws four interceptions, odds are you’re going to be in pretty good shape. However in the end, they probably took their foot off the gas – a little too early, that is.

No, I”m not suggesting that running up the score is a good thing. I think that anyone who knows me or has read my column over the years knows where I stand on that. However this is more of a mental thing in that you have to be in a certain mindset to be a champion. In 2014 the Orioles had that eye of the tiger in a sense. But if you don’t have that mindset, bad things can happen.

And we saw it yesterday with the Packers. If your attitude in games turns into oh excuse me, sorry you’re getting beat, the other team’s going to lick their chops and take what’s truly yours. So if the Orioles find themselves in a dog fight for the division and they’re unable to rise up and take what they rightfuly deseve, they shouldn’t be surprised if someone else does.

That’s not to say that I believe that’s going to happen. If the Birds are lucky enough to be in that situation, odds are that Buck Showalter won’t allow them to coast. But in sports we often see constant reminders of this, one of which came yesterday. The Packers were the better team on that football field for most of the game, and they deserved to win that game. But at the end of the day, they decided to step aside.