Q&A With A Ravens YouTuber
By Joe Barnes
After having a Q&A with a Bengals blogger, Mickey from WhoDeyFans.com, here’s another session of the questioning and the answering, with Ariana from THEaTEAM52 (yes, the caps are on purpose). You may be familiar with her from her frequent, mostly Ravens-themed Twitter updates or her account on YouTube. Enjoy, and a preview and predictions are coming tomorrow.
1. Which Raven impressed you most in last week’s 30-7 drubbing of the Denver Broncos?
There were so many impressive plays that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one player. The sack by Jarret Johnson at the beginning of the game really set the tone; it was symbolic of the re-awakening of our “smashmouth” defense. On special teams, Lardarius Webb impressed me with that 95 yard return for a touchdown. The Ravens have had some issues when trying to decide who will return between Webb & Chris Carr. Carr has yet to impress me, but Webb has done well. Offensively it was great to see Ray Rice and Joe Flacco have another outstanding game – however, it was nice to see the addition of Kelley Washington playing well at wide receiver (and people claim we would be lost without Derrick Mason). Lastly, Ravens fans have to be thankful for Steve Hauschka having a perfect game. He needed a confidence boost just as much as our defense did!
2. What are you most worried about for the Bengals game? Any matchups or units that you think may favor Cincy?
The first thing that comes to mind is Cedric Benson. He had an outstanding running game last time the Bengals played the Ravens – hoping the Ravens run D will be much better this time around and make the proper adjustments so this won’t happen again. Both of the Ravens’ main corners, Fabian Washington and Domonique Foxworth are 5’11” (as is Frank Walker) – this has been a disadvantage against most wide receivers they’ve played. The Bengals are no exception with some tall wide receivers of their own including: Andre Caldwell (6’0″), Chris Henry (6’4”), & Chad Ochocinco (6’0″). Domonique Foxworth really stepped up in the game against the Broncos so hopefully he’ll earn the right to not be called Vivica by Chad after Sunday’s game.
3. Do you feel like the team’s identity is changing into an offensive jaggernaut instead of a defensive one? Did last week’s performance change your mind at all?
If this question had been asked before the Broncos game, I would have been more inclined to say that the Ravens were changing into more of an “offensive juggernaut.” However, as I said in question 1, the Ravens defense had a total re-awakening against the Broncos. I hadn’t seen them that intense and focused since probably last season when we still had defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. Earlier in the season there was a lot of talk about the Ravens finally being balanced, but I didn’t see true balance between offense and defense until last week. Beforehand the offense outshined our once dominant D. I’m looking forward to more of the balance Ravens fans witnessed last week.
4. Tell us a little bit about what yourself and what you do on Youtube.
I originally started a personal YouTube channel under the name ayoumans25. My viewers always got a little disgruntled when I had videos about or even mentioned sports. Sports (football, baseball, and UFC mainly) are a huge part of my life so I couldn’t be quieted. Instead I made a separate channel for my love of sports under the name of THEaTEAM52. I’ve had a lot of kind people spread the word about my channel and I have enjoyed nearly every second of the few months I’ve been on YouTube (minus the hate I receive for not being a Brett Favre fan). As far as what I actually do, the majority of my videos are dedicated to the Baltimore Ravens. I make pre- & post-game videos for every game of the season (preseason as well as regular season) and I make videos when any major news comes out of the organization. I’m very passionate about the Ravens, probably because I’m a fan living outside of Maryland (I was born and raised in Georgia), and I’ve been told by many that that’s why they watch my videos.
–Ariana of THEaTEAM52