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  1. #1

    OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    Before any of you accuse me of being a troll, I'm not. I'm not going to use any personal attacks on anyone and this is going to be very hard for me to say. I've grown up in MD and have been a ravens fan my whole life. Myself and all of you guys love Ray Lewis. You know the drill. Heart and soul of this team since its existence, 2 time super bowl champ, one of the greatest of all time, dedication to the team and city of Baltimore.. yes we know that. With that said, let me ask you all something.

    If you guys can gather the strength to look at this objectively for a few minutes (was very hard for me to do), do you blame any fan, or media member for thinking Ray Lewis is full of crap? Do you blame them for thinking sometimes he is fake? Once I found myself in complete objectivity, or as close as I can get to it, I realized that in some ways I have a bit less respect for him than I originally had back when I refused to even question it.

    Before I really dive in, I will say it's quite obvious what he has done for a lot of his teammates, fans, and just people around the world. Great stuff. I'm sorry but the truth is, he is either fake and putting on an act, or lacks intelligence. It pains me to say it. The first thing that bothers me is that he made it all about him. Yes yes I know you hated on all the media members for saying it and I did too, but seriously, is it not true? There seemed to be ALOT of "I's" in all of his press conferences. It was always, "on my last ride", "I told them this and that" etc etc. He even said during his parade speech that there was no better way to go out than with a 2nd super bowl ring. Obviously, he was the only one on that team still remaining from 2000.

    He constantly made it about him, whether it's falling down by himself near the cameras after games, or taking off his jersey and showing off the tank top with the lion on it. He puts himself up on a pedastool and I'm surprised not many of you were bothered by that. How many times is he going to do with squirrel dance? How many times is he going to spew some religious rhetoric that has no place in reality even among most christians. (I'm an atheist by the way).

    He makes it out like god chose the ravens to win over and over again. So god hates the other teams? There's no christians on the other teams? And by the way even if god did exist I'm sure football games SHOULD be the last thing he's concerned about. "No weapon formed against us shall prosper"... please dude you act like everyone's out trying to torture you in some foreign country. At the end of the day you're playing a football game. He acts like God is on his side with everything and portrays himself like hes a saint.

    It's called the god bandaid folks, if something goes wrong, oh well that's just a test from god right? People being broke as hell and being abused all across the world that's just god testing us right? It was absolutely disgusting what he said to Shannon Sharpe during that CBS interview as well.. when asked about the situation in Atlanta, he went on some tangent about how God doesn't make mistakes and that if the family of the victims knew "what he knew" they would think differently. Well, why the fuck don't you tell them Ray? He uses his fame to get out of it. That brings me to another point, I know this is pretty common with all athletes but the self promotion is just sickening to me.. how many cliche motivational speeches do you have to stand up and give?

    The worst part of this all is this one tactic he uses when ANYONE criticizes him. He will act like they are so small, so tiny and meaningless. Yeah, because how dare anyone question a god right? You are perfect Ray your right, nobody should ever have the right to question anything about you. Now I'll admit I don't give a shit nor do I buy the deer antler spray story.. :grbac: but he does that same tactic to everyone who dares to question or criticize him. It's very easy when caught in a lie to say "Oh well god is on my side he doesn't make mistakes he chose me therefore your wrong". "no weapon".

    Mods, please do not delete this I understand it may have to get moved but I'm not a troll I just stated honestly how I feel and opened it up for debate. Sorry if there's a similar thread out there. Before you want to criticize me and just shun me, read the whole post and take into consideration the points I make and the things I say. Thanks.





  2. #2
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    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    I can TOTALLY see how people think he's fake and a drama guy.

    I can see why people hate him.

    I can accept those faults for his positive attributes, namely, being a fucking savage on the football field and a true general and leader of warriors. Face the facts: this is football, you are judged first by your play. Can't play? No roster spot. A PRIME Ray Lewis is the alpha male of alpha males. Nastiest defensive player in recent memory, supreme upper body strength and physicality. Beast.

    To expound: Ray Lewis is fairly evasive about the details of the Atlanta murders, invoking "God" instead of just answering the questions asked. I think he is truly terrified of how his indirect involvement of that evening could have crippled his entire opportunity in pro football, and being ignorant in some ways, he took a "I don't know anything" plea to remove himself as far from the incident as possible, as opposed to just telling people exactly what he saw and what he was doing when it happened.

    Ultimately, you have to admit Ray's legacy is a tarnished one. But despite that, you can't question the ridiculous animal-like aggression he forced into NFL offenses in his prime. He was a world class NFL player who practiced with the same intensity with which he played, who cared when others didn't, who believed when others lost hope. His teammates saw that and played much better.
    Last edited by FadeToBlack; 02-07-2013 at 02:21 AM.





  3. Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    Quote Originally Posted by RavenNation620 View Post
    and that if the family of the victims knew "what he knew" they would think differently. Well, why the fuck don't you tell them Ray?
    You know, his testimony is publicly available...

    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../06/se.01.html
    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../06/se.02.html
    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../06/se.03.html





  4. #4
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    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    It does not matter what WE think....... As long as the players buy into it is all that matters! Period EOS.





  5. #5

    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    RavensNation620, you could have admitted you are an atheist in at least your first paragraph and not wasted my time with the rest of your diatribe. Of course, you believe a man of GOD is fake. Good grief.





  6. #6
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    Being an atheist has nothing to do with it. I'm one, but it doesn't prevent me from understanding how profoundly Ray's faith has affected him and how it serves has part of his inspiration.

    One does not need to embrace a philosophy to grasp the value of it.
    My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron





  7. #7
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    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    I am one of the biggest atheist I know of. That never diminishes what Ray Lewis does on the field. What he believes, is what he believes. Ray doesn't seemed to be bothered by my lack of faith. When I met him, he was impressed with my drawing of him, shook my hand, and said "that is awesome man."

    It is respect, it is being American. The ability to believe and say what you please, critics be damned. I could care less what people think of me, but if people made judgments on my life based of off partial information and dislike of me because I was a success, then they have problems.

    There was a company party last night, we said goodbye to two of our founding fathers to retirement. They started off with a prayer (Christian one), a room of 70 people bowed their heads. Ten of us were atheist and one was Muslim. We just sat up, quietly gave the Christians their few minutes. I don't know why people find it so hard to accommodate the faith of others. It is one of the largest problems with this world and people who have problems with people like Ray Lewis. I say live and let live.

    As the Great Philosophers Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan said:

    "Be EXCELLENT to each other!"
    Last edited by Captain Silver; 02-07-2013 at 06:35 AM.





  8. #8
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    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    I don't really believe Ray is fake, but I do believe that he is a self-promoter, and comes across as quite self-centred. I do find his talking about God a bit tedious some times, more for the way he invokes it (the claiming of God being on the team's side, to me, is a bit of an odd thing to say) than his having faith. With all that said, he is who he is. I tend to ignore that stuff, and I actually didn't really follow any of the pre-SB coverage for the last fortnight because I knew it would be fairly prevalent.





  9. #9
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    People who interpret him as believing God is on the Raven's side are misunderstanding him.

    When he means is that God inspires him, and other on the team, not only in football, but in life.

    Ray has always professed the idea that God doesn't set obstacles in front of you to fail, but rather to strengthen you when you overcome them. In the context of a football game, that belief can be the difference between folding when behind and fighting your way back.

    And for the record, I think that he's not so much a self promoter, as he is aware of his status as a leader of men both on and off the field. Ray Rice considers him an older brother, not because he plays linebacker so well, but because he helped guide him through that awkward phase all men go through when they leave the adolescence of college behind and become men.
    My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging. -Hank Aaron





  10. #10
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    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    Ray Lewis didn't fucking make this about himself, I'm so fucking tired of hearing that BS. The MEDIA MADE IT ABOUT RAY LEWIS, NOT HIM. When Ray is asked a question he's going to answer it, and the whole team loves him, what are you going to do? Enough disrespecting someone who done so much for this team and organization, the man deserves to go out like a champ that he is, I'm tired of all the mindless hate about this guy, and all the false accusations.





  11. #11

    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    This is an interesting post. But I should ask, what does it mean to evaluate a person objectively? What tool is used in this "objectivity"? Logic? If logic is being employed, then will we agree that the objective evaluation should not be contaminated with a judgment or "pre-existing" value/norms? I intend not to get into the epistemological discussion, but I will expound if you ask.

    My point is that, your evaluation of Ray Lewis was not objective one. Ray Lewis seemed to be evaluated against your judgment or your norms/values, which led you to conclude some of the things that you said.

    If you truly evaluate Ray Lewis objectively, it is doubtful that you would care whether Ray was a fake or not. You would not care whether Ray was an arrogant or a narcissist. Why? Because when you evaluate someone objectively, you evaluate that person per se just to make sense of the person without assigning judgment.





  12. #12

    Re: OT: Thoughts; Analysis on Ray Lewis

    In response to your post, who cares? Who does he owe for what went down in Atlanta? That is between him and his divine being. He does not owe us, fans, shit... let alone, an explanation. He is, sadly, our entertainment. If we do not want to be entertained by him, don't watch him.

    Ray Lewis is no Mother Teresa, he has made his shares of mistakes and probably will. Most of all, he is a human being, and he seemingly does have a good heart. Ray makes difference in a lot of people's lives. I don't care if you are a bona fide asshole, but you have my respect if you made a difference in the lives of others (that is what matters to me) and/or stand by your principles.

    In the word of Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often misattributed to Voltaire): I may not agree to what you say, but I will defend to death your rights to say it.





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