Steve Bisciotti, I wish you could read the e-mails I'm getting this week from Ravens fans.
Some are thoughtful and constructive. Some are angry enough to singe your corneas. And some make you want to scream "WHY DO YOU WATCH THIS TEAM IF IT MAKES YOU SO MISERABLE?!"
Sure, I know that, as the Ravens owner, you hear plenty from the fans, too.
I'm told you check out all the messages directed to you on the team's web site. And you probably get an earful from Ravens fans when you're down in College Park watching Terps basketball and hanging with your pal, Gary Williams.
But before you meet with the media Thursday for your annual "State of the Ravens" address, here's the main thing I want to share from my e-mails: the natives are restless.
I mean, really restless.
They're still not over that horrible season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, when the offense went into a trance in the third quarter and turned the ball over three times and threw the game away.
Fans are taking that hard, Steve. After all, it was the Steelers. Satan's Team, to everyone in Baltimore.
In fact, judging by the reaction to that loss, you almost wouldn't know the Ravens just finished another excellent year.
You almost wouldn't know they went 12-4 in the regular season and made the playoffs for the third year in a row.
Me, I happen to think Ravens fans are way too demanding. In fact, I think NFL fans across the board are way too demanding.
There's this sense among fans now that if their team is any good and doesn't make it to the Super Bowl, it's a failure. And that it has to be blown up and re-built. And that all the coaches are idiots and have to be sacked.
That's a lot of what we're dealing with in Baltimore this week. And that's part of the culture we live in, too.
Sure, we're spoiled around here. Expectations for the Ravens were sky-high. "Super Bowl or bust" — that's what we heard from your players even back during the mini-camps.
So now it's "bust" for a lot of Ravens fans, Steve. But that doesn't mean they've stopped caring about this team. The fans are still wildly passionate. But they want to see some changes before they give their hearts to the 2011 Ravens.
What the fans want most of all is a change in the offense. And I'm with them 100 percent on this one.
No matter how you look at it, the offense under-performed in 2010. Not only that, it was dull to watch.
Here are the ugly stats: the Ravens slid to 22nd in the league in total offense. They were 14th in rushing offense. They were 20th in passing offense.
And in that debacle at Heinz Field last Saturday, they managed just 126 yards of total offense. And just 28 yards in the second half.
Twenty-eight!
I'm not a conspiracy guy. But I swear someone slipped sedatives into their Gatorade.
Which brings us to your offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron.
The fans aren't too happy with the man, Steve. They ripped his play-calling all season. The Ravens had former Pro Bowlers at every skill position except quarterback. And the offense still never developed a true identity. It was maddeningly inconsistent week to week.
So when the word went out late Tuesday that a Ravens coordinator was leaving, much of Ravens Nation broke out the champagne and confetti.
Oops, wrong coordinator. Turns out it was defensive coordinator Greg Mattison who left to take the same position at Michigan.
Your head coach, John Harbaugh, says Cameron will be back next season. But it'll be interesting to hear what you say about it today.
I don't blame Cameron entirely for all the problems this team had moving the ball. Players play the game — that's what Derrick Mason says all the time.
But when the team signs big-name receivers such as Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Donte Stallworth and the offense takes a step backward, the guy calling the plays takes the heat.
I don't know if it's fair, Steve. But life isn't fair. Hey, I just lost $1.25 in a Pepsi vending machine. That's not fair, either.
Let me end with a word or two about the NFL's labor unrest and a possible owner's lockout. You'll be asked about that today, too.
Don't do it, Steve. Don't vote for a lockout. It would be a PR disaster for the league. And it would rip the hearts out of the fans.
What would Ravens fans do if July rolled around and the training camps were closed?
Why, they might even have to watch the Orioles.
And you wouldn't believe the e-mails I'd get then.
(Listen to Kevin Cowherd Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with Jerry Coleman on Fox 1370 AM Sports.)