matt burk, the 14-year veteran is the anchor of a greatly improving offensive line. he did a lot better than many thought this weekend. although he doesn't see as much of what joe flacco does, he loves the way flacco has taken charge of this team. >> the reason why joe is a leader, other than being a quarterback, is the sfact -- fact of who he is. we like who he is and we love having him back there. >> much more of the conversation with matt burk coming up. our pregame show heading into night in america. sunday night the game heading toward us. >> also one more note, the blast last night, winners over the missouri comment, winners over the blast this season. that's a look at sports, i'm pete gilbert. have a great day. >> we're now in the 11 news kitchen. from flavor bakery in bell air. >> good morning. >> you guys have some amazing cub cakes. first, tell me about being on "cupcake wars"? >> we were on the first episode of the season. it was a nutcracker theme, and it was so much fun. >> and you guys won. >> you won? >> yes. >> it was a prize? >> $10,000. >> will you

. >> ray luis sat out practice yesterday as did matt burke and ben grubs. and you can watch the ravens taking on the cold -- colts live sunday afternoon at 1:00. >>> 20 minutes before 5:00, you're waking up to a cold wind and salt on the roads. tim williams in the first warning weather center. >> we'll be a good forecast for the ravens game. we're talking about that this morning. definitely dealing with today glancing blow of wintry mix, that's cleared out of here. mostly sunny day. our average high is 47 degrees, sunny, breezy and cooler. the wind will be a factor and dry out in most of that is out west. for tomorrow, 46 degrees, mostly sunny and look at the weekend ahead. we'll have the first forecast coming up. that's a taste of news, sports and weather on thursday morning. we'll have more in just a moment. ,,,, 3q you disgust me. prove it. enough's enough. d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding, guaranteed. d-con. get out. . >>> welcome back on this thursday morning. going to back up the forecast and give you an idea how the stage h

matt burke. >> i will give it my best result, how i was raised. not about results but effort. and to have the opportunity at that time was pretty unheard of. and i said, i put off the real world for five or six months and give the football thing a shot. and when i showed up, my initial reaction was, there is no way i will last here, these guys are too good. but i was fortunate to have great coaches and a team where i could be a project. they had the luxury of making me a project. and here i am 14 years later. >> how did you go, you didn't play at the highest level as far as on the field in college. and you get to the nfl and you say, just a project and see, how do you become a pro-bowler then? >> what i tell young people, everyone matures physically at different times. and i hadn't reach my potential in high school and i wasn't recruited by big-time teams because i was big enough. but i love everything about the training and the team aspect of the sport. just being a part of the team. and i think from that passion it's allowed me to work hard. and i was fortunate. i got in a s

. >> reporter: for matt burk, his kids are the center of attention. >> with now six young kids at home, there is nothing like christmas morning. >> reporter: ravens rookietory smith looking forward to starting a new holiday tradition. >> a time to realize how thankful you are from family to football and life in general. and i'm excited and it's the first time being on my own and my folks are coming to celebrate with me and hopefully we celebrate with a good win. >> from where i came from in life not having at that age and when i give, i give from the heart. >> reporter: as ray rice mentioned and the other players that we spoke with, they all feel very fortunate to be part of the nfl. and they say this is the time to give back to others. back to you. >>> and there is only one place to watch the ravens battle the browns on christmas eve. starting at 1:00 here on saturday afternoon. and make sure to stay tuned after the game. mark viviano will host the post game show live from the stadium with highlights from the locker room. and then marty bass, wally williams and jessica kartalija will

. >> more of the conversation with matt burke coming up on our pregame show. of course, sunday night football the game here for us on tv 11. matt, we talked about the irony. also, one more note, last night the blast winners. the first home win for the blast this season. that's a look at sports. i'm pete gilbert. >> kobe bryant's wife has filed for divorce. she cited irreconcileable differences as the reason for the split. they asked for physical and legal custody of the their two daughters. vanessa stayed with the l.a. lakers star after a colorado woman accused him of rain in 2003. those charges were dropped and the case was settled out of court. >> cute children. >> yes, beautiful. >> here's a look ahead to our next hour of "11 news saturday morning". >> loved ones remembering the life of a baltimore county teen who was killed in an accident. i'm sheldon dutes. that story straight ahead. >> a family sues the baltimore city school system and two school principals over bullying. i'm lowell melzer. the story coming up. >> no snow now, while it may be cold enough

. >>> matt burke and ben grubbs both sat out today's practice. as did linebacker ray lewis.his reminder, if you don't have a ticket to the game, you can see the ravens and colts here on wjz. coverage comes your way sunday at 1:00. >>> baseball's winter meetings will close tonight. and to this point, the orioles have had many conversations but no deals during the three days in dallas. the busiest teams and the biggest spenders have been the miami marlins. they signed shortstop reyes and closer heath bell. and today, they grabbed mark buehrle who agrees with a deal. -- he leads chicago. he will reunite with manager ozzy gillen. >>> busy night of college basketball. maryland home tonight. towson taking on la salle. and loyola on the road at george washington. following a former high schooler making his mark. tenth ranked missouri has won his first eight games, thanks in part to randallstown. kim english. and the win over villanova. english is mizzou's second leading score. and he is the team leader in 3- pointers. we'll have more basketball highlights, plus more on the ravens a

ray lewis, chris car, matt burke, also set out. the ravens are heavily favored to beat the winless colts on sunday. and another sellout baltimore crowd will be on hand if the ravens are unbeaten at home. and with a win sunday, they will put a team record for their most wins in a row at home. that would be 9. the ravens goal is to have homefield advantage for the play-offs. they know and appreciate the advantage their rockets fans provide. >> what we do hand down is the best in the world. our fans is none like no other. they just want to see us do great. they want to see us win. and i consider myself a player of the people. and i'm going to try to give them the show. >> it gives them the show. >> ravens have won 25 of 30 home games, since john harbaugh took over as coach in 2008. only new england has been better at home in that time. and if you don't have a ticket to sunday's game, tune in here to wjz, we'll bring the action into your living room. ravens -- ravens and colts. coverage kicks off at 1:00. we were at the naval academy.