Nestor Aparicio's Blog

Puck You...

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:51:32 GMT

Now that we have your attention, it's NHL season again. And the Washington Capitals have reached out to WNST during the offseason and we're trying to have some fun during trying political and unstable times.

For anyone who has followed my career, you know I have one pretty strong lifelong passion that I was truly self-indulgent about: hockey.

The breakthrough in my sports media career came when I was 16 years old and covering Baltimore Skipjacks and Washington Capitals games at The News American. I also covered both of those teams in various forms (as well as the Bandits) for The Evening Sun. I was the beat writer and in 1991 I met Kenny Albert. We did a talk show together and -- voila -- WNST is born.

Well, sorta...

It would be impossible to tell you how much fun and how much joy hockey has added to my life.

The many, many Stanley Cup playoff excursion I’ve been on…

To Vancouver, Anaheim, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Manhattan, Raleigh, Miami, Nashville – I’ve seen playoff games in all of these cities.

I’m great pals with Predators coach Barry Trotz and would fulfill a lifetime dream of mine, drinking a tasty beverage from Lord Stanley’s goblet if Nashville ever won The Cup.

I met my wife at a hockey game, an AHL classic in Manchester, N.H.

Hockey Meg is in my life because of hockey. So is Howard Scher, Ed Frankovic and a bunch of other cool people.

Hockey is great. And honestly, people who love hockey are great. And even the players who play hockey with their super quirky Canadian accents are also pretty cool and were always a blast to be around.

If I ever got wealthy from WNST.net, the first and only really stupid thing I’d do is fulfill my wish to own a hockey team. Truth be told, I’d bring a team here in a nano-second and try to market it and make it work.

I love hockey.

The Washington Capitals, who brought me so many cool memories back in the 1980’s at the Capital Centre that I don’t even know where to begin discussing how much fun I had back in the days with Phil Jackman, have reached out to WNST and said this:

“How can we get people from Baltimore to embrace the Capitals?”

Drew Forrester and I went down to Northern Virginia (and WOW, what a facility they have down there) and told them that we could put some real hockey fans together from Baltimore who would like to embrace the Capitals if the Capitals wanted to embrace us.

So, lo and behold, we’re offering many discounts on the website for Caps game and we plan to go to many games this year with some official “WNST Puck Buses” to games in D.C.

We’ll discount the tickets (natch!) and we’ll see if we can create some memories and some fun.

I miss hockey badly. I get to Nashville on occasion. I go to games when my wife goes home to New Hampshire. And sometimes we even take in a game in Hershey on a Saturday night around Christmas.

But we’re going to “Rock the Red” during 2008-09 and try to find some “old-time hockey” spirit.

Anyone interested in being included on the “Puck Bus” presale (coming in the next week), drop me a note at nasty@wnst.net

The first roadie is Nov. 6th vs. Carolina. We’re going to keep the tickets in the $50 to $60 range with all of the trimmings: food, beer, soda for kids, ticket, ride, swag, fun, DVDs, meeting other hockey idiots with puckheads like me.

Stay tuned…

MLB: Congrats to Rick Vaughn and Tampa Bay Rays!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:55:54 GMT

An hour ago my wife pulled me away from my Apple Mac Book Pro and lured me toward the television to watch the last inning of the “Sox” game.

No, not the Red Sox.

Instead, the Chicago White Sox were about to get bounced out of the ALDS and MLB Playoffs by the Tampa Bay Rays on a chilly night in Chicago. (Ever since they took the “Devil” out of their name their fortunes have changed. Coincidence? Hmmm…)

So I watched the last three painful outs not just for the White Sox but for all Chicagoland baseball fans. I lived, on and off, in Chicago for three years when I was syndicated at Sporting News radio. My cousin is a White Sox Hall of Famer, even though I’ve never been a fan of the Southsiders.

But I know this: Chicago loves baseball.

And with the final whiff of Ken Griffey’s bat (and perhaps career), Chicago was extinguished yet again from the hope of a World Championship. Well, they got theirs three years ago when the Sox won, but it’s all over for another winter in the Windy City.

And then I watched a beautiful thing?

An old Baltimore P.R. friend named Rick Vaughn – the man who single-handedly orchestrated one of the greatest days in Baltimore’s vaunted sports history, the final O’s game on 33rd Street back in 1991 (it actually was 17 years ago today!) – was amongst the throng of celebrating young men in gray jerseys.

But the Rays’ P.R. extraordinaire Rick Vaughn (and yes, he shares the same name as the Charlie Sheen character from “Major League”) left Baltimore when the Angelos family purchased the Orioles in 1994 and moved on to become the P.R. poobah for his first love, the Washington Redskins. He lasted a short time there before returning to baseball as the first and only P.R. guy for the Tampa Bay Devils Rays.

That was BEFORE the disease of Angelos inflicted the Orioles. Can you imagine anything worse than watching the Orioles since 1998? Well, think about the Tampa Bay Rays, who not only never had any history with Brooks and Boog and Frank and Cakes and Eddie and Cal and Earl?

Before this six months of incredible turnaround that landed them wildly celebrating with champagne in the bowels of Comiskey Park tonight, they had never won 70 games in a season. That’s 10 seasons of sucking worse – way worse when you consider they only finished fourth once in that span – than the freaking Orioles.

And Rick Vaughn sat through every lonely losing flight from Anaheim to Seattle from Boston to Texas and back home to sunny Tampa Bay. Where any game that they drew five figures was a giveaway night or a night when the Red Sox or Yankees were in town.

(Does that sound familiar?)

So, this celebration tonight tears at me on two levels:

1. I feel so good for Vaughn, who is one of the true professionals and good people I’ve encountered in all of my years on the sports media beat, and also for manager Joe Maddon, who has always been a gem of a guy to deal with when I’ve been around him.
2. It makes me wanna puke that the Tampa Rays can actually have a team worthy of hosting ALCS games this week and the Orioles have just finished their 11th consecutive worthless season en route to at least a few more. And the stadium and the city sits empty while Tampa (a city that doesn’t even deserve a baseball team and has no fans) gets to host mid-October baseball. I’m insanely jealous and angry all over again.

Sure, the Orioles and Bud Selig will tell you that “stories like the Tampa story can happen in Baltimore.”

Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.

But, tonight and for the next few weeks, I’ll choose to cheer for the “little guys” in Tampa and even feel good for the heckler behind home plate, who was also a really good guy when I went to Tropicana Field last April in support of Free The Birds.

My wife is a little pissed that I’m supporting the Rays, but I’m sick of Boston. And I’m sick of the Red Sox.

Red Sox vs. Rays?

David vs. Goliath?

Nah, I’m just supporting Rick Vaughn and hope that he gets that championship ring that he never would’ve gotten had he stayed in Baltimore 15 years ago.

Let’s Go Rays!

Dodgers…Phillies…Red Sox…

And Rays?

Theme from Ravens' locker room: "We need to finish games!"

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:54:46 GMT

After today’s late afternoon debacle, I had the honor of walking from one end of the Ravens’ locker room to the other and I heard at least six guys say the exact same thing over and over again:

“We need to learn to finish games,” was echoed from Jarret Johnson to Joe Flacco, from Bart Scott to Willis McGahee.

For the second time in six days, the Ravens let “the better team” come back from a hole and beat them with late errors and breakdowns.

NFL coaches always accept physical breakdowns. If a guy beats you on a straight play, you tip your cap and get back in the huddle. But mental mistakes and stupid late penalities? Well, until the Ravens stop taking their licks 15 yards at a time at key junctures against teams with a lot of talent, they’ll never consistently win in this league.

The Titans clearly woke up on the wrong side of the Inner Harbor this morning, picking several chippy, dirty fights in the first half. But in the end it was the Ravens and late hits to the head that cost the team a 3-1 start to the 2008 season.

John Harbaugh now finally knows what Brian Billick went through with the tough-guy image the Ravens’ defense has grown up with over the last few years. Terrell Suggs will no doubt be hearing from the NFL on his post-game comments regarding officials and their getting drawn into the energy of the purple crowd.

“I was nowhere near his head,” Suggs said. “I think they had a big momentum shift. It was third down. We’re the bad boys of football. They’re always going to look at it like that because of the physical style of defense we play. They’re always going to have that close eye on us, (looking) for anything that’s too much.”

Suggs later even said the officials are looking for a big situation to call something.

But it’s never one play or one person.

The phone calls will come all day on Monday at WNST regarding:

•    Joe Flacco’s brutal pair of interceptions. The second one ended the game. The first one put the Ravens defense on a short leash and gifted the Titans three points and might have contributed to the next gaffe…

•    Harbaugh’s downright weird decision to kick a not-such-a-sure-thing 45-year field goal on 1st down with 14 seconds remaining in the half. It’s the NFL. If you can’t dirt the ball or even attempt to find a quick out and pick up a few yards and get out of bounds, you probably have the wrong players on the field.

•    Ray Lewis’ unbelievably inspired play during the 2008 season. Sure, it’s a contract year for Ray-Ray, but he’s flying around the field like a man possessed (and/or half his age). It’s impossible to not admire No. 52’s greatness and see his passion in the October of his career.

•    Ed Reed’s shoulder. It ain’t a secret anymore, this aversion Reed has to contact. His right arm is hanging ala Peter Boulware circa-1999. It’s a heroic effort but I’m not sure that he’s really helping the team if he can’t tackle at that position. Which leads to…

•    The rest of the secondary. Especially given the lack of deep depth in Frank Walker, Fabian Washington and Corey Ivy, it’s a crushing blow having Dawan Landry and Samari Rolle be out while Reed plays on one wing. For the most part, Chris McAlister has played quite well but the lack of depth across the backfield has been an invitation to pick on Walker and others.

•    Matt Stover. He’s been shaky this season and longer field goals have never been his strength. The miss today will get even more attention because of the playcall to even attempt it at that spot in the game, but Stover has to make that kick. You can blame Scott, Flacco, the secondary (or all of the abover) but if Stover hits that kick it’s a different game.

Hey, they’re 2-2. It could be a lot worse.

But blowing two nice leads against “quality opponents” isn’t encouraging especially when you consider the rough second half of the season the Ravens will have without a bye and having to take on the entire NFC East after mid-November.

Today’s loss doesn’t end their season by any stretch. But 3-1 sounds a helluva lot better headed to Indianapolis than 2-2.

These losses snatched out of the jaws of victory are tough to take.

And whatever you do, don’t look at the stats from the Titans game today.

You’ll be scratching your head until Wednesday trying to figure out how they lost this one.

Today we get educated about the 2008 Ravens

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:23:55 GMT

The undefeated Tennessee Titans roll into town believing (as they should) that they are a Super Bowl contender. Sure, the Ravens are 2-1 and are one play, one red flag, one fumble, one whistle away from being 3-0.

But today the Ravens will have the chance to show us whether they’ll be a very good team this year, or simply one of the many who will be playing “win one, lose one” style in the NFL.

They’ll either sport a pedestrian 2-2 by the end of the day or they’ll be 3-1 at the quarter pole. And either one of them is perfectly acceptable to me.

A month ago many us of believed they’d stink. A win today here against the Titans would make them 3-1 and they would be getting the kind of attention playoff teams will get from the national media.

But let’s be honest: beating the Clevelands and Cincinnatis at home doesn’t earn you honors in the AFC in 2008. We’re pretty sure they both stink.

But beat a 4-0 team and you’ve showed the entire NFL something.

Concerns for the Ravens today:

How will the offensive line and a max protect serve quarterback Joe Flacco against a defense as tenacious and talented as Jim Schwartz’s bunch in blue?

Where’s Willis McGahee? We all like Le’Ron McClain but I’m not sure the Ravens can win if he’s the feature back for the entire season. Unless the offensive line becomes more seasoned and dominant at the point of attack more consistently.

Will Todd Heap become more involved in the offense? Most of us thought Cam Cameron’s offense would use Heap in the same role as Antonio Gates in the San Diego scheme. That hasn’t happened yet.

And any showing frm Mark Clayton and Demetrious Williams today would be extraordinary and probably necessary if the Ravens are going to win.

When the Titans have the ball it will be interesting to see if the Ravens’ defense can goad Kerry Collins into some of the problems he had back on Jan. 28, 2001 when he was leading the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. Collins is now playing the “Trent Dilfer role” for the Titans. He protects the ball. He manages the game. And he’s been undefeated doing it for a team that wants to smack you in the mouth and get turnovers on defense.

Theoretically, this is a good match up for the Ravens because the Titans don’t have the long-ball arsenal and quick attack style that teams like Pittsburgh and Cincinnati like to employ. This is one day when you’d think the gambling style Rex Ryan’s defense likes to utilize won’t be as susceptible to big plays or big breakdowns, especially in the secondary.

But the Ravens are going to have to keep Flacco and the offense on the field and they’ll need to run more effectively than they have so far this season. (Or at least in the way that they controlled the ball in the fourth quarter of the Cincinnati and Cleveland wins.)

Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Vandenbosch, Keith Bullock and company are stingy. They stuff the run. They sack the quarterback. They ball hawk. And they take the ball away.

The Titans have manhandled all four of their opponents. Pound for pound, they have been the best team in the NFL so far this season.

Today’s task is a tall one for the men in purple.

But it’s a day to figure out whether that 2-0 start was an aberration or whether the Ravens have arrived in 2008 as a legitimate playoff contender. Today is a reality check for the whole city.

Win today and we can start discussing the possibility of the “p” word and being a legitimate contender.

A loss today and staring the down the barrel of a trip to visit Peyton Manning and the Colts in Indianapolis next week, and all of a sudden the Ravens’ prospects aren’t looking so rosy.

Get your “Let’s Go Flacco!” signs and enjoy the game!

It was fun for a little while, wasn’t it?

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:37:54 GMT

I suppose it was too much to ask for this season, this 3-0 thing.

We went to Pittsburgh 57 strong on the Miller Lite Purple Roadie. We sat in the upper deck. We raised hell as the videos will attest. We really had a lot of fun and cheered a lot and had a lot of high fives.

And when the Ravens were winning 13-3 at the half, it was one big freaking party as we looked out over the bright lights of Pittsburgh. Drew and Glenn were talking smack. The Steelers fans were strongly considering not returning to their seats in the second half and Joe Flacco was running around like Fran Tarkenton on the Heinz Field sod.

I don’t know that I’ve ever been happier. (Well, at least not since 13-3 two years ago!)

But the NFL is an unforgiving roller coaster as those few seconds of torture in the third quarter showed us. A bad punt, a bad penalty, a busted coverage, a missed tackle, a slip and sack and fumble combo for the quarterback – and voila – it’s suddenly a long ride home from Western Pennsylvania.

Another loss in Pittsburgh. Another knife from Ben Roethlisberger in overtime.

But, we could hang our hats on the good things over the next six days:

The Ravens had the lead for much of the game and really kinda manhandled the Steelers in their own crib. If not for two plays – the Fabian Washington whiff to the Chris McAlister miss to the Ed Reed slip, and the subsequent Joe Flacco fumble on the sack – the Ravens beat the black and gold up pretty good last night.

The place was silent much of the evening and even when the game was tied 20-20 late in the fourth quarter, at least 10,000 of the Steelers’ “faithful” had made their way to the exits. I’ve been making this trip for 12 years now and the crowd was the lamest I’ve seen in the new ballpark.

And even after “blowing the lead,” Flacco led the team back down the field to score the tying touchdown. And before that, the defense even chipped in with a goal line stand to force a field goal from 1st and goal inside the 5-yard line.

For those of us who thought 8-8 this season would be a moral victory, it’s nights like these that make us believe the team might be better than we think.

After 180 minutes of play – and maybe I’m delusional here – but I think the Ravens might be pretty good. And I’m as sold on Flacco (or WHACKO 4 FLACCO) as the next guy.

By the way, you might want to join Brent Harris and Brad Jackson and the Purple and Black Attack out at High Topps in Timonium from 6 til 8. Joe Flacco is tonight’s live guest. (Hint: order the chicken fingers…they’re really good!)

I’m not printing playoff tickets just yet and I realize they’re staring down the barrel at undefeated Tennessee and a trip to Indy over the next 12 days, I’m not even sure they won’t be 2-3 by the time I turn 40 on Oct. 14th, but I am at least hopeful.

We’re going to have a real season and this team is fun to watch and fun to cheer for.

I saw nothing last night in Pittsburgh that embarrassed us as Ravens fans. John Harbaugh and his new staff have clearly been a nice changeup and the team is playing well and playing hard and staying competitive. You can make a case that they deserved to win last night and go 3-0.

And Joe Flacco has shown over the last three games that he’s the real deal. Or as real as anything we’ve had under center since the team left Cleveland 13 seasons ago.

Now, the bad news and reality check from last night:

They lost again in Pittsburgh. Right now, as I type this, we’re in Monroeville, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh and we’ve got four-plus hours of highway ahead and we lost.

Again.

And it makes me sick.

The aggressive penalties hurt. The inability of the offensive line to protect Flacco long-term worries me. The injury to Willis McGahee worries me. The age of the team and the breakdowns and depth issues in the secondary also concern me. And the missed tackles and their inability to corral Roethlisberger when it counted just killed them last night.

But at 2-1 with their loss coming in overtime in Pittsburgh on a nationally televised game where the rookie quarterback led a valiant comeback to score a game-tying touchdown, I think as a Ravens fan you have to be satisfied. Well, perhaps not “satisfied” but at least “upbeat” about the 2008 season.

But, no doubt, a 3-0 start sounded a helluva lot better back at halftime. But, alas, it was not meant to be.

The Ravens are on a short clock this week.

Bring on the Schwartzes. Bring on the vaunted Tennessee defense. And bring on Kerry Collins!

We’ve got a big week ahead and plenty to dissect from the loss in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is a box of chocolates...

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:51:28 GMT

You never know what you’re going to get.

Since 1996, I’ve been on all but two of these excursions.

I’ve seen us lose close games and I have the memories of dread:

•    The night Vinny Testaverde threw an interception to Rod Woodson from his knees and Eric Zeier came in and we lost 37-0 on Sunday Night Football.
•    The playoff meltdown of Elvis Grbac. Enough said…
•    The close loss on Monday Night Football a few years ago…
•    And, of course, last year’s debacle. Thankfully, I watched that one from my hotel room in Tokyo via satellite. I think I was the only person in the Eastern Hemisphere watching the game.

So, in a few hours, we’ll depart with a completely full bus for The ‘Burgh as they like to call it. We’ll be with a bunch of drunken ‘yins from donton in the upper deck playing for civic honor.

And, hopefully, it’ll turn out better than Kyle Boller’s first disaster up there on that hot opener five years ago.

I also remember the joy of a five-hour bus ride home after kicking their asses in the old ashtray while our fans draped a “Pittsburgh is Ravens Country” sign. Tony Banks to Qadry Ismail still flickers in my mind as well.

It’s the best and worst of times, these games with Pittsburgh.

I really hate the Steelers. Deep in my soul, they are the grinches of the NFL and they must be exterminated tonight.

Joe Flacco gets a street named after him here in Baltimore if he throws three TDs and we beat their asses tonight.

I’m wishing and hoping…

That’s why we go to the games, right…

Hope you enjoy the game wherever you are tonight. We’ll be representing Baltimore and doing it with pride.

Go Ravens!

What it must feel like in Milwaukee tonight?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:58:12 GMT

I’m a little conflicted to be honest with you. I spent today downtown watching the dozens of Orioles fans who blew off the NFL Ticket to spend one last day “at The Yard” before they close up shop for another winter. And I do mean “close up.” My guess is that we won’t hear a peep outta The Warehouse for weeks. That could be MANY weeks.

Like November at the earliest…

I think they want us all to forget that they played this season and that it didn’t end back around Memorial Day.

From now until then – and I’m guessing the next formal gathering will be the one when they don’t sign Mark Texiera -- the few of us who actually remember real Orioles baseball and are ashamed of what this sham has become over the past 11 years will watch something that is a faded memory: the MLB postseason.

Remember rushing around and setting your schedule to watch baseball in October? Crisp fall afternoon doubleheaders, with one game at 3 in the shadows and the other waiting after dinner. From Yankee Stadium to Chavez Ravine, from Royals Stadium to Riverfront Stadium.

And sometimes, once in a while, we got a taste of that on 33rd Street.

I do remember.

I want that back and this is the time of the year when I get the MOST pissed.

This is when I really feel cheated outta the juice of being a fan: a chance to win! At least as I board the purple bus in a few hours to go to Pittsburgh with 52 other crazy Ravens maniacs, I know the Ravens have a chance. And in the NFL, that’s a REAL chance. Hell, they might even win and Joe Flacco might throw three touchdowns! What a bus ride that’ll be if the Ravens win on Monday Night!

But back to the other birds…I digress.

The Brewers made the playoffs for the first time since 1982. Do you remember 1982?

I do.

I remember the “lost weekend” and the final Sunday, and Palmer vs. Sutton and Weaver’s (almost) last ride and the feeling and outpouring of community that now sadly doesn’t exist for the Baltimore Orioles.

I’m sure Harvey’s Wallbangers are a distant memory for many, but I have a feeling ESPN and TBS will be buzzing all week with images of Pete Vuckovich, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Ben Oglivie. And Harvey Kuenn, of course. And there will be images of that day at Memorial Stadium, and fuzzy 1980’s porn-style video of County Stadium and skinny, pre-roid guys running around the bases in pinstripes.

Surely, Gorman Thomas and Rollie Fingers and Don Money will be involved.

But I don’t need to “look it up.” I know what happened. I lived it.

I really love baseball and have loved it all of my life.

And I’ve honestly disliked the Brewers for much of my adulthood just based on that autumn weekend in 1982 when they broke my 13-year old heart.

So as I turn 40 years old in two weeks, it’s amazing that it’s been THIS long since the Brewers have had a taste of what Bernie Brewer ultimately slid into: the deep suds.

So, tonight, I salute the city of Milwaukee!

To the Fonz and Laverne and Shirley and everyone at the Shotz brewery and the Pizza Bowl…

To Mr. C and the whole gang at Arnold’s…

To former Brewers P.R. man Jon Greenberg, who was always a super guy…

To the best downtown summer festival in the world, Summerfest…

To the fun I’ve had at Miller Park and at the old County Stadium…

And to the memories of my childhood and rooting FOR Sixto Lezcano prior to 1982, I salute the Brewers, their fans, the city of Milwaukee and anyone who thinks the blue and gold “mb glove” logo is now “cool” after hating after that fateful 14th year of my life.

God bless ya, Milwaukee!

Go get drunk on anything brewed in the state of Wisconsin. And chase it down with some cheese curds!

You’re in the playoffs!

Welcome to October. As Colorado and many other have proven, YOU HAVE A CHANCE!

One day we hope to feel that feeling you’re feeling tonight.

But I’m not holding out hope anymore.

I don’t know if there’s a big frosted mug of Natty Boh we’re going to be sliding into anytime soon.

But I’m sure the Orioles will be mentioning Tampa Bay and Milwaukee a whole lot in whatever lame campaign they put together for Mister Angelos and Sons Network next spring.

Come to think of it, maybe baseball deserves a Tampa Bay-Milwaukee World Series?

Back to the 4th quarter of Sunday’s NFL action…

Go Ravens!

"See The Birds" journey of 2008 ends with another lost season of failure tonight at Camden Yards

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:39:03 GMT

Come one, come all!

As a matter of fact, I hope more than one of you actually COME to Oriole Park at Camden Yards tonight where a few hopeless losers like me will set forth a few last phantom, hollow cheers for another season that never was.

That’s 11 in a row on my watch. The Orioles haven’t played a meaningful game since October 1997. And the crowds have withered to virtual nothingness.

I know you probably haven't noticed through the servings of the Purple Kool Aid on MASN, but they've now quietly lost eight in a row. And they've won six times since August 17th.

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" indeed...

How bad is it?

Well, the team has $1 tickets available tonight and most of the city doesn’t even think it’s worth that. There might be 5,000 in the park tonight. It’s kinda like a minor league baseball game or something out of “Major League,” which 20 years ago was just a funny movie about the Indians and Cleveland.

At this point, it’s the current state of Baltimore baseball. Empty seats that the Orioles can't beg people to come and sit in for ONE DOLLAR!

So, why are we going tonight? Well, our “Crabs and Beer” curator Glenn Clark purchased eight tickets last week for $8 and decided that bringing seven friends tonight would be a cheap date and some good fun.

(Honestly, I think he’s just trying to poke me into doing "Free The Birds 3" tonight.)

But I'm not biting...

For the record, I’ll be wearing my FREE THE BIRDS gear tonight. Not to elicit a parade or a mini FTB3 event. It’s just simply to tell them that I’m still here. And I still care. And that they still suck. And the last place freefall over the last month just reinforces that they still suck.

They have to win three of their last four to get to 70 wins. In March we called Las Vegas and the "over/under" was 67. As we toss back frosted adult beverages tonight at Regi's and the Wharf Rat, they have exactly 67 wins. For those of you who bet the over, good luck! You have a REAL reason to come to the game tonight! LMAO...

Andy McPhail has repeatedly exposed himself to me as a coward and a weak company man. He, like his boss who's gone back into a self-imposed exile while the fans vanish from downtown, doesn't want to take legitimate questions from legitimate journalists.

I’ve now spent two seasons exiled from “Birdland,” being disallowed to do what I’ve done to feed my family since I was 15 years old. (And yes, I had a family at 15!)

In case you’re keeping score, the Orioles have complied a record of 139-189 since the Sept. 21, 2006 original “walkout” that we called a Rally. And it was a Rally. And I did cry out for positive change.

I’ve heard many people “credit” WNST for all of the changes with the Orioles. We don’t want any of the credit and I certainly can’t accept any of the blame for this continuing fiasco.

We can debate and celebrate the merits of McPhail’s changes and specifically the trades to obtain Luke Scott, Adam Jones and George Sherrill. And we can talk about the pending promise of Matt Wieters or Brad Bergeson. And we can discuss how Aubrey Huff “let his bat doing the talking” this season. And we can fete Brian Roberts for being the greatest soldier of them all, especially when he could’ve been lacing them up in Wrigley Field next week on a World Series contender.

Sure, like every other organization, the Orioles have some “bright spots.” But as Bill Parcells would say, “they are what they are.”

And that’s 67-90 and with a standing eight-game losing streak and a 6-27 record since Aug. 17th.

They are, by any standard, the worst team in Major League Baseball right NOW. If the season started all over again today and they played with these Bad News Bears, they might rival that crappy Detroit Tigers team from a few years ago. They might win 40 games over the next 162 as is. And to think they have 40 players available on the big-league roster at this time of the year and this is the best they can do?

I watched the latest slapstick at The Yard last night, dropping a 5-1 lead to the Rays in the nightcap and watching Mr. Happy, Dave Trembley, face the firing squad of his co-workers in the press room.

(Here’s where I’ll use the internet to “geese” a bit…and no, I don’t know if the Greaseman is dead but I sure hope he’s not. I really like(d) Doug and I absolutely admired him as a listener and marvel at his work as a colleague. If he really is dead, I’ll write something. If he isn’t, I’ll probably give him a call to tell him how big of a fan I really was (although he’s heard that before)!

Back to “geese-ing”…I actually have covered sports long enough now (since 1984) to remember in vivid color the post-game press conferences of Frank Robinson and Johnny Oates before all the lights and cameras of MASN glaring down on you in front of a Wayne’s World set in the basement of the stadium. I remember when they were simple desk chats in the manager’s office with Sparky Anderson over a post-game spread with his feet on the desk and him spraying you with barbeque while you talked baseball with him. He was an absolute gem!

I suppose we’re forever relegated to watching these “pressers” -- as we call them -- on TV. It’s really the same crap I’d get if I had a press pass and I don’t have to look at snarling naked athletes or get sneered at by some 22-year old dude who doesn’t know where Charles Street is.)

In the words of Bob Haynie, but I digress…

We’re going to the game tonight. We’re starting at Regi’s at 4. We’ll go to the Wharf Rat around 5:30ish. We’ll have a few beers. We’ll eat some food. And we’ll walk to the game.

If you want to join us, the price is certainly right – even in this economy.

If you want to sit with some real “old school” Orioles fans and be amongst some nice people, c’mon down!

It ain’t “Free The Birds 3.”

I didn’t have the energy to do it all again. I’m busy building Baltimore’s No. 1 sports media company and website.

I tried “See The Birds.”

I tried selling group tickets for those ingrates. I’ve tried digging down to find some iota of honest-to-God enthusiasm for the team through the few personalities who appear to be engaging. (For the record, I’m a big fan of Kevin Millar, Brian Roberts, Adam Jones and Jeremy Guthrie.)

I even offered them a “season of amnesty” – an olive branch -- which I’ve held true to for the most part (even amidst more of their old-world Marxist policies and mean-spiritedness and evasiveness and general bullying).

Even though they’re creeps, I’ll stand by “amnesty” because I’m peaceful person. And I love the Orioles.

I want a better baseball team and a better experience with the team and the brand and the uniforms and the people that I fell in love with as a little boy in 1972 and followed like family for most of my life.

And even though Baltimore deserves better after building that palace downtown for the baseball team 20 years ago, it doesn’t appear that there's any substantial change on the horizon. And the games are going away for another six months after this weekend. So I won’t have the opportunity to see how lame this all is again until April.

And I’ll go back and investigate and see if it’s more fun in 2009 with "Baltimore" on the road jerseys for the first time since I was a little boy.

I sincerely doubt it, but I’ll keep giving it try. I still really love baseball when it’s done right. And we love it so much that it will most certainly dominate our lives beginning next week when the playoff games star shot-gunning out all day long.

Playoff baseball and the fall of the leaves and the crisp autumn air…I live for that stuff!

I honestly don’t know what tonight represents, other than the 2nd Anniversary of “Free The Birds” and the 11th season of this organization disgracing Baltimore and the traditions of the Orioles.

We -- Glenn, Drew, me and anyone else who wants to come -- have no agenda other than to try to have some fun at the ballpark with friends, old and new.

So tonight I will make a few hours to “wave bye-bye” (in the words and voice of Jon Miller) to the season of 2008.

The 11th year of the black hole of Baltimore baseball sports ownership.

They are limping into last place.

They’ve won six times since August 17th!

There’s only one place to go from there, right?

They’ve finally set themselves up for success.

It can’t get any worse than last place with a thud.

They’re bound to claim a victory sometime soon. Maybe it’s tonight?

And they’re bound to come “really close” to signing Mark Texiera (or Free Agent X) who signs elsewhere.

They clearly just won't have the money, despite MASN printing gobs of money of that they don't want you to know about.

Blah, blah, blah. Lies, damned lies and the Orioles.

Just let me know when Peter Angelos comes out of his cave and answers some questions from the "free" press. I'm sure we'll be seeing a conversation with one of his employees like Roch Kubatko or Amber Theoharis sometime soon with overflowing optimism for the 2009 campaign. Exclusively on MASN, of course. The channel no one watches and the website no one visits.

It’s been two years since “Free The Birds” and the words in my 19 chapters still resonate honestly and the Orioles are still my first love.

Free The Birds 3?

Nah…

Tonight, we’ll just have a little fun…

And let ‘em know we’re still watching. And we’re still waiting for them not to be so mean and to not suck anymore.

I’m not holding my breath!

(Thank god for the Ravens and this Pittsburgh bus trip and football on Monday night!)

Let The Fun Begin! Who wants to go to Pittsburgh?

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:16:17 GMT

For those of you wondering, these are the good days. The ones where you wake up and all of the years of your sports fandom are rewarded with a magical start to a Ravens season where hopelessness was the offseason prediction.

Three weeks ago, Las Vegas had the over/under on wins at six. And business wasn’t booming on betting the over, not even here at WNST where we all live to see the purple team win.

We love ‘em, but who knew that they’d actually be any good, right? This is when the real fun happens when we get a real season when we never expected it.

Look, they’re not the gonna win the Super Bowl every year and with the decade-plus-and-ongoing annual vomit the baseball team has served up for this community, we have to pick our spots.

THIS, most certainly, is one of those spots.

Get excited, yell loud, throw a WACKO 4 FLACCO sign in your car window or cubicle! Talk football at the watercooler and here at WNST.

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO BE EXCITED!!!
(If not now, then when? They could still finish 2-14. Who knows how this is gonna turn out? But I'm having fun!)

The mere notion that this team could have us wake up on the first day of fall undefeated (albeit 2-0) and in sole possession of first place in the AFC North with a pending extra 24 hours of preparation before playing second-place Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football seemed almost unthinkable 15 days ago.

(Apparently, many of the fellas in purple were lobbying HARD post-victory yesterday for a few days off but Coach HardBall had them back at the Bellagio for coffee and breakfast this morning. Another departure from Coach Billick, who most certainly would’ve told the team: “See you Thursday morning!”)

But here we are at 2-0 and in sole possession of first place and headed into the den of the lion in Steel City for a national TV game and if you’re not having fun yet, you should be.

Anyone smell a “coming out” party in Pittsburgh?

And with Ben Roethlisberger apparently on the shelf for next Monday, why not get a tad-bit optimistic, even if not fully delusional?

Think about it: a win on Monday Night and even Tony Kornheiser will have to do the Jim Mora talk on ESPN by the fourth quarter, right?

All the Ravens have done is take the field twice at home – playing each game literally “moment-to-moment” with significant injuries to Chris McAlister, Ed Reed, Willis McGahee, Kelly Gregg and with a rookie head coach and a rookie starting quarterback and a rookie left tackle (we almost FORGET about Jon Ogden, which is ridiculous) -- and dominate division opponents.

Not just overwhelm them, but make them freaking quit in a sea of purple!

The Cleveland Browns and the Cinncinati Bengals are both winless and tied for last place, a full 2 ½ games behind the Ravens in the division. They were both manhandled and suffered the indignity of having Coach HardBall go easy on them by taking a knee. Hell, we did it TWICE yesterday!

Who is writing this fantasy script, anyway?

The final score yesterday easily could’ve been 42-10.

(I told you Harbaugh was a nice guy!)

We can X and O regarding the games and the differences we’ve seen in Cam Cameron’s offense – and we will at WNST all week right along with you -- but it’s pretty apparent that Joe Flacco is a difference maker.

No matter how he plays or what situation he’s been dealt, the young Jersey lad is showing the poise of a signal caller much more mature than his years or 1-AA experience in Newark.

Just watching him handle the media in the postgame and the answers he’s now giving amidst success are telling.

He said that the reason he isn’t demonstrative on the field is because his siblings would ride him and make fun of him after games when he was a kid. He didn’t want to look like a fool and get laughed at.

"I learned pretty early on to cut that out," Flacco said. "Being calm is what you're supposed to be when you're the quarterback."

So, after the first interception, Harbaugh said Flacco was over consoling him instead of vice versa.

Joe Cool, indeed.

But it’s not just the WACKO 4 FLACCO show.

There are heros – unsung and otherwise – all over the field.

Let’s start at the top:

Ray Lewis has been sensational, playing like the best 33-year-old future Hall of Famer in the game. It’s not like 1997 when he was flying all over the field and you notice him on every play, but boy is he showing up in the “walk” year of his career and playing like he’s supposed to play. He looks hungry!

Ed Reed, who looks like he’d rather do anything than tackle someone at this point, still not only gets on the field but is a game changer by his mere presence. He can’t tackle and is clearly a different guy on his approach, but you better not throw the ball in his vicinity. He will make you pay! (That said, he still takes more chances and freelances as much as anyone in the game and it almost cost them yesterday!)

Justin Bannan is playing his ass off. With Gregg out, many of the defensive “other guys” have stepped up. Jarret Johnson has made big plays. Jim Leonhard was one of the stars of the game yesterday and no one knew who he was at breakfast. And McAlister, for all of his indiscretions and crankiness, is a machine. He plays with such pride and skill it looks almost effortless. It almost makes you sad when you consider how good he is and how underappreciated he is and how he should’ve been a Hall of Famer. But he should’ve been a better teammate and worker as well over the years. Maybe he sees this a last chance for greatness in his prime?

McAlister is playing through some discomfort for sure and if he leaves the lineup the whole ship starts to sink pretty quickly.

The Dawan Landry situation yesterday was one of those eerie moments that we never forget. We go from having fun at a football game to pondering life’s deeper meaning in an instant. The good-news prognosis is heartening but you realize what a serious game this is between the lines. And Landry is one of the real good guys on the team, soft-spoken, smiling and modest.

Offensively, Todd Heap clearly wanted to redeem himself from the Cincinnati disaster. Le’Ron McClain looks like the second-coming of Christian Okoye. And when Willis McGahee wasn’t getting poked in the eyes and bleeding all over the place, it’s clear this multi-dimensional backfield is going to pay dividends. I’ll also mention Ray Rice, because he’ll be a major factor before this is over in this offense.

In the receiving corps, Derrick Mason has been solid, Mark Clayton has reemerged as a potential threat and everyone in the organization will tell you that Demetrious Williams has the most upside of the whole bunch if he can stay on the field. (And if nothing else, Williams’ new Kid N’Play haircut will get him some positive attention if even when he doesn’t catch a few passes!)

Six weeks ago we didn’t have a quarterback.

Four weeks ago, Joe Flacco was buried in a deep No. 3 seat on the QB depth chart.

Three weeks ago, it was Troy Smith’s team. The name Kyle Boller has now become a distant memory.

This crazy season has gotten off to the kind of start that you can only appreciate after a few 5-11’s and 6-10’s on the backside of playoff appearances. I always called those years the “character building” seasons back in 1996 and 1997 through Teddyball.

I’m actually thinking about running a bus up to Pittsburgh next Monday night.

Anyone interesting in joining me…Drop me a note to nasty@wnst.net

I'm gonna work on some tickets and a bus today.

The price range would be in the mid $200s...at least that's the early line.

Hopefully we can fill at least one bus!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Update on Landry, other injuries...

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:02:29 GMT

The Ravens were quite concerned about Dawan Landry as was half of the city with that ugly hit just before halftime.

By the postgame press conference, they had confirmed that he was in shock trauma and ability to move some extremities.

Now, two hours after the game they have confirmed that Landry suffered a spinal cord concussion but has neurologically recovered. He will remain in shock trauma overnight for testing and observation.

Other injury news:

Willis McGahee has a laceration over one eyelid and got poked in the other eye.

Samari Rolle has tingling in his right arm and will have tests done tomorrow.

I will post an extensive Ravens blog in the morning with my excited thoughts about a 2-0 first-place start.

Meanwhile, Joe Flacco's postgame thoughts are on wnsTV.

Purple Kool Aid, anyone?

Even Angelos isn't this bad...

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:59:59 GMT

Obviously, you're reading this blog expecting me to do another defecating drive by on the Orioles but I’ve found solace this morning in the evidence that Peter Angelos isn’t the worst owner in sports at least THIS week.

No, that title would belong to Al Davis, who has once again proven that he is the granddaddy of “obscenely wealthy weird sports owners.” Two weeks into the season, Davis has once again taken the term “dysfunctional” to a new level.

We've only had this Angelos guy since 1993. The Raiders fans have had "Weird Al" since birth.

Whenever I see how empty their stadium is during their losing seasons, I think of the Raider Nation "abstaining" like their owner always does.

I wish I could abstain from Orioles baseball, but I can't.

So this Raiders' situation is so bizarre that I had to compare it to the nutty stuff Angelos has done.

By now you know that head coach Lane Kiffin has been twisting for several days (if not months and years) waiting to be fired. The two clearly aren’t simpatico, but then again who is compatible with Davis?

Mike Shanahan got screwed out of money 15 years ago and has been making Mr. “the Quarterback must go down and he must go down haaaaaahhhhh-d” pay for it ever since.

Jon Gruden got this franchise to the AFC Championship game and Bill Callahan almost won a Super Bowl for them.

So, for their bizarre Darth Vader fans there’s at least been some semblance of success to brag on amidst all of the madness.

And that’s certainly more than Angelos can claim, even though he would take full credit for the success of 1996 and 1997, when actually it was the 3.8 million fans who paid the bill for the Roberto Alomars, Rafael Palmeiros and Jimmy Keys to compliment the Brady Andersons, Cal Ripkens and Mike Mussinas.

So, the Raiders have Mr. Angelos beaten in the “what have you done for me lately” category.

But that doesn’t make that franchise anymore appealing this week, when Rob Ryan is calling the National Football League by it’s new “street” name – the NFFL, Kiffin’s death watch is a round-the-clock endeavor and the team is trying to play a game this weekend in Buffalo after they kicked the snot out of the Chiefs in Kansas City 72 hours ago.

This sounds like a page out of the "George Steinbrenner's management principles of the disco era" book on sports franchise ownership.

Angelos is bad. But he ain’t THAT bad.

(But the Orioles haven’t sniffed .500 in 11 years. Did we mention that?)

I'm feeling like a ballgame next week for one last time before next April.

A Free The Birds event in 2008?

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:38:01 GMT

With the Orioles recent run of losses and the front office's continuation of Marxist policies regarding the fans and media, my email lights up at least a few times a day asking me whether FREE THE BIRDS is a living breathing movement.

A guy named Ray dropped me a note this morning and I answered him with the response below. I'll have more to write on the second anniversary of FTB next week, but this is my official position:

There SHOULD be one...
But I honestly don't have time or energy to organize one at this point...

No one seems to care about the Orioles, which is the real problem...

But the Angelos family continues to lie to us about "better days ahead" and the city and the "establishment" that feeds at the trough continues to take the payouts in the way of advertising and "partnership" and shut up...

Call Channel 13 or CBS Radio or The Sun or The Examiner or PressBox and see if they want to organize a walkout?

They're the only ones making money off of the team via orange advertisments....

The Orioles write them big checks and their "journalists" wave the pom poms and ignore the truth...

And the truth?

The Orioles ineptitude is killing the downtown area...

But, the people here don't want the truth...

The stadium and the surrounding businesses have been empty for weeks and were painfully empty back in April and May. You can go watch the videos on wnsTV.

I've done my share...I gave them a spring and summer of "amnesty" and tried many, many times this year to get people to go BACK to the games. We called it "SEE THE BIRDS." Go read my blogs from April and May.

I've actually tried to get people to go BACK to the stadium. I offered pre-game parties, drinks, fun, etc.

Not only do most old-school Orioles fans not want to go, the Orioles won't even take our phone calls to help PROMOTE their team. We tried to BUY 500 tickets on Aug. 8th and they refused to work with us or help us get THEIR fans to THEIR ballpark.

And we have the most travelled daily sports website in the area by five-fold.

But Andy McPhail told me he's a "company man" and that he won't be discussing baseball or Baltimore with WNST.

Good for him.

Bad for you.

But I'm more concerned with spending my energy fixing my own company and supporting the Ravens while we're having fun.

It's football season. I want to be happy.

Thinking about, dealing with or communicating with the Orioles brings me no pleasure or joy.

But I'll write more about FTB next week.

Live BLOG from D.C.: It's Billick and Baldinger together in my living room...

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:09:06 GMT

Obviously, my personal dateminder says I was supposed to be in Houston right now eating tacos, drinking margaritas and waiting for kickoff of Joe Flacco's second NFL game.

Instead, I'm in Baltimore on my couch watching two of my best media pals -- Brian Billick and Brian Baldinger -- call an NFL game from 37 miles away. It's Saints at Skins.

I'll be on the couch today with a live blog while I watch the games.

I figure, "How often do I actually get to DO this...sit on the couch and watch football, drink beer, eat chili and grill up sausages with peppers and onions?"

I'm a blogger today...this blog will run here backtimed.

4:08 p.m. -- Brees threw a pick. Campbell is taking a knee. The Redskins are 1-1. It's Jim Zorn's first win as a head coach. I'm onto peppers and onions and sausages. Plenty here to read (if you can get through it). But this is what I did today. It was a fun game to watch despite the ugly outcome.

3:56 – This game has been crazy. The Redskins have just driven twice (well the second one was a bomb from Campbell to Moss) to take the lead. And Detroit jump hijacked Green Bay in Detroit. The Skins fans are singing “Hail To The Redskins.” I can’t believe the Saints could suck this bad after taking the lead and fighting so hard.

Here comes Dree Brees…gonna be a good finish.

3:36 – With the Redskins down by nine points (as Baldinger suggested), Campbell just threw short on a 3rd and long and Billick instantly defended his position over the years.

“I used to get this one shoved down my throat but you can see that play was designed to go down the field. But the defense gets paid and watches film, too. There was nothing there and he had to drop it off short. Here come the boos.”

3:28 p.m. – Billick moves back to the feeling and ire of being an NFL head coach when players do stupid stuff. “I love passionate guys. I’ve always loved passionate guys. But you have to be smart passionate.”

Billick is incensed about Reggie Bush’s taunting penalty at the goal line upon returning a punt for a touchdown. Billick has gone back it to THREE times, even saying “I’m sorry” to Baldinger, who said “No you’re not” with a laugh.

Reggie Bush just got them seven points but also has put them in a position of kicking off from their own 15-yard line. The kickoff was fielded at the 18. The Redskins will start the fourth quarter at the 39-yard line.

I bet Billick isn’t done talking about it if the Redskins get points on this drive.

3:11 -- Billick and Baldinger have both jumped on Jim Zorn here in the third quarter. The Skins have driven the field and scored a potentially game-tying touchdown.

Billick questioned it before the break and Baldinger piled on once the Skins’ Jason Campbell threw a pick on a two-point conversion attempt. Everyone in the both thought Zorn was making a mistake.

Baldinger: “Now if the Saints score a touchdown, you do down nine points and you need two scores.” It’s 17-15 Saints.

Billick has praised Drew Brees all day. Baldinger added a trivial note that I didn’t know. Brees actually beat Andy Roddick at tennis when he was a kid.

Billick has now started to talk about the Saints adding the “vertical component.”

Only one “have at it” so far and now we’ve gotten our first “vertical” reference.

2:59 p.m. – Billick just said: “I’m the poster boy for the argument” regarding getting seven points vs. getting three in the red zone.

The Redskins got burned at the end of the first half. After slapping the Saints all over Raljon in the first half, the Saints and Drew Brees moved the ball down the field with a little more than one minute remaining to kick a go-ahead field goal at the end of the first half to lead 10-9.

Billick was very wary of the Saints decision (mainly Sean Payton’s) that the team try to move the ball with only one timeout remaining. Billick almost conceded he would’ve sat on the ball.

After the field goal, Billick then said that when you have that kind of confidence in your quarterback, it’s something special. Billick had a few guys he might’ve trusted – Grbac, Cunningham and McNair, perhaps – but not as many as he would’ve liked. Or at least ONE he could’ve kept.

The Saints have just driven the length of the field and have taken a 17-9 lead in this one.

The Southwest Airlines ads are the best ones on television right now. As a very, very happy Southwest customer (they are the best business I do business with and have been for 15 years), I always get a laugh because I really do love flying Southwest.

I wish I would’ve flown Southwest to Houston yesterday. If the world were perfect, I’d be in the parking lot right now looking for Ravens fans to shoot for wnsTV.

But instead I’m frying up some Ostrowski Italian sausage right now. I don’t know if I’d buy Roma’s polish sausage but for some reason we do buy Ostrowski’s Italians? I think we should have a sausage cookoff one day to find the best ones.

But they all are made better by peppers and onions…and a good potato hoagie roll.

2:40 p.m. – If you look in my previous notes, you’ll see that Billick hypothetically referenced a player coming into his office and said “as screwed up as Hogan’s goat.” My wife and I both looked at each other and agreed: “We’ve never heard of that one before.”

Through the beauty of the internet it’s not easy to learn about these randomly trivial phrases. So, if something’s like “Hogan’s goat,” what the hell does that mean?

After one google search: here’s an easy answer.

Charles Earle Funk, in "Heavens to Betsy!," Harper & Row, New York, 1955, has an entry for "Hogan's goat" that says when one says something is "like Hogan's goat," it means it "stinks terrifically." He says "Poor old Hogan is merely an innocent bystander in this modern Americanism. Just as with 'Hogan's brickyard,' a slang designation of a baseball diamond, the goat could be the property of Jones, Smith, or Rockefeller..."

This is what makes WNST.net fun.

We all get to learn something, right?

2:30 p.m. – God do the Lions suck! I’m still trying to come to the grips with our fate as Ravens fans this year being disillusioned for another week about how good our team might be.

So instead of a potential 2-0 game against the Browns, the Browns might be 0-2 coming in to take on the undefeated, well-rested 1-0 Ravens. It also gives rest to Kelly Gregg, Ed Reed, Chris McAlister, Willis McGahee and anyone else with a purple jersey who has been injured lately.

The Steelers-Browns game will be very interesting this evening. The Browns usually pee a yellow streak the instant they see the color black so we’ll see how Derek Anderson fares tonight. These days of sitting around and watching games on TV are great. One day I’ll be old and won’t be chasing the Ravens anymore and I’ll be in a cabin somewhere in woods just watching football with a giant wall of TV’s with every game.

Strange interesting note of the week. Did you know that Mel Kiper watches all of his football on one HDTV set? I thought he’d have a dish with 58 monitors from 35 states. I always pictured a “NASA suite,” like Baldinger’s basement.

The Redskins have slapped the Saints around all day and are now losing, 7-6. The Redskins holder was sloppy and they just missed a field goal. Jim Zorn just threw some phantom tantrums. He was pissed and it was apparent.

Billick: “It’s frustration and that’s where Jim Zorn is gonna learn that your emotional tenor, so to speak, on the sidelines is something that the players are gonna pick up on. There’s a time to be upset and frustrated. There’s a time to be calm.”

2:01 p.m. – Tough decision in the red zone for Jim Zorn.

Go for it on 4th and a long 1 from the four yard line or “go for it”?

Billick’s take: “The head coach won the battle with the offensive coordinator. Take those points!”

Zorn is both the head coach and offensive coordinator, like Billick was the final two seasons of his tenure with the Ravens.

Billick took notice of the Redskins sending a blitz package on the 4th and 18.

“You’re feeling pretty good about yourself if you’re sending pressure on 4th and forever,” Billick said. Usually you just want to get off the field. The Saints punted on the next play and recovered to have the ball near the Skins’ 30 yard line.

“If you’re the Redskins and your defense hold them to a field goal here, you feel good about this,” Billick said.

1:47 p.m. -- Stockton to Billick after a wild out of bounds hit by of Carlos Rodgers of the Redskins.
Stockton: “Coach, your team ever guilty of that kind of thing.”
Billick (laughing): “No, no. We never did that!”
Billick went immediately into coach speak to no one in particular: “Know where you are on the field!”
Sounds like he’s talking to Chris McAlister right now.

It looks like it’s hot as Hades in Raljon today. We honestly thought about going down to the game, just because we like going to games but the thought of sitting in the A/C with the refrigerator and remote a reach away was intoxicating.

Nice move by the Redskins today, forcing the Saints into their black uniforms on a 90-plus degree day. It’ll be a factor. I see cramping becoming a factor.

Shockey just caught a first down pass only to fumble in the flat. Billick caught some video of Payton coming over to give Shockey the “attaboy” speech and commented on how a coach reacts to these mistakes.

Baldinger then goaded Billick into a discussion of Clinton Portis’ comments this week, calling out members of the offensive line in the media.

Billick then retorted to Baldinger, asking him how an offensive lineman would feel if a running back said those things. Baldinger seemingly ended the conversation with his gripes.

But Billick came storming back.

“Not to belabor it, but as a coach, look if you want to come into my office and say, ‘I don’t like this, I don’t like that, you’re as messed up as Hogan’s goat, fine!’ That’s family, right? But why do you take it outside the family? What are you trying to do? And I’ve never understood that!”

Baldinger: “And if you’re Jim Zorn, a rookie coach, you don’t want a guy who is perceived as being your leader (Portis) doing that.”

One last note: Curt Menafee sent it back after a game break to the group and asked whether the new team would be referred to as “The Killer Bees” or “Double Bee Squared.”

Billick: “Give us a chance to trademark that.”

Baldinger: “Yeah, you’re the business man.”

Billick: “I gotta be now that I don’t have a job.”
Baldiner: “You still have some checks coming in from what I hear.”

Stockton: “You’re not broke.”

Billick nodded and laughed. “Not yet.”

1:38 p.m. – Who is Laura Okmin? She’s the fourth member of this team. Does Fox need FOUR people to call a football game?

Good day of football, I think. I never get the chance to sit on the couch and just watch games on Sunday because I’m always with the Ravens, so this is a super treat for me. And the chili is outstanding!

The Cincinnati-Tennessee game looks interesting to me, especially with all the drama around Vince Young.

The Raiders are talking about firing Lane Kiffin and defensive coordinator (and brother or Rex, son of Buddy) Rob Ryan is cussing a lot in press conferences. He called it the “NationalfXXXingfootballleague.”

That’ll be an all-timer amongst my friends. We’ll be referring to it as the NFFL from here to fore…

So far so good on the Billick-Baldinger.

Billick just said he expects Jeremy Shockey to get a lot of action with Marques Colston down for the Saints. Sounds like he chatted at length with Sean Payton before the game.

1:25 p.m. – Baldinger has the Redskins side of the ball. Billick has the Saints side of the ball. Stockton called it “different take” on calling an NFL game. Mainly, I think they’re trying to “reinvent” the three-man booth. Personally, I think those are two great, big personalities and I’d love to hear a more “Monday Night Football” approach.

So far, it’s been all football.

No good stories or tales “off the ball” yet. It’s all X’s and O’s.

Fair enough.

(P.S. I hate the Redskins. I really do…)

1:08 p.m. – This is interesting to me. Home instead of in Houston watching two guys who I’ve done hundreds of hours of radio with and a thousand hours of “real life” with.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this crew, led by Dick Stockton (a challenge onto itself based on seeing the preseason games the last decade), gels.

But the “Brians” know as much about football and life as any two people in my life. They’re both super guys but will they be a “super team.”

We’ll see…

Ravens game officially moved to Nov. 9th in Houston

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 21:52:55 GMT

Finding a fair answer to Ravens-Texans scheduling wasn’t easy.

As the afternoon dragged on and the NFL powers-that-be stressed out and searched for a sensible solution, it became more clear that the “fallback” plan of moving bye weeks and keeping the schedule “in tact” might be the ONLY solution.

For the Ravens and Texans, it means tomorrow BECOMES the bye week.

Obviously, it’s more punitive to these two teams than anyone else, having basically forfeited the chance to go rest for a few days in the middle of a grueling season. Perhaps John Harbaugh will allow the Ravens a quick escape from tonight through Wednesday morning, but it’s not the same as a bye week on Nov. 9th, that’s for sure.

The Cincinnati Bengals will be the only other affected party and it will essentially move their bye week back by three weeks, moving their game from Nov. 9th back to Oct. 26 with the Texans in Houston (assuming the stadium isn’t still trashed). Marvin Lewis would probably welcome a bye in November vs. October, but he clearly has bigger fish to fry at 0-1 with the way they played last week here.

And it's not like Roger Goodell is giving the Browns or Steve Bisciotti or Bob McNair a lot of options here. Common sense kicked in and they "did what they needed to do."

I applaud them, even though any remote hope of the Ravens' postseason pipe dreams are diminished slightly by the fact that they'll be playing 15 straight weeks beginning next Sunday against Cleveland. Same deal for the Texans, 15 in a row.

But we do get to enjoy one more week of being undefeated! (This is a weak attempt at gallows humor.)

So, on the face of it, this is the easy solution. Just switch the schedule and wish the folks of Houston a speedy recovery.

But rest assured Matt Stover and the NFLPA had a voice in this but it was a “no win” for anyone and kind of crazy to think the league could round up the Texans tomorrow and get them someplace to play a football game on Monday, especially considering the “real life” issues the people of the Houston area will face in the coming days and weeks.

And the two organizations -- Baltimore and Houston -- will certainly be conceding a major competitive issue by essentially never getting a bye, but this was the best the NFL and the NFLPA and all of the related and interested parties could negotiate under duress.

The Texans might not have a normal moment for months considering the condition of their city and their stadium.

Feel to comment below…

But this will be made “official” very shortly…

(P.S. Another reminder about why you should be on the WNST Text Service..CLICK HERE TO JOIN...we beat every website in the city like a drum all day...like by hours in most cases, by 16 minutes on this particular story...but we have to tell you this stuff because the other media outlets would never give us credit for all of the stories we break (or as some staff members like to say, the "asskickings" we deliver)...but if you're a WNST text person you know how good our staff is...we had everything FIRST (and by a lot)...That's just a fact!)

We're not just a little AM radio station anymore...but you'll see that for yourself soon enough.

How will Houston Texans leave town for game at this point?

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:15:22 GMT

Like the rest of you, I’m watching in horror at what’s happening in Houston right now.

On the football side, it appears that New Orleans could be the first option but even that must be a sticky proposition right now and I'll go into that later in this blog.

But before I do, I'd prefer to address the "real world" issue by saying that i was up late and into the early morning tracking this storm because I have some other vested interests.

I have family in Houston. I have friends in Houston. I have some really great memories of Houston. But seeing this storm roll through has been painful. We're all praying for them but it looks quite messy and devastating. Glass everywhere downtown, buildings just devastated.

Back to Ravens football and the game: Yesterday I took a straw poll of all of the folks around WNST and none of us really believed they were going to be playing this football game on Monday night at Reliant Stadium. All you had to do was look at the storm and see its tracking and know this was a bad situation.

Now word comes out of Houston that Reliant Stadium has roof damage and that the “game is off” according to the newspaper.

The Ravens have no official word. The league officials must be scrambling but, honestly, had to see this coming. There's a conference call slated for later in the afternoon.

We’ve all heard about the “skip the bye week” schedule change. We’ve all heard about the possibility of a doubleheader in Dallas on Monday night (not realistic because of staff, warmups, hotel evacuaees from Houston and locker rooms...this would be a stretch). We’ve all heard about moving the game to New Orleans -- probably the frontrunner simple because of distance and availability -- or Atlanta and play in front of an empty house.

But I can’t fathom how the city is going to be able to provide any transportation to get the Houston Texans out of the city to play a game anywhere. The airport might not be available. And any buses might be hard to find given the carnage that this storm will leave behind.

I’m just saying…

The NFL folks are pretty smart about this stuff, but I wondered aloud a few times yesterday whether they shouldn’t have tried to get the team out of Houston before the storm. If New Orleans was the place, then why aren't they already there? If Houston was fine after the storm, which always appeared to be a stretch/wish, it would be easy to get the Texans players/staff back into town. I checked the web hard to see if they did “evacuate” or "escape" but I see no evidence of that.

Like the rest of you, I’m just watching and reacting.

But how would the league mobilize a travelling party of 120 people in the Texans organization to fly or bus or drive anywhere tomorrow morning when Gary Kubiak's cellphone might not work and there might be a tree blocking Matt Schaub's car. Chanes are most of the team doesn't have electricity at this point.

And it ain't like they're gonna call a cab to get them somewhere.

Maybe the team spent the evening at a downtown hotel, but those are the very buildings that every CNN report said would be the most dangerous with glass windows and height in a storm of this magnitude. And the aftermath of the downtown glass destruction is now evident.

Strange days indeed…

More to come for sure...

Another September with the disappearing orange baseball...

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:57:48 GMT

I looked through all of the WNST blogs over the past couple days and there has been a one glaring omission: the Orioles are nowhere to be found.

Playing out the string for the 11th consecutive September – the franchise hasn’t hosted a meaningful game since October 1997 – the worst-run and meanest and most paranoid franchise in professional sports has now put together another pathetic crawl to the finish line with a 3-17 record since the middle of August.

It’s been the quietest “slump” in the history of Baltimore baseball. No one is saying anything. No one is calling. And, apparently, no one is even watching.

Every night this week, I’ve seen downtown almost completely empty while I’ve watched Fenway Park on NESN packed with fans watching the Tampa Bay Rays come to Beantown as upstart first-place winners. I’m watching baseball this week. I’m just not watching the pathetic Orioles.

Maybe one day it’ll be our turn to win at baseball again in Baltimore. Maybe one day we’ll all feel like the Orioles are “our” team. But we’re getting up on the two-year anniversary of FREE THE BIRDS and the Orioles are 16 games under .500, 23 games behind Tampa Bay and are assured a last place finish in the AL East.

I’m sure Andy McPhail will hold a press conference at some point before spring training to talk about all of the “progress” the organization made in 2008. And they’ll invite all of their employees like Roch Kubatko and Tom Davis and Jim Hunter and Amber Theoharis to the press conference to ask questions.

But it’s just sad and I wish I had more to say about the Orioles and their recent losses. But the truth? I haven’t been watching them either.

Why would I?

They don’t want me to be a fan and they’ve basically pissed on anyone who listens to WNST or is associated with WNST time and time again. They refused to let us BUY tickets to their game back on August 8th when we were holding our 10th Anniversary of serving Baltimore sports fans with something that they sorely lack: honesty and integrity.

Like you (and most of the city), I’m caught up in “Flaccomania” and drinking the 1-0 purple Kool Aid. I’m just hoping the storm doesn’t crush Texas over the next 48 hours but the forecast looks ominous. I have a flight to Houston on Sunday. I have no idea when, where or if the game will be played at this point.

I have a feeling we’ll find out more today.

But I just wanted to invoke the word “Orioles” today and see if any of you are still watching or what might be said at this point about the franchise or where it’s headed under Dave Trembley next season.

Where’s Peter Angelos now to comment on this year’s effort? Has he entered the witness protection program along with his franchise?

And Andy McPhail – who turns out to be a company man/coward – has yet again declined to take my phone calls and emails so I could interview him about his plans for the offseason. He has been a colossal professional disappointment to me, telling me a few weeks ago when I met him: “I just do what I’m told, Nestor.” King Peter and Prince Greg have told him he shouldn’t “associate” with WNST.

What a leader he is, huh?

Other than selling a few orange T-shirts this year using Bill Hagy’s name and marketing a few kids named Scott and Jones, it’s been “business as usual” at The Warehouse.

And business as usual means lousy, dreadful baseball played in front of friends and families at Oriole Park at Camden Yards the nanosecond the word “training camp” is uttered. And MASN brings us some of the worst broadcasts in the history of baseball on the nights when Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer aren’t around.

(Have no fear: MASN will be firing up Hawaiian League baseball and no doubt be broadcasting the Mike Devereaux home run game from 1989 on some frigid night in December.)

We’ll see how the Orioles treat their offseason marketing efforts. I wonder what they’ll do to further make their FanFast lousy. And I wonder when they’ll announce the price increase for tickets. And I wonder when they’re going to start using some of the tens of millions of dollars they’re making with that Wayne’s World cable network.

Don’t worry. Once I get this website launched, we’ll be on red alert for their offseason comings and goings. We’ll be covering the Orioles in a major way in the new online world.

Just because most of you have long since stopped caring about the Orioles doesn’t mean that we’re not watching.

I care A LOT about the Orioles and I want them back. And I want to go to games and feel good about it. None of that has changed since FREE THE BIRDS. My love for the Orioles is sincere and lifelong.

I’m still watching them, just not their lousy meaningless games at this point. And I’m still hoping and praying for a better tomorrow for Baltimore baseball.

But now that the team has bought off virtually every media outlet in the community besides us, I don’t think you’ll be reading the proper criticism of a franchise that has turned its back on the community. That is everywhere except at WNST.net, where you’ll continue to get the truth.

They’ll have to do more than “BALTIMORE” on the road jerseys next year to get the city galvanized again.

But we’ll have our eyes open.

Let’s see what they do…

Could this week’s Ravens-Houston Texans game get moved to Baltimore?

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:39:38 GMT

Well, the Baltimore conspiracy theorists are at it again around the Charm City.

We got a mystery call at WNST today with a caller saying “the Ravens game is going to get moved to Baltimore this weekend if Hurricane Ike hits Texas.”

So, I went into action making some calls to my league sources and investigating the possibilities. This is just a “top of mind” set of notes saying why it might -- or might -- not happen.

First, the storm is tracking more west than northwest right this minute. Obviously, that could change.

(And we’ll hope for the best for all the folks in Texas, Lousiana and Mexico. Hurricanes clearly suck. As a guy who left New Orleans literally the morning that panic broke out before Hurricane Katrina after a Ravens game three years ago, I have maximum respect for the devastation they bring and the way people’s lives are affected. I have pals who live in West Palm Beach, Fla. who literally don’t feel safe making any plans for September because they’ve seen the gas lines, property damage and general “freak out” that happens to citizens when evacuations happen.)

Second, the Ravens would be the team LEAST affected because they wouldn’t have to fly this weekend like they did a few years ago when Hurricane Isabel flooded here and the team was slated to play in San Diego and wound up leaving five days early. For this one, the strife and hardship would be on the Texans’ side. And I think the league could make this decision as late as Thursday and still pull off a football game on Sunday.

But the storm will take its course and I’m sure the folks on Park Avenue in New York are aware and watching the Doppler.

Certainly, the league doesn’t want to react too boldly too early and move the game. In fact, everyone I spoke to in Owings Mills said that nothing had been said or done and no calls or considerations had been made as of 4:30 this afternoon.

BUT…and this is obviously hour to hour with the storm…if the scenario did happen it would probably come down by the end of the day tomorrow and action would be taken right away. Most Ravens fan don’t realize (and I didn’t know it until late Saturday night) that the Bengals actually came to Baltimore a day early last week because the league didn’t want to risk the team not being able to get into the area on Saturday because of Hurricane Hanna, which turned out to be much milder than anticipated.

As we learned with San Diego a few years ago and as we saw last week when the Saints went to Indianapolis to practice, the NFL knows what it’s doing and is probably quietly on it. There’s always a plan with those folks. They’re sharp cookies!

So, if the Ravens wound up drawing an impromptu home game this weekend, the club would obviously have some ticketing issues and fans would have to act quickly to get seats. But with the internet and their website, the Ravens would wind up getting a flood of traffic because every PSL holder would easily be accessible to download and print tickets or perhaps use an alternate ticket for the game.

So stay tuned…

Sure, there’s a possibility, but let’s not wish that on the poor folks in the Houston area.

I had to laugh...

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:56:45 GMT

On my usual early morning tour of the world via my mouse, I clicked on ESPN.com this morning to see this headline:

"Ravens rookie Flacco earns another start"

And I thought to myself, wow, no one in the league or at ESPN must've seen the game on Sunday? Or, perhaps, they haven't seen the Ravens or their quarterbacks play the past 10 years?

I was thinking to myself: "Does America think Harbaugh is going to name Casey Bramlet the starter at this point?"

I know, I know...it's just a headline. But Flacco has turned this town sideways with his play on Sunday and now the expectations go through the roof.

But we all wanna grab onto something with the Ravens being the "only game in town that matters." It's been 20 months since we've all had anything to be excited about with sports in Baltimore. And it ended with that thud in the Colts game and we've been dormant like cicadas ever since.

(By the way, is it just me or have the Orioles disappeared and will be appearing next week on a milk carton?)

But Flacco, that defensive play on Sunday and "Hard-Ball" have made us want to come out of our shell this week.

That said, Chris McAlister cancelled on the "Bud Light Purple & Black Attack" last night at High Topps and might be having some physical issues. That would be a major blow and would change things if CMac can't go.

But for now the Ravens are 1-0. The party with Brent Harris and Brad Jackson last night and more of the "WACKO 4 FLACCO" signs was fun. It was an old-school Monday Night victory celebration.

Like I said, 20 months is a long time to wait.

Sunday and Houston can't get here quick enough for me.

Joe Cool

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:56:35 GMT

I’d like to think as I approach my 40th birthday in a few weeks, I’m not as excitable as I was in my younger days.

As a fan, I’ve been through all of the wins and loses, Super Bowls and World Series, thrills and disappointments.

But today as the 13th season of Ravens football commences, it all came back to me, just why we all still watch the games and care so much.

Today is what being a fan is all about. This is the "juice" and the beautiful reward of being a sports fan: that feeling you get when your team wins.

The team has a fresh start with a fresh coach and fresh rookie quarterback, who is extremely likeable and calm amidst the storm.

And I left the house this morning thinking the Ravens would have to do some special things to win, and specifically to stifle Carson Palmer, who I think is among the best in the business.

The injuries have been dreadful. The play on the field has been less than inspiring. The age factor will haunt them each week of the season. And the lack of depth has felt hopeless.

But instead of a loss -- and I think many of us kind of expected them to lose -- this win today was magical.

We distributed about 20,000 “WACKO 4 FLACCO” signs prior to the game. We had a little faith and -- voila!!! -- a memory was made.

I hope many of you kept your signs and post them in the office this week. If you do, send me along where you do have them "reside" during the week and I'll post the pics up on the site later in the week as a Pep Rally for Houston.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been through it all as a fan, and I don’t know that I’ve ever been as excited as I was when Flacco turned the right corner and headed for daylight in the end zone.

It was that crazy rush up the spine that I haven’t felt in a long time.
At least not since sometime well before the Colts debacle 21 months ago. (Yeah, it’s been that long!)

It's a feeling that I only get from the NFL and from the Ravens.

God, I love the NFL! (It's days like today when I really miss my father the most, the excitement of the afterglow of a big win!)

I’ll write some more later, but I’m home from the game sitting on the couch watching Cleveland get their asses kicked and watching their lousy fans boo their team in the home opener (the Browns have the worst fans in the universe).

The Ravens are 1-0.

And I’m really happy.

See you tomorrow night for the Bud Light Purple & Black Attack with Brent Harris and Brad Jackson at High Topps from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Dan Wilcox and Chris McAlister are the guests.

Lots more to come…

I was in the locker room after the game and got some good stories that I'll write about later.

But today belongs to Joe Cool...

Hopes and fears for the 2008 Ravens

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:23:21 GMT

On every barstool and at every dinner table in Baltimore, the question comes: “How do you think the Ravens are going to do this year?”

People ask me dozens of times a day everywhere I go around town. I’m not Kreskin, but the Las Vegas “over/under” line on wins is six.

As in 6-10.

Honestly, if you give me a dollar and make me bet on the Ravens at this point I’d take the under because I think they will need a myriad of positive developments to see 7-9.

So, in the spirit of debate and with the ability to have your feedback in the comments, I will make this column a simple “point/counterpoint” in hopes and fears format.

Hope: Ray Lewis can play at the same level he did last year for one more year in purple.

Fear: This team might be bad enough early enough that Lewis will go back to being a complainer and a divider instead of one who unites the team. We'll see how the "walk" year goes.

Hope: Joe Flacco shows that he belongs in the NFL as a quality starting quarterback and shows the early signs you want to see from a rookie signal caller.

Fear: The offensive line and the skill position talent he is surrounded with won’t give him the opportunity or the protection to look like that skilled leader.

Hope: That Steve Bisciotti knew what he was doing when he fired Brian Billick on Dec 31st.

Fear: John Harbaugh’s new policies and strategies have offended some of the players waaaay more than anything Billick did.

Hope: Ed Reed and Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle will all perform up to the cap numbers that their salaries dictate.

Fear: All three of these guys never really make it to the field and make he kind of positive impact this season due to injury, indifference and a debilitating disease.

Hope: The Ravens home crowd will give the team the leeway a new coach, rookie quarterback and a bunch of second-string starters should have to attempt to improve.

Fear: (And almost a certainty), the M&T Bank faithfull will lustily boo Flacco (or any other quarterback) at every mistake, fumble, interception or any failure to convert a third down.

Hope: The Ravens will go back to becoming more honest and transparent with their information to the fans and media, like they were for 12 years under the Modell/Billick regime.

Fear: Under the John Harbaugh/Steve Bisciotti new school of information distribution, we'll all be guessing and snooping around like we've been for six weeks now.

Hope: Kelly Gregg gets healthy soon.

Fear: Kelly Gregg's knees are a lot worse than we know and he isn't going to get healthy anytime soon.

Hope: The Ravens will beat the snot out of the Bengals today.

Fear: Carson Palmer will exploit the secondary all afternoon and miscommunication on the backside will cost the team dearly.

Hope: On Halloween (and maybe even Thanksgiving), the team is close enough to .500 and playing well enough to warrant at least a cursory discussion about 9 or 10 wins.

Fear: An injured, aging team with a rookie quarterback and rookie head coach stumbles out of the gate and starts the season 1-4 or 2-5 or something really dreary and hopeless.

Hope: The rookie class will step up and show the signs of life we’ve seen when the franchise has been at its low ebb (think 1997-98). Flacco, Gooden, Nakamura, Zbikowski, Rice – all of those guys need to contribute with the hope that they’ll be legitimate starters or Pro Bowl candidates in the coming seasons.

Fear: These rookies will have to play TOO much this season for the Ravens to be in any good in 2008.

Hope: That we all have fun this year.

Fear: I don’t have a lot of hope.

Have fun with the game today and let’s hope that our gut instincts are all wrong and the Ravens of 2008 take us on a surprise ride into the holiday season.

Wouldn't that be great?

Some WNST.net internal news updates from Nestor...

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:26:26 GMT

We announced on Wednesday night with Brian Billick that big changes are coming here at WNST.net, and the first addition is the inaugural blog of now-starting Ravens QB Joe Flacco here at WNST.

Flacco will call in each Tuesday morning for a report with Drew and will blog on Fridays.

So, at least from 6 a.m. til 2 p.m. it’ll be Joe Fridays every Friday on WNST. After 2 p.m., of course, it’s simply “Chicken Box Friday.”

Rob Long has tenure.

Joe has proven himself to be just a phenomenal guy beyond the No. 5 jersey and the soft-spoken short, blunt answers. He reminds me so much of Mike Mussina, it’s almost spooky. I just hope that he plays well and we beat some Bengals butt.

********

“Billick Live” residue and the inevitable “how did Billick become your partner” questions are coming via email. It’s been a whirlwind time in my life.

I’ll write more about Brian Billick and our relationship and what we’re trying to accomplish for the city, for Living Classrooms and for the community once we start doing some stuff. Just allow me a little time to get the website right and I’ll do a Q&A and discuss it in my blogs.

Honestly, on a personal note, I’m working about 20 hours a day and driving every person in my life out of their mind.

I'm sure you can't imagine, but I'm a pretty difficult person because I'm picky beyond belief and I'm a pain in the butt. (Just ask my staff...LOL)

At heart, I’m an entrepreneur who stays up all night trying to make WNST great. I don’t write about it a lot. I don’t talk about it a lot. But I love the business of this website and Baltimore sports and the radio station and I’ve found all of these great people who love to the do this stuff as much as I do.

Watch sports. Reporting on sports. Coaching sports. Dissecting sports. Believing in the power of sports. Teaching their kids to love sports.

My staff here at WNST are all absolute rock stars.

All of ‘em.

We’re 100% committed to giving Baltimore sports fans something better than they’ve ever seen.

I did make time to watch the NFL tonight with my wife and have been texting with lots of people – even some purple people. I’ve seen my new partner’s Coors Light ads twice in the first eight minutes of the game. The press conference one is kinda funny, but they really blew it on the "screaming like a banshee" and "You're not qualified" lines.

Besides all of the obvious – Billick, Flacco, the game itself on Sunday, the NFL starting, the RNC in Minneapolis, a pending hurricane en route – I’m just tossing up a blog to thank all of the people who reached out to me today to say something nice.

I’m really happy for a change but there's a lot of work to be done.

We want to build the best website Baltimore has ever seen. That’s our mission. But like anything worthwhile, it’ll take some time and patience (of which I have very little). But there will be daily changes, lots of content and information and the most robust social network the city has ever seen.

We want to bring the fun back into Baltimore sports. Where it’s fun to be a fan. It’s fun to be a jock. It’s fun to be a washed up jock. It’s fun to be a parent or relative or friend of a kid who plays local sports. We want to build something and be a part of something that’s better than anything else.

Lots of changes coming.

Lots of work to be done.

And a fun surprise in store for the weekend.

We’re doing a massive tailgate party on Saturday for the Towson University football game that looks like it’s going to get washed out by Hurricane Hanna. Bummer! I really, really enjoyed going to the Tigers games last year and watching football at that level. I even saw Joe Flacco play for the Blue Hens under the lights. Pretty cool, I think.

Either way, it looks to be a wet one all day Saturday, potentially even washing out the Orioles phony “Purple Rally Night.” What will they do with all of those T-shirts if the game doesn’t happen?

And Sunday is just a great day – one of the best days of the year, I think. And I think the Ravens are going to win. I really do. And I’m going to tell Marvin Lewis on Saturday if I get the chance.

But I’m sitting here tonight watching the Redskins and Giants and thinking, man, I freaking love the NFL!

THE REDSKINS ARE ALREADY 0-1.

This is just great!

The NFL makes me happy and makes my life better.

Reports from Cincy say Bengal legend OL Willie Anderson will trade orange Zubaz for purple

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:49:26 GMT

We sent out the text a little while ago (another great reason to join the text service, by the way) with this dirt:

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting (and quoting on the record) that offensive lineman and Bengals legend Willie Anderson will sign a $3-year, $11 million contract.

More here...

Brian Billick joins the WNST family as an owner and partner

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:39:36 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BRIAN BILLICK PARTNERS WITH WNST SPORTS MEDIA
TO LAUNCH WNST.net, AN ONLINE SPORTS COMMUNITY
TO BENEFIT THE LIVING CLASSROOMS FOUNDATION

Baltimore’s WNST Sports Media announces the formation of a new media sports endeavor turning WNST-AM 1570 radio into WNST.net, a place where fans of all Baltimore sports teams will turn online for sports information, news, feedback, expert analysis, participation and social networking. Former World Champion head coach Brian Billick is a key member and contributor to the new partnership, led by company CEO Nestor Aparicio.

Next week’s launch of the all-new WNST.net will transcend all other local media outlets in the marketplace as a one-stop place on the web to talk, chat, hear and see all that Baltimore sports has to offer. WNST.net will essentially be an around-the-clock sports newspaper, and a complete radio and television “on demand” home for the most robust collection of authentic and user-generated local sports content.

Specializing in news and analysis of the Ravens, Orioles, Terps and other participatory local sports from recreation councils to high schools and local colleges, WNST.net seeks to be the preeminent home on the web for anything and everything pertaining to sports in Baltimore and Maryland. It hopes to bring together all local sports enthusiasts into one community with freedom of speech, local authenticity and quality and depth of opinions and analysis.

WNST – the acronym stands for “We Never Stop Talking” Baltimore Sports – is a 10-year brand that began as an AM radio station led by Aparicio’s ownership and fueled by his local passion. WNST-AM 1570 will continue to thrive and serve as the audio focal point for all of WNST.net’s future marketing endeavors with all radio content being made available online via podcasts.

“After nine great years in Baltimore, my wife Kim and I knew that Baltimore is where we were going to stay,” said Billick, who will blog regularly, do three weekly radio segments as well as a live local radio show in the community on the first Wednesday of each month on WNST-AM 1570. “I can’t think of a better way to stay in touch with the passionate football fans here in Charm City than to share my opinions and observations about the game we all love. And, I can’t think of a more authentic forum to do it than with WNST.”

Aparicio, a former sportswriter for The Evening Sun, has been a tireless follower and advocate for Baltimore sports fans for his entire life and has shared his love of local sports with other fans on Baltimore radio since 1991. Billick coached the Ravens for nine seasons, leading the team to a World Championship in 2001 in Super Bowl XXXV and will be working with Fox Sports nationally during the 2008 NFL season as a game analyst.

The two met in Minnesota in early 1999 prior to Billick’s tenure as Ravens coach, and Billick penned the foreword to Aparicio’s 2001 chronicle of the team’s championship season called, “Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac.” Their relationship and mutual love of Baltimore sports, football, business, media and the local community spawned this partnership.

“This isn’t about Brian or Nestor or WNST or the current state of ‘old’ media as much as it’s about Baltimore sports fans having an honest and easily accessible place on the web to share their mutual love of the community, Baltimore sports and outline the fun of being a fan or a participant in local sports,” Aparicio said. “We’re building an online sports media property that in the future will be the way local people communicate and interact, with local sports and the local teams being the focal point. And we’re doing this at a grassroots level that no out-of-town conglomerate could possibly attempt. We are thrilled to have a partner with the substance, intellect and benevolence of Brian Billick.”

WNST and Brian Billick will make a major announcement Wednesday night

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:57:33 GMT

The press release was sent out today:

WNST AND COACH BRIAN BILLICK TO MAKE
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING
SPORTS MEDIA FUTURE IN BALTIMORE

WNST and former Ravens’ head coach Brian Billick will hold a joint press conference to make a major announcement on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at DellaRose’s Tavern at Canton Crossing (1501 S. Clinton Street) in the 1St Mariner Bank tower.

Coach Billick, who led the Ravens to their first world championship in Super Bowl XXXV, will discuss his future plans in Baltimore at Wednesday’s press conference preceding the inaugural edition of his monthly WNST show, “Billick Live.” “Billick Live” will take place on the first Wednesday of each month throughout the NFL season at different locations around Baltimore, starting with DellaRose’s. It will be broadcast on WNST-AM 1570 and replayed on-demand at WNST.net.

Coach Billick, who left the Ravens after the 2007 season, will be doing color commentary for FOX-TV’s slate of NFL games this fall, beginning with this Sunday’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers-New Orleans Saints game in the Louisiana Superdome.

WNST-AM 1570, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008, is a local sports radio community and online brand, led by 17-year Baltimore radio veteran and Dundalk native Nestor Aparicio. Aparicio will introduce an all-new WNST Sports Media platform and online initiative tomorrow evening as well.

Bouman in and Harrington leaves for BWI???

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:34:06 GMT

As the quarterback turns...

Despite Chris Mortenson of ESPN reporting that Joey Harrington signed with the Ravens yesterday, our sources tell us that Harrington left Owings Mills today without officially becoming a Raven.

Or did he?

Is he flying away to go elsewhere or to get his bags and come back to Baltimore?

We're now hearing that Todd Bouman has become the frontrunner to be the No. 3 QB here...

We dunno...but we'll find out soon!

They have to practice tomorrow, right?