Friend our FB page (search Damon Yaffe – CatchTheBuzz) to find out how you can join in on the fun and win a weekly prize. Also, pick along with us and see how you do, week-to-week, playing “U Sure Can Pick “Em”.

(Meet Nikki – Ms. Excape 2012)

Here’s the game sheet for Wee#2! Good luck Nikki…

The post Catch The Buzz: “U Sure Can Pick ‘Em” – WEEK#1 appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Week #11

(July 23…vs Rays & A’s)

The CTBuzzers get back on track with a win over “Chuck”. Chuck’s team was in-it to win-it and kept it close all week, as the final outcome was still up for grabs entering Sunday’s game between the O’s and A’s. The CTBuzzers grabbed a 58-55 victory, thanks to a spectacular effort from Wei-Yin Chen. The high scorer for the week was Adam Jones with 27 points (Chuck’s Team). Wei-Yin Chen led the CTBuzzers with 23 points for the week.

The CTBuzzers are now 7-4 on the season!

Caller: Chuck from Baltimore

CTBuzzers

Here are the official rules:

- One person per week will be qualified to play, against our show.

- You can only qualify to play once per month, or once every four weeks.

- The draft will be held live on-air during the show, at a random chosen time between 10a – Noon. Listen on WNST 1570am or online at WNST.net for the proper time and caller number, for your chance to call in and play.

- The draft will be held each week, prior to the first game the Orioles play during a week. Usually on a Monday or a Tuesday, depending on the Orioles schedule.

- You will be asked to draft three (3) hitters and two (2) pitchers from the rosters of the Orioles ONLY.

- The draft will be live on air during the show and the picks will go back-and-forth until full rosters are filled. You can pick in any order you wish. Pick all three hitters first. Pick both pitchers first. You are the GM and you can decide how to build your roster.

- Once a player is taken, he is off the board and cant be taken again for the week, by the other team.

- Points will accumulate through the final game played on a Sunday. The point totals will be announced live on the show each Monday – by Noon – and the winner will be declared – for the week.

- “Catch The Buzz” will use MLB.com as the official stats for each game. Only stats posted in the box score/recap of each game, on MLB.com will be valid. No other stats will be allowed or used.

The post “Catch The Buzz”: Fantasy Baseball Challenge 2012 appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Anyway, here are my Inaugural MLB Plays of the Day for Tuesday:

Cleveland Indians/Detroit Tigers OVER  9  (BEST BET)

To say that the Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez has been a disappointment in 2012 would be an understatement. Acquired at last year’s trade deadline from from the Colorado Rockies, the 28-year-old is rarely clocked at over 95 mph on the radar gun these days. In addition to his loss in velocity, he leads the AL in walks and sports a hideous 5.48 walks per nine innings. Jimenez’s July has been more atrocious as he boasts an ugly 7.48 ERA, surrendering 18 earned runs in just four starts.

Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera will be licking their lips when the Tigers roll into town Tuesday and should have no problem teeing off on Jimenez.  However, their teammate and Detroit starter tonight Doug Fister has also been up and down this season. Fister has won his last three starts after losing his previous three starts. Cleveland, winners against Baltimore last night to avoid a sweep, is batting .311 (84-for-270) against fastballs from pitchers like Fister since last season. The lone bright spot in the lineup is Shin-Soo Choo, who homered in two of the last three games.

I expect Detroit to put up roughly 7-8 runs in this contest.   Cleveland should manage at least three.

New York Mets to win ML (-108)

The Mets have certainly been free-falling as of late.  Losers of their last 10 of 11, their starting pitching has compiled a 6.41 ERA during that span.  Not to mention the devastating news that pitchers Johan Santana and Dillon Gee have hit the DL. Their sole victory during those 11 games was last Thursday when R.A. Dickey got the best of the Nats’ Gio Gonzalez. Dickey will go for his 12th consecutive winning decision in the rematch tonight.

Gonzalez hasn’t looked anything like an All-Star over his last five starts. The southpaw surrendered six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched during last week’s matchup against the Mets, ballooning his ERA to 5.75 in July. To make matters worse, Dickey is a perfect 6-0 at home and should make scoring runs very difficult for the Nationals offense.

Dickey certainly has not been lights out either, but expect him to get enough support led by David Wright and a red hot Daniel Murphy to even this three game series at 1-1.

ORIOLES vs RAYS PREVIEW: July 24th, 2012

Wei-Yin Chen takes the mound for the Orioles tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays as the O’s try to rebound after failing to sweep Cleveland last night. The last time the Rays faced the Orioles with Chen on the mound, Rays’ starter David Price overshadowed him with a complete game shutout. Tonight, the Rays are not as fortunate to match Price against Chen once again, as they send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound. The Rays have lost all of Hellickson’s last five starts and his road ERA stands at 4.08. Chen, on the other hand, has an ERA a full point lower at home.  Taking three of four in Cleveland and winning their last five of six overall has given the O’s some much needed swagger after a slow start post All Star Break. The travel from Cleveland to Baltimore will not fatigue them very much either, so jet lag will not be a problem.   All signs point to Baltimore starting this three game set successfully with a win, thus further distancing themselves from the bottom three in the AL East.

The post Chee’s POD’s & O’s Preview for July 24th, 2012 appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

The Two Thousand and Twelve season is upon us and that means new beginnings and a fresh start for a team with one dream and one goal. That goal is to get back to the Super Bowl. But many Ravens’ fans and players know how hard that dream can be. In order to get back to the Super Bowl you have to get to the playoffs and in order to make the playoffs you have to have a good record in the Regular season. The Baltimore Ravens won 12 games last year and they’ll probably have to do just as good this year to make the post season. The AFC has gotten better and stronger and one of those strong and powerful divisions in that conference is the AFC North. The Ravens swept the North last year going 6 and 0 against their inter-division rivals. In order to do that again this year a lot of things must fall into place and a lot of players are going to have to step up and take over this team that Veterans Ed Reed and Ray Lewis have done over the past decade.

Before I dive into the division games let’s get into the whole schedule of opponents the Ravens will face in 2012. In this day and era we live in a pass happy league and with an ageing defense the Ravens will face the likes of Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Tom Brady, Eli Manning and a healthy Peyton Manning this year. There are some Super Bowl MVPs, League MVPs and very exclusive Quarterbacks that love to throw that I just named. If the Ravens want to win they need to make sure that their secondary is up to the task and their first priority is to make sure Ed Reed comes back for another season. The Ravens schedule is set up with four prime time games with three of them coming in the first four weeks. That doesn’t include potential flex games in weeks 11 – 16 that could be changed. So with some older veterans you have to hope that they stay healthy all season long.

The first quarter of the season the Ravens will face the following…

Week 1—Monday Night Football Home vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2— Sunday 1pm Away vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 3—Sunday Night Football Home vs. New England Patriots

Week 4—Thursday Night Football Home vs.  Cleveland Browns

With three primetime games and two of them interdivision games I think this will be a good eye test for the fans to see how serious this year will be. The Bengals and Eagles games in weeks one and two I see the Ravens winning both games. Now in week three they have a great rematch of the AFC Championship game of last year against the New England Patriots. The sting of losing the AFC Championship game is enough motivation to win that game. The fourth week they face the Cleveland Browns and I predict the Ravens to be 4 – 0 after the 1^st quarter of the season.

The second quarter of the season should be a breeze, I believe this will be the easiest part of the season for the Ravens and this includes a Bye week. Their opponents are as follows…

Week 5—Sunday 1pm Away vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6—Sunday 1pm Home vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 7—Sunday 1pm Away vs. Houston Texans

Week 8—BYE

With two of the three games against non-playoff teams last year and facing Houston going into a bye week, I predict the Ravens will be 7 – 0 heading into the Bye Week and the best NFL team at the halfway point of the season.

Now the third quarter of the season will be the toughest for the Ravens in the 2012 season they have five games against two sleeper teams and three interdivision games. Their opponents are as follows…

Week 9—Sunday 1pm Away vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 10—Sunday 1pm Home vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 11—Sunday Night Football Away vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 12—Sunday 4pm Away vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 13—Sunday 4:25 Home vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The football season can be long and cruel and Weeks 9 thru 13 will prove to be that for the Ravens. In week 9 they travel to the Browns where they’re definitely the better team but with the Ravens cruising now at this point in the season you have to worry about a trap game. I do think they will win this one. In week 10 against the Raiders could be a different story especially if Carson Palmer is healthy. Palmer knows the Ravens well from his day with the Bengals. And with the Ravens having a Primetime game against their most hated rival the Steelers the next week I believe this could be the trap game that they run into every year. After that the next three games are the toughest they play the Steelers twice while traveling to the west coast to play San Diego in between those games. When the Ravens play the Steelers it usually takes a toll on the roster and with the travel those three games are crucial to the season. It is also a test to see if the Ravens are a championship caliber team. I predict the Ravens to be 10 and 2 at the end of Week 13 with the two losses either coming in a couple of trap games or losing at least one to Pittsburgh.

The 4^th Quarter will be a fun four games as they face their last inter-division team, rookie RG3, new Bronco Peyton Manning, and Super Bowl Champion Eli Manning. Their final four opponents are as followed

Week 14—Sunday 1pm Away vs. Washington Redskins

Week 15—Sunday 1pm Home vs. Denver Broncos

Week 16 – Sunday 1pm Home vs. New York Giants

Week 17—Sunday 1pm Away vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Any of these games could be flexed into primetime with the NFL Flexing rule and the NFL would be smart to choose that route. They face a very good rookie with the Redskins in Robert Griffith the Third.  The final two home games are against the Manning brothers. Both of those contests should be very entertaining. The final game will be in Cincinnati which should be a Win but being interdivision rivals you never know the outcome. I predict the Ravens will be 12 and 4 at the conclusion of the NFL season and the number 1 record in all of football.

In Closing, the Baltimore Ravens should at the least be entertaining every weekend and with players like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis careers coming to a close they want to go out as champions but they will have to win some games in the regular season. Is my prediction going to be correct? Maybe or maybe not only the season will tell and as the saying in football goes “ITS ANY GIVEN SUNDAY”.

Thank you for your loyal support and follow me on twitter at @StephenDReport

The post ANY GIVEN SUNDAY appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Two days ago people who were in Omaha and a select few TV viewers watched as the Arizona Wildcats were crowned champions of the collegiate baseball world. They completed the quest for their first championship since 1986 in Omaha Nebraska the largest town in Nebraska, but more importantly for this argument has been the home the home to the College World Series since 1950. Every year college baseball fans flock to pack the stadium in Omaha which ranks as the 42^nd largest city in America, so not exactly the city that never sleeps or a baseball hotbed.

The game of lacrosse is growing rapidly especially at the college level throughout the country. Lacrosse is constantly on a mission to gain more and more respect as a new upcoming sport, it would go a long way for casual fans and avid fans alike to create a permanent home for their Championship Weekend. Although, attendance figures at the Championship Weekend have been declining slowly since the peak in 2007 at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium where 5 lacrosse games in 3 days (2 Saturday, 2 Sunday, 1 Monday) had an attendance of 123, 225 which is still the highest total Championship Weekend attendance. The Championship Weekend slowly declined to a new low in 2011 where the weekend festivities only drew 98,786 people, but for a new trendy sport nobody would scoff at those attendance figures. This past years Championship Weekend held at the home of the New England Patriots really fell flat drawing only 79,595 people for the weekend, the lowest since 2002 also the lowest ever since the Championship Weekend started being held in NFL stadiums. This year’s championship pitted a newcomer in the Loyola Greyhounds against a perennial power in the Maryland Terrapins. The Loyola Greyhounds beat the Maryland Terrapins 9-3 and Loyola captured its first ever Lacrosse National Championship. Both Baltimore and Foxboro are lacrosse hotbeds Baltimore however is seen as more of a breeding ground where lacrosse seems to grow each year where Foxboro is in an area that sustains, but does not grow in lacrosse participation numbers.

The creation of a contract that would keep Championship Weekend in Baltimore would be highly beneficial for the sport of lacrosse. The creation of a constant site for the championships in Baltimore would create a quasi-pilgrimage feel for fans as every year they know they will be descending on Baltimore for the culmination of the season. Baltimore is well equipped to handle the amounts of people that will be attending the event because of the proximity to hotels, and they also have night-life and proper infrastructure to handle the traffic that comes with 45,000 people crowds. Foxboro does not offer the amenities that Baltimore offers Foxboro cannot offer close proximity to hotels or night-life because Boston is a 30-40 minute car ride from Foxboro also Gillette Stadium in Foxboro is located on small town roads that create traffic hassles after and before the games.

Another benefit to creating the site to be at M&T Bank Stadium is the proximity to local teams and the casual fan can come watch their favorite team play. For instance this year when 3 of the Final Four teams where within 1 hour of Baltimore, but the casual fans would have had to make the 6 hour drive to Foxboro to catch the game. While growing the popularity of the game is paramount to US Lacrosse and excluding the Northern States seems unfair the creation of rivalries such as Virginia vs. Maryland do not have the same feel in Foxboro as they do in Baltimore. Also for a game that is trying to grow cutting down on expenses would be another additional bonus because Foxboro is not in close distance to any perennial power house teams because the only schools close are Syracuse and Cornell which are actually about the same in driving distance to either location and Cornell is actually closer to Baltimore.

The creation of Baltimore into the “New” Omaha would be beneficial to the game of lacrosse because it would be right in the center of the biggest hotbed for lacrosse in America. The fans and students of their respective universities would come out in full force to cheer on their team at Championship Weekend every Memorial Day Weekend and give lacrosse the college sport atmosphere it so desperately desires.

The post The “New” Omaha appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Marco Romanell finished second in the judges’ voting, followed by Lawson Lambert and Todd Salkowski. Jerry Reinhardt, Tom Clayton and Chris Stoner were also great competitors over the past two months of competitive blogging and sports media.

Jones is headed to Bermuda via the Port of Baltimore courtesy of Royal Caribbean and The Cruise Lady of Canton.

We had a packed house of supporters — many of them related to Marco Romanell — who were feisty, rowdy and very supportive of their loved ones and friends. It was truly a great night for WNST.net, as Brian Billick and John Buren joined Drew Forrester, Bob Haynie, Glenn Clark and myself in the judicial process.

We’ll be hearing and reading more from all seven of the contestants as they were all outstanding and energetic about the process of learning the craft of Baltimore sports journalism in the new media era.

Nice people. Big sports fans. Lots of talent.

We might make this an annual event it was so much fun!

The post Luke Jones is crowned the Coors Light King of Baltimore Sportstalk winner appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

These are the same people who call me the “amateur” when they can’t even grasp basic sports history in the marketplace and aren’t prepared or qualified to take a simple phone call about anything that happened before 2006.

As a kid growing up in Dundalk and reading the paper, listening to the radio and watching the 6 o’clock news, I always thought that anyone who worked in the local sports media MUST know more than me about sports.

How could they NOT, I thought?

“Isn’t that their JOB?” I thought as a young person in the early 1980′s.

Well, it didn’t take long as a 15-year old at The News American and then later The Evening Sun and The Sun to realize that knowing anything about sports was secondary to politics, race, gender, education and a whole bunch of other nasty and patently unfair “real world” issues that superceded actual knowledge, dedication and ability.

So, in the midst of this “Coors Light King of Baltimore Sportstalk” competition, I pulled out of my files some notes and a questionnaire from my “So you want to be a Sports Talk Show Host?” event almost three years ago and decided to update it and distribute it as a pre-cursor for Wednesday night’s live auditions at Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk.

Needless to say, I was shocked at how lousy some of my 12 finalists fared on the pop quiz. I won’t embarrass anyone with specific results or poor answers, but these inquiries are fundamental “How much do you know about current and past Baltimore and national sports?” questions that anyone who seriously wants to do this for a living should at least have “educated guesses” if not specific answers to these questions.

Along with Bob Haynie, Drew Forrester, Ray Bachman and Glenn Clark, we assembled a list of the questions below, just to test the waters.

For the record, we didn’t expect “perfect” answers but I was certainly taken aback by how little the prospective sports media “experts” really knew about the depth and bredth of the reality of the Baltimore sports media landscape.

Take the quiz yourself WITHOUT using google or any other artificial means.

These are the kind of “meat and potatoes” nuggets of knowledge that make a sports talk show host/blogger/new media writer credible and respected within the marketplace. In my opinion, it’s the essential ingredient to being able to host a four-hour show, write blogs with impact and perspective and carry forth as a true “expert” on Baltimore sports.

Needless to say, I think Anita Marks and various other “outsiders” would flunk this test in an embarrassing fashion, which in my mind makes them unqualified to act as an “expert.”

HERE IS THE ULTIMATE BALTIMORE SPORTS QUIZ:

(Feel free to distribute it to your Baltimore sports “expert” friends and see how you do. We think these questions are “hard” but fair…)

Who was Charley Eckman?

Who was the Orioles famous groundskeeper at Memorial Stadium?

Who kicked the GW FG for the Colts in Super Bowl V?

Who are the last 7 Maryland basketball players to have their jerseys hung in the rafters?

Who were the two Maryland football coaches prior to Ralph Friedgen?

Who is the Ravens defensive coordinator?

Who were the four 20-game winners for the 1971 Orioles?

The three names for Baltimore’s downtown arena?

The last line of the Memorial Stadium façade?

Memorial Stadium was the World’s Largest __________  __________ ________

This Orioles picked off three Blue Jays in one inning:

In your opinion, name the 3 biggest trades in Orioles history:

Name the last 11 Orioles managers:

Going backward, list every Ravens starting QB and years they started:

Name five Baltimore Colts head coaches:

Name three members of the 1973 Maryland Terps hoops team:

Who is the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs?

Who is the Beyer Speed Rating named after?

Name three current Washington Capitals:

Who is the Ravens head of college scouting?

Name as many Ravens assistant coaches as you can/titles:

What is the NFL’s overall team salary cap number for 2009?

The post Take the ultimate Baltimore Sportstalk quiz now! appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

Honestly, tell me another sport — other than an NFL playoff game, but even those are influenced by injuries, weather, weird bounces, blowouts, etc. — where you know you’ll be getting what you’re paying for tonight.

It’s 3-3. The teams clearly don’t like each other. The penalties have been lopsided in the Penguins direction. The “one name” stars are all out — my man Jim Williams of The Examiner wrote about the incredible worldwide audience for this game — Ovechkin and Federov, Sidney and Malkin.

Who’ll win? The pesky Capitals who have been outplayed dramatically but have been incredibly resiliant and realiably cardiac over the past three weeks certainly have a shot. They are the NHL team with nine lives at this point.

A home crowd of 20,000 red maniacs, taunting Sidney Crosby and Segei Gonchar not to mention Marc-Andre Fleury all night.

For all of the initiated, don’t worry about all of the strange pronunciations and rules and icing and penalties. Don’t focus on “I can’t see the puck” anymore.

Just watch the action. And the passion. And the flow of the game. And the intensity of the crowd.

Unfortunately “scheduling” has cost me an opportunity to be at the Verizon Center tonight acting like a fool. But instead, you can watch me flip out in a red Skipjacks jersey tonight and participate in the idiocy and intensity of Game 7.

We’ll be at Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk for the Coors Light King (or Queen) of Baltimore Sportstalk competition at 7 p.m. We have 12 contestants (Jay Trucker has unfortunately had to withdraw) each doing a few minutes of live, mystery radio.

Our competition will end well before 9 p.m., which means a post-competition party with 3rd period, Game 7 nuttiness as a dessert for the evening. We might even have a few Coors Lights.

And, as important as the competition is, we DO have a game to watch tonight. Drop by Donna’s and support some of the amateurs and Rock The Red with us!

Orioles go for the sweep. Caps go for a Game 7 win. And WNST has some fun with some real Baltimore sports fans in Dundalk with celebrities, cheap beer, great food and all on a Wednesday night, no less!

Game 7 is the best, isn’t it?

Today is gonna be a great day!

The post Share the Game 7 madness with us tonight in Dundalk! appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

We watched the action at Silver Spring Mining Company with another packed house of Rock The Red nuts. It’s as much fun as I’ve had in years, especially sharing hockey with a community of like-minded fans. It’s like a little mini-Ravens fan celebration.

The game was sensational throughout with the Caps holding leads throughout the third period only to allow the Penguins to force overtime on a goal from Sidney Crosby with 4:14 remaining in regulation. It could’ve been devastating and the Caps even put the Penguins on a power play on a slashing call on Brooks Laich with 2:02 remaining in the third period.

The Caps tightened up. They got the game into overtime and found a way to win. Even Alexander Semin came back to life tonight, scoring a goal in the second period.

I’ve said it many, many time. Game Seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the best, most-consistently excited sporting event there is in the world.

We’ll be at the Coors Light King of Baltimore Sportstalk semifinals during the game on Wednesday night with the 13 contestants and some local celebrities at Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk. A great time is guaranteed on Wednesday.

Game 7 — there’s nothing like it!

The post Game 7 is a go: Caps beat Penguins 5-4 in OT appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.

We decided to not eliminate any of the 13 candidates and have all of them come out to Dundalk do a “live” segment in a crowded tavern with celebrity judges and a whole group of WNST staffers. So, on Wednesday, everyone is invited to come out and meet, greet and cheer for your favorites in our competition.

The party starts at 7 p.m. and each of the 13 will have a “mystery” assignment. As you can imagine, we have some surprises up our sleeve. Plus, Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk has a great stage, excellent food and friendly folks.

Here is the note I sent out to the hopefuls on Saturday:

Hello future King (or Queen):

After deliberating through the week and reading and listening and watching your work, we’ve decided that cutting people from the “Coors Light King (or Queen) of Baltimore Sportstalk” competition at this point would be counterproductive to the process in a few ways:

1.    I sense all of you are committed and serious about wanting to win and continue
2.    I sense all of you dread “getting cut”
3.    I’d really like to see and hear all of you do sports talk – especially in front of a live crowd – one more time
4.    I think it’ll be more fun and more interesting and entertaining with more participants on Wednesday night
5.    I think it’ll be fun to have a “mix and mingle” night in general with all of these interesting, different Baltimore sports fans in one place at one time

So, if you’re still interested — and I hope you are — I look forward to seeing all 13 of you Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Donna’s Tavern on Pine Avenue in Dundalk for a night of mystery and laughs and Coors Light and food.

We will have each of you doing a five-minute “live bar show” that we’ll audio and video for future use at WNST.net. You will not be given any clues or information ahead of time. All of you will be given your “assignment” around 7 p.m. at Donna’s. Please try to arrive around 6:30.

It’ll be like American Idol, only in Dundalk instead of Hollywood.

Come as you are (it’s casual), bring some friends and/or family if you wish, and we’ll bring some celebrity judges and surprises and maybe even a few WNST listeners.

You’ll be doing no more than five minutes of “work” on Wednesday night. So don’t sweat it too much. Or think about it too much. If you’re truly a Baltimore sports “expert” – and that is our expectation — this should be a relatively easy assignment.

At the end of the evening, we will announce the finalists for the championship live show at Padonia Station on Wednesday, May 27th.

In the meantime, let’s have some fun this Wednesday at Donna’s.
6607 Pine Ave
Baltimore, MD 21222
(410) 633-6677

The post All 13 King of Baltimore hopefuls invited to Donna’s in Dundalk on Wednesday appeared first on We Never Stop Talking Baltimore Sports.