Thanks for checking our section of purple cyberspace and for having interest in purchasing Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story via WNST.net. It’s been a labor of love for me — researching, writing and presenting the building of a NFL championship.

In 2001, I wrote Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac and I’ve had many inquiries regarding reprinting it and packaging it with the new book on the 2012 Ravens. So, below are the options to purchase both books as well as a 6-CD collection of our best WNST radio interviews with the many stars and interesting people from Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII. It will have original audio from 1990′s with Ray Lewis, Brian Billick, Jon Ogden as well as a two-hour life retrospective when I sat down with Arthur B. Modell in 2004. We’ll also include highlights from the past two years with Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, John Harbaugh and others. It will be nearly seven hours of conversation with Baltimore Ravens who have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.

As for the new book, we anticipate delivery to your mailbox in time for Father’s Day. The book will be more than 350 pages, chock full of stories, background, behind-the-scenes information told in 22 chapters from the firing of Brian Billick to the hiring of John Harbaugh to the drafting of Joe Flacco and Ray Rice to the 2012 season and the Super Bowl XLVII win and parade down Pratt Street and celebration inside the stadium back in February.

And the best part of the book or books? They both have happy endings. If you love the Baltimore Ravens, you’ll love the book(s).

It’s the best work of my career and I know once you read it you’ll agree.

If you’d like to read an excerpt from Chapter 6 of Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story, click here…

Here’s our shopping cart for all things Purple Reign, new and old:

Purple Reign V.I.P. Box Set

Includes:

Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story (2013)

Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac (2001) vintage edition

WNST Purple Reign Radio Memories (6 CD’s)

RAY 2:52/BELIEVE IN JOE New Orleans poster

Full color 12X18 poster of Purple Reign 2 cover (featuring fabulous artwork of local sports cartoonist Mike Ricigliano) that is suitable for autographs/framing or your mancave wall

And if you buy this deluxe package, make sure you let me know how to personalize the new book for you below:

$59.95 plus S&H

How do we sign Purple Reign 2?

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Purple Reign Both Books Hardbound

Includes:

Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story (2013)

Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac (2001)

$49.99 plus S&H

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Purple Reign 2: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story BOOK ONLY (hardback)

$26.95 plus S&H

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Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac BOOK ONLY (hardback)

$24.95 plus S&H

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Purple Reign Radio Memories — a 6 CD set of WNST purple interviews with stars & heroes of Super Bowl XXXV & Super Bowl XLVII

Nearly seven (7) hours of classic audio conversations including the life story of Arthur B. Modell in his words

$19.95 plus S&H

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Both Purple Reign: Faith, Family & Football – A Baltimore Love Story

&

Purple Reign: Diary of a Raven Maniac

WILL BE AVAILABLE as E-books in the digital format of your choice. Please fill out the form below and we’ll email you the appropriate links for your reader of choice (Amazon, Kindle, iBook, Nook, etc.) when the book becomes available in early June. We cannot take pre-orders for digital books at this time because of service restrictions from the providers. Plus, when you buy the e-book, you must buy it from their direct platform.

I’ve been reading a lot about the life and times of Art Modell over the last 24 hours. Obviously, my heart has been heavy with the loss of his charm, humor and kindness not only for my selfish emotions but for everyone who ever loved Mr. Modell. I’ll never forget seeing the raw emotions of Ray Lewis, Ozzie Newsome, Kevin Byrne and John Harbaugh yesterday in Owings Mills.

Today and all weekend at WNST.net & AM 1570 we will be presenting what I feel is the finest radio interview of my career – a long-winded, emotional, retrospective of the life and times of Arthur B. Modell, told in his own words.

In 2004, just after I retired from hosting a daily show after 13 years of grinding out quality sports talk radio, I decided to do a series of “sit downs” – I called them “Barbara Walters-style interviews” – with many Baltimore sports legends. Art Donovan, Cal Ripken, Phil Savage, Brian Billick, Marvin Lewis, Pam Shriver, Lenny Moore, Bob Ehrlich and several others were kind enough to participate in a series of monthly chats I did to shed light on their careers and how they came to enter their chosen field of work.

Every conversation was personal and memorable but nothing like my time with Art Modell.

I joined Art Modell at his office at M&T Bank Stadium in the spring of 2004 and wound up taking the better part of two mornings to get all of the questions answered.

I haven’t even listened to these yet myself to know exactly all of the ground we covered. I do remember him saying at the end, “You have enough there for a book. No one has ever asked me that many questions before!”

I remember him being emotional several times when I asked about his father. I remember him being a little upset at some of the line of questioning. I remember him being incredibly thoughtful and patient as I probed some memories that he was mostly uncomfortable sharing with me.

But I think we both brought our “A games” with us those two days as we chatted about his entire life and the many people who affected him and shaped his world. How he met soap opera actress Patricia Breslin and married her and adopted her two young sons, David and John. Tales of Jim Brown, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Ozzie Newsome, Ray Lewis, Lou Groza, Cleveland, the Browns, Bernie Kosar, Bill Belichick, Pete Rozelle – there’s a lot of meat in this conversation.

This will take some time – there’s about 3 hours worth of chatter here, most of it dominated by Art telling the best stories of his life.

The last question I asked him was stolen from Jim Lipton (and Bernard Pivot):

If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Art Modell deadpanned: “First and long…”

There’s a lot of humor in this conversation as well because that was Art’s Way.

We’ll be playing this interview all weekend on WNST-AM 1570. You can listen in your car or you can click below to take with you wherever you go.

I hope you enjoy the chat. And, quite frankly, I hope it’s as good as I remember it being.

Here are the links via WNST.net and our Buy A Toyota audio vault:

Part 1 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 2 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 3 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 4 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 5 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 6 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 7 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 8 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

Part 9 of my WNST.net sitdown with Art Modell

It’s been a crazy morning to awaken with such enthusiasm for the Orioles and mourn the loss of Art Modell, who died at 4 a.m. this morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital with David and John by his side.

On a personal level, it’s devastating. I loved Art Modell. And he always brightened my day with some kind words, jokes and he brought the Baltimore Ravens to this city and it changed my life. I’ll be eternally grateful.

I have so many memories with Art that it’s hard to even formulate them this morning. So, I’m putting together some of my memories here on this blog as my own therapy to remember our many great times together.

The last time I saw him was about two months ago in Owings Mills. He was always on a golf cart, always calling me over to tell me a joke or make me smile.

Here’s a WNSTV video I shot in 2008 of his big night at Sports Legends Museum:

I also famously lobbied Pro Football Hall of Fame voters many times on behalf of Art Modell, who deserves to be in Canton on the merit of his contributions and accomplishments for the NFL. It’s a crime that he died this morning never having been inducted.

So, in 2009, I went to Canton and inducted him myself:

Click on Page 2 to see more of my personal memories

WKYC-TV (Cleveland) reporter Jim Donovan reported Wednesday night former Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell had been hospitalized in Baltimore and his condition “was worsening.”

According to the report, Modell’s vital organs are “failing” and his sons John and David had gathered with him in the hospital.

Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996 and remained majority owner of the team until 2004 when purchase of the team was completed by current owner Steve Bisciotti.

Modell was majority owner of the Ravens in 2001 when they defeated the New York Giants 34-7 to win Super Bowl XXXV, the franchise’s only Super Bowl title and the first for the city since the Baltimore Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

Pat Modell, Art’s wife since 1969, died in October 2011 of pancreatitis.

WNST will have more on this story as it becomes available.