Nestor's Bio
Born in Dundalk...Just turned 40...Began as an agate clerk and gopher in 1984 at The News American...Sportswriter and music critic at The Evening Sun from 1986 through 1992...Started doing sports radio with Kenny Albert in 1992 on WITH-AM 1230...Obtained WNST-AM 1570 in 1998...Was nationally syndicated on 425 stations via Sporting News Radio from 1999 through 2001...Retired from daily radio in 2004 to C.E.O. and do business development for WNST...Led walkout of 2,000 Orioles fans at Camden Yards in the "Free The Birds" movement...Became partners with Brian Billick and began WNST.net earlier this year...Loves to travel the world and shoot campy videos for wnsTV...In general, he loves Baltimore and lives to make this website great!
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As you probably already know, the infield was virtually empty today at Pimlico for Preakness 134. It made me sick to see the event virtually disappear, but it also galvanized me enough to believe that perhaps now that the drunk idiots are gone, perhaps the event can be revived over the next generation as a proud, local, celebration of spring and horse racing and our community — an event people with families want to attend again for the rest of their lives.
If you went to the race today you know what I’m talking about. It was actually a GREAT event. The weather was decent for most of the day before the rains came around 6 p.m. The beer was cold and priced fairly. The food was diverse and easy to order. There was PLENTY of “open space” as well to lay in the sun, have a picnic, relax, bet the races.
And I’ll bet it’s almost universal: the people who went today had a blast!
Like all of the smiling people I saw singing along to ZZ Top classics, I had a great day today at Old Hilltop. I saw friends on the infield. I saw friends in the grandstand. I saw friends in the corporate tent area. I saw friends in the press box. Today was the 25th anniversary of my first “real” press pass when I went to the 1984 Preakness. Over the years, I have so many memories of the Preakness that are so diverse that I wouldn’t know where to begin to recount them.
Today — with all of the vermin, violence and stupidity gone — I had fun. At noon, there probably weren’t 3,000 people in the infield. By the time ZZ Top played and the 9th race was running, there might’ve been 6,000 people down in the main part of the infield.
By any measurement against previous Preakness infield crowds, it was embarrassingly empty and barren. It wasn’t “a little” off. It wasn’t even “greatly diminished.”
It was EMPTY!
It was almost like a different event with people smiling and having fun and not ducking from thrown beer and various projectiles and punches.
At 3 p.m. today, Maryland Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas gave me the ONLY statistic that really matters: Sinai Hospital only had two patients with injuries from the race track by midday today. Last year, they had 25 before 10 a.m. and nearly 300 by night fall.
I will be writing droves about this and I’ll be talking about this at length on Monday’s edition of “Limited Access,” but for now I’ll just show you the ONLY thing that was “missing” from the Preakness today:
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May 16th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Dear Nestor,
I have been a longtime fan and longtime supporter of you and your show but you simply have it wrong on this one. There is just no way you can justify a near 50% drop in attendance and say that is good for the Preakness or Baltimore’s economy on a day that our Governor has called, “our Superbowl.” Let’s just tell it like it is, Tom Chuckas and the Maryland Jockey Club got it wrong. I have been to the infield for the past 6 years, since I was a sophmore in High School, and while I debated going again due to the beer can throwing, banning BYOB wasn’t the MJC’s decision to make, it was the peoples. For the past decade more and more people have turned out in the infield, even as it has gotten rowdier and rowdier. If the same had been true this year with a continuation of BYOB, then that should been enough to allow it to continue. Yet, the people have spoken. I am sorry if those your age, and yes Nestor let’s face it, this isn’t your generation, didn’t like it, that should be how policy decisions are made. This was a TRADITION, and for someone who has led mass protests at Camden Yards, you of all people should understand what that means. People lived for this day, they lived for this party. If you want to make the event safer, take the money that Pimlico lost this year and use it to pay for more SAIF management in the infield. The last two years have been a joke, and that’s why the beer can throwing has been what it has been. Make it a 2,000 dollar fine for being ejected for throwing a beer, that will put an end to it real quick. The bottom line is everybody lost money today, and you cannot tell me that there was not an overwhelmingly depressing feel at old hilltop, a neighborhood I grew up in, without the throngs of people heading to the infield towing coolers behind them. I am truly sad that on this day Baltimore has lost something very special, I can only pray that next year it will be back. Nestor, if you want to save the Preakness, then adopt a moderate position. Realize that the Preakness is not the Derby, we cannot have an infield without BYOB. Compromise, there are ways to make the infield safe and still let people bring their own beer. Harder problems have been solved.
Scott Green,
Lifelong resident of Baltimore and Mount Washington, and recent graduate of the University of Michigan. Attended my first Preakness with my father when I was 10 years old.
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May 16th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Scott Green hits it on the head. Compromise. Beef up security and institute real punishments for those who throw beer cans. If you throw a beer can, you get thrown out and fined heavily. It’s really not that difficult. By banning BYOB, Chuckas has isolated a significant part of his market. If he, Mayor O’Malley, or you believe that those numbers will ever come back up without BYOB, you’re simply wrong. Hopefully, some compromises are made and we can create a safe and exciting infield. If not, the Preakness will become yet another integral part of Baltimore that is lost forever…
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May 16th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Unfortunately, money on the ponies was also missing. Not sure what they can do to bring people back, yet keep it civilized…
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May 16th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I’ve been to the Kentucky Derby six time in the last 9 years. Each time I was in the infield. Churchill Downs does not allow people to BYOB to their infield, and yet it is still a well-attended party with over 100,000 people each year. There are still plenty of people drinking, partying and having fun, but without the ugly incidents and dangers that have marred Preakness for years. It’s sad that I feel like a trip to Kentucky or New York for Triple Crown races are my only options when I was born, raised and still live in Baltimore. After seeing the changes in the crowd at the Pimlico this year, I’m much more likely to go the the Preakness Stakes next year.
The crowds will come back, but it is imperative that the Maryland Jockey Club aggressively promote the event to build a new tradition.
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May 16th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
your an idiot, a loud mouth one at that…
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May 16th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
sounds like a real event now. I will go next year if there is one
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May 16th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Iam getting up in age and I have never been to a single Preakness. I feel BYOB should have never been banned. Freedom is being eroded all over this great land. Tradition along with sanity should be upheld by law enforcement.I think the race is headed for another town anyway. They need to find a new place for a track and build a state of the art facility. Pimlico is hole. First Mariner Arena is a hole. And if the state wants to sell municiple bonds and build some nice places for about 6 percent tax free Iam buying. Your lucky to find a savings account these days for 1 percent and then you have to pay tax on it.
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May 17th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I am going to ‘pile on’ here. If folks want to go to an empty Pimlico, there are lots of other days during the meet when I am sure the Maryland Jockey Club would love to host true racing fans. It was really sad to see the pictures from the Preakness today. Obviously I don’t want to see anyone hurt but I say bring back the ‘old’ Preakness. My time in the infield has come and gone, with or without byob. Maybe yours hass too. I would still like to see the infield experience available for those who enjoy it.
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May 17th, 2009 at 1:45 am
I’m with Nestor. Good riddance to the drunken idiots and ****** who ruined it for everyone else. What a black eye the infield has been for Maryland for so long. Attendance will pick up through good word of mouth from this year and hopefully better marketing by the track. Unless you’re one of those who have nothing better to do in life than get wasted at such an event, you should embrace the new Preakness infield. Eliminating this cancer is the only good thing the state has done for racing in years.
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May 17th, 2009 at 10:28 am
As a man in his 40’s (jeez…..when did that happen?) and a veteran of several Preakness infield parties, I was embarr***ed by what I saw on TV yesterday, a virtually empty Pimlico. Some sort of a compromise has to be reached regarding the BYOB policy. Limit the size of the cooler. NASCAR tracks do that, and I’ve never seen anyone try and climb the safety fence, or hurl a beverage can at a moving race car. I think The Maryland Jockey Club’s heart was in the right place, but a little more due dilligence was called for, before just calling a halt to the beverage carry in policy. This race can’t last another 2 years with the attendance down as far as it was yesterday. Bring back a reasonable cooler policy, and ZERO TOLLERANCE for the knuckleheads that want to spoil it for the folks that want to have a cold beer or two, but also have the wherewithall to not act like an *** when they’ve had a few.
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May 17th, 2009 at 10:41 am
It’s time to grow up! Yes, those of us decades removed from our college days (Nestor and I among them) fondly remember the wonderful, crazy times we experienced in the infield on Preakness Day… which did not include hurling full beer cans as if you’re a college QB at the NFL Combines.
The infield TRADITION never included that activity. I suggest Steve and his “Preakness sucks w/o BYOB” followers should plan a trip to the 2010 Kentucky Derby Infield Party, Friday and/or Saturday, then report back on what a lame party it is… NOT!
Maybe if you would spend more time learning how to read the Racing Form instead pounding beers and shots from 7am til 7pm, you might be able to win a few bucks and not miss having to step around the drunken idiots as if you were avoiding land mines in Iraq.
Was the infield crowd disappointing? YES. Was it unexpectedly low? In my humble opinion NO! Will attendance in future years continue to be 77,000, as long as the Preakness remains in Baltimore? NO, and you can BET ON IT!
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May 17th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I’ll agree with pror posts. The solution is obvious: add security people on scaffolding in various places with binoculars. Once some fools are tossed for throwing cans or commting other acts of stupidity, others will take notice. I have been to at least 14 Preakness’s and was proud to be part of the good old fashioned debauchery. While I agree something had to be done, the organizers blew it! Yesterday was an embarressment!
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May 17th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Nestor, I agree with you about that there is no need for the black eye Baltimore has received over the past several years because of the drunken idiots. The problem is, in typical “Maryland” fashion, they go from one extreme to another. You wonder why people are leaving this state in droves, just use the Preakness as a sample. The government (Jockey Club and Stave of MD) tries to micromanage and tax the **** out of everyone for little in return. Here’s the solution for Preakness if it is even back next year: 1) Check ID’s at the gate and mark hands like any other nightclub. One of the biggest problems is all of the underage drinking. You have undercover officers walking the grounds checking hands and if you’re underage and caught drinking, adios and you’ll have your day in court. 2) Put a “Nascar” type limit on the number of beers you can bring in based on a maximum cooler size. 3) If you throw a beer or get in a fight, make the fine like $2000 a pop. The bottom line is you don’t punish the whole group because of few hundred numbskulls - this is just a microcrosm of the idiocy in Annapolis. The crowd will be even smaller next year if they provide the same thing for the $50/60 you have to drop. Good luck. By the way the DC 101 Chili Cookoff was yesterday and it was the same price ($50 early/$60 at the gate). They had Offspring, 3rd Eye Blind, Puddle of Mudd, Shinedown and Papa Roach. Which event do you think the 18 - 35 year old demographic is going to pick? Oh and from what I’ve heard about BuckCherry…how can say the new preakness is for families when you have those clowns dropping f-bombs like dollar bills at a strip club?
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May 17th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
The betting handle was up 13 Mil this year from last people!!!! Lost the idiots and made more money, sounds like a winner to me!
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May 18th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
If they keep the same format next year, expect less than 50,000 people to show up at the Preakness. They went to extremes just because of a few idiots. They could have beefed up security and limited the amount of beer a person brings into the event to a 12 pack. Even trainer Bob Baffert said the fun and excitement was gone from the event. That’s too bad.
http://www.examiner.com/x-1089-Baltimore-Sports-Examiner~y2009m5d18-After-Preakness-fiasco-Chuckas-should-step-down