and then stuck your head back in to reconfirm that some of what you say – and I suppose that’s to be interpreted by us — on that dais is in the never-never-land of make believe or “Pleasantville” and we’re supposed to write it just the way you say it and present stuff we’re truly skeptical about as a “fact” to an audience that is counting on US reporting “facts.”
I owe Baltimore sports fans more than that and so do you.
No one is looking to ambush you or twist your words. No one is looking to embarrass you. No one is looking for trade secrets to feed to Mike Tomlin on Sunday afternoon – and to be really honest I’m not sure anyone in the local media knows enough about football practices, play-calling or scheme to tell anyone credible in Pittsburgh what plays you’re running even if you let them sleep with your playbooks all weekend.
When you’re on the podium, you’re talking to Baltimore and fans in the upper deck and beyond about your football team. That would be the thousands of people who will read this blog. And see your videos. And support the Ravens and love the team and want to “be in the know” because they devote an inordinate amount of their lives and emotions for six months around your football team.
Like I do. Every week. Home and away. Hot and cold. Tweeting and opining. Watching the game with great friends and loved ones. It’s the highlight of my week and year when the Ravens play and I remember the 13 years when we didn’t have games on Sundays.
And as I’ve expressed publicly many, many times – this is the way I feed my family via the integrity of WNST.net. When the Ravens do well the people in my company feed their families better. There’s not a scintilla of dust on anyone in my company or most media companies in this city that isn’t on your side. The whole city is wearing purple underwear every Sunday!
But when you’re rude, evasive, confrontational with media members, you’re truly disrespecting the fans more than you are any of us.
You’re not talking to Mike Preston or Jamison Hensley
