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Journalism & Media

I’m free at last to “take the stand” in Jennifer Royle (ex-MASN employee & current CBS Radio employee) v. WNST.net

Nestor Aparicio

Tick tock, tick tock…as time slips through the hourglass so goes Jennifer Royle’s 15 minutes of fame in Baltimore. She’s now been here about 18 months and today figures to be the last time she gets a headline in the Charm City. Her lawsuit against me, WNST and my employees Drew Forrester and Glenn Clark, was completely without merit. This costly and damaging witch hunt and blatant attempt to injure my company and a reputation that I’ve spent 27 years of my life erecting here in my hometown of Baltimore as a “tell it like it is” journalist in the style of my heroes John Steadman and Howard Cosell – is now complete. Time and facts have proven that WNST never did anything inappropriate. Ms. Royle dropped the case after our lawyers filed a motion asking a judge to order her to answer a series of questions that she didn’t want to answer. Instead of responding to our motions, she took her marbles and went home. As we stated all along, we did nothing wrong at WNST.net. Her allegations were a public affront to me, and an attack on my personal integrity and the value of everything we’ve built this

Ch-ch-ch-changes at WNST for football season and Ravens coverage

Nestor Aparicio

It’s a momentous day here at WNST.net in many ways. Some great news will be divulged here today and other tidbits and updates will be best savored on another day. But make no mistake about it: today is a very proud day for me at WNST.net. We’ve quietly made some changes in our format and I’m really blessed to loudly and proudly announce the addition of Luke Jones to our WNSTeam as Drew Forrester’s new co-host, producer and whipping boy on The Morning Reaction and the promotion of Glenn Clark to afternoon drive show host from 2-to-6 on weekdays replacing Rex Snider, who submitted his resignation last week. I enjoyed Rex Snider’s passion and I really wish him well in the future. He was one of many folks who I was fortunate to meet and afford an opportunity to live the dream of doing a daily radio show at WNST and I hope this will launch him to greater things. He’s a man of integrity and I enjoyed watching his brand (and his hair) grow. On a personal note, I can’t appropriately express my bursting pride in Glenn Clark’s progress as a host, writer, journalist and learner of all things

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In Memoriam of my dear friend Papa Joe Chevalier

Nestor Aparicio

Papa Joe was a simple man. He’d always come booming into the offices about 90 minutes before his show and always with a hearty laugh and always penning his opening monologue and script on a legal notepad and rehearsing it on those who would hear him.

Part 3: People ask me all of the time: “How big is your stick?”

Nestor Aparicio

If you’re on this website, chances are you’ve been a WNST or Nestor or Drew or local Baltimore sports fan for quite some time. Sure, a few of you just heard about us recently on Twitter, but for the most part it feels like I know most of you. All 50,000-plus of you, who come to us in so many ways all had a “virgin experience” with WNST. But you’re all here now and my 42 years in Baltimore — 27 of them as a local journalist and almost 20 more as a local media and marketing entrepreneur – has you somewhere an arm’s reach away whether you’re my Facebook friend, Twitter follower, ex-girlfriend, a former sponsor, current sponsor, old friend from high school, you’re on our text service, you get our morning newspaper, you got a “Dump Trumpy” or a “Wacko 4 Flacco” sign from me  – I think you get the picture. I’ve always thought that the late, great Dick Schaap had the greatest line I ever heard about humanity and walking the earth: “I collect people.” There are a LOT of you. There really are. And I’ve shaken hands with thousands of you like a politician at

Part 2: What does WNST stand for & what journalistic value do we have in Baltimore in 2011 and beyond?

Nestor Aparicio

It’s impossible to address anything that has happened at WNST in our 13 years of existence without talking about the deterioration of the Orioles, the orange fan base and the interest and passion surrounding baseball in our community. And conversely, what would we be – as a company or as a sports town – without the emergence and consistent excellence of the Baltimore Ravens? We launched WNST-AM 1570 in the summer of 1998, when the Ravens were “the other team” in Baltimore. In our entire existence as an entity, the Orioles have yet to play a meaningful summer baseball game. Not one game! To think that hasn’t done incredible damage to our community and my business would be to just not understand the premise of what we’ve always tried to do – create enthusiasm and support and interest and passion for Baltimore sports. Our perceived “war” with the Orioles is legendary and we’re proud of everything we’ve ever said or done in regard to protesting 14 years of losing, insolence and lack of civic courtesy shown by Peter G. Angelos and his ownership group. And every time they continue to do stupid things as an organization – and they do

For those of you who love WNST, please read this and pass it on to a friend who loves Baltimore sports

Nestor Aparicio

Thirteen years ago this week, when I was still in my 20’s, I drove down Hart Road here in Towson for the first time with a cult following on a sports talk radio show from an AM big band radio station with a bunch of local listeners and a handful of small local business owners (largely bars and restaurants) who promoted their dreams via my dream to build the kind of company and Baltimore sports radio station my Pop would be proud of if he had lived long enough to hear it come to life. Three months later, on August 1, 1998 we launched WNST-AM 1570 – “The Station With Balls.” The Baltimore Sun wrote a front-page piece that predicted our demise and quoted the general manager of WBAL-AM 1090 as giving us long odds to survive. So before I ambitiously and enthusiastically begin updating all of you on our cool progress, growth and ambitious next chapter circa 2011 here at WNST, I want to simply say: THANKS! Thanks for all of the nice gestures over these years as a community. From the crazy events, road trips, charity gatherings and parties to the conversations on the radio, to the kind

Baltimore loses its No. 1 fan with passing of William Donald Schaefer

Nestor Aparicio

There will be a lot written and said about the honorable William Donald Schaefer today in Baltimore and throughout the state of Maryland. I can honestly say that I knew the man a little and as a kid who grew up watching him shape the landscape of my beloved hometown and later knew him in the “real” world, what you saw was what you got: he loved Baltimore and he loved Maryland and he literally put the “public” in a phrase that has now become trite: public servant. Schaefer served us all, especially those of us who love sports. I’m not sure Schaefer could recite the statistics of the 1958 Colts or the 1966 Orioles, but he could recite the statistics for what the economic impact and loss of the Colts did in 1984 and the value of the Orioles playing baseball in downtown Baltimore in 1992 and beyond. Every time I see a crowd like the pathetic one last night at Camden Yards, I think of what Schaefer would really think of the travesty the Orioles have become in terms of economic impact to stimulate the downtown business district. There’s no way he would’ve been Mayor and watched this

An indictment of local journalism: Here’s our side of baseless Royle v. WNST lawsuit

Nestor Aparicio

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? And been accused by someone who is a direct competitor who is attempting to wreck your business and your reputation with a loud and frivolous lawsuit? And have it play out publicly all over the internet and local media? Well, on Tuesday afternoon I became the accused and now under the microscope of live social media, many of you have made it here to my blog to read “what Nestor thinks” about this crazy attack on the integrity and reputation of WNST.net, a company I’ve spent 27 years of my life building to serve Baltimore sports fans just like you and me with quality information, analysis and community spirit and engagement. In case you haven’t heard, WNST.net is under attack, getting served what we deem to be a baseless lawsuit in Baltimore City Circuit Court regarding Jennifer Royle, an employee of my two main competitors over the last year. Her allegations are so outrageous that my mind can’t get around how these baseless accusations could ever enter a court of law but such is the state of the American judicial system. “Anybody can sue anybody for anything” is more than

Back in Peter’s arms: When corporate media does business with Orioles the fans lose the truth

Nestor Aparicio

On Tuesday night we learned what we’ve known for months – Peter G. Angelos and WBAL Radio are going back into business together once again for the 2011 Orioles season and beyond. The old man finally gets his eternal wish – to be the king of the AM band on summer nights on a dying radio station that no one listens to anymore but cadavers and people in his age demographic who still think a “smart phone” is one with an answering machine. Funny, this is the same WBAL-AM 1090 that was also wrongfully denied media credentials the past few seasons and was considered persona non grata the nanosecond that John Angelos cut the CBS Radio deal four years ago with 105.7 FM and only after Bob Phillips squandered the longtime rights to the Ravens and allowed Ed Kiernan and the boys on TV Hill to swoop in for the purple roadkill for 98 Rock after the brand was built on the FM dial. It’s like jumping in and out of sleeping bags for both franchises and these two corporate monoliths as a formerly lucrative revenue stream – local radio rights – continues to dry up as sports fans go

You never know who you’ll see on Radio Row at Dallas Super Bowl

Nestor Aparicio

Despite the fact that we’re being inundated with “all things Pittsburgh Steelers” so far in Dallas this week, we’re off to a great start and hope that you’re enjoying our WNST.net full multimedia coverage of the biggest sporting event in the world from Super Bowl XVL. While we’re all sick as hell — and hoping not to spread any more germs — we’re off to a rousing start as we’ve been joined by many sportswriters, NFL players and other luminaries here on Radio Row as we broadcast live from 6 til 10 each morning and 2 til 6 each afternoon through Friday. By far, the highlight of Day 1 was the visit from Dallas resident Kenny Cooper, who was about as big of a sports “star” as Baltimore had in the 1980’s. As coach of the Baltimore Blast, the still-indefatigable Coops brought his British charm, wit and incredible coach’s intellect to our makeshift set on Monday. What a treat, catching up with Cooper and talking memories, especially for Drew Forrester who considers the coach his “second father.” All of the videos are coming to WNStv soon but you can now watch ALL of the proceedings in Dallas live via our

As purple Festivus season is upon us, alas the real Grinch continues to be Peter G. Angelos

Nestor Aparicio

It’s been 51 months now since the initial “Free The Birds” campaign that we launched at WNST.net in “Year Nine of The Black Cat” and motivated more than 2,000 other brave souls who said “enough is enough” to Peter Angelos and the losing and nasty ways of the Baltimore Orioles. The holiday results are in yet again for another sad orange offseason and I’m feeling pretty confident — as is Las Vegas — that the Baltimore Orioles will not be a playoff team in 2011. And the real reason the team won’t win this year is the same as last year and the year before that: they won’t (or can’t) spend all of the millions of dollars they have managed to extract from this community via their incredibly wealthy and lean “regional sports network” called MASN. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in direct profit that was allegedly to be spent on improving the baseball team for the community to enjoy. But instead of the $150 million payrolls that were promised to “compete with the likes of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox,” that previously earmarked U.S. money donated by Middle Atlantic cable subscribers is in

A Dear John letter…

Nestor Aparicio

Dear John: It’s Pittsburgh week here and we’re finally on the cusp of getting to the promised land of having some home “Festivus” games in January. And it’s all come down to this: if we win this week and vanquish the Steelers, who have been our oppressors as a community since 1971, we’re probably going to have a week off to watch the playoffs on TV and then have some home cooking. And maybe some folks will even bring those ridiculous purple towels back for another meeting with the Steelers here in Baltimore in January. But if we lose – and let’s be honest – we’ve NEVER won this kind of game at home on your watch – we’ll be back on the road to Jacksonville or Indianapolis or San Diego or Kansas City for Week 1 of the playoffs. That is, if we even get there at all, because we all know nothing is automatic in the NFL. This is an open letter and I think this is going to be a trial way of communicating and writing what I think about what you’ve done and what you’re doing here as the leader of the 53 Mighty Men. I

Live from New York: Sports Media & Technology coming to life…

Nestor Aparicio

I’m live in New York at the Sports Business Journal Sports Media & Technology Conference. You can follow all of the correspondence from this event on Twitter at #sbjsmt. For those of you who hate reading about sports “business” or anything more than the latest drama regarding the Ravens’ secondary, this will bore you. But for those of you who REALLY follow WNST and are sophisticated about my personal growth as a new media zealot (and hopefully, one day, a guru) this will be compelling information. Needless to say, I love to learn and I love sports and I love sports media and I love technology. So this is right up my alley. I’ll be breaking my observations up into segments from the panels of the day. You can see the various panels and topics here… I’ll be blogging all day and adding to this piece and I hope you enjoy some of the conversations and observations. ********* Big screen vs. small screen and where is cable TV headed? We’re all paying for cable TV becaue that’s what we’ve always done.
But what will that look like in three years? Or five years? We’ve all seen and felt the myriad of

Hey Baltimore sports fans, it’s Twitter not Spitter

Nestor Aparicio

The game is all set for Thursday night and I’m all set to jump a plane to Birmingham, Alabama and make my usual drive through the lovely eastern part of the South toward Atlanta for another Georgia Dome visit and a Thursday night date with Matt Ryan and my old pal Mike Smith’s Falcons. Now that Le’Ron McClain has been found innocent by Park Avenue, I suppose we can move the topic from “spitter” to “Twitter”. If you are NOT “on Twitter” (as they say) let me make an impassioned plea for you to try it tomorrow night and follow along (or just follow from the front page here at WNST.net or in our LIVE CHAT) and see all the fun you’re missing by not getting completely caught up in the mobile fun of gameday with feedback. Over the last 18 months, WNST.net has moved from a “little radio station” into the most-viewed and relevant Baltimore sports media site in the new media space. Come see what all of the fuss is about tomorrow night when we crush the coverage of the Falcons-Ravens game. Along with Chris Pika and Glenn Clark, we’ll be in Atlanta. Thyrl will be at HighTopps

State of Baltimore Sports Media Fall 2010 Update: WNST.net continues to grow beyond radio and into web dominance

Nestor Aparicio

One of the few joyful benefits of being the “independent” voice in Baltimore sports is that we never have to kiss anyone’s derriere or ask for permission to speak the truth or make our point. We’re afforded the rarest commodity in American media today – “free speech” – and most days that ain’t even close to being free. And now that our newest product, “The WNST Morning Newspaper” powered by Blue Sky Factory and presented by Toyota, is reaching nearly 15,000 of you every morning I thought I’d take a little time during the bye week to update everyone who cares about us here at WNST.net with a “state of the local media” report. With another successful Ravens season reaching the halfway point – and I stand on the side of the room that is delighted with 5-2 for Halloween — it’s always a good time to take stock in where we are as a company and where we’re heading in the future as Baltimore’s measurable sports media leader on the web and in mobile at WNST.net. We’re not doing a lengthy survey this time around with a “State of Baltimore Sports Media” update, but I do want to thank

Peter King gives a Football 101 Tweetup at Amicci’s

Nestor Aparicio

A big thank you to all of the local football zealots who braved the raindrops and joined us at Amicci’s in Little Italy tonight for our first-ever, official “Tweetup.” Our gracious host Peter King of SI.com held court for two hours of banter, beer drinking, football chatter, storytelling and laughs. Oh, and it’s Amicci’s — so you know the food didn’t suck! Too much to tell you about but here’s a brief video clip of the beginning of what was an illuminating and entertaining session of NFL insider information: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrE8CtCm7pU[/youtube]

Great pasta and great football talk with Peter King at Amicci’s today

Nestor Aparicio

If the rain has you down today, please come indoors with us after 4 p.m. down at Amicci’s in Little Italy for our first-ever “Tweetup” with legendary Sports Illustrated writer and NBC personality Peter King. Peter loves Twitter (who doesn’t?) and he asked me a few weeks ago about doing a Tweetup in Baltimore because today is his very wet day to be in Westminster doing a SI.com postcard on the Ravens. The event is free, the food is spectacular and the football conversation will be legendary. All you need to do is be at Amicci’s between 4 and 6:30 for all of the Italian food, American football and cold beer and cocktails. I dare you to find a better happy hour in Baltimore today…

Let the search for Baltimore’s next sports media star begin now…

Nestor Aparicio

With WNST.net about to enter its 13th year of existence the changes we’ve made here are pretty apparent. As has been my mantra for more than three years, WNST – the “radio station” – has evolved into a thriving web company with tremendous reach and accessibility to Baltimore sports fans in a myriad of ways. We’re growing at WNST.net this summer and building a better user experience for the people who love Baltimore sports the most – you, the very person reading this blog and utilizing WNST.net for all of your local and national sports information. From our radio station’s original reach and the distribution of sports information on this website and the level playing field we enjoy on the web and with mobile information, we’ve managed to grow the company to become the No. 1 most-visited website in the marketplace for Baltimore radio and No. 4 overall, only behind BaltimoreSun.com, WBALTV.com & WJZ.com for daily traffic and influence (according to www.alexa.com). We now have more than 10,000 people every morning getting our all-new WNST Morning Newspaper. We have 5,600 people every day on our WNST Text Service. And our web numbers grow every single day in social media with

Let’s check back in on the “State of Baltimore Sports Media” with Orioles sitting at 2-14 on NFL Draft Day

Nestor Aparicio

So this media situation is exactly what I tried to warn everyone about back in February. I spent a week with my “State of Baltimore Sports Media” blogs attempting to take 27 years of my knowledge as a kid from Dundalk who loved sports and journalism and has spent a lifetime trying to build a better platform for integrity and honesty in an effort to enlighten folks about why we think WNST.net is a great way to communicate in 2010. The Orioles are 2-14. It’s almost unthinkable — unimaginable given the “enthusiasm” that was sold by the corporate suits over at CBS Radio and the MASN “partners” of a 13-year running sham known as Peter G. Angelos’ Orioles. Don’t worry, the rest of the local media that takes checks from King Peter and the crew aren’t off the hook here, either, for hiding the truth and burying the story about last week’s Ripken blowup. The Orioles are 2-14 and there’s not a negative word – not anywhere. There’s no call for the manager’s head. The owner – completely unaccountable and in hiding longer than the guy in the cave in the Middle East – never answers questions. The Ripken story

Finale: Part 5 – What is the future of sports media in Baltimore?

Nestor Aparicio

“I will never, EVER “text” with you!” I screamed into my cell phone to my beloved son, Barry, during the summer of 2006 when he filled up my text inbox with messages that I had no idea how to access. “If you don’t call me on the phone, you won’t find me!” What’s that axiom? “It’s what you learn after you know everything that really counts!” Yet again, more words wasted and crow swallowed. It was just another humbling, woefully wrong prediction for my own actions and a future gone awry as I continue to grow in years and wisdom in my 40’s. If there’s one pearl of wisdom I’ve learned the hard way it’s this: the learning NEVER stops and the world never stops changing. I’ve committed myself to be a student of life and it’s what gets me out of bed and keeps me alive and vibrant during these tough times. The entrepreneur in me just got back from eight days in Fort Lauderdale at the Super Bowl watching all of the “big boys” do what they do – television, radio, newspapers, web entities, etc. It’s gone from old days of “Radio Row” to a hodgepodge of different

My last day on air at AM 1570: Goodbye to radio, hello to the brave world of the web!

Nestor Aparicio

As you probably know, beginning on Monday, we’re going to begin a week-long series on the state of Baltimore sports journalism. And where this is all going? And how this radio, print, television & “new media thing” really works. “A WNST Expose’ on Sports Journalism in Baltimore: Is this Medium Well Done?” will be an eye-opening look at the inner-workings of sports media here in the town that I’ve loved since 1968 told by a true insider – me! It’s more of a mini-series than a blog. It’s designed to separate facts from fiction of media past, present and future. It’s taken me about 26 years of living it and now that WNST.net is the No. 1 most-visited sports website in the region, I think it’s time that I’ve said a few things that need to be said about the state of this business and how much “times have changed.” It’ll be the true story of life in the 2010 world of Baltimore sports media that Ray Frager — a former boss and media “critic” of mine at The Baltimore Sun who publicly hated, doubted and discarded my show and my brand and my expertise, information and business for more

Giving Thanks to Baltimore coaches everywhere

Nestor Aparicio

Nestor gives thanks to all of the Baltimore sports coaches and managers from Gene Ubriaco to Brian Billick over his 25 years as a media member. “Coaches are my favorite people” he says.

My life with Bruce Springsteen and Friday’s miracle show in Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio

Let me get this out of the way: Springsteen is the only Boss I listen to … At 8:50 this Friday evening when Bruce Springsteen breaks out his harmonica and begins to tell the Baltimore audience about his 1975 opus, “Born To Run” – the album, not the song – some musical magic will enrapture the First Mariner Arena in a way that hasn’t been seen much lately this side of Bono or Mick Jagger taking the stage that Elvis Presley and The Beatles graced in the 1960s and Led Zeppelin and The Who lit up in the 1970s. This is Springsteen’s first foray into the Baltimore Street institution since 1973, when legend has it that he apparently opened for the band Chicago. In 1977, Bruce rocked the then-shiny-new Towson Center on the “Darkness On The Edge of Town” tour. But over the last 32 years – as long as I’ve been going to concerts — Springsteen has never, ever come near playing Baltimore in any way. In his heyday, the Capital Centre hosted all of Bruce’s legendary shows and week-long runs from 1978’s success of “The River” and beyond. And then, of course, he wound up playing R.F.K. Stadium

Want a better WNST purple fan experience?

Nestor Aparicio

We are two weeks into the new media revolution at WNST. For Week 1 vs. Kansas City and last weekend in San Diego, I was busy during the game actually Tweeting everything I’m thinking from the seats. It’s been a cathartic, engaging experience, summing up my thoughts as the games unfold. It’s almost like being the color commentator during the game, which at one point was something I thought I really wanted to do. Well, now, through the magic of social media and Twitter, I can. Per NFL rules, we are not allowed to give play by play on Twitter, but honestly, why would we? We’re ASSUMING you’re watching the game when we’re tweeting and giving feedback. We’re simply “joining you at the bar” and getting involved in the conversation of the game while the game is in progress. It’s really cool and revolutionary — especially for us “old guys.” So, if you’re on the couch — safe from the wet weather — and want a new experience in watching the Ravens, come watch them with us on Twitter and follow us while we chat about the game during the game. Everything we’re thinking at WNST is just a click

It’s official: WNST has become YOUR Baltimore news source

Nestor Aparicio

If you are perusing WNST.net today and say “something looks different” then we’ve done our job here on the World Wide Web. As you can see in the grey bar above, we’ve become a full-service website with AP news, scores, scoreboard, game stories and full information. Over the past year, it’s been no secret of our intention to become YOUR place for daily news, information, observation, feedback and audio, video and text service. As The Sun sets, WNST.net is rising not only on the web in Baltimore but against the competition in Baltimore per www.alexa.com. Our daily ranking today is 116,459 and we’re now ahead of every radio station — AM and FM — in Baltimore and surging toward football season with your readership, feedback and usage of this web platform at WNST.net. And the site will only continue to get better. So, poke around, read all of the AP stats and check out all of the new features WNST.net has to offer. Training camp is two weeks away and we are planning unprecedented live coverage of all things purple beginning July 27th. If you are a Twitter, You Tube or Facebook user, please feel free to friend or recommend

A weekend of MASN and Baltimore and Washington and “Battle of Basement”

Nestor Aparicio

Well, if they weren’t going to get the sweep at least they lost in dramatic fashion. Jamie Walker gave up a prodigious grand slam to Adam Dunn in the 7th inning and the Nats beat the O’s 8-5 to avert a sweep in D.C. Brad Bergesen pitched well enough. The Orioles battled and the game was pretty nip and tuck through the middle innings with lead changes, big hits and competitiveness. But it all unraveled in the 7th for the O’s bullpen after Bergesen hit the shower. I’ve spent all three days pretty much glued to the TV watching this series. I was just as amazed by all of the empty seats as I was the full ones. It looks like they sold a lot of tickets and many didn’t come. It was just weird looking at it for 30 innings over the last 45 hours. I’ve been wanting to write a blog all weekend but I thought I’d just do a “summary” here today about what I’m thinking as I watch all of this pretty-much lousy baseball. I’m also a little overwhelmed with MASN’s hodgepodge display of Nats and O’s as “friendly rivals” and how chummy the “Battle of

Changes coming to Monday Night Football and the World Series

Nestor Aparicio

A new addition to Monday Night Football and an overdue change to the Fall Classic should make many fans happy this fall. ESPN has announced former NFL coach Jon Gruden will replace Tony Kornheiser in the Monday Night Football booth this fall, joining play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski. Kornheiser, a longtime sportswriter, was maligned for not having a background as a player or coach, instead choosing to focus on the lighter side of the game.  It reminded too many fans of the failed Dennis Miller experiment that ABC tried at the beginning of the decade. While I enjoy Kornheiser with Michael Wilbon on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, he never found his place in the MNF broadcast booth.  He often seemed disinterested—if not in over his head—compared to the insightful analysis provided by Jaworski. Listening to Kornheiser provide color commentary reminded me of someone that tries to engage you in football discussion, but after a few minutes, you realize he just doesn’t know that much about the game.  While he is certainly an accomplished writer, his football insight left much to be desired. Kornheiser’s excessive discussion over Chad Johnson’s Hall of Fame jacket charade ruined the Ravens-Bengals telecast

Share the Game 7 madness with us tonight in Dundalk!

Nestor Aparicio

Tonight in Washington D.C., a place where five years ago hockey was a rumor or perhaps a myth, the Capitals will host the Penguins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ second round. I don’t need to tell you that it will be one of the best sporting events of this (or any) year. I can all but guarantee it. 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

State launches new marketing initiative

Nestor Aparicio

In a long-overdue announcement, the State of Maryland held a press conference this morning to announce that they’re getting serious about luring major events to the region with the formation of a joint coalition between the Governor, the Stadium Authority and a marketing group formed specifically to generate sports-related tourism and revenue here. I attended the press conference and will discuss it on “Limited Access” at 2 p.m. today. The basic premise was a website launch and an organized outreach that will lure events — both recreational and professional — to venues throughout the state. A good idea, I think. We’ll see what the benefits are beyond the obvious: AC Milan and Chelsea at M&T Bank Stadium on July 24. (By the way, they’ve sold 52,000 seats so far for the event!) Here’s the press release: STATE EXPANDS SPORTS MARKETING, LAUNCHES MARYLAND ‘HERE TO PLAY’ Cal Ripken Jr., State officials unveil comprehensive sports marketing database Baltimore, Maryland (May 8, 2009) – Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development Secretary Christian S. Johansson and Maryland Stadium Authority Chairman John Morton, III were joined by Cal Ripken, Jr. and more than 100 sports industry executives at Oriole Park at Camden Yards today

Getting fired in the Oriole Park press box

Nestor Aparicio

The stories of The Baltimore Sun’s firings are now circulating and the fallout are stories and blogs on the web with tales of the corporate bloodletting last Wednesday. Former Sun sports columnist and WNST.net contributor David Steele tells his tale on the web here about getting fired in the Oriole Park press box. Rick Maese checked in with me last week as well and said he’s taking some “down” time with his family. Both of these guys were true professionals and will be missed around town.

Watching “The Sun” set in Baltimore…

Nestor Aparicio

It’s been a rough 48 hours in our industry. Sports writing and sports journalism and careers going away at The Baltimore Sun, people we know and read and work with getting fired at an alarming rate. The economy is a mess, newspapers, radio and television revenue models are coming undone and sponsors and businesses are screaming for ROI (that’s “return on investment” for those who aren’t in the sales world). Here at WNST.net, we’re building a business model that works and one that we hope will be sustainable long after The Sun sets. And as The Sun sets, we continue to make our product at WNST better so that we can become the place you come to every day for your Baltimore sports news and information and analysis. When advertisers advertise their businesses here, we actually help get them business. We are accountable. We deliver results. We’ve been doing that for local businesses for 17 years. (If we didn’t, we’d have been gone a long time ago!) We’ve gotten so good at growing our business that last week I got the greatest “compliment” I could ever be given. Big ‘ole WBAL dropped a dime and forced the Ravens to stop

Unleash the fury…Harry Kalas and other “non-radio” tidbits

Nestor Aparicio

First, I hope Ray Bachman has fun doing the show from 2 til 6 today. (He won’t admit it, but he really loves talking sports and doing the show. And he loves when I’m not there.) I’m having a “business/strategy” day of respite and I’ve been catching up on sports since 11 p.m. last night when Bruce Springsteen walked off the stage at the Spectrum. (Set list here…) I watched the Washington Caps win Game 7 on the DVR but only after someone in my life who will remain “unnamed” wrecked my evening by texting me the result while Springsteen was in the middle of singing “She’s The One.” (MAKE A NOTE OF THIS: DO NOT EVER TEXT YOUR FRIENDS A SCORE!!!! A simple, “Hey dude…do you want to know who’s winning?” would suffice. And, honestly, with the score of any game in the universe a click away on my phone why would I want you to wreck my midnight viewing by texting me the result. It’s just unacceptable!) But, I digress… Alas, I did watch the game in its entirety this morning (and it’s NOTHING like not knowing the result) and the Capitals are as lucky to be headed

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE! King of Baltimore Sportstalk continues…

Nestor Aparicio

Hopefully, by now you’ve seen some of the video or heard some of the interviews and auditions or read some of the great blogs we’ve been featuring here at WNST.net over the past two weeks as the “Coors Light King of Baltimore Sportstalk” competition rolls on this week via our blogosphere below. With the Orioles, the NFL Draft, the Caps and the Stanley Cup playoffs, lacrosse, golf and many other sports blossoming here in the early days of spring, there’s PLENTY to write about and watch for our prospective crew of 27 entrants into the KOBST parade of talent. (Yes, we had 54 actual applicants and only 27 have actually “followed through” with the energy to participate! We’ve already eliminated half of the original “field.”) Many folks have inquired regarding how the competition will work, and although there are several spots on the website with the rules and voting regulations, I just wanted to reiterate that voting for the “Top 3” bloggers will end on Thursday evening. We will announce the “Top 3” on Friday morning. Over the weekend the remaining candidates will have a chance to blog for four more days through the NFL Draft and on Tuesday at

Help us find the next Baltimore sports media superstar…

Nestor Aparicio

Let the games begin! I’ve been talking about the “Coors Light King (or Queen) of Baltimore Sportstalk” competition for two months and today we will finally begin the tournament where the challenge is to cover Baltimore sports in the new media universe at WNST.net like the professionals do every day. After watching “American Idol” in its totality for the first time this season, I got very inspired about finding creative ways to find Baltimore’s next great sports media stars. Perhaps I’m biased, but I firmly believe WNST.net is the best sports media company in the marketplace for Baltimore sports news, conversation and information. Everyone at WNST works nonstop to be the best – to set us apart from amateur internet bloggers and from “out of town” corporate entities who do not have the best interests of our community at heart. Our hard work is justified and rewarded when our www.Alexa.com reports continues to show us as BY FAR the most-visited sports website in the region on a daily basis. And we continue to battle it out with WBAL.com as the top two sites for radio – AM or FM – in the marketplace. I take my business seriously. I must,

Orange fireworks: Players and Trembley flip Peter Angelos “The Bird” today in The Sun

Nestor Aparicio

I’ve been saying for years that Fort Lauderdale Stadium and the Orioles’ sub-par Florida spring training situation is by far the biggest sin of all of their many sins and finally the folks over on Calvert Street are doing some “investigative journalism” with the orange birds. The club’s No. 1 promise to the public is that it’s doing everything possible to commit all of its resources to fielding a winning team. That’s the goal in baseball: winning a championship. You always want to give your team the best chance to compete. The Angelos family hasn’t done that for the entire tenure of their ownership in regard to the significance of spring training as anything more than a line item expense. The mere fact that they’re the only organization in the sport to have “two camps” in Florida that sit three hours apart is telling enough. It’s bad business. It’s bad baseball. It’s just inexcusable, unacceptable and dumb. Fort Lauderdale Stadium is a dump. It’s a disgrace. It’s been a disgrace for the entire balance of the 15 years they’ve played there. I’ve worked many, many a morning and pulled many 12-hour days at Fort Lauderdale Stadium doing radio and covering

R.I.P. to The Baltimore Examiner and “So you wanna be a sports media star?”

Nestor Aparicio

Where have the old-time “voices in sports media” gone in our community? Who are the commentators who “matter?” Does ANYONE’s opinion on radio or TV or in the newspaper or on the web matter?  Did it ever? And where is the internet heading and what lies ahead for the next generation of sports media in Baltimore? These are all topics and questions on my mind as The Baltimore Examiner closed its doors on Valentine’s weekend. So stands the old white “masthead” lights over the harbor tonight — the light in the ‘r’ is ironically burned out on Pratt Street — and another dream has been vanquished for another “out of town” media entity whose management thought they would whisk into Baltimore, urinate on highly unpopular (yet unchallenged) bully of The Sun, which is such a corporate “lamb” these days that it’s in bankruptcy, and dominate the market with a concept and a primary medium whose time has clearly passed. Today’s blog will not be about sports as much as it will be about local sports media and how it works in 2009. And how much of a “mess” it is these days to be involved in old world media. For

A great show coming at 2 p.m. today…

Nestor Aparicio

This blog is a great way to give listeners to “Limited Access” (our new show name if you haven’t heard) some heads up about what’s coming on the show each day. Today, we have John Rallo, Tom Verducci and Jim Schwartz booked onto the program already. It is shaping up to be a classic and I can’t wait to get started! Every Thursday at 2 p.m. my old childhood buddy and MMA expert Rallo comes in for a UFC and mixed martial arts segment but we’ll also mix it up a bit and today is no exception with the Verducci visit. Schwartz is one of my best friends in sports and he just took the Detroit Lions head coaching job and has been blowing me off (including changing his cell phone number!) ever since I got the initial text saying he got the job. I will crank up the Judas Priest and be giving him a very hard time for his all of friends and family in Arbutus who also haven’t heard from him. Old Schwartzie must be drinking from the 0-16 firehouse in Detroit. And I have to be kinda nice because it was his connection that got me

Joe Flacco vs. Bert from Sesame Street

Nestor Aparicio

While surfing for some of the garbage being said about Steve McNair on the internet today, I tripped across a funny link comparing our civic hero Joe Flacco to Bert from Sesame Street because of the “unibrow” factor. There’s a very funny link here. And if you’re a real Sesame Street lover — for the record I was more of an Electric Company guy on PBS — you’ll dig this link to the “real” Bert. I know that Joe doesn’t like for his kid brothers and sisters to make fun of him but I have a feeling this one is going to wind up on the kitchen refrigerator in the Flacco household back in New Jersey. Hey, I didn’t create it. I just shared it! Do you find the resemblence striking? LOL…

A holiday message to Peter Angelos and the Orioles

Nestor Aparicio

The Baltimore Orioles can try to silence their critics today and attempt to ban the free speech of all of their many disgruntled customers and fans from posting angry diatribes on message boards like WNST on the internet, but there’s no getting around it if you’re Peter Angelos today. If you are from Baltimore and love Baltimore sports and you are celebrating any religious holiday from Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanza to Festivus over the next 48 hours and anywhere from Highlandtown to Hong Kong, inevitably amongst so many family and friends with food and drink and cheer, you’ll be talking about two things: 1.    How much the Orioles suck and once again what a disgrace it is to be an Orioles fan (and/or a MLB fan in general) after this whole Mark Teixeira fiasco And … 2.    How much fun the Ravens have given us this year and whether they can win this Sunday against Jacksonville and whether they’ll go far into the playoffs and give us the thrill of a Super Bowl again Clear advantage: Ravens “WNST” has no control over any of your holiday conversations. There is no “WNST stance” at your dinner table. There are just

Does Joe Flacco have “that fire”?

Nestor Aparicio

In this new era of the Ravens media access under John Harbaugh, there have been many changes. Some subtle and some kinda “right between the eyes.” One of them is the lack of “all access” sound from the bench even for the Rave TV crews. I honestly don’t think very many people watched any of the team’s pre-produced shows over the years — at least very few people have ever talked to me about any of the shows — but the one glaring omission this season that was always “must see” TV for me in the past was Wired. (For the record, whenever I’ve watched their internal shows I’ve always enjoyed them. Larry Rosen does a helluva job. And I really miss Wired!) And I completely understand what Harbaugh is trying to accomplish by boxing out “distractions” caused by the “me” vs. the “team.” Don’t think the “What’s My Name?” and “RAVENS” reply isn’t lost on me. Billick and I talk about this stuff all the time. I totally get what Harbaugh’s goals were with these steps. (But that said, I miss “Hard Knocks” as well…) Knowing most of the guys on the team pretty well over the years, it

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In Memoriam of my dear friend Papa Joe Chevalier

Nestor Aparicio

Papa Joe was a simple man. He’d always come booming into the offices about 90 minutes before his show and always with a hearty laugh and always penning his opening monologue and script on a legal notepad and rehearsing it on those who would hear him.

A Dear John letter…

Nestor Aparicio

Dear John: It’s Pittsburgh week here and we’re finally on the cusp of getting to the promised land of having

Giving Thanks to Baltimore coaches everywhere

Nestor Aparicio

Nestor gives thanks to all of the Baltimore sports coaches and managers from Gene Ubriaco to Brian Billick over his 25 years as a media member. “Coaches are my favorite people” he says.

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