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Nestor Aparicio

Live from New York: Nestor examines future of sports media and technology

Nestor Aparicio

I’ll be live blogging all day from the Sports Business Journal “Sports Media & Technology” Conference 2011 in New York. This is my fourth year live covering this event, which shapes the way WNST.net moves to serve Baltimore sports fans in a better and more interactive way. I’m always learning about life and work and business and marketing and technology. Today will be a fun day of discovery. Follow along with me on Twitter as well @WNST. ******* The first panel is about “TV Everywhere”…it’s about how we as sports fans can access our cable television and programming that we’re already paying for in our homes and get it delivered to our mobile devices. I’m finding this more fascinating every day. We ALL pay Peter Angelos for MASN and Orioles games in the summer. We pay him a LOT of money for this “right” to have Major League Baseball in our living rooms, bedrooms, mancaves, etc. So, next April, try to get that same game that you’re already paying for on your mobile device. (Here’s a hint…you CAN’T) Some people are starting to see the hypocrisy in this model across all cable television networks. The topic here today is “When

Hey Peter Angelos: If you can’t honor Brooks Robinson, why the hell do you own the Orioles?

Nestor Aparicio

After attending the amazing and memorable Brooks Robinson statue unveiling in front of Pickles Pub on Saturday afternoon my emotions left me two choices – either speak out about the painfully obvious and disgraceful lack of participation by Peter G. Angelos and the Baltimore Orioles or do what the rest of these phonies in the local bought-off media have done: turn a blind eye to the biggest and smelliest orange elephant in the middle of downtown Baltimore and refuse to ask the tough questions. So today is a day when I again unleash my raging fury regarding this sham on Baltimoreans everywhere perpetrated by the smallest of small men of our time in Maryland – Peter G. Angelos. There were roughly a thousand hearty Orioles fans and Brooks admirers at the feet of that gorgeous statue this weekend for a man who literally lifted the first shovel in erecting the modern era of professional sports in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson is a walking living legend and civic treasure and one whose inherent goodness and decency has been wasted over the past 20 years by this awful, mean-spirited and petty ownership group and the Angelos ownership reign of terror that has turned

Unveiling of Brooks Robinson statue very emotional for No. 5

Nestor Aparicio

It was like a scene out of a movie today in downtown Baltimore, as Brooks Robinson was feted with a lifetime of community contributions with a beautiful statue at the foot of Russell Street on the plot of land in front of Pickles Pub. Visitors coming from the south will be greeted by a barehanded, throwing Brooks Robinson in the motion of cutting down another runner. Come with us now at WNST.net via the amazing world of WNStv and take in an afternoon in honor of Brooks Robinson from the statue site. Enjoy these incredible stories of how No. 5 helped shape our lives in sports in Baltimore. Here’s the entire speech from Brooks Robinson: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2WfCI4V59Y[/youtube] Here’s the unveiling of the statue: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrbRrcAxv_k[/youtube] Josh Charles amazing speech: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMS6gUaDac[/youtube] Barbara Mikulski’s incredibe authenticity, passion and humor: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnc03DqJWaA[/youtube] Henry Rosenberg, former CEO of Crown Central Petroleum and great friend and business partner with Brooks. He is the one who got this amazing statue built and deserves all of the credit: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=choveOOFsWk[/youtube] World-renowned sculptor Joseph Sheppard of Baltimore talks about why he made Brooks Robinson statue and all of the fun facts: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzbzh1P-Yss[/youtube]

The Orioles will be better next year — and more new lies after The MacFailure

Nestor Aparicio

Our cool, growing (and still free!) sports media company had another great B2B-Business To Business event last week in Towson with @CoachBillick and an old friend and reader of WNST.net approached me and asked the eternal Orioles question: “So, Nasty, I’ve read all of the issues regarding the Orioles and Mike Flanagan and Andy MacPhail and Free The Birds, but what are we as fans going to do? You need to offer solutions…” Well, virtually every human being I’ve spoken to over the last three years – and I still have a ton of friends in upper management at Major League Baseball and all over the league — has concurred: this just isn’t going to change on the field as long as Peter Angelos is involved in Baltimore baseball ownership. But, of course, I came to that conclusion five years ago when I did the original Free The Birds rally and campaign because in my mind – and time has proven me correct – this was long past the point of no return with the local community and most people of integrity within the baseball community in 2006. And what I’ve come to realize is that this REALLY bugs the

Happy 5th Anniversary to my Free The Birds friends who want change for Baltimore baseball

Nestor Aparicio

I’ve been watching the Baltimore Orioles since 1973 and I’m not sure any of us could’ve predicted what this franchise was to become back in the late 1980’s when Camden Yards was built, our city was starved without football and the Colts had split town. It’s amazing now because most of the people in my company and many of you reading this under the age of 35 do not remember the Colts at all. Or a time when there was no purple. Or when there was no shiny stadia downtown that we all take for granted. I watched William Donald Schaefer fight for all of this. I watched John Steadman politic and report through all of this as a colleague and a kid at The News American. I watched the first shovel go in the ground downtown. I was at that magical game in 1988 when all of this civic planning was announced on the backend of an 0-21 start that invigorated the renaissance of not only the Orioles but this community as a whole. I wrote more than 75,000 words on this topic five years ago. You can read all of it here… I was there for all of

Five years ago we did Free The Birds rally and I’m still proud of it

Nestor Aparicio

There’s been plenty written about the Orioles demise and the AL East standings and the empty stands at Camden Yards speak for themselves as to what the Baltimore community feels the value of the baseball team is circa 2011. The stadium is empty most nights. Fans stuck with tickets can’t find anyone to take them for free. The city has tumbleweed blowing down Pratt Street most nights when the Orioles play. The fan base is so angry, so disenfranchised, so beaten down and/or disillusioned that they’re literally all but gone. It’s the Fall of 2011 — the most recent version of The Apocalypse for any lifelong Orioles baseball fan and baseball lover like me. With the tragic suicide of Mike Flanagan last month – and the subsequent tales of the trail of a broken baseball man who loved this city and the Baltimore Orioles more than words can express – the Orioles have clearly hit rock bottom. Or have they? Oh, I’ve now been hearing for well over a decade that “the Orioles have bottomed out.” Heck, Ken Rosenthal was writing that stuff 12 years ago when he was covering the Orioles for The Sun. I’m not sure any of

Caps game in Baltimore gives local red a chance to party with WNST

Nestor Aparicio

The big Baltimore NHL game and celebration is just a few days away and WNST will be throwing a pre-game “Rock The Red” soiree at Pickles Pub across from Camden Yards and just four blocks from First Mariner Arena. Party starts at 4 pm and there’s no admission and plenty of goodies: 2 for 1 drafts $3 rail drinks $2.50 domestic bottles $6 16-inch pizzas $5 dozen wings $2 Natty Boh cans Come and Rock YOUR Red with us before the Washington Capitals takes on the Nashville Predators in Baltimore!

USA Today says MacPhail to resign at end of season

Nestor Aparicio

Although this shouldn’t come as a shocker to anyone who has examined the Orioles’ management situation following another last place finish, the USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported tonight that Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail is expected to resign at season’s end. His quote to Nightengale was typical slippery MacPhail: “Let’s just get to the end of the year and see what unfolds,” he said. “We’ll see. We’ll see.” Nightengale’s full piece is available HERE. This is what the USA Today reported tonight: MacPhail, according to two high-ranking Orioles officials, is expected to resign from his general manager’s position. The officials are not authorized to discuss the decision publicly because it is not official. Of course from my perspective, it’ll be interesting to see if Buck Showalter senses that there’s any reason to hang around but as Andy says: “We’ll see. We’ll see.” Comments are welcomed below…

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

New York Daily News says Angelos family jerked around Flanagan before suicide

Nestor Aparicio

As I said during my fill-in shift yesterday on WNST-AM 1570, there will be an appropriate time later for more observations regarding why Mike Flanagan took his own life Wednesday with a gun to his head. But with the New York Yankees coming to town and so many of Flanny’s old teammates searching for answers, it hasn’t taken long for the national media to start getting to the heart of the truth of this tragedy that many in the local media are too cowardly to report. Friday’s editions of the New York Daily News contained a well-sourced story by respected, long-time MLB writer Bill Madden, who spent time with Yes broadcaster and longtime Orioles teammate Ken Singleton and former Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli discussing Flanagan’s recent path. Madden is getting the same information many in the Baltimore media are getting regarding the typical treatment that Peter Angelos affords his employees and long-time Orioles legends: “Among the other distressing stories going around Thursday was that Flanagan never got over being jerked around by Angelos and the owner’s son, John, over his broadcasting contract – one that apparently never was consummated – last year. That, too, conceivably contributed to the financial distress

I always had great Eck-spectations for my best pal and Dundalk wrestling hero Kevin Eck

Nestor Aparicio

It’s been an emotional week for me on many levels with more big news forthcoming about WNST.net and its future, so please allow me a little space today to write a very personal blog that comes from the heart. Kevin Eck – you probably know him as the “Ring Post” guy at The Baltimore Sun — has been in my life since 1979 and for large swaths of time we were as close as any brothers could be. We met at the Games store at Eastpoint Mall (remember that place?) at an autograph signing for Billy Smith. We also both met Al Bumbry, Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan and Rich Dauer (his favorite) there on the north end of the mall during that “Magical” summer. I was a legitimate “mall rat” at Eastpoint Mall in the early 1980’s – PacMan, soaping the fountains, that sorta thing. As Bruce Springsteen once wrote so eloquently in the E Street Band classic, Bobby Jean: “We liked the same music, we liked the same bands, we like the same clothes.” That could’ve been the story of Nestor and Kevin. Except we liked the same girls, baseball, football, basketball, rock bands and, of course, professional wrestling

Leaky offensive line needs improvement or Flacco will scuffle

Nestor Aparicio

I’m not the kind to pass judgment on any team based on anything I see in the preseason. Schemes, game plans and “real” football are never really seen in August but my eyes see a few things that are disconcerting for any Ravens fan. First, the offensive line is suspect and that’s a foundation item that seems to get lost on most NFL fans until the quarterback is running for his life and imminently unproductive. There’s no way the Ravens will be effective on offense if Joe Flacco is constantly scrambling like we’ve seen for the better part of three quarters in the past eight days. What’s even worse is how dreadful the backups and “hope for the future” have been in protecting for Tyrod Taylor, who really isn’t being given a fair shot when he’s getting chased on every play as well. Against the Chiefs last night, Flacco was ineffective through most of the first half and was consistently overthrowing receivers who either didn’t have their timing down or just couldn’t get to the passes. Anquan Boldin looked frighteningly slow on a few of the passes but Lee Evans had some productivity in his reps vs. Kansas City. I

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

Don’t go jumping off the Key Bridge just yet fellow purple bird watchers

Nestor Aparicio

PHILADELPHIA — As I sit here wrapping up a futile evening of unusually awful preseason football — and the bar was set pretty low to begin with — I’m just going to throw out a few random observations from tonight’s Ravens’ 13-6 loss to the Eagles here at The Linc: The Ravens need to get on the phone and find a backup quarterback and probably sooner than later. Not unexpectedly, Tyrod Taylor stank in his NFL debut last night playing primarily with and against the usual second-teamers. Harbaugh, who always seems to provide us with some quotes that are outlandish, had nothing but praise for Taylor. Check it out here. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJdWh1TBl0[/youtube] Taylor is going to be mighty sore all weekend but the three interceptions were ill-timed even by preseason standards and certainly avoidable. Pray for the health of Joe Flacco, Baltimore! Or pray for someone legitimate to fall out of a tree. Call Marc Bulger. Call Brett Favre. Call someone, Ozzie! It’s impossible to gauge how good the team is as a whole when the starters were out of the game before we blinked but it was pretty easy to see that Michael Vick and the Eagles offense were far

I hope Ripken isn’t next Orioles hero signing up to polish Angelos’ smelly turd?

Nestor Aparicio

On Tuesday night, as Camden Yards sat mostly empty on another beautiful summer night, it happened again. No, not just another “tough-luck, one-run Orioles loss” en route to what could possibly be the worst season of this era replete with 100 losses, but instead the whining, moaning and embarrassingly homerish “media” scam pulled on a nightly basis in my living room by the likes of Jim Hunter, Mike Flanagan, Rick Dempsey and company at MASN. Along with all of the apologists at The Baltimore Sun, WBAL, PressBox and WJZ (the entire CBS “family” is in bed with the Orioles and has spent 14 years making lame, transparent excuses while taking a paycheck) – it’s amazing these employees of Peter Angelos can put their heads on a pillow at night and believe they have any integrity left in their words this community. The crazy part is that there are still hopeless fans in the orange Kool Aid bunch who refuse to even acknowledge that all of these former “heroes of Birdland” are employed by Peter Angelos and will lie to you every night like state run media in Egypt, Syria and Libya. It’s been said many times in many ways but

It needs to be said: Good riddance, Derrick Mason!

Nestor Aparicio

Over the past two weeks I’ve read and heard and watched a myriad of different reactions to the swath of cuts the Baltimore Ravens have made to veteran players and unlike the overwhelming majority of the fan base here, I understand the salary cap and how it works. (If you have any questions, feel free to forward them along: nasty@wnst.net. That’s why WNST.net exists – to educate you and answer your questions about Baltimore sports.) Bottom line: the Ravens played about $14 million over the cap last year in a “wild, wild west” uncapped NFL season. In the new post-lockout 2011 season, everyone will need to align franchise expenditures with the reality of the league. For the Ravens, that means playing with less veteran (re: well-paid) talent. This brings us to wide receiver Derrick Mason, who has somehow at 37 years of age  managed to stir up the fans of Baltimore using his Twitter account and his ever-present voice to make a case for himself as a returning veteran to the Ravens. He was texting with John Harbaugh. He was talking about other opportunities and greener pastures. He was “shocked” by the Ravens’ cut, which had almost happened two other

WNST Purple Football Roadtrips now on sale to San Diego, Jacksonville, more…

Nestor Aparicio

With all of the frenzy of the lockout and the ensuing fallout of free agency and mayhem, I’m getting tons of requests for the WNST Purple Football Roadtrip information. It took a week to put it all together but we proudly announce four total roadtrips for your selection and we’ll also be throwing our traditional Purple Pep Rallies and Parties in virtually every city on the road in 2011. Our first trip is next Thursday to Philadelphia to see the Ravens first game of the preseason. It’s just $89 for the entire evening of fun in the City of Brotherly Love. If you are interested in a specific party on the road and you’ve already made your travel plans, simply drop me an email: nasty@wnst.net and I’ll get you on the “first information” list once the parties go on sale next week. To purchase seats for all of our roadtrips, simply click on the TRIPS tab at www.wnst.net or here. If you want to see what our Purple Parties look like, just click here to see the evidence from Charlotte last fall: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA0xYf3IeQk[/youtube] Here’s a full lineup of all of our trips for 2011: 2011 Purple Roadtrip to Jacksonville (Oct.

What the hell do these people want from Joe Flacco?

Nestor Aparicio

I love it when Joe Flacco talks dirty. Somehow it hasn’t raised a lot of eyebrows or created a ton of conversation just yet but Joe Flacco’s “Welcome Home” meet up with the media on Wednesday afternoon sure created some stir in my mind. Perhaps a lot of folks haven’t heard it yet or really processed it the way I did but you can listen here. About his skills, Joe Flacco said: “I’m pretty damned good.” And you know what? I agree with him. And his perspective on the whole situation – “there’s only one good quarterback and 31 others who aren’t” – is dead on. Joe Flacco “gets it.” Look, I was as dumbfounded as the rest of you when the Ravens picked him three years ago, especially when on draft day the organization managed to keep it a state secret about their affection for the pride of Newark and all of Blue Hendom. Small school kid, almost geekish in his passion for football, sports and very little else, but he’s made everyone in the scouting department look like a genius with three consecutive January road playoff runs and wins every year. He’s done everything that Kyle Boller —

Sure, Angelos is at heart of Orioles misery but 25 others are accountable, too

Nestor Aparicio

This inglorious 14 years of misery, lies and ineptitude for fans of the Baltimore Orioles all over the world has been hard to watch at every level. I’m exasperated with the media corruption, lack of integrity and pure filth of heart of Peter Angelos and his profiteering and lack of civic pride for something that this community held near and dear to its heart — bringing tens of thousands to literal tears in 1991 when the memories of 33rd Street moved downtown. But circa 2011, on a night-to-night basis, the only ones who can change the course of the franchise “in the moment” are the players Peter Angelos is paying millions of dollars, Andy MacPhail has hired and the ones Buck Showalter has morbidly signed up to manage this summer. Sure, Angelos is to blame for this entire mess — that much is self-evident at this point — but that does not exonerate alleged Major League Baseball players from being able to produce in the glare of the bright lights in the eighth inning of a one-run game. Take Friday night’s multiple fiasco-fest with the game on the line vs. the Angels. Nick Markakis came to bat with two outs

Am I wrong to not cry over U.S. Soccer women’s loss to Japan?

Nestor Aparicio

Well, it took me about 5 minutes but I got over the loss of the U.S. Soccer women’s team on Sunday afternoon live from Frankfurt, Germany. It sucked. They shoulda, coulda, woulda won — but in the end, it was a biblical choke by our ladies in a heartbreaking penalty kick loss to Japan. Honestly, it was the kind of choke that if the men’s team pulled in the same fashion in the waning moments of the World Cup final that it would’ve been a devastating loss for the ages. It would’ve been the biggest patriotic disaster in the history of modern sports, really. And that’s considering that almost no one in this country pays attention to the U.S. Men’s Soccer team, either, which is probably considered our biggest national mystery to anyone who has ever been outside of America to feel the passion the rest of the world has for “the beautiful game.” I opined moments after the loss on Facebook and Twitter that had this really have been the men’s final vs. Japan, I might’ve been suicidal at the notion of that kind of loss. Or at the very least truly heartbroken and devastated for days/weeks/months/forever- – ya

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