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Nestor Aparicio

Flacco named starter for Sunday; Harrington rumored to be signed

Nestor Aparicio

The quarterback carousel and Labor Day news continues as John Harbaugh has named Joe Flacco the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against Cinncinnati. Earlier in the day, the “who’s the backup?” story unfolded. The Ravens brought three QBs into Owings Mills today — Chris Simms, Todd Bouman and Joey Harrington and in the end have selected Harrington. Chris Mortenson of ESPN reported first (meaning the agent leaked it to him)… It’s been a wild and wacky weekend in Owings Mills as the Ravens try to rearrange the proverbial chairs on the deck and hope the ship doesn’t sink. Any NFL team that begins practice with a rookie as a No. 1 QB and two other guys who have never attended a practice and are ready to suit up for a game in six days is probably in trouble. Gonna be an interesting week…

UPDATE: Simms in Baltimore, Pittman waived

Nestor Aparicio

Updated at 2:27 p.m. Orioles broadcaster and Mr. Angelos employee, Jim Hunter, apparently boarded an airplane with former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms in Tampa this morning bound for BWI. MASN is reporting that Simms is heading to Owings Mills for a job interview. Meanwhile, the Ravens PR has released this: The Baltimore Ravens have waived the following player (injured): David Pittman (CB, 5-11, 185, 3rd-year, Northwestern State) Baltimore has also signed the following players to its practice squad: Nate Lawrie (TE, 6-6, 255, 4th-year, Yale) Marcus Mason (RB, 5-9, 215, 1st-year, Youngstown State) Bryan Mattison (DE, 6-3, 272, Rookie, Iowa) Matt Willis (WR, 5-11, 190, 2nd-year, UCLA) Not a surprise to see Simms in town given the Ravens’ frustrating quarterback depth situation. At best they only have two live arms for practice on Wednesday as they prep for the Bengals: Joe Flacco (who they don’t want to start but it appears that’s the way it’s going to be) and Casey Bramlet, who looked better coming off a plane 15 hours before gametime than most QBs have looked here over the last decade. Troy Smith’s illness remains a mystery (and the Ravens and NFL don’t ever discuss personal illnesses with media

Ravens continue to tweak roster today…

Nestor Aparicio

It’s never a shocker to see even more moves in the ensuing hours after the initial cutdowns, so today the Ravens continued to make moves. Not a shocker that Casey Bramlet is back on the practice squad. Here’s the whole list of today’s transactions: The Baltimore Ravens made a number of moves on their roster today. The Ravens claimed and added the following players:   Lamar Divens (DT, 6-3, 333, Rookie, Tennessee State) – Claimed from the San Diego Chargers. Steven Hauschka (K, 6-2, 185, Rookie, North Carolina State) – Claimed from the Minnesota Vikings. The Ravens also signed the following players to their practice squad:   Casey Bramlet (QB, 6-4, 220, 2nd-year, Wyoming) Justin Harper (WR, 6-3, 215, Rookie, Virginia Tech) Joe Reitz (T, 6-7, 270, Rookie, Western Michigan) Ernie Wheelwright (WR, 6-5, 220, Rookie, Minnesota)     The Ravens have also waived:  J’Vonne Parker (DT, 6-4, 325, 2nd-year, Rutgers)  

Ravens make hard cuts, including Gary Stills

Nestor Aparicio

Although most of these guys looked to be automatic, it’s always a little shocking seeing veterans and former contributors getting cut on the last day. Here is the list from Owings Mills: Adam Bergen (TE, 6-4, 267, 3rd-year, Lehigh) Casey Bramlet (QB, 6-4, 220, 2nd-year, Wyoming) Darrell Campbell (DL, 6-4, 295, 1st-year, Notre Dame) Patrick Carter (WR, 6-3, 195, Rookie, Louisville) Adrien Clarke (G, 6-5, 330, 4th-year, Ohio State) Amon Gordon (DT, 6-2, 305, 4th-year, Stanford) Justin Harper (WR, 6-3, 215, Rookie, Virginia Tech) Alex Haynes (RB, 5-10, 225, 2nd-year, Central Florida) Keith Heinrich (TE, 6-6, 255, 5th-year, Sam Houston State) Adam Kraus (G, 6-6, 295, Rookie, Michigan) Robert McCune (LB, 6-0, 245, 2nd-year, Louisville) Allen Patrick (RB, 6-1, 200, Rookie, Oklahoma) Ronnie Prude (CB, 5-11, 180, 3rd-year, LSU) Joe Reitz (T, 6-7, 270, Rookie, Western Michigan) Chad Slaughter (6-8, 340, 5th-year Alcorn State) Gary Stills (LB, 6-2, 250, 10th-year, West Virginia) Ernie Wheelwright (WR, 6-5, 220, Rookie, Minnesota) Lorenzo Williams (DL, 6-0, 310, Rookie, Missouri) Matt Willis (WR, 5-11, 190, 2nd-year, UCLA)   The Ravens have also placed the following players on Injured Reserve:   David Pittman (CB, 5-11, 185, 3rd-year, Northwestern State) Cory Ross (RB, 5-6, 205, 3rd-year,

Brent Harris and Brad Jackson come to WNST on Mondays!

Nestor Aparicio

After 12 seasons of hosting the Bud Light Monday Night Live Show, I am passing the torch to my friends Brent Harris and Brad Jackson, who will bring the third year of the Purple & Black Attack to WNST on Monday nights. The show will be held at High Topps Restaraunt and Bar on York Road in Timonium every Monday night from 6 to 8 p.m. and will be sponsored by Bud Light. Brent, a Loch Raven guy and Comcast Sports Net staple, and Brad, who will be sporting his Super Bowl 35 ring, get the best Ravens guests in the business and we’re delighted to partner with them for the season. We’ll also feature reruns of their shows a few times later in the week and have featurettes in wnsTV as well. They might even blog and call in once in a while. So many changes coming at WNST and many more to be announced next week. By all means, keep your Monday nights free (as many of you have since the early years at The Barn) and come on out and support the Ravens, WNST and Brent and Brad.  

Thoughts before Ravens-Falcons tonight

Nestor Aparicio

Walking around the Ravens building on Tuesday you couldn’t help but feel sorry for John Harbaugh and the crew over there. I love the Ravens. I want them to win 19 games this year. Search the land and I doubt you’ll find a bigger purple supporter than me. Honestly, our business and my life runs much more smoothly when the Ravens win. But facts are facts, and this looks to be a painful campaign if the early going is any indication. The situation is pretty dire on the quarterback front unless Joe Flacco is a miracle worker and becomes an instant star in the NFL. And with the current tackle situation, Todd Heap’s iffy status and the WR crew in flux, it doesn’t appear to be likely even if Flacco does show all of the signs of a potential franchise quarterback. Maybe Troy Smith can run around enough and work some magic in the early going. It now appears that Kyle Boller will not be a factor anytime soon. And it’s just a roster-wide, franchise-wide issue on the eve of the season opening next Sunday against the Bengals. The injuries and the age and the abilities and the depth aren’t

Ravens appear to be caught by the throat

Nestor Aparicio

Every minute that it gets closer to Thursday night’s game time, we get closer to the reality of quarterback Troy Smith being unable to play once again due to his lingering illness. Oh, the Baltimore rumor mill is hard at work. They’ve been flying in. It’s pretty clear that Smith is really sick. We’ve heard that it’s his tonsils. We’ve heard (but have not reported) hospital rumors, visits and tonsilectomies. You name it, and our phone is ringing with a story about Smith. We know that it’s at the very least a pretty severe case of strep throat and it’s kept Smith away from the team since Saturday’s preseason game in St. Louis, which became even more interesting once the team announced that Kyle Boller had a mysterious shoulder issue as well. But here’s the truth: the Ravens needed Smith – or Boller — to play last week and they’d prefer that one of them would be playing on Thursday night against the Falcons. They have a season that’s gonna start in 12 days with or without an experienced or healthy quarterback. Welcome to the NFL hot seat, John Harbaugh! These are the situations that don’t come with a textbook

Good news for Week 1 vs. Bengals…

Nestor Aparicio

As we all sit around the Charm City feeling sorry for ourselves and wondering if the Ravens can actually win the six games Vegas has assigned them for the 2008 season, I stumbled across the game story for the Bengals latest preseason action and was heartened that they might actually stink worse than we do. Carson Palmer got his nose bloodied. The Bengals didn’t score. And, of course, the Northern Kentucky and Southern Ohio faithful gave the “Who Deys” the Bronx cheers over the weekend in the Queen City. Here’s a link from ESPN… I’m not asking for miracles this season, but starting the season 1-0 is the best place to start!  

Ravens lose 24-10 in St. Louis (Live Blog/Notes)

Nestor Aparicio

I’m going to write an in-game blog tonight. Any comments will be posted with thoughts from the game… By now, you know that Joe Flacco will get the start in lieu of Troy Smith, who has a viral illness. It’s already more interesting than most preseason games. A memorable night either way, really… 8:11 p.m. — St. Louis is moving the ball down the Ravens’ throats and Frank Walker looked like he might’ve gotten away with one on the play with Drew Bennett. Of course, with this crappy signal I’m getting it’s hard to tell. (It’s kinda like Gerry Sandusky is calling the game through an old Jack In The Box drive through where every other word is audible!) 8:21 p.m. — Nice job by Ray Lewis and the Ravens’ defense on the 3rd and long in getting Marc Bulger to the ground. Holding them to three on that long drive was a win. It’s 3-0 Rams and Joe Flacco overthrew his first pass of the evening. I’m still going to buy stock in Flacco and hope for the best. But tonight is HUGE, when you consider that he has a chance to “wow” everyone with a strong effort. It’s

Ravens go to St. Louis with more questions than answers

Nestor Aparicio

The biggest question around town these past few weeks of training camp has been, “Who will be the starting quarterback for the Ravens this season?” And that’s really just shorthand for this: “Is there any hope that one guy will step up and the team isn’t going to stink this year?” I’d like to believe that one will affect the other but I think the most important question for the team’s competitive prospects might be about who will be on the offensive line giving Troy Smith or Kyle Boller or even Joe Flacco proper protection? And who will be running the ball if Willis McGahee can’t start the engine at running back? And will the old Todd Heap suddenly appear and catch 60 balls this year, giving opposing defenses mismatches in the secondary on virtually every play? And on the defense’s age, injuries and depth have suddenly popped up in Ray Lewis’ contract “walk” year. Will we even see the actual starters all on the field at once? So many questions and so few answers thus far in the preseason. The Ravens play their third preseason game tomorrow night against the woebegone St. Louis Rams in the Gateway City and

Here’s a(nother) stupid question…

Nestor Aparicio

The Orioles are celebrating their 50th million fan tonight. I just passed Oriole Park and if ANY of the first 3,500 fans entering the ballpark are Orioles fans, I didn’t see them. The city is an overwhelming sea of Red today. It’s honestly the worst I’ve ever seen it. The restaurants are hopping. The Duck Boats are doing holiday business. The bars are swelled with Red shirts and big tips and drunk people with funny accents (and those aren’t the ones like me from Dundalk). I’m sure three hours from now the Orioles will annoint some “lucky O’s fan.” The truth: there’s honestly a 1 in 100 chance of the first couple thousand people tonight being a real Orioles fan. Isn’t that just sad? It makes me wanna puke! And worse? Tonight is also Luke Scott T-shirt night. So, rest assured  about 8,000 of the first 10,000 T-shirts that are given out will be to people looking to replace their Manny Ramirez gear in the closet. It’s nights like tonight when it feels disgraceful to be an Orioles fan. Still stuck in last place and playing out the string in the 11th consecutive meaningless season, they will have their 50th

Phelps’ swim at M&T Bank Stadium last was spectacular!

Nestor Aparicio

Being a sports fan in Baltimore, you must admit that Saturday night was truly one for the ages. Mixing Baltimore’s two greatest passions in one night – the first home Ravens’ game of the Harbaugh/Flacco era with a post-game Michael Phelps water celebration on the giant screens – and you have a night that will never be replicated. Here is the video from Saturday night that I shot to capture the memories on wnsTV. For 13 summers we’ve suffered these miserably, boring and forgettable NFL preseason games and finally a swimmer from Towson shows up from halfway around the globe to make one special. I’ve been saying for years that the NFL should consider booking some post-game concerts of value, which would at least keep people in the stadium long enough to see a Hootie and The Blowfish or a Boston/Styx doublebill or a “Legends of Hip Hop” or Peter Frampton (all shows that have been in the city over the past seven days). I figure the concessions they’re losing the second half alone would create a windfall and having people stay in general and not seeing a sea of empty seats would be a good idea for the league.

How many will stay tonight to watch Michael Phelps swim?

Nestor Aparicio

I was having this argument with Glenn Clark yesterday when we drove up to Aberdeen to play in the Ripken Little League “Quickball” Media Challenge: “How many people are really watching Michael Phelps every night?” The TV people at NBC will tell you that they’re getting a 50 share, which is about half of the known universe. I don’t work in an office so I can’t account for the “water cooler” talk aspect of this year’s Olympics. I know the media has covered these Games and particularly the Phelps story with tremendous vigor, as they should. Phelps has a chance to do something tonight that has never been done before. And on the world’s stage of the Olympics, it’s an amazing thing. So yesterday, along come the Ravens (Phelps’ true first love from what we can tell) doing the right thing and trying to encourage we fools who are stuck with these all-but-worthless preseason tickets vs. Minnesota tonight to stay and watch Phelps swim after the game as a community. Pretty cool concept, I thought, when I heard it yesterday afternoon. C’mon, if the last swim were actually being held tonight at M&T Bank Stadium, would you want to pay

A long lost blog with tidbits…

Nestor Aparicio

I’ve been so super busy with business-related endeavors the past few weeks (New York trip, 10th Anniversary, basic getting ready for football stuff) that my blogs have been rare. Trust me, I have a LOT on my mind. Just haven’t had time to sit down and collect all of my thoughts and present them in a proper blog. Some snippets: Much to say about the Ravens camp coming later in the week. I’m also hosting Drew’s show on Thursday and Friday as well as appearing in studio on Tuesday to pick the winner of the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports bracket contest. Believe it or not, I also met and spoke with Andy McPhail on Friday at the Orioles Hall of Fame luncheon. I’ll keep that conversation private for the time being but let’s just say he was a gentleman and quite honest. The entire afternoon was quite bizarre (and thoroughly enjoyable)  to be honest with you. In the meantime, I continue to write twice a week for b. Here’s my Monday column…   As more of a traditional sports fan, I’m not usually one to be sucked in by the Olympics but the beginning of these Games

A Special 10th Anniversary ‘Thanks’ to all…

Nestor Aparicio

  I heard it said again and again on Friday night at our 10th Anniversary Party: “This museum is GREAT!” Sure, more than 800 of us got together and had a blast at the Sports Legends Museum in honor of our 10th Anniversary at WNST. But I think the real winners were the folks who came and connected with the history of local sports in this amazing venue for the first time along with toasting the genesis of what is a bright future at WNST.net. I sincerely appreciate all of the people who contributed mightily to the celebration. Our staff was 100% participatory and the many listeners, bloggers, readers, fans, hosts, celebs and the sponsors and business that support our company were all out in full force. I don’t even want to begin to drop names because I’m afraid I’d leave someone out. Feel free to start your own thread below with “name dropping” and I’ll get back to editing the videos from the evening and get them on the site as soon as possible. A special thanks to Mike Gibbons and everyone from his staff at Sports Legends. They were just an awesome group to work with they haven’t

Did you make it to our 10th Anniversary Party?

Nestor Aparicio

I just left the Orioles Hall of Fame luncheon. I’ll have a full report on that later in the weekend when I fully digest all of my emotions from it. I’m leaving for the party now. I really appreciate the many people who’ve sent over well wishes for all of us at WNST for making it through 10 years against all odds. So, I thought I’d give any of you the chance to say anything you want to say publicly here on this thread. For better or worse, fire away… (P.S. I also watched the Ravens game last night and I’ll post my thoughts on that before next Saturday’s game…) Have a great weekend…    

Wanna go to Beijing, China with me?

Nestor Aparicio

Untitled Document On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, I can’t help but trip over all of the mass media coverage from China and remember the sights and sounds of what I saw last October when I accompanied Cal Ripken to the Far East. I could write for days about all of the unique sights and sounds of Beijing and the Chinese culture. It was a trip of a lifetime for me and I’m so glad I captured virtually every inch of it on video. Right now, those videos are too long for my current wnsTV platform here, but I thought I’d provide you links. There are 10 videos (all between 7 and 10 minutes) in the platforn on YOU TUBE. And you can just type in CHINA and WNST into the search bar and you’ll find them quite easily. I’m very proud of these videos and they capture all sorts of weird, peculiar things from baseball to the Great Wall to the houtongs of Beijing to the religious temples to the strange hawkers around Tiananmen Square selling Mao watches for $3. The Forbidden City was unforgettable and the luge at the end of the Great Wall video is something

It’s down to Unitas vs. Ripken in KOBS

Nestor Aparicio

So much for upsets. Jim Palmer had Cal Ripken on the ropes, but in the end No. 8 pulled out the seimfinal victory on Friday in our Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest. In our other semifinal, poor Brooks Robinson got clobbered by No. 19. So there will be a week of live voting this week to decide the King winner: Johnny Unitas or Cal Ripken. Voting will close at midday on Friday and we will announce WNST’s King of Baltimore Sports at 5 p.m. on Friday on WNST-AM 1570. It will also occur during our 10th Anniversary show and party at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards (our party is from 4 p.m. til 8 p.m.). If you are interested in attending our party on Friday, we do have a limited amount of tickets available. Simply email rsvp@wnst.net now for a chance to win free tickets for Friday. As for actual blog content, here’s my b column for today: I promise to address the entire “arena issue” in a future column after I chat with everyone involved and figure out what the real “goals” are here for the project. I’m a lifer Baltimoron and as much as

Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken are neck and neck…

Nestor Aparicio

We’re down to the final hours of voting in the Final Four of the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports competition. With just hours remaining, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken are taking it down to the wire while Johnny Unitas has opened up a sizable lead on Brooks Robinson. We’ll be crowning the King of Baltimore Sports next week at our 10th Anniversary Party at Sports Legends Museum. I’m doing invitations today and if you’re interested in coming to the party as my guest, please drop me a note at  nasty@wnst.net. I’d love to meet the regular readers of my blog here on WNST.net. I’ve been super busy working behind the scenes with our company and haven’t been blogging so much lately and I apologize. We’re also gearing up for the Ravens season and have many surprises and cool things happening at WNST for our favorite time of the year: NFL season. I do write on Mondays and Fridays for b. Here’s my column from today’s editions… Well, at least the Orioles were honest for a change. In the days and hours leading up to yesterday’s 4 p.m. deadline, general manager Andy McPhail said things were quiet on the

WNST’s biggest roadie ever is today to The Bronx

Nestor Aparicio

It’s bright and early and we’re off to have an amazing day as we take five busloads (that’s 285 people) to Yankee Stadium today to potentially see the Orioles sweep the Yanks in the Bronx. Forecast: 84 and sunny! We’re loaded up 35 cases of Miller Chill and Miller Lite. We’ve got juice and water and soda chilled as well. Captain Harvey’s has thrown some snacks on the buses. And we have a peppering of tickets in virtually every section in the stadium. It’ll be a sea of orange! I’ll be shooting a ton of wnsTV footage from trip. We literally turned away a few hundred people who wanted to go but we couldn’t arrange any more tickets at the original price. Next year, we’ll be doing even more Orioles roadies because they’ve been immensely popular this year. I think the D.C. weekend journey will be a major annual event! Look for us on TV today! We’ll be the ones yelling for Dennis Sarfate!

IMPORTANT: King of Baltimore Sports voting update!!!

Nestor Aparicio

Well, we’re getting to the end of the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports competition and it’s been heated during this round because what we have left are the four legitimate “kings” of this city’s rich sports heritage. We’ve learned lots of thing doing this “first-ever” competition of its kind online. 1.    People try to cheat. 2.    People with an agenda and some extra time on their hands will attempt to rig the contest. 3.    Computer hacking is always a possibility. 4.    People HATE registering for websites to vote in contests (even if there’s a lot of money and prizes at stake!) THEY HATE IT but there’s no other way we can give you a prize if you don’t give us your address! 5.    This was all just a ploy by we “locals and great unwashed” at WNST to actually get people to take stock of how many awesome athletes Baltimore has had since 1958 when the Colts made Baltimore a city that was known for its sports teams and legendary competitors. The truth: we love all of these guys as much as you do. And the real truth: there are no winners and losers, just great memories and

And down goes the Sunday streak!

Nestor Aparicio

For tomorrow’s editions of b: Just when you started to believe that the Orioles had a full-fledged Sunday “jinx” on their hands, they battled back against the best team in baseball for a 5-2 win to avert a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels and to break the wretched streak of 15 consecutive Sundays of losses.   It’s been a hard fall into the cellar of the A.L. East for the Birds. Bad pitching, bad news on Adam Loewen, mounting losses and a veritable “bum of night” on the hill when Jeremy Guthrie isn’t getting the ball. Even Brian Roberts had fallen into a 0-for-10 slump before taking a breather yesterday in the day game after a night.   With the inevitable fall in interest comes the rising purple tide of Westminster and the beckoning call of NFL season pulling us away from Camden Yards. Be honest: the Ravens starting quarterback battle and John Harbaugh’s first camp is imminently more sexy and interesting than whether or not the Orioles can actually finish in fourth place.   I’m seeing many orange ticket listings around town and people dumping tickets for what remains of the Orioles’ 11th consecutive season

Playing hooky on a beautiful day…

Nestor Aparicio

Is it just me or do you feel like saying: “Screw it, I’m going to the ballpark today!” I swear to God I’m looking out the window right now thinking it’s a PERFECT day to go Ferris Bueller and put this damned laptop down and go to the game! (Or games after last night’s weather?) Voting for this Cal Ripken-Jon Ogden thing today has me really perplexed for many reasons. First, I know them both extremely well “off the field” and I like them both immensely. I have an amazing amount of respect for what a pretty cool guy Cal is once the “milk and hot dogs and Apple pie” stuff disappears. The  “real” Cal is a pretty good guy and a lot more loose and fun than his public image. And Ogden is a guy who I’ve always had a lot of fun with as well. So, on a personal level, it’s a draw: there are no losers here. But on the field I think Ogden is tremendously underrated and the casual Baltimore sports fan will only begin to appreciate his greatness and dominance AFTER Sept. 7th. His legend will grow because we’ll never see another one like him.

Dreaming big in Westminster

Nestor Aparicio

Today is a day for dreaming, the first day of Ravens training camp and the start of what is the annual highlight of being a Baltimore’s sports fan: NFL season.   Even though Las Vegas oddsmakers have put the Ravens “over-under” number at six wins, it’s perfectly normal and accepted to believe that new coach John Harbaugh has a miracle season in store for us this year and another Super Bowl trophy is waiting in Tampa for us in February.   If you can’t dream a little today, why bother being a fan, right? Today is a day to be a fan with blind faith because as we’ve seen in previous seasons, anything can happen in the NFL. But what miracles would be necessary to paint Baltimore purple in late December?   The myriad of problems last season led to an abysmal 5-11 campaign and the subsequent firing of Brian Billick. But today is a day for purple skies, blind faith and devotion to the laundry. It’s also the team’s first day of practice ever without Jon Ogden and the first in nearly a decade without Billick and Mike Flynn.   If you believe that the Ravens are a playoff

KOBS Final Four voting: Lenny vs. Brooks

Nestor Aparicio

Ouch… Here’s where the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports gets down to the nitty gritty. Sure, there have been many walkovers during the early rounds but now the decisions are getting sticky. Today’s matchup: Lenny Moore vs. Brooks Robinson. As we get closer to the crowning at WNST’s 10th Anniversary celebration on Aug. 8 at Sports Legends Museum, it’s not going to get easier. Ray Lewis vs. Jim Palmer Cal Ripken vs. Jon Ogden Johnny Unitas vs. Frank Robinson They’re all great. They’re all great discussions. And that’s why we did the contest. So, today it’s two guys who were absolute contemporaries during my Pop’s era and two guys who have given back as much to this city as anyone you’d care to mention during our lifetime. And they’re two of the finest people I’ve met during my quarter of a century in sports media in Baltimore. Choose wisely…    

Finale of KOBS Great Eight: Ray Lewis vs. Gino Marchetti

Nestor Aparicio

Right now, it’s still early in the morning but Gino Marchetti has opened up a little lead on Ray Lewis in the final of our “Great Eight” in the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports competition. We haven’t had many “upsets” over the first month of the contest, but today is looming as a potential big surprise. Like I said, it’s early but either Marchetti is extremely popular or the “anti-Ray” crowd has shown up in our registration. I never saw Marchetti play, but I’ve never seen anyone on the football field play the game better than Ray Lewis. (My Pop, however, was a big Marchetti guy. I prefered the Gino’s Giant, myself…) Please vote! We will be moving on to the next round on Monday and the matchups are delicious: Brooks Robinson vs. Lenny Moore Johnny Unitas vs. Frank Robinson Cal Ripken vs. Jon Ogden Jim Palmer will take on the winner of Lewis-Marchetti after beating Eddie Murray yesterday. We have enjoyed looking back at the careers of Baltimore’s legends and we’re looking forward to crowning the King of Baltimore Sports at our 10th Anniversary celebration at Sports Legends Museum on Friday, Aug. 8th. It’s the biggest and

Trip report: 2008 All Star Game at Yankee Stadium

Nestor Aparicio

Lemme start by saying that I was waiting for a subway at 1:37 a.m. when the winning run was scored. I sat through 14 and a half innings of baseball, but I had a 3 a.m. train back to Baltimore that I was not going to miss at any cost. So, about five minutes after I walked out of Yankee Stadium, the AL won the game. Needless to say, it was a very memorable evening of baseball in The Bronx. All of the highlights, guests, batting practice stuff, celebrities, etc. will be on wnsTV by the end of the day. A few notes, thoughts and observations: Taking the train is great. It’s fast, clean, efficient. It seems like New York is the only place I ever take a train but when I do I’ll always wonder why I don’t do it more often. Amtrak rocks! Where were the Cincinnati Reds during the opening ceremony honoring the living Hall of Famers? Joe Morgan, who was in the building last night for the Home Run Derby. Tony Perez? And what about Johnny Bench’s glaringly vacant hole behind the plate? Could it be a Pete Rose thing? I haven’t read anything about it

KOBS heats up: Ogden vs. Parker today!

Nestor Aparicio

So, finally we get a Hall of Fame matchup in the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest with some gusto for a Monday. Jim Parker vs. Jonathan Ogden. If you want to pit the old generation vs. the new one, this is the matchup to do it. I’ve said in the past that I think Ogden is an “underappreciated” guy in the pantheon of Baltimore sports. At least it felt that way a few weeks ago when he retired. No parade. No fan fare. No tears. No “final” bow, at least not yet anyway. But the fans will now see what it’s like without him for the first time in the franchise’s history. I have a feeling we’re not gonna like what we see. As for Parker, he’s a story from my Pop’s generation from my perspective. I have nothing — other than his Hall of Fame credentials — to judge him upon. Old vs. new. Great vs. great. Legend vs. legend. This week the King of Baltimore Sports contest heats up. I hope you participate and vote.

Brett Favre to the Ravens?

Nestor Aparicio

Even though the story broke at the worst possible time for the press — a late Friday afternoon — the “Brett Favre back to the NFL and NOT with the Packers” story is almost too delicious for any Ravens fan to ignore. Message boards are awash with rumors of Brett Favre to the Ravens already. But so are the fans’ hopes in several other places, including former division rivals — Chicago and Minnesota. (And wouldn’t that be a slap in the face, right? Think about Ray Lewis going to play in Pittsburgh or Cleveland?) My sources in Owings Mills tell me that tales of Brett Favre to the Ravens are “crap.” The Ravens’ mantra since Brian Billick’s firing has been “we are building for the long term not the short term.” But, one of ESPN’s main NFL bloggers has already written a huge piece about why Ozzie Newsome should’ve called Bus Cook during happy hour on Friday. I get it. So do you. Big star, Hall of Famer, end of the line, comes to blue collar Baltimore and leads the purple to the Super Bowl in Tampa salvaging the twilight of Ray Lewis’ career among others like Derrick Mason, Trevor

Unitas vs. Cuellar in KOBS today

Nestor Aparicio

We are getting down to the nitty gritty in the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest. Today is Johnny Unitas vs. Mike Cuellar. Needless to say, we expect the Golden Arm to be victorious but the next batch of contests are pretty serious. Art Donvan vs. Frank Robinson Eddie Murray vs. Jim Palmer Ray Lewis vs. Gino Marchetti Jim Parker vs. Jon Ogden Cal Ripken vs. Raymond Berry These are all interesting debates and will be debated at length next week. We are strongly considering changing the voting “view results” as this contest gets closer to the end. Based on the amount of traffic on the site (a lot of people every day) vs. folks actually voting (not a lot), it’s not a total shock that many folks are NOT voting daily because many of the matchups have been “walkovers.” This will not be the case next week. But over the past few weeks, I’ve received many emails from folks who’ve said that seeing the results has discouraged them from voting. They figure, “what’s the point when the HOFer has 200 votes already and the opponent has 12 votes?” I agree. I will be hosting the Comcast Morning

Do you watch MASN and see what I see?

Nestor Aparicio

I was going to title this blog “Why I love Rick Dempsey” just to keep in line with all of the bizarre email and comments I received on my “Why I love Jim Palmer” titled blog. So, I’ll just start this briefing by saying that I DO love Rick Dempsey. And I was watching MASN last night and I gotta comment on what I’m seeing and how lousy these broadcasts are in general. And I’m not watching with my “media” hat as much as just being a fan. The only way I’m allowed to see and experience the team now (thanks to their ban of free speech) is via MASN. It’s back to 1985 for me, the last year when I didn’t have a press pass before Angelos went all Fidel Castro on me for telling the truth about how the franchise has injured the city on summer nights. MASN’s coverage is beyond embarrassing in its nightly pandering and bush league insults to the fan base, especially when Jim Palmer isn’t around. It’s kinda like watching an old “WWWF” match or watching Gordon Solie call NWA action. It’s one giant infomercial that I’m paying a few bucks a month to

Second round of KOBS begins today…

Nestor Aparicio

I’m back from an all-too-short vacation weekend and ready to play the second round of the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports. Today’s matchup: Brooks Robinson vs. Wes Unseld. Obviously, the chalk picks held the line during the first round but this second round is a bit dicey for many of the Hall of Famers. Almost every day there will be two HOFers pitted against each other. If nothing else, it tells you how rich our professional sports heritage is in Baltimore. I’m catching up on the real world all day and trying to figure out how all of a sudden so many of you want to see Yankee Stadium. It’s the hottest selling trip we’ve ever had at WNST. I’ll be blogging all week and heading to the All-Star Game in New York on Tuesday to provide coverage.  

Ogden vs. McNally in KOBS

Nestor Aparicio

I was actually shocked at how quietly Jon Ogden walked away from the Ravens a few weeks ago. I thought that it’d be a more emotional deal for the fans and that there would be more “appreciation” for what an amazing talent Ogden was in Baltimore. Well, today I’m sure he’ll get his just due in the voting of the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest taking on Dave McNally. But I’m really wondering how he’s going to fare moving forward. You could make a case that no one had a more effective career, especially being the first pick of the franchise. What more could Jon Ogden have done as a Raven? Vote away today as we get to the end of the first round of the competition. *****   By the way, I’m not giving up on the Orioles just yet. They EASILY could be on a three-game winning streak. We’ll see how they adjust to life without Matt Albers and Jamie Walker in the bullpen. And we’ll also see how Adam Loewen fares now that he’s been rushed back. The one ”little” detail that’s been lost on the local baseball audience as the O’s have had great

KOBS: Eddie vs. Jamal, O’s bus and kicks with David Beckham

Nestor Aparicio

Today is a matchup between two men who, like the soccer players of Brazil, only need one name: Eddie vs. Jamal. Sure, Murray should run away with it today, but I think Lewis was a tad bit underappreciated here as a football player. It’ll be a long time before we see another running back in purple who was that good. Funny, how they both wound up playing in Cleveland of all places, right? And weird how Jamal Lewis actually went to jail and Ray Lewis didn’t and Ray gets all of the heat from the fans in other cities. I’ve never heard a fan yell anything at Jamal about jail even in the worst cities on the road. ****** The WNST bustrip yesterday was fabulous, despite the crappy ending. It was the first Orioles bus trip we’ve done in a long, long time and it was very rewarding. Lots of nice people wearing orange, great fans who drank some Miller Lite Collectors’ brew (they killed off the wheat, my favorite, pretty quickly) and we managed to avoid a rain delay. In the end, we were on our feet in the 12th inning waiting for strike three and an Orioles victory

Scott Garceau will leave WMAR as a full-time sports anchor

Nestor Aparicio

Long-time sports anchor and sports director Scott Garceau will leave his full-time gig at WMAR Channel 2 for a part-time role as a special project coordinator in the next two weeks. My sources tell me that he’ll remain on as Sports Director Emeritus and will continue to do special events like Ravens coverage, lacrosse and the annual Turkey Bowl coverage of Loyola-Calvert Hall. One web outlet has inaccurately been reporting that he’s “leaving WMAR.”  That’s not totally true, although he will not be doing the daily news show, perhaps as soon as next week. Although Garceau may bristle at the notion, this could be considered “semi-retirement” from the daily grind of sports on TV after 26 years in Baltimore, where he came from Albequerque and his home area of the upper Penisula of Michigan. Garceau, of course, was the first “voice of the Ravens” and called Super Bowl XXXV’s victory. An official announcement is expected by station manager Bill Hooper sometime later today. WNST will have all of the details. Garceau has earned legendary status for his quarter century of integrity in sportscasting in Baltimore. I’d say “he’ll be missed” but I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Scott

KOBS: Down goes Reed, down goes Reed!

Nestor Aparicio

I must admit that I didn’t vote yesterday in the Toyota Live Web King of Baltimore Sports contest. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to be the “deciding” vote. Like Al Davis, I abstained. It was a close vote: Mike Cuellar won 56% to 44% over Ed Reed. I think Cuellar deserved to win but maybe it says more about how the folks who are voting feel about Ed Reed. Honestly, we really thought more people who read the site and call in and interact would be voting. The turnout at the polls has been disappointing in the first round, but today’s matchup is Brooks Robinson vs. Bert Jones. Brooks should win, but I think Bert will get some love. We’ve routinely had more than 3,000 people in some contests we’ve held in the past. Our text service alone has this many people. Some weeks we’ve done in excess of 5,000 on block pools, so we know how many people listen, click on the website, etc. We’ve had as many as 12,000 unique users to the site in one 24-hour period. I guess a lot of folks wanted to talk about King of Baltimore but not follow the early round voting

Why I love Jim Palmer, Part 1

Nestor Aparicio

I’m sitting home watching the Orioles game in glorious Comcast HD on Channel 226 tonight and I wasn’t going to blog. I wasn’t going to write about Wrigley Field, or my many memories there or anything about the Orioles. I wasn’t even going to post my video of my trip to Comiskey Park last year (but I still might do that!) Somehow, Orioles pitcher Chris Ray wound up on WNST today (I honestly don’t even have an explanation about how it happened…stay tuned for that!) so I am ever-so-grateful that they’ve finally, mostly ended their VERY one-sided “feud” with WNST. People somehow think I’m at war with THEM? Not true. They’ve been at war with virtually EVERYONE in the community. Clearly, they’ve come to their senses about one more of the many stupid things they’ve been doing to wreck their franchise over the past decade. I love the Orioles. I’ve always loved the Orioles. For the gifts of the summer of 2008, I’m grateful. I’m happy they’re marketing the team, selling a few tickets the past few weeks, getting people downtown to stimulate the city (even in the midst of a few murders three blocks from my home this week),

KOBS voting: Ray Lewis vs. Ken Singleton today!

Nestor Aparicio

What appears to be a mismatch on the field might be a bit closer if folks vote in a popularity poll today. Ken Singleton, as shown in our vote-in round, is a VERY popular old Oriole. From the mid-1970s through the early 1990’s, Singy was either playing the outfield or doing TV sports at Channel 13. He now does YES Network broadcasts for Yankees games and appears on WNST from time to time. Ray Lewis, it could be argued, is the greatest athlete in the history of the city. He’s a very legitimate No. 1 seed. Over the years, opinions about the “off the field” Ray have varied. We’ll see how it goes with the vote, but just think about a purple world without Ray Lewis. Let the voting begin…  

KOBS voting: Brady Anderson vs. Jim Parker today

Nestor Aparicio

Given the firestorm we felt when Brady Anderson was in the inital 28 contestants for the Toyota King of Baltimore Sports contest, today’s voting will be interesting. When Brady was hitting homers and stealing bases (and hearts), he was immensely popular in Baltimore. There were even “Keep Brady In Baltimore” pins and T-shirts all over Camden Yards. One steroid scandal — and Anderson has never admitted to using steroids and never tested positively — and a decade later there’s a definite “anti-Brady” bent we’ve heard from WNST listeners. I never saw Jim Parker play. To me, he was the guy who owned the liquor store. But I know enough to know his legend. Enjoy the voting today… A very sad morning when the first piece of news I got was that George Carlin died. Who among us can say that Carlin didn’t make us laugh at some point? He was a smart, funny man!  

A long lost blog with tidbits…

Nestor Aparicio

I’ve been so super busy with business-related endeavors the past few weeks (New York trip, 10th Anniversary, basic getting ready

And down goes the Sunday streak!

Nestor Aparicio

For tomorrow’s editions of b: Just when you started to believe that the Orioles had a full-fledged Sunday “jinx” on

Brett Favre to the Ravens?

Nestor Aparicio

Even though the story broke at the worst possible time for the press — a late Friday afternoon — the

Ogden vs. McNally in KOBS

Nestor Aparicio

I was actually shocked at how quietly Jon Ogden walked away from the Ravens a few weeks ago. I thought

Why I love Jim Palmer, Part 1

Nestor Aparicio

I’m sitting home watching the Orioles game in glorious Comcast HD on Channel 226 tonight and I wasn’t going to

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