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Nestor Aparicio

The worst of times …

Nestor Aparicio

The game has been over for about an hour, and I’m trying to think of a lower time to be a Ravens fan, or a game as bad as the one we witnessed (and froze through) today. The penalties … The turnovers … The lack of execution … It’s always something, but it always comes back to the offense just being ineffective. The defense, playing as short as you can image with guys we’ve never heard of (Willie Gaston? BTW: he’ll be our guest at Piv’s tomorrow night along with Marshall Yanda), and still holding Carson Palmer and the Bengals touchdown-less. It was just a painful game all the way around, the worst I can remember sitting through in Baltimore since the Ravens came to town. The mere fact that there were 50,000 empty seats midway through the fourth quarter would give a very real show of the public’s confidence in the team’s ability to score points. Once the score got to 9-0, it felt hopeless, even if it truly wasn’t. Steve McNair looks like an old man. He doesn’t look to be in shape. He doesn’t appear to have any positive body language or confidence. And in his postgame

China and Cal Ripken come to you via wnsTV

Nestor Aparicio

Slowly but surely, the China videos with Cal Ripken are coming together. Go check it out for yourself and if you HAVEN’T seen any of wnsTV, this is a great opportunity. Without question, it’s the best stuff we’ve had on our television platform here on WNST.net. Today, you’ll see Cal’s trip (and mine!) to the Great Wall of China. Tomorrow, I’ll get some of the kid’s camps that Cal did over in Beijing up as well as several travelogues that I shot in Asia. Lots more to come… Just want to remind you that it’s there and literally a "click" away… I’d love some feedback as well!!! Have a great weekend…see ya at the football game on Sunday! P.S. Aubrey Huff is a horses–t baseball player.

Losing Dennis Mannion will hurt the Ravens

Nestor Aparicio

His name is one that you see around certain Ravens’ “money stuff” on the street: Dennis Mannion. He basically runs the business side of the Ravens’ operation. He’s the Ozzie Newsome of the club level, if you will; the Brian Billick of the money side of the franchise. So extensive is Dennis’ background, that he has a 1983 World Series ring — for being on the losing side working for the Philadelphia Phillies when he was basically a “kid.” He worked in Denver for the Nuggets/Avalanche group, and has been with the Ravens since before the Super Bowl season. He’s leaving to go run the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose owner Jamie McCourt has tremendous Baltimore roots herself. The Orioles have also sacrificed some of their best “Warehouse” personnel to the Dodgers over the past year as well. So, the Ravens will move on, but losing a quality person like Mannion is a tough pill for the club. He was well-liked, respected within the building and was always a decent, honest guy in my many dealings with him. And as the C-something-something of WNST, I know how hard it is to lose really good people in your business. Dennis’ part of

Back from Asia to a Somber Charm City

Nestor Aparicio

I made it out to the Bud Light Orchard Landing Monday Night Live show tonight — and only about 15 minutes late. I flew in from Tokyo (and yes, my arms are tired!)…that’s my ode to Roch Kubatko’s blog! I literally LOST my internet connect at noon Tuesday in Tokyo (10 p.m. EST), right about the time the Steelers went up 35-0. It was just as well. I didn’t need to fork over another $10 to the hotel’s internet gods so I could watch another 40 minutes of sloppy, ugly, horrendous football. I just turned my computer off and headed for the Orange Limosine bus. I actually met a Ravens fan in line waiting for my flight back. Nice dude. Works in Katmandu (the REAL one, not the Bob Seger one!). He wanted to know what happened in the game because he’d been travelling for several hours already and couldn’t watch. I asked him if he REALLY wanted to know. He insisted. I told him. He sighed and grimaced in agony. I told him: "Imagine the most nightmarish weather, play and turnover situation in Pittsburgh while all of the Steelers greats came onto the Monday Night Football set and gloated,

Vomiting in Tokyo…

Nestor Aparicio

So, I’m watching the Ravens on a 5-inch screen in Tokyo Right off the bat, even as bad as it’s raining there, I’d MUCH rather be there than watching Tony Kornheiser annoy the hell outta me. But it does look like it really sucks! Kornheiser is talking Steelers karma? Who the hell is he kidding? And you knew it would only take about three minutes for the ESPN crew to zoom in on some idiot who’s been drinking since Saturday with his shirt off and a Terrible Towel being waved! Gotta love Pittsburgh – it’s nothing if not predictable. I’m sitting in my hotel room in Shibuya, Tokyo on the 34th floor (and the weather is kinda crappy here, too!). We’re only gonna see three quarters of action. Our bus leaves for Narita Airport at 12:50 local time. I was kinda hoping to podcast the rest at the airport, but that’s not a reality. So, there’s a chance I could fly all the way home – 12 hours nonstop to Dulles – without knowing the outcome. And our cellphones don’t work at all in Tokyo! It’s been a very interesting trip! Only the Steelers would have throwback jerseys that are

OK…finally the videos are up from Beijing!

Nestor Aparicio

My guess is that by the time we’re done with this adventure, there’ll be about 20 videos of different things we’ve done, seen and experienced in Asia. But, at least for now, the first two videos are up on wnsTV! I’ll be platforming them in chronological order upon completion (and it might take a week or two). But, it’s really been a whole lot of fun. Today is our last full day in Asia and it began with a 4:30 a.m. wakeup call so we could catch the 2nd halves of all of the 1 p.m. NFL games on our computer here. (AND THE BEST PART? It actually WORKED!!! It was better than watching at home, honestly!) Obviously, the Pats-Colts game was a thriller — right down to seeing Peyton Manning brooding on the bench at the end (don’t you just LOVE that!?!). I have no idea how anyone is going to beat them now! Now, it’s off to the bump and grind of the Tokyo subway. So far, Tokyo is my favorite city on the trip: pretty girls, funny outfits, great and cheap food, lots of people in every direction but it’s somehow a kinder/gentler version of New York.

Watching the NFL in in Tokyo…

Nestor Aparicio

At least I THINK I will be watching in a few hours. We landed in Tokyo around 2 p.m. this afternoon (it was Sunday here, late Saturday night in Baltimore) from Hong Kong, where we had a fabulous time. (Again, the wnsTV videos are coming soon…obviously, Tokyo is pretty wired for the internet so I’m working on it!) I’m absolutely DYING to get these NFL games here in Tokyo and NO ONE IS SHOWING THEM! We found one "American sports bar" in Roppongi that will be showing the Patriots-Colts game at 7 p.m. MONDAY night here (Tokyo is 13 hours AHEAD of Baltimore). And while that might work if we decide to stay offline — I have a feeling no one is going to walk up to us in Japanese and wreck the final score for us — both my wife and I really wanna watch the game live at 5 a.m. Partly, just to say "we did it" but mostly because our lives literally REVOLVE around the NFL 365 days a year. As happy as I am to be in Tokyo, my heart will be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday morning and I don’t want to miss my first live

There’s a reason it’s called The ‘GREAT’ Wall

Nestor Aparicio

It’s been hard to blog with all of the traveling the last 36 hours, but we’ve safely landed in Hong Kong, only 1,200 miles from The Great Wall of China. When Cal Ripken’s trip to China was announced, it was apparent to me that this was my one great chance to get to Asia and see parts of China and the Pacific Rim that had only been fantasyland before now. What I didn’t bargain for was a trip to The Great Wall with Ripken and 20 other folks, who all made the experience truly unforgettable. We left Beijing at 11 a.m. and headed northeast for a 90-minute drive up the hill past a series of strange tourist areas and near barren farmland. Because The Great Wall is basically built on a hill – and you can google it and learn all of the crazy facts about the Mongols overtaking the wall and all of the other cool historical data – it’s VERY cold up in the hills this time of year. Heck, it was only 42 degrees in Beijing when we left on Thursday morning, so you can imagine what the mountains to the north felt like. I honestly had

Chasing Cal Ripken in China is wearing me out!

Nestor Aparicio

I thought the pacing of the first 48 hours of Cal Ripken’s itinerary here in Beijing was break-neck enough. Then came his final day in Beijing! Three schools, two meetings, bus rides from one end of Beijing to the other (and this is a city of more than 15 MILLION people). The “Iron Man” legend rolled on right through the part where he was almost taunting me at the elevator door last night, where I KNOW I went to bed BEFORE he did. When it comes to keeping up with Cal Ripken, you just can’t win! By chance, he was the first face I saw in the elevator at 7:10 a.m. (in a three-piece suit headed for a dignitary breakfast), and the last I saw on my way to a DEEP sleep around 10:15 last night. I don’t think I’ve ever been more physically challenged than in my first 72 hours of this trip. Between jet lag, baseball, writing blogs, shooting videos and being a goofy American tourist – it’s just unbelievably exhausting. And figuring I may not “pass this way again,” we’re trying to cram it all in. Again, we have GOBS and GOBS of cool videos that it’s

Another Morning in China

Nestor Aparicio

The sun is rising over Beijing and FINALLY we can see the building across the street. The smog has lifted!!! Just one thing I wanna get “on the record” here before I begin my day: Cal Ripken REALLY LOVES baseball. I mean, LOVES IT! Not that this should come as any shock to me or you, but when you spend several days around him watching his absolutely tireless attitude about this trip and baseball, well, it’s just astonishing. He truly IS the “Iron Man.” He’s going from a three-piece suit at an Ambassador’s breakfast onto one bus, en route to a field to meet dignitaries, then to a kid’s clinic where NO ONE knows even one WORD of English. Then he’s like the biggest kid on the field every time he walks onto the field! Seeing him question EVERY aspect of the Olympic Stadiums – their design, the fields, the grass, the dimensions, the bullpen area, the batting cages – and seeing him nod his head in knowing approval of virtually every aspect was amazing to see. Every nuance of those stadiums was interesting and fascinating to him. Because Cal has virtually every nano-second of his schedule locked in, for

Tuesday morning in Beijing!

Nestor Aparicio

The official U.S contingent, led by Cal Ripken and B.J. Surhoff, all rolled passed Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City en route to the baseball complex that will house next summer’s Olympic games here in Beijing. There are two mini stadiums and Cal held court with about 20 folks from China, who all were proud to show off these stadia that are being built specifically for the games, and then will literally be torn down after next summer’s competition. These stadiums current hold less than 3,000 seats, but bleachers will be erected swelling the capacity to more than 12,000 when the Games begin. The photo opportunities were plentiful, but the only media present where the three of us (Rick Maese of The Sun, the Renegade video crew and myself). It seems that the Chinese government didn’t want any negative publicity of the facilities, so they disallowed all other Western journalists from covering Cal Ripken’s photo op at the stadium. Hey, it’s China. Some things never change! But suppression of free speech STILL exists in a major way here, and today we witnessed it. Lots of notes from today (and of course, VIDEOS for wnsTV are forthcoming): • I chatted with

Good Morning Beijing!

Nestor Aparicio

It’s a little past 6 a.m. here (remember it’s 12 hours AHEAD) and I have the option of watching Monday Night Football in my hotel room … BUT … we are here to chase Cal Ripken a bit, and will be heading over to the Baseball Olympic Stadium with him around 8:15. Later in the day, Cal will be working with Chinese youth who have NEVER played baseball before. Many are orphaned children, so this should be a spectacular treat, seeing Cal reach out to these kids from half a world away. We’ve been here LESS THAN A DAY, and it’s just been brilliant so far. The sun is rising over the skyline of Beijing, and it looks like another smoggy day! It literally looks like a city in the clouds, but these are NOT clouds at all. We will be attending a State Department dinner tonight to meet ambassadors, dignitaries and, apparently, some VERY HIGH PROFILE Chinese celebrities. Cal being in China is a BIG, BIG deal here! Someone wrote about which “Western” athletes are a big deal here. So far: we’ve seen a few Chinese athletes on poster boards that we don’t recognize (clearly Olympians) and other than

On the ground in BEIJING, China!

Nestor Aparicio

Well, we landed about six hours ago and we’re doing just fine halfway around the world. So much to tell, so much video and evidence is already being shot that I almost don’t want to spoil the fun of wnsTV! It just takes me a few days to get it edited and make it fun! And we’ve only been on the ground for seven hours, and already we’re having a blast! Here are some highlights: The entire delegation (media included) is about 15 people. Cal and Kelly Ripken are leading the way, with B.J. Surhoff (who has been very pleasant and interested in China), several Ripken Baseball folks, a few U.S. State Department folks (who’ve been incredibly helpful with the massive language barriers) and the media dorks (that would be me, my wife and Rick Maese, along with four of Ripken’s own documentary crew from local HDTV gurus, Renegade Video). The flight was 14 hours long and landed about an hour early, just in time for us to be whisked away to downtown Beijing amidst a flurry of the world’s worst traffic. We flew OVER the North Pole. I conducted Cal Ripken’s first-EVER interview over Siberia at about 11 p.m.

Bye, bye … I’m off to China with Cal Ripken!

Nestor Aparicio

The flight leaves from Dulles later this afternoon, and 14 hours later, my wife and I will be plopped down in China by the time you wake up for breakfast and work on Monday morning. So much to see, so little time … We’ll do all that Beijing allows us to do: see the famous Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the people of China! We’ll be spending four days with Cal Ripken Jr. and B.J. Surhoff, who are doing baseball clinics and meeting dignitaries throughout China as a special diplomatic envoy from the U.S. government. My wife and I will depart from Cal’s journey on Day 5 and head to Hong Kong and Tokyo to sightsee and be ugly American tourists. Our trip will end next Monday night as we watch the Ravens-Steelers game from Pittsburgh somewhere in downtown Tokyo with our Ravens jerseys on. We’ll also have the option of finding the Pats-Colts matchup next week at 4 a.m. from somewhere in Japan! So, please follow my blog every day as we’ll be adding some pictures and some stories from Asia with Cal and company. I also promise to keep an eye on Rick Maese from The Sun and

Leaving on a plane for China with Cal Ripken Jr.

Nestor Aparicio

Even though this sounds like a punchline, I’m leaving on Sunday morning to go to Beijing, China with Cal Ripken Jr. I know, I know. It’s sounds sorta absurd that the loudmouthed kid from Dundalk is going with the city’s pride and joy and baseball’s living treasure Cal Ripken Jr. to China on a goodwill ambassador expedition. Instead of going through the “whys” and the “hows” of this thing, I’ll just say this: I’m VERY, VERY excited! As I’ve grown older, I’ve really appreciated how much time I’ve gotten to spend in other cultures and taking in the world. This is my first trip to Asia, and when the opportunity arose, I had no choice but to accept the chance to go and videotape and interview Cal and follow his path to enlightening the Chinese about the great game of baseball, which I love so much! Anybody been to China? Lemme know … I need some tips!

Walking The Great Wall of China with The Iron Man

Baltimore Positive

When Cal Ripken travelled to Beijing on an Olympic goodwill mission, Nestor Aparicio went along for the ride. Wait’ll you see how they go down Montianyu on the mountain on a beautiful fall day in China…

That time we played Ripken Quickball at an orphanage in Beijing

Baltimore Positive

We all know Cal Ripken is a special guy. Nestor accompanied The Iron Man to China to bring a goodwill message of baseball prior to the 2008 Olympic Games. The children were incredible…

Free The Birds is alive tonight in Boston…

Nestor Aparicio

So, I’m on my couch. Alone. My wife is flying back from New England in the middle of the game (long story!) And I’m watching the World Series, like I’ve done for every Game 1 of the World Series in my lifetime. Think about that! I’ve NEVER missed a World Series — EVER! THAT’s how much we ALL love baseball in this city! Fenway Park is electric. The rain is falling. The Red Sox are on fire! And Dustin Pedroia hits the first pitch over the monstah. Kevin Youkilis hits a double. And the appetizer? The Boston Red Sox honoring THEIR 1967 Impossible Dream "legends" — the same guys who LOST THE WORLD SERIES! This organization in Boston honors the teams that even finished SECOND 40 years later. And this fool who owns the Orioles can’t find a way to honor the 1966 BALTIMORE Orioles on the anniversary of their CHAMPIONSHIP season! It just makes you SICK, doesn’t it? P.S. Manny Ramirez just piled on with another hit. It’s 2-0 Red Sox. They are JUMPING on the upstart Rockies, thus far! The only thing worse than dealing with the Red Sox fans is actually being ENVIOUS of them. Makes me

NOTEworthy Night…

Nestor Aparicio

You’re a “young old-timer” if you get that reference. I’m watching ESPN HD and the Jaguars and Colts tonight. WOW…what a night we had at Piv’s Pub! Ravens defensive guru and linebackers coach Mike Pettine joined us with projector in tow for a little chalk talk and Football education. You can hear the show on the air Tuesday at 9 a.m. with repeat broadcasts coming as well. But, if you missed it, you missed a wonderful night of background on the game of football and how it’s taught and schemed at the highest level in the world. And Pettine is just a fantastic teacher. He told us and showed us why Kelly Gregg is so good, and how Terrell Suggs is playing unselfish, quality football despite not having sacks to show for it. As for the TV game, Jack Del Rio looks good in his suit, but how they are gonna win games without David Garrard is beyond me. They look like yet another AFC team that has no chance of making the playoffs. And the Colts, look, well, like the COLTS! Ya know the “World Champion” Colts. And the highlights of yesterday’s Patriots game make my head spin. Those

The time I interviewed Cal Ripken over Siberia on the way to China

Baltimore Positive

Yep. You read it right! In October 2007, Nestor Aparicio flew to Beijing to capture The Iron Man spreading baseball goodwill prior to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Joe Torre is the classiest man in sports…

Nestor Aparicio

Finally, today, something good happened to the Orioles. The New York Yankees are a weaker superpower without Joe Torre at the helm. And anything that weakens the Yankees, in theory, strengthens the Orioles. Let me first say that I’ve dealt with Joe Torre a dozen times over the years. Every time I ever saw him, I told him I was from Baltimore. Every time I saw him, he’d reference Luis Aparicio and what a great ballplayer he was (and Joe wasn’t a bad ballplayer himself, making nine All-Star teams). And EVERY SINGLE TIME I EVER SHOOK HANDS WITH HIM, he’d do my little radio show. And you know why? Because I was from Baltimore, and he’d ALWAYS tell me as much. "Baltimore," he say, "THAT’S a great baseball town! I gotta do Baltimore! Where’s the phone?" I’d see him faithfully every October in the Yankee Stadium dugout, and even though he held the most prestigious management job in all of sports — the manager of the New York Yankees — he was always dignified, polite and very kind, always willing to come on a kid’s show in Baltimore, even before several World Series games. There is no classier person in

Who is watching baseball tonight?

Nestor Aparicio

It’s 8:17 and I’m watching baseball. Beautiful night here in Baltimore and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than on the couch watching the “always pivotal” Game 4. So it’s Tim Wakefield and Paul Byrd, who have both been members of the ‘bum of the month” club during their careers. Who the hell knows how this one is gonna go? Will big Papi hit three homers en route to a 11-3 rout of the Tribe en route to immortality? Or will Paul Byrd throw a three-hit, eight-strikeout gem? Just tune into some pretty great drama, and the vibe in Jacobs Field is ELECTRIC tonight. You can feel it coming through the television set in high-def! Gotta say it (and I’m clearly a marketing guy myself), these commercials for this movie are beyond embarrassingly annoying. It makes me NOT want to see the movie! My wife is talking Red Sox smack. I’m somehow watching these poor Clevelanders longing for something to brighten their pathetic sports lives. And honestly, I really don’t care who wins, although the Red Sox moving forward helps my marriage over the next week or two. It’s fun having a wife that loves sports and loves baseball. But,

Rocky Mountain High…

Nestor Aparicio

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along come the Colorado Rockies. It’s been noted before: I LOVE baseball. Been watching it all my life. But this run by this young team is just incredible! In the NHL, we’ve seen No. 8 seeds get a hot goalie and catch fire for two months en route to the Stanley Cup. In the NFL, we’ve only seen one team — Pittsburgh two years ago — go on a four-game road tear and win a championship after nearly missing the playoffs. In the NBA, the better team is usually so much better than the lowly playoff teams that “Cinderellas” rarely go the ball. In college hoops, we’ve seen a handful of N.C. States, Villanovas and Kansas’ — but other than Gonzaga and George Mason, we haven’t seen much lately. And again, it’s a one-game elimination in this case so anything can happen. But for a BASEBALL team — one that had been completely pedestrian for the better part of six months to go on a 21-1 roll and stave off elimination, several times coming down to their last STRIKE — well, this little run by the Rockies will probably never happen again

The purple truth remains to be seen…

Nestor Aparicio

All things considered, I’ll remain quite pleased with 4-2 this morning. Sure, I could lament the colossal losses in Ohio over the past month — the Heap catch in Cincy, the missed field goals, the McAlister breakdown in Cleveland, etc. But what’s the point, right? Yesterday, the Ravens won another NFL game without their starting quarterback, center, two left tackles, two tight ends and a defensive Pro Bowl lineman. And they won big, 22-3, at home over a woeful outfit from St. Louis. Pity poor Gus Frerotte, who looked utterly overwhelmed by the purple defense yesterday. Pity anyone who gets chased down and caught by Kelly Gregg these days! The Ravens have one football game to play over the next 21 days, and again, it’ll be another “deer in the headlights” quarterback waiting for them in Buffalo next Sunday in Trent Edwards. The rest time and the bye week could not have been more strategically aligned this season for the Ravens. Just get through Buffalo, find a way to win and get to 5-2 and we’ll worry about the second half of the season when the time comes in Pittsburgh on Nov. 5th. Right now, the Ravens — even starting

I’m giving Rockies-Dbacks a chance…

Nestor Aparicio

Just sitting here watching the pre-game show for the NLCS. WOW…are these the two most anonymous baseball teams to ever grace the October stage? Most of these guys, I’ve honestly never heard of before tonight. Eric Brynes — an Oriole for what felt like 15 minutes — is now a star. LaTroy Hawkins, given up for dead on many occasions (also a 15-minute Oriole and a really good dude) is involved. Todd Helton was always one of the really nice guys at the All Star Games I covered, so I can root for him. This kid Brandon Webb looks like he’s gonna be fun to watch. The big left-handed kid from Colorado, Jeff Francis, also looks intriguing. So many unheralded players and someone is gonna become a star this week. I’m gonna tune in to find out which one. But there’s no bad guys, no bloated payrolls, no big markets — and they both seem like "good guy" teams. Kinda like watching Ivan Putski wrestle Bruno Sammartino. You couldn’t root against EITHER of them. And you can’t feel too emotional either way. At least with Boston and the ALCS, you either love them or hate them. Or of course, if

Feeling sorry for the Yankees?

Nestor Aparicio

Me neither! There’s something truly glorious about sitting around the television watching them lose with good friends that makes each October special. Seeing that blank look on Mariano Rivera’s face. Seeing their loudmouthed fans wearing backward rally caps and having that look of bewilderment in their eyes. At least the few who stayed to the end to watch the demise. They have all of the money. They have all of the players. They have all of the hype. And every year — at least lately — they lose in a whimpering fashion. Much like watching the Pittsburgh Steelers get eliminated, it never gets old! The New York Yankees haven’t won the World Series since BEFORE the Ravens won the Super Bowl! And it feels like ages ago that Trent Dilfer was leading the purple. So, now it’s onto Cleveland-Boston and Arizona-Colorado. This is the way baseball should be — some new teams mixed in each year, with some young players and some new October heroes. Surely, the Red Sox will become the "bad guys" over the next few weeks, and that’s OK too… They are the OTHER team that gets all of the hype, all of the players, all of

Live from San Francisco…

Nestor Aparicio

What a bad, bad football game! I’m sitting in my hotel room getting room service with my wife and watching the raw videos from the weekend in San Francisco (along with Packers-Bears and Yankees-Tribe). I’ll be sharing my experiences with you via wnsTV at some point in the next 48 hours, but almost everything we saw over the weekend here in the Bay Area has been beautiful. That was, until the game started. Yuck! More key injuries along the offensive line. Steve McNair looking like a spent quarterback, underthrowing, overthrowing, high tosses, many off the mark or behind receivers. And then there’s the ability to finish a drive. It’s just hideous to watch, this brand of football. Some wiseguy in the press elevator said it looked like “J.V. football.” He wasn’t far off the mark. This touchdown drought is starting to take on that 2000 feeling. It feels, at times, like they’re allergic to the endzone. The Ravens defense was capable at Candlestick, as usual, but that two-play drive they allowed Trent Dilfer to lay on them was brutal, especially because the score was 9-0, not 39-0. Let’s be honest. If Joe Nedney hits that 52-yarder, it might be a

It’s 11:22…where are you?

Nestor Aparicio

So what did YOU watch tonight? Was it Monday Night Football and a seemingly irrestible matchup with New England and Cincy? Or did you opt for a "Loser Leave Town" baseball game between the Padres and Rockies in Denver. Well, I turned the TV on around 8:50, and the baseball game has been about 96% of the focal point. The few times we did put the football game on, it looked like the Men of Marvin were getting slobberknockered. Last we checked, the Pats were kicking a field goal and running it up. So, the Padres and Rockies have TOTALLY justified my decision to go with baseball tonight. Loser goes home, winner goes to Philly to face the Fightin’ Phils at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. It’s late. It’s the 11th inning of what has been an exciting game. The Rockies have two on. Joe Thatcher has just come on. I’m wearing all of my Padres swag and being an idiot. I’m acting so STUPID that I can’t even put it on wnsTV. But, for one evening, I have caught baseball fever — just like when I was a kid. I’ve been talking baseball, thinking baseball, living baseball — and MISSING

From Cleveland…the evidence!

Nestor Aparicio

In our eternal quest to bring you EXACTLY what’s going on with the Ravens, we’ve decided to allow wnsTV to paint the picture. I can go through my "overall" observations later in the week — I don’t think they’ll improve after yesterday’s debacle — but for now, check out wnsTV’s "two-part" series on my day in Cleveland. Part 1 is here… Part 2 is here… You can hear everything I was thinking AS I was thinking it. And I didn’t think many "good" thoughts. It was a whitewashing, no matter what the final statistics tell you. The Ravens were never in the game. Mistakes in the secondary. Turnovers. Penalties. Missed field goals. When you lose in Cleveland — and especially in a blowout — you KNOW there are plenty of fingers to point and plenty of bodies to point at. The radio station will be full of it for 14 hours per day this week. But this is what I was thinking and how my day went on the shores of Lake Erie.

Baseball pennant watching on Friday night…

Nestor Aparicio

So, the name "Cecil Cooper" flashed on the bottom of my hi-def ESPN screen, as I’m watching the 4th inning of the Padres-Brewers game tonight. I’ve been doing Red Sox-Twins, Orioles-Yankees all night, but an HD ballgame involving my Aunt Jane’s Padres caught my fancy about 20 minutes ago. (I’m gonna throw on my Padres old-school, mustard and puke brown lid to combat what the Brewers have done tonight!) Today, Cecil Cooper was named "permanent" managers of the Houston Astros. Funny, right now, the Milwaukee Brewers are wearing Cecil Cooper’s uniform from 1982. Seems that for the biggest game in several decades in the great midwestern city of Milwaukee, the Brewers decided to go "throwback" to the only thing they have to throw back to — our pain of the autumn of 1982. Not to geez on you, but when I see that crazy cartoon glove and ball and that blue and bright yellow — maybe the greatest baseball logo of all time — I think of Cecil Cooper, Bernie Brewer, Harvey’s Wallbangers and Ben Oglivie. And Pete "F-ing" Vuckovich and the whole band of those Shotz-drinking pirates from Laverne & Shirley-ville. Cecil Cooper signed my first baseball, one that

Help me clarify Tejada’s stance…

Nestor Aparicio

So it’s Friday night, and I’m surfing baseball games, eating tacos, the usual drill… Ray Bachman just called and swears that Miguel Tejada was on the MASN "Oriole Pre-Game" show and told Gary Thorne that he wouldn’t consider playing third base and that’s he’s "not a DH." He said he’s a SHORTSTOP and made it very clear. He says the "T" word might’ve even been uttered… Anyone see this too? Sorry, but watching the MASN pre-game show isn’t on my TV list most nights and it’s kinda weird that MASN would let this on the air? When Tejada batted in the first inning, right around the time of the Brian Roberts rundown, Gary Thorne and Buck Martinez made no mention of it. Strange? Try out the new "COMMENTS" bar below to help me out. I went to MASN’s cruddy website and there was no video there. No one on the web boards seems to be writing about it… Hmmmm??? A little help… (Maybe Ray is playing an April Fools Day joke on me today???)

Random Thoughts…

Nestor Aparicio

Been a few days since I’ve blogged… So, in no particular order: * I really had a great time on Monday night at Free The Birds 2. Even though my attorney has advised me to NOT share the videos from Monday night, rest assured they will pop up at some point, somewhere. Just the still photos of how EMPTY the stadium was would be astonishing. There were not 2,000 people in the stadium Monday night. * It’s amazing how MASN shoots the Orioles games and you’d "almost" not know how empty it is down there. * The Ray Lewis-Jamal Lewis matchup this Sunday is intriguing. You must admit: through three games, Ray Lewis looks more like the No 52 of 1999 than the one from 2005. I’m wondering if he can play like this for 16 weeks, but Ray Lewis is one special football player! * Am I a pervert, or does the fact that Tina Louise being in town mean something to you, too? Nothing wrong with Mary Ann (and I did meet her once at the Harford Mall with Gilligan and the Professor), but at heart I’m a "Ginger" guy. * The Van Halen reunion gets sorta local

Baltimore Sun covers Free The Birds with silence…so far!

Nestor Aparicio

So, the rally is tonight and The Baltimore Sun — apparently, trembling in the wake of King Peter — has chosen to conveniently "ignore" the existence of Free The Birds 2. Hmmmm….last year we had more than 2,000 people that they reported as "about 1,000" — and they couldn’t get enough of "The Rally" the day AFTER the event. Rick Maese wrote a pre-rally piece, and actually encouraged people to attend. Peter Schmuck has alluded to The Rally several times over the past 52 weeks. Roch Kubatko, who also "moonlights" as a frequent contributor to our radio competitor and MASN, and David Steele were "conscientious objectors." Apparently, they were "in Canada" during last year’s rally. So, on the tail-end of yet another completely embarrassing summer of baseball, we decided to see if anyone still cares enough to protest this colossal disgrace going on in our community: * the decay of the downtown business community on gamenights and the economic damage done to the community * the overrunning of the city by Boston and New York fans, and the lack of "civic pride" Baltimore fans have in the Orioles * the 10-plus years of pathetic baseball and "off the field" shenanigans

More FREE THE BIRDS 2 details for Monday…

Nestor Aparicio

After handing out FREE THE BIRDS signs at the Ravens game today, I feel a little better about our chances of having a legitimate "crowd" Monday night. Many, many people were very encouraging with their kind words about "not giving up the fight." And many people told me they’d "see me tomorrow." I hope every WNST supporter and true Orioles lover will consider coming downtown on a beautiful night for September baseball and spend the $9 to join our crusade to try to save Baltimore baseball from more tyranny with this lousy ownership group. That said, I don’t expect that we’ll get 40,000 FTB people tomorrow night, but again, the head count just doesn’t matter to me this year. I just want to support the local downtown businesses, send my message, allow others to send their message and have a little fun at a baseball game. The number one question: "What do you have planned, specifically, for the game?" The answer: "I have no plan!" Other than a peaceful demonstration, I have no "desire" or "structure" for tomorrow night’s protest, other than to let the management know that we’re still here, and we’re still watching, and we STILL know that

Watching the ‘only’ race…

Nestor Aparicio

So, for the Orioles, the race is on. What race? The only one they’re in — the one for sole possession of LAST PLACE in Major League Baseball. C’mon? Are you gonna pretend you’re not following it, too? The Orioles are 65-87, good enough for a .428 win percentage and second-to-last place. Tampa Bay is 63-90 and .412. Two and a half games with 10 days left? Well, let’s look at the "matchups." The O’s have 3 with Texas, 1 with Kansas City (and an angry fanbase), 3 with Toronto and 3 with the Yankees. The Rays have 3 with Boston, 3 with New York and 3 with Toronto. I dunno, maybe the Red Sox/Texas thing is a wash at this point, right? I watch the Sox most nights and they really stink right now. No doubt that Pittsburgh, Florida, Chicago and Kansas City are a factor for the basement with 66 wins. And Houston and San Francisco feel pretty "safe" at this point with 67 wins, but bad IS bad, right? Oh, and the Washington Nationals — while putrid — are safe from harm with 68 wings going into the final 10 days of the season, thanks of course

A great weekend of Baltimore sports…

Nestor Aparicio

Of course, I’m just as curious as you as to see who is as angry as we are and willing to "give up" a Monday night to come down to Oriole Park to give the Angelos family their 2007 report card. But before our FTB2 "Free Pete" on Monday, there’s a lot of sports action to catch. First up for me, is the Towson-Delaware football game on Saturday night. I hope some of you join us at the Greene Turtle in Towson for some happy hour cocktails around 4ish. If you’ve never been to a Towson football game, you should give it a try tomorrow evening. The kickoff is at 6 p.m., the tailgating is great and the weather should be glorious! Bring the family! (As a side note: My son, Barry, turns 23 — yes, TWENTY THREE YEARS OLD — tomorrow, and will be celebrating with us at the Towson football game. For some of the "oldtimers" at WNST, that might be as hard to comprehend as it is for me! Gawd, I’m so OLD!!!) Then, on Sunday of course, it’s back to the purple palace for the Matt Leinart show. It’s hard for me to accept that the

FREE THE BIRDS 2 UPDATE…

Nestor Aparicio

As you can imagine, putting together Free The Birds 2 has been very interesting. It’s hard to find support for a protest of the Orioles when a 12-0 loss to the once-hated New York Yankees brings this response: “Yawn… “Pass the purple Kool aid.” We had more than 2,000 at the first FREE THE BIRDS event last Sept. 21. All of the evidence and much of the spirit of the event was captured all over youtube. Click here to view a video. A few FAQs: 1. The tickets are $9 and we’re trying to get seats in the left field upper deck, just like last year. Apparently, it’s a “Dugout Club” night, so keep in mind that families are encouraged to attend FTB2 as well. YES…it’s a family event! 2. Why are we doing this? To raise awareness to the disgraceful way the Orioles have conducted business in Baltimore over the last decade so that perhaps someday a change in ownership will take place. 3. Is there a meeting place? We think that EVERY bar near Camden Yards is a great place to grab a pre-game libation. We are partial to Maggie Moore’s, Camden Pub and Edgar’s, because they’ve been

Baseball tonight…

Nestor Aparicio

So with Free The Birds on my brain and baseball on my mind, my wife and I settled in to watch some hardball tonight… Currently, it’s tight. Red Sox down a run, Yankees up on the Orioles, with the brooms swinging… And I’m just thinking, and when I’m thinking, I’m blogging… * What’s it like to be an Oriole player tonight, in the midst of Yankee Stadium on a September night? The park is full, the home team — given up for DEAD three months ago — is within breathing distance of the hated Red Sox, Andy Pettite’s on the hill and the joint is rocking. And then, on Monday, they’ll come home to find a near empty stadium, and the few of us there will include a contingent that is coming to the park to protest the same ownership that many of them realize has screwed the whole thing up here. If you’re Brian Roberts or Miguel Tejada or ANYONE on the team this is how it goes: Tonight, baseball is a joy to play… On Monday and all of next week, they’ll play in front of an empty stadium every night…NOT fun! And then the Yankees fans will

FREE THE BIRDS IS SET FOR MONDAY NIGHT!!!

Nestor Aparicio

We’re doing FREE THE BIRDS 2 on Monday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Which begs the question: Why? Not to be coy, but WHY NOT? Honestly, are they not worthy of protesting? Do you think anything has gotten better in the last 12 months? We’re gonna send out a text, send out emails to the more than 2,000 people who signed up on www.freethebirds.net, send out our newsletter to about 10,000 people and talk about it a little bit on the radio this week and hope that the internet and email folks spread the word a little bit. This little website had 23,350 unique visitors last Tuesday and has been averaging about 15,000 people per day. This website had 1,177,950 hits last Tuesday. This website has had 103,431 unique visitors in the last seven days totaling 4,925,431 hits. I think the word will get out… Let’s be honest: we’ve got about five days to get the word out, which, honestly is probably all it will take. Everyone who WANTS to walk in, walk out, scream like hell, sport a FTB T-shirt, wear bags on their heads, etc., will know about Free The Birds 2 and the hastily arranged

We sweat it out a bit there at the end…

Nestor Aparicio

But, in the end, the Ravens won and truly dominated the game. Of course, when the Jets were marching toward the Inner Harbor and a tie game — and if not for some butterfingers and a Ray Lewis tip-drill savior, it might have happened — it didn’t matter that the Jets only had 100 yards of offense through the first three quarters. All that mattered was the scoreboard, and the Jets got quite resourceful in that department late into the afternoon. The botched possession at the three minute mark… The field goal Matt Stover missed… The strange instant replay touchdown the Jets were gifted… And the one Todd Heap scored that was nearly negated… I guess the point is: it was closer than it should’ve been and that makes anyone in a purple sweater a bit nervous, and perhaps, a bit skeptical about just how good the 2007 Ravens are going to be. In the end, it was Ray Lewis saving day (there’s a very cool video coming in my wnsTV blog…should arrive on Monday at some point!). But the game and the victory didn’t come without some casualties. The Trevor Pryce wrist injury is going to be a factor.