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Mining everything but “The Bird”…

Nestor Aparicio

No doubt, by now you know that Mine The Bird, a 51-to-1 shot, won the Kentucky Derby in the mud with the most emotional athlete I’ve ever seen in Calvin Borel aboard. You surely know that the Caps now have a 1-0 series lead over the Penguins after yesterday’s 3-2 win in D.C. You’re keenly aware of the Orioles continued ineptitude in Toronto (which I’ve thankfully avoided with various other sports obligations) and the fact that Johns Hopkins squeaked by Loyola in lacrosse yesterday. You might’ve even stayed up with the Celtics and Bulls last night in a game that even “non-believing” NBA fans couldn’t help but catch a glimpse. We even took a busload of NASCAR fans down to Richmond last night with Rex Snider to catch the race where Kyle Busch held off Jeff Gordon. And, if you’re on the WNST Text Service, you got the note that former Dolphins (and Cam Cameron) quarterback John Beck is expected to sign with the Ravens tomorrow to compete for the No. 2 job. (So much for the Troy Smith experiment.) I went to the Caps game yesterday and had an awesome time. No press pass. Just went and sat in

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

Nestor Aparicio

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

A Great Sunday sports day on tap

Nestor Aparicio

What a great day to be alive! The NFL draft is starting at 10 a.m. The Orioles will send young Brad Bergesen back to the hill at 1:35 to try to actually win a game this weekend. The last two days have been putrid. And, of course, I’ll be pimping the puck and “Rocking my Red” at 2 p.m. when the Caps go back to Madison Square Garden for Game 6 with Rangers coach John Tortorella. The Ravens will introduce new tackle Michael Ohen at 2 p.m. as well. Gonna be a fun day of sports and blogging… Keep it here at WNST.net…

Former Baltimore Clippers great Kent Douglas dead at 73

Nestor Aparicio

As many of you know, we threw a Caps viewing party last night at Silver Spring Mining Company in Perry Hall. The camaraderie surrounding hockey is amazing and I ran into former Baltimore Clippers player Steve Wirth, who most puck people know from Mt. Pleasant and his mid 1970s days on the ice. He told me that Kent Douglas died last weekend and he didn’t see anything about it around town or in “the paper.” I told him that The Baltimore Sun probably doesn’t have a person in the building who has even heard of Kent Douglas. Well, sadly, a simple internet search verified Douglas’ death last week in Canada. Some background on Douglas, who served as a player/coach of the Clippers from NHLPA players site: Kent Douglas played two seasons of junior hockey with the Kitchener Canucks of the OHA before embarking on a seven-year apprenticeship in the AHL and the WHL. Just over three of those seasons were spent under the tutelage of former defensive great Eddie Shore whose Springfield Indians were to hockey players what boot camp was to recruits. Douglas emerged from Shore’s program as a tough and heady defenseman who caught Punch Imlach’s eye in

Caps and O’s both lose again…

Nestor Aparicio

10:45 p.m. — The comeback came up short. In the end, it was the BoSox bullpen that held the lead that Josh Beckett delivered and quelled a 9th inning rally via Jonathan Papelbon. Orioles pitching surrendered 12 hits and four walks, losing 6-4 at Fenway Park tonight despite four innings of scoreless relief. It wasn’t a 22-4 whitewashing — like the Yankees suffered today at home to the Tribe — but it’s another loss, their third in a row, that has them at 6-5 on the season. Adam Eaton now has a 11.25 ERA on the season, going just four innings tonight and allowing nine hits and two walks. And again, the bottom of the order has been ineffective offensively with these anemic averages: Gregg Zaun .133, Felix Pie .179 and Cesar Izturis .162. Koji Uehara will go back to the hill tomorrow against Jon Lester at 1:35. 8:50 p.m. –One thing you CAN say: the dangerous hitting can chase down the bad pitching on a lot of nights. Josh Beckett is walking in runs and getting thrashed by orange bats here in the 5th inning. Four runs in, one runner on and nobody out. And, yes, we have activity

“Rock The Red” with WNST and Caps at Silver Spring Mining Company Monday night

Nestor Aparicio

We attempted to put together some “Puck Bus” activities for the Capitals playoff games this past week but we just couldn’t acquire the tickets to pull it off. So, instead, we’re offering all Baltimore-area Caps fans a chance to come out and “Rock The Red” in unity on Monday at Silver Spring Mining Company in Perry Hall for Game 3. Hopefully, a Caps victory today will tie the series and Alex Ovechkin and company will be going for a series lead on Monday. We will also be having a group outing on Wednesday night at the Hunt Valley location of Silver Spring Mining Company for Game 4. We will have Michelob Ultra specials for both events and hope you wear your red and come out and enjoy watching the Stanley Cup playoffs with other “Puckheads” as we “Rock The Red.” As you may know, Silver Spring Mining Company is owned by former NHLer and Baltimore Skipjack, Gary Rissling, who still loves the sport and has made a life in Baltimore after his days playing in the AHL during the mid-1980’s. Let’s make Silver Spring Mining Company a REAL hockey bar on Monday night in Perry Hall and Wednesday night in

Rangers deal Orioles and Caps bad losses

Nestor Aparicio

A touchdown and a field goal and the Orioles would’ve been right back in last night’s endeavor at The Ballpark in Arlington. For the third time in as many series, the Orioles imploded in the final game, getting their pitching officially battered by the stout Rangers in a 19-6 drubbing. They’ll have the day off today before battling the Red Sox four times over the weekend at Fenway Park. Meanwhile, earlier in the night the Caps gave up an ugly third-period goal and failed to capitalize on their power play, losing to the “other” Rangers 4-3 at Verizon Center. Game 2 is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Below are my notes from an evening “Rocking the Remote” with the O’s and Caps: 10:37 p.m. — If you’re going to lose, why not do it in legendary style? Ian Kinsler has just tripled to complete the cycle. It must be something about the Rangers, these blowout games. It’s 15-4 in the 6th inning. At least it’s not 30-3. Not yet, anyway… 10:27 p.m. — Jim Palmer just said Chad Moeller has “put the wrong fingers down” too many times this year. And he’s now heading toward 0-3 as the

Breakfast with Jim Schwartz and the NFC coaches

Nestor Aparicio

The NFL Owners Meetings are about to wrap up out here in Dana Point, Calif. later this afternoon and the final day brings the opportunity to dine and schmooze and interview the NFC coaches, which of course took me to the table of new Detroit Lions coach and longtime WNST.net contributor, Jim Schwartz. As an Arbutus native and Mt. St. Joe grad, I feel I owe it to Baltimore (as well as to Schwartz’s many friends and relatives) to get as much of the video up as possible. I’m running to grab a plane but I have about an hour’s worth of great stuff — ranging from draft perspective to the 0-16 Lions to Schwartz’s view on Mark Teixeira and his new time management techniques. It might take me two days to get all of the videos up on the site but they’ll be coming soon and I’ll be releasing a few a day for the next week. I’ve literally shot 2 1/2 hours worth of notable interviews, including more stuff with Rex Ryan, Marvin Lewis, Mike Tomlin, Mike Smith and tons more footage of yesterday’s sitdown with John Harbaugh, who had his brother Jim and dad Jack here for

FINALLY…Baltimore gets a World Soccer match!

Nestor Aparicio

Over the past decade fans in New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. have been treated to a European “friendly” football matchup and finally Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium will get ours: Chelsea will face A.C. Milan on July 24 in downtown of the Charm City. Here’s the press release from the Ravens, who are promoting the event. BREAKING NEWS: Chelsea vs. AC Milan to play at M&T Bank Stadium! On Friday, July 24th at 8:00 p.m, Chelsea, of the English Premier League will take on AC Milan, of Italy’s top division Serie A at M&T Bank Stadium. This match will mark the first soccer event to be played at M&T Bank Stadium. A sell out crowd is expected and as a PSL Owner, we would like to offer you the first opportunity to purchase tickets for this exciting event before tickets go on sale to the general public. General public sales begin today, Tuesday, March 24th at 12:30 p.m. Special VIP hospitality packages are also available on both an individual basis and for groups of 30. VIP package, club level and lower level midfield purchasers will get access to a private practice session on Thursday, July 23rd from 6-9 p.m

Caps and Brashear represent NHL in downtown Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio

For the first time in as long as I can remember — and as you know, I have a pretty long memory — the Washington Capitals did a Baltimore event last night downtown at the ESPN Zone. Left wing Donald Brashear came to the Inner Harbor for a one-hour autograph and photo event and wound up having to stay for 90 minutes because the crowd and line were so overwhelming. My guess is that more than 400 people came by to greet Brashear and talk about “rocking the red.” As a lifer hockey fan, it was a pretty cool and unique event. Even in the days of Mike Gartner and Rod Langway, the Caps never, ever did events in Baltimore. Geez, their affiliate was here for four years and they barely made a sound inside the beltway here even when the NHL team played 35 minutes away at the Capital Centre. We’ve been without hockey here for almost 15 years now — since Mike Caggiano and the Bandits pulled the plug — and as the only remaining media entity that still cares about and supports the puck it was a pleasure to have WNST involved. We’ll be doing at least

ZZ Top and Buckcherry will play the Preakness Infield

Nestor Aparicio

Just got back from the Maryland Jockey Club and the two biggest pieces of news: 1. You’ll have to pay for beer and alcohol in the infield & 2. ZZ Top & Buckcherry will be playing concerts in the infield. There was also a big announcement about a Pro Beach Volleyball pit there that the local folks from Corrigan Sports will coordinate. So, bikinis, rock and roll and alcohol will still be involved with the Preakness and Pimlico. We’ll talk about it on the show all afternoon. Here is the press release from Mike Gathagan at Maryland Jockey Club. PREAKNESS INFIELDFEST TO ROCK PIMLICO MAY 16 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMERS ZZ TOP AND GRAMMY-NOMINATED BUCKCHERRY HEADLINE INFIELD CONCERT ON PREAKNESS DAY BALTIMORE, 02-05-09—The Maryland Jockey Club today announced at a news conference in the Terrace Dining Room at Pimlico Race Course that it is redefining the Infield experience on Preakness day, May 16, 2009. Preakness InfieldFEST will feature a concert with three rock performances, including Rock and Roll Hall of Famers ZZ Top and Grammy-nominated Buckcherry, along with a pro volleyball tournament and an interactive section prior to the running of the $1 million Preakness® Stakes (Grade I).

Pimlico set to make big announcement regarding Preakness infield

Nestor Aparicio

Drew and I will be heading over to Pimlico at 11 a.m. for their “big” announcement regarding some changes to the infield on Preakness Day. I haven’t been alerted to all of the details, but apparently some big concerts and “changes” are blowing into Old Hilltop on the third Saturday of May. Incidentally, why today for a press conference? Well, it’s exactly 100 days until Preakness Saturday. Which means it’s also 86 days until the Kentucky Derby, my favorite sports event of the year. We’ll have wnsTV on the scene. I’m on the air at 2 p.m. with John Rallo and UFC and we’ll catch you up on the latest with Preakness doings…

While you guys are all watching this amazing Wrigley Field NHL game…

Nestor Aparicio

Don’t forget that we have our “WNST Puck Bus” revved up for Tuesday night for the Philadelphia Flyers game against the Caps in D.C. I love hockey! Just watching this “old-time” matchup is getting me fired up for Tuesday night! (Even though my purple goggles are in overdrive!) Still gonna be hard to top last year’s “Winter Classic” but this is close! Hope you join us on one of our three Puck Buses. Here’s a video of the last one. They’re always a major blast! To see more info or to get on the bus this Tuesday (we have a few seats left!) click here.

WNST Puck Bus makes a perfect holiday gift!

Nestor Aparicio

Just a reminder that for our Baltimore puck heads that the WNST Baltimore Puck Buses for 2009 are now ON SALE! We’re doing three trips down to D.C. to see the Capitals: Jan. 6 vs. Philadelphia Feb. 18 vs. Montreal March 6 vs. Carolina All trips are $60 each and a “three pack” is $150. It includes game ticket, bus ride, limited beer, sodas and snacks plus Caps trivia and stupid movies like “Slapshot” and “Youngblood” as well as some Canadian classics. Our buses leave from White Marsh and pick up in Catonsville en route to the Verizon Center. It makes a pretty cool holiday gift for someone in your life who loves hockey and won’t say “What The Puck?” if this makes its way under the holiday tree. All of the details are here and you can paypal your order now and you’re all signed up! Hope we get to see you on our trips. Click here if you want to check out a video of the fun from last time when the Caps won a thriller:

WNST announces three “Puck Bus” trips to Caps games

Nestor Aparicio

Greetings fellow puck lovers: WNST is proud to offer three more “Puck Bus” opportunities during 2009 to go to Washington Capitals games with a group of spirited Baltimore hockey fans. Here are the three dates: Tuesday, Jan. 6 vs. Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday, Feb. 18 vs. Montreal Canadiens Tuesday, March 3 vs. Carolina Hurricanes All of the trips will have the same 2-stop itinerary: We’ll leave White Marsh Park and Ride at 4:30 and pick up at the UMBC Park and Ride at 5 p.m. Each trip will include an upper deck group reserved seat, limited cold beer and soda on the bus, snacks provided by WNST sponsors and fun hockey-themed videos and trivia to win Caps giveaways. To see some wnsTV of what our first “Puck Bus” looked like, click here. And, yes, we’ll play the Baltimore Clippers fight song as well. Or was it the Skipjacks fight song? Or the Bandits fight song? Tickets are $60 per person and $150 for a three-game “WNST Three-Pack”. Click here to buy individual games or the WNST Puck Bus Three Pack:

Puck buses and hot dog eating…

Nestor Aparicio

The puck buses will go on sale tomorrow! Here are the dates for our excursions to D.C. for three Caps games: Tuesday, Jan. 6th vs. Philadelphia, Wed. Feb. 18th vs. Montreal & Tuesday March 3 vs. Carolina. We’re trying to figure out a way to make a “WNST season ticket” outta it. However, tonight, I’ll be going down to the Islanders-Caps game for a hot dog eating competition against Sonya Thomas, the “Black Widow” of competitive eating. Of course, WNSTV will be on the scene. Hope you also check out last night’s fun at the UMBC-Towson game. It sucks that the game wasn’t more competitive — Towson just shot the lights out and were tenacious on defense. I was hoping for a buzzer beater. The Dawgs will rise again. And Pat’s Cats looked tremendous. A really fun night for all of us and saw many WNST readers and listeners there as well. Brian Billick had better form than me but the scoreboard still reads: Nestor 2, Brian 0. (And yes, he’ll be hearing about that for the rest of eternity!) It’s been a really awesome week and I’ve received many very touching emails from people regarding the Modell issue. And

Pucks and hot dogs and Hall of Fame and free throws

Nestor Aparicio

So, I’m having a strange week. First, the surreal life in Cincinnati can be easily seen by watching my wnsTV accounts of the past two years in Cincinnati. The new video is on the box on the right and the ones from last year are here and here and here. I’ve been doing the Cincy trip (fly through Louisville, drive 100 miles, take in the game) for 13 years. It’s always easy, cheap and interesting. And if you ever get a chance to go to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe on Louisville, by all means get some eggs and bacon. But these videos will tell you the difference between a winning season and a losing season. Nothing unlike what we’ve seen here two of the last three seasons when we were losing. But in Cincinnati, it’s on steroids comparatively speaking. It really kinda reminded me of the 1981 and 82 Colts when there was nobody on 33rd Street at the games and my Pop never understood why in the world I’d want to go to the games. But I did. So, after getting back around midnight, I’ve been hard at work on getting our Art Modell promotion kicked off and I sincerely

Another successful Puck Bus and postgame Browns stains

Nestor Aparicio

Red hats off to our 57 hockey enthusiasts who ventured down to the Verizon Center last night and “Rocked The Red” for the Caps-Hurricanes game. And, wow, what an ending! Alexander Semin scored on an amazing pass from Alex Ovechkin and the Caps stole a 3-2 win with less than 11 seconds remaining in regulation, beating goalie Cam Ward and turning the rink into a joyous celebration. We had kids, families, moms, dads and most surprisingly, MANY people who had never been to a hockey game before. We watched “Slap Shot,” gave away autographed pucks, ate Captain Harvey’s yummy sandwiches and brownies and talked “old time” hockey. I suppose I’m a little spoiled having had hockey here in Baltimore most of my childhood. It’s been almost 15 years since we lost the puck, so I guess there really are a LOT of people who have never experienced the joy of hockey live. It’s kinda cool watching a kid see live hockey for the first time. Many folks asked me if we’d be doing more “Puck Bus” trips this season. Given the quick sellout of our trip last night, I think we’ll be offering a multi-game “season ticket” for a Baltimore

Rocking the Red with the Caps in D.C.

Nestor Aparicio

I’ll admit it. I’m biased. I inexplicably fell in love with hockey when I was five years old at the Baltimore Civic Center at an AHL Nova Scotia Voyageurs-Clippers game. I saw the ice. I saw the action. I was hooked. During my 40-plus years on the planet,  many of my best and most personal sports memories have been made at hockey games. Most of the people who’ve listened to my show or read my work over the past 17 years know of my affinity for the puck. We’re running our first-ever “Caps Puck Bus” next Thursday night (tickets are only $50 for the whole evening of fun) and I expect it to be memorable. Last night, I made my first of many pilgrimages down to the Verizon Center in D.C. to see the Caps take on my adopted favorite team, the Nashville Predators. It was a memorable game. The Caps took it to the Preds early, at one point holding a 23-5 lead in shots and a 2-1 advantage. Nashville came back to even the score late in the game, forcing a rare OT shootout, which the Caps won taking a 4-3 victory. Sure, Alex Ovechkin was missing last

Puck You…

Nestor Aparicio

Now that we have your attention, it’s NHL season again. And the Washington Capitals have reached out to WNST during the offseason and we’re trying to have some fun during trying political and unstable times. For anyone who has followed my career, you know I have one pretty strong lifelong passion that I was truly self-indulgent about: hockey. The breakthrough in my sports media career came when I was 16 years old and covering Baltimore Skipjacks and Washington Capitals games at The News American. I also covered both of those teams in various forms (as well as the Bandits) for The Evening Sun. I was the beat writer and in 1991 I met Kenny Albert. We did a talk show together and — voila — WNST is born. Well, sorta… It would be impossible to tell you how much fun and how much joy hockey has added to my life. The many, many Stanley Cup playoff excursion I’ve been on… To Vancouver, Anaheim, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Manhattan, Raleigh, Miami, Nashville – I’ve seen playoff games in all of these cities. I’m great pals with Predators coach Barry Trotz and would fulfill a lifetime dream of mine, drinking

Puck You…

Nestor Aparicio

Now that we have your attention, it’s NHL season again. And the Washington Capitals have reached out to WNST during

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