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Orioles, Gonzalez again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

Luke Jones

BALTIMORE — The good vibes of Opening Day and the first week of the season are one of the few occasions when Orioles fans are typically allowed to feel good. Spring is in the air, the Orioles are back in town, and the standings look a little better—at least for now. However, as Mike Gonzalez walked off the mound following another terrible performance and his second blown save in three chances, optimism quickly transformed into ugly frustration as Baltimore fans pounded the left-hander with a chorus of boos only reserved for former Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller in recent Baltimore sports history. It was a troubling display from the home crowd, regardless of how lousy Gonzalez has been in his first week as an Oriole. Twelve years of losing will do that to you. The Orioles and Gonzalez have to be looking at themselves with utter disbelief. A team fully expecting—or at least saying so anyway—to be improved now finds itself with a 1-3 record when it very well should be 3-1, or could be 4-0. But they’re not, and therein lies the rub with the fans at Camden Yards. Couple that with the comments made by general manager Andy MacPhail

Gonzalez quickly sculpting unnerving image in Baltimore

Luke Jones

If we can take anything from the opening series of the 2010 season, we know it’s going to be interesting in the final inning. Unnerving. Agonizing. Hold on for dear life. New closer Mike Gonzalez atoned for his Opening Night debacle by preserving the first win of the season Thursday night, but the performance was anything but routine in the Orioles’ 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay. After striking out the first two batters of the ninth and appearing poised to retire the side in order, Gonzalez loaded the bases before finally enticing Ben Zobrist to fly out to right, thankfully ending a 26-pitch, 12-strike inning as Orioles fans finally breathed a sigh of relief and somewhere Earl Weaver burned through an entire pack of cigarettes. At least that’s the rumor. Gonzalez made it very clear he was anxious to return to the mound following his blown save on Tuesday night, and to his credit, he got the job done, but it couldn’t have been any shakier. It’s quickly becoming pretty apparent why few teams were beating down Gonzalez’s door last December to sign him up as their fireman. With just 54 career saves, Gonzalez had rarely been used as a

Orioles circa 2010: We know they’ll lie, but will they lie down again?

Nestor Aparicio

I know, I’m like a freaking broken record. Every year I write about how I’ve wrongfully had my media pass revoked and every year the Orioles make up some more lies to justify all of their mean-spiritedness and lack of professionalism. It’s Opening Day, I’ve again been deemed “not a media member” but that’s just the “off the field” stuff. On the field, the word “improvement” has been thrown around all offseason in regard to the Orioles. As I’ve said many times, when you lose 98 games it’s hard NOT to improve the following season. It can’t get much worse, really. As sickening as it is that I’ve taken a myriad of phone calls, emails and correspondence wondering “if the Orioles can win 78 games” – as though this disgracefully low bar somehow passes for “improvement” – I am officially one of the optimistic orange Kool Aid drinkers circa April 5th regarding the 2010 season. It is my belief that this is the best team the Orioles have fielded this century. In 2004, the Orioles “best” performance was indeed 78 wins. Las Vegas has the 2010 Orioles over/under at 74 ½. If I were a betting man, I’d honestly take

Traveling to Indy? Here’s Everything you need to know about parties & fun!

Nestor Aparicio

So, you’re a Ravens Maniac like us and you’re planning on coming to Indianapolis with us – hopefully on our Miller Lite Purple Playoff Roadtrip but perhaps on your own via planes, buses or automobiles — and you don’t really know the best way to go about it, book it or who to trust? This blog and this information is for Ravens fans like you. Hop aboard and learn “all things Indianapolis, Ravens roadtrip and this weekend’s playoff game” here from WNST.net, where we pride ourselves on throwing the best parties and best events for the traveling purple crowd on the road! First (as a shameless plug), our trip is on sale and our first bus is already sold out. We just put the second bus on sale. Honestly, our bus trip is designed to be the cheapest, easiest and most fun way to do the trip. You show up at 6 a.m. on Friday and almost everything is taken care of for you and you can relax and just have fun until Sunday night when we return around 9 p.m. (Go out on Facebook and ask around to the 109 people we took to New England this weekend or

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The theme of Ravens’ fanbase this week

Nestor Aparicio

I’m not an expert on much, but Baltimore sports and enthusiasm are two things I’ve spent my entire existence since 1972 immersed in here in the Charm City. And even though the Ravens are traveling to New England this weekend for an honest-to-God, NFL playoff game, I’m sensing this is the least-exciting postseason run in the history of Baltimore sports. I have more ways to take the temperature of the city than I care to admit. From emails and AM 1570 to thousands of people on Facebook, Twitter and in a variety of web locales — this is a tepid metropolis right now regarding the Ravens. I’m just looking for some purple string lights around the region and I’m not “feeling the love” for the 2009 Ravens. Where’s YOUR purple, Baltimore? Now before you say, “Nasty – I’m fired up for the game on Sunday, what are you talking about?” I will respond with facts (not low blows…). Fact: There are still many flights into Providence, Boston and Manchester all day on Friday and Saturday. Fact: There were still seats left on my bus a few hours ago. I reserved NINE buses for the weekend. I’m using TWO. Fact: Seats

Are you headed to New England this weekend?

Nestor Aparicio

It’s no secret that this is our favorite time of the year. The Ravens are in the playoffs, with the possibility of surprising the NFL and shocking the world, and we’re headed to New England this weekend for drinks, smiles, cheers and some postseason, chilly football in Foxborough. If you (or someone you know or love) is headed to the Ravens-Patriots game this weekend, please share this blog and have them join our Facebook group called “I’m going to New England this weekend.” We are finalizing all of our party plans today and will announce it all via WNST AM 1570, our Twitter feed (@WNST) and on our group Facebook page over the next few days. We still have seats left on our 2nd Miller Lite Purple Playoff bus as well. If anyone needs me directly, I can be reached here (nasty@wnst.net) or on Facebook at Nestor J. Aparicio. As our baseball owner once said: “I’m a very available individual…”

Bears are in air, headed to BWI now: FOLLOW FLIGHT HERE LIVE!!!

Nestor Aparicio

UPDATE 9:16 p.m. — Bears flight has departed O’Hare for BWI. Officially left at 8:16 CST/now and slated to land at 10:43 p.m. with early arrival expected. You can follow the entire flight path with this link: Chicago Bears flight to BWI! Isn’t technology cool? Isn’t the web superbadass? UPDATE 8:05 p.m. — The Bears buses just left Halas Hall en route to O’Hare Airport. Will they get out of Chicago? Will BWI be open? We’ll keep updating you as we know! UPDATE: 1:51 p.m. –I just got a confirmation that the Bears are being told they’ll depart O’Hare Airport at 8 p.m. That would have them touch down at BWI at 10:30 p.m. We’ll see if they make it. If there are any further “moves” you’ll know first if you keep checking back to WNST.net. Or follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our free, easy and awesome Text Service. 1:35 p.m. — I just got off the phone with two sources within Halas Hall. They both have confirmed that the Bears are in a bit of a “holding pattern.” One put it best: “You kinda have to go where the acts of Mother Nature take you. You have

Yikes!!! Bears are stuck in Chicago…

Nestor Aparicio

I just got off the phone with Bears PR director Scott Hagel who confirmed that the Chicago Bears are still in Chicago and conducting business as usual in preparation to get Baltimore for tomorrow’s 4:15 p.m. game. Here’s the link to their official website blog, which confirms that the Bears’ flight last night was canceled. “The Bears tried to beat the snow in Baltimore, but they got sacked by Mother Nature. With 10-20 inches of snow expected to fall this weekend, the team moved its flight from Saturday afternoon to Friday night. But the Bears never made it to Baltimore. They boarded their charter at O’Hare at 10:30 p.m., and then sat on the plane before the flight was canceled at 12:30 a.m. because the snowstorm had arrived earlier than expected. The Bears bused back to Halas Hall, arriving at 1:15 a.m., and will attempt to fly to Baltimore late Saturday.” WNST will update you if/when the Bears get off of the ground at O’Hare in north Chicago, where it’s not snowing. The biggest issue will clearly be whether the BWI runway stays open.

Postcard from Green Bay & Lambeau Field

Nestor Aparicio

It’s early morning here in Green Bay and the snow is beginning to fall. It’s 19 degrees here in the land of the frozen tundra and we’re expected to get 1-to-2 inches of fresh snow before the indoor tailgates begin this afternoon. And, no, they will not be closing schools here in Wisconsin today or freaking out on the local news. The Ravens are in a pretty good position if they can find a way to win this football game tonight at Lambeau Field. The Steelers lost yesterday. The Jaguars won. There is still plenty of football left and for anyone who just pencils in “win” vs. Detroit, Chicago or Oakland, all you need to do is check the results every Sunday to realize there are no “easy” wins in the NFL. (Except if you’re playing Cleveland, that is, and thankfully we don’t have to see them again!) I’ll be writing from the press box at Lambeau Field tonight. We’ll have the Purple Haze chat room open, we’ll be Tweeting, Facebooking and texting you all of the info as the game unfolds. We hope you keep it tuned to WNST.net on the net tonight or join Eric Aaronson and his

First aid & Band aids don’t aid Ravens’ Festivus run

Nestor Aparicio

The nagging injuries to Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis & Haloti Ngata are doing nothing to help the Ravens’ postseason run here in December. Here’s one gloomy observation on the upcoming purple postseason hopes for January in the AFC.

Giving Thanks to Baltimore coaches everywhere

Nestor Aparicio

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

Lots of questions but not lots of answers for Ravens

Nestor Aparicio

To say that frustration has fallen across the land here in Baltimore along with an early sunset would be an understatement. Today, once again, the sun continued to set on another season of Ravens football as the Ravens dropped their fifth game of the season as the Indianapolis Colts walked across the purple bird toward the visiting locker room as the winners in their former land of Baltimore. Today, it is NOT the land of pleasant living. After a 7th-consecutive disgusting loss for a fan base who built that horseshoe for the Irsay family before having it shoved up its civic backside in March 1984, there are many questions, but few answers the Ravens can provide beyond a disappointing 5-5 record. Ed Reed and Ray Lewis didn’t even chat with the media. (Why Reed was trying to pitch the ball in that situation is just inexplicable — except that he’s been doing it for a decade, Brian Billick-be-damned!) John Harbaugh had a rather terse “no comment”-style response in regard to this action. I’m not a guy who’s ever looked for “goats” in losses. I’ve been around this game long enough to know that mistakes of the physical nature are usually

At least one Harbaugh is a rock star…

Nestor Aparicio

John Harbaugh is 5-4. His brother, former Ravens QB Jim Harbaugh, is 7-3 at Stanford and fresh off of knocking off USC and Pete Carroll last weekend. If you saw the game, you know that Harbaugh rubbed Carroll’s nose in the dirt when going for up a two-pointer while up 27 points in the 4th quarter. I ran across a great story about Jim Harbaugh’s new-found rock star status in Palo Alto on www.sportsline.com written by Dennis Dodd. A great read! I had a great time with Jim when he was with the Ravens in 1998. We did some radio shows together and he had a very quirky way about him, even then. A funny guy, we once went to see Hootie and The Blowfish together with Tony Siragusa and Michael McCrary. I wrote about it in my book, Purple Reign. It was crazy night with a lot of twists and turns but I’ll never forget Harbaugh carrying a girl who was on crutches down a flight of steep stairs trying to help her. He was really a good guy and he’s now the toast of the football world and the hottest coaching prospect in the business. Good for him!

Hey Jon Gruden: Welcome to the Baltimore manure list!

Nestor Aparicio

It didn’t take long for the manure to hit the fan in Baltimore during the Monday Night Football broadcast from Cleveland on ESPN after Jon Gruden made his comments regarding the Ravens and their “historic contributions” to the NFL’s newest drive to market hideously grotesque old AFL laundry. While swimming in the sea of obvious insensitivity and double negatives that encompass every Ravens-Browns matchup since Art Modell moved his franchise to the Charm City in 1996, Gruden uttered one of the more ignorant one-liners since Bob Trumpy wished us bad weather and cold hot dogs back in September of that fateful year: “If the Ravens wore their throwback jerseys, they’d be the Browns.” While I was awash in the WNST Purple Haze chat room as well as scanning Twitter and Facebook, I saw that the Baltimore folks were bristling in social media during the second quarter. At halftime, I chased down Ron Jaworski, who I knew pretty well from our days working together at NFL Films on Mondays a decade ago and told him to deliver a message to Gruden for me: “If the Ravens wore their throwback jerseys, they’d ACTUALLY be blue and white with a horseshoe on them!

Question of the day: Wizards vs. Capitals in Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio

Obviously, we have created a nice partnership with the Washington Capitals here at WNST. They’re nice people. They really want to market Baltimore and bring their players and do events here. There’s even serious talk about a pre-season NHL game at the First Mariner Arena. And we have their coaches and players on and attempt to let people know that they have a good thing going on in D.C. with their hockey team and Baltimore is “invited.” Recently, Dave Hughes, who has a nice local media site called DCRTV, asked me two questions. 1. What is the popularity of the Caps and Wizards in Baltimore? 2. Will Balto ever get a hockey/basketball team? This is what I wrote to him: Baltimore will never get an NHL or NBA team. There are territorial rights issues that would be more complex than the Orioles/Nationals/Expos/MASN/MLB. Plus, it doesn’t have the industry or fan base to support those prices for 40 dates. Plus the Arena won’t be built of that fashion (18-22K seats)… The Caps are quickly gaining popularity in Baltimore. We do soldout bus trips to Caps games. We’ve done full bars for playoff games at Silver Spring Mining Company in Hunt Valley

Orioles continue to drag feet on signing Sarasota deal

Nestor Aparicio

While it appears to be a fait accompli that the Orioles will play their spring training games in Sarasota in three months, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported today that the Orioles still have not officially notified the officials there in writing that they’ll actually show up in February. As I’ve written before, they’ll live to regret working with the Angelos group. Everyone always does. Here’s my favorite excerpt from yesterday’s report: “The Orioles were supposed to tell Sarasota County by Nov. 1 whether they would hold spring training at Ed Smith in 2010. That notification has not happened yet. So while the Orioles have committed to a 30-year deal in Sarasota starting in 2011, they have not yet indicated whether they will play there in the spring of 2010. Orioles spokesman Greg Bader did not immediately return a call for comment this afternoon.” But for now, we’re 72 hours away from free hot dogs and bon bons at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday. We’ll be reporting on this as it continues. And it always does…

A Call to Harbs: Your Chance to Fix the Ravens

Luke Jones

The sheer volume of opining, panicking, and lamenting jamming the airwaves, flooding inboxes, and littering message boards since 4:30 p.m. on Sunday has been impossible to escape if you’re a Ravens fan. And it’s understandable with Sunday’s game clearly being one of the Ravens’ worst performances in recent memory. Of course, the venting is part of the cathartic process of being a fan after a loss, but it ultimately does nothing to address the problem—or problems—and leaves you feeling helpless in the Ravens’ plight with a 4-4 record and two games behind Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the AFC North. Ultimately, “it is what it is” for us observers. In reality, the frustration and second-guessing displayed by us all is falling on deaf ears, and for the most part, that’s a good thing. Who hasn’t made a bold proclamation—or several hundred—to their buddies but later felt relief that no one was really listening? After all, I was convinced Peyton Manning would be the next Heath Shuler while Ryan Leaf would be the next John Elway, and we all know how that turned out. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMe0Rz1frdE&feature=PlayList&p=C6E7EEFE0DCA91CA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25[/youtube] So now that we’ve acknowledged our limitations and past gaffes in evaluating the NFL and its players, this is

Hey John: You can’t be 4-4 and seriously talk playoffs

Nestor Aparicio

Just judging from the sheer volume of social media I consumed all day yesterday, the fan base here is in “quit on the 2009 season” mode. The lofty expectations following a rookie campaign for John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco that ended in the AFC Championship Game led all of us in the Charm City to feel as though this year would somehow be better. Well, we’re halfway through the race and things haven’t gone according to the best laid plan. The Ravens have lost four of their last five, including yesterday’s turd in Cincinnati. The team, overall, just hasn’t been as good as advertised in many ways. The Bengals have now embarrassed the Ravens twice in four weeks en route to sole possession of the AFC North lead and have earned the right to crow. While yesterday’s loss certainly felt like more of a beatdown than the final score — and we’ll get to Steve Hauschka’s missed kick in a minute — the NFL only counts one thing en route to a playoff berth in the tournament: wins. And right now, at 4-4, this isn’t going to get it done. I could make excuses for all of the other three

Kokinis the latest former Ravens exec shown door in Cleveland

Nestor Aparicio

The names change but the team remains the same. The Cleveland Browns stink. The Cleveland Browns, after taking their second “hot shot” executive from Ozzie Newsome’s staff here in Baltimore, have once again shown another Baltimore rock star the gate, this time forcing general manager George Kokinis out the door around lunchtime today according to this WKYC report in Cleveland. Earlier this year, Browns owner Randy Lerner fired another former Ravens executive with a Super Bowl ring in Phil Savage, who is still owed four years of pay from the franchise, which lost again yesterday to fall to 1-7. Lerner has had major problems with a malcontent fanbase who have called for a protest when the team plays the Ravens on Monday Night Football two weeks from tonight. (By the way, we still have seats on our Miller Lite Roadie to that game here…) More to come for sure. But it looks like Kokinis is gone in Cleveland.

And the Orioles continue South with more “neighborly” love for Sarasota…

Nestor Aparicio

I just got pinged by a friend who tells me that WBAL slipped out a quiet report a few days ago that the Orioles have again made one of their more outlandish moves of 2009. (And that’s saying something, when you consider the kind of season they slept-walked through this summer.) Remember a few years ago, when Angelos and the boys set up camp in Farragut Square near their “Orioles Store” in downtown Washington, D.C., to feign interest in the market after holding it hostage for five years in exchange for the MASN TV rights that were supposed to buy the Orioles some semblance of respectful balance on the playing field in the AL East. That day — with a 7:05 game looming in another summer of distress — they shipped the entire roster on a bus down to a big city square and served free ice cream and hot dogs and soda to everyone in the park. We, of course, opined that the Orioles have NEVER given away free hot dogs and ice cream in Baltimore. And Angelos’ true interest in D.C. extended about as far as how much he could extort out of Bud Selig and MLB, then

Don’t ask…just click! Very, very funny…

Nestor Aparicio

I’m not one for cartoons, jokes, chain letters or general web stuff that I refer to as “spam.” (And for the 1000th time, NO, I don’t want to play Mafia Wars with you on Facebook! Stop sending me that manure!) However, I got this link forwarded to me on Facebook (thanks, Tom!) and, well, it’s pretty freaking good. It’s PG-13, don’t worry…thank me later! Just click here… Be ready to laugh…

So, do you think it’s “right” that not one Orioles player showed at Brooks’ gala?

Nestor Aparicio

UPDATE: On my way out the door last night I took a picture with Brooks Robinson, just like I did in 1973 when he signed my “Third Base Is My Home” hardback book at his store at the Hoshchild Kohn at Eastpoint Shopping Center. You’re not a true Baltimore sports lover if you haven’t met Brooks and if getting your picture taken with him isn’t still a thrill. I left with a big smile on my face last night because Brooks planted it there. So, all the real “haters” out there can pile on me for telling the truth, but I would NEVER attempt to sully anything regarding Brooks Robinson or his big night of love. But if you don’t think the owner of the current Orioles not showing up, sending a letter of goodwill or sending any of his baseball players to the event isn’t creepy/mean/peculiar/classless, then you are either a supreme excuse maker/apologist or someone with an agenda regarding Peter Angelos or a bash campaign on my free speech or well-founded opinion. Hate on me all you want, but REALLY — you think ignoring Brooks Robinson is a good move by the Orioles or Angelos at this point?

A somber locker room in Minnesota

Nestor Aparicio

All of the videos are up now here at WNST.net. I’m sure folks will be crazy in the Purple Haze in a little while as well. If you ever want to know what I’m thinking during the games, I’ve been TWEETING LIKE A RAVEN on Twitter each week during this season. It’s a LOT of fun for me to share my thoughts via the internet from my seat in the upper deck of the Metrodome surrounded by people in braids. Simply follow us on Twitter and you’ll know every stupid thought that’s on my mind. It was a tough, tough loss today. The Ravens were outplayed dramatically in the first half and the comeback should’ve been good enough to save the day. Honestly, I was filing out of the upper deck before Ray Rice caught that pass thinking the game was over. It was an amazing, memorable comeback and it leads you to believe that anything is possible with this team. The final Frank Walker penalty was so blatant that it’s not even worth discussing. And, if you have a kicker who can’t hit a 43-yarder with the game on the line on the road, you’re not good enough to

“Colt” Matt Stover reaches out to WNST and Ravens fans

Nestor Aparicio

Matt Stover and I have been trading texts and phone calls for months. People asked me almost daily, “What’s happening with Matt?” Today, he spent about 20 minutes with Bob Haynie and you can hear the entire episode here in the audio vault. It was a sensational interview by Haynie and I hope you check it out! For the record, Stover has become one of my favorite all-time Ravens, even though we’ve never been publicly linked because he wasn’t a frequent visitor on my show throughout the years. Even though I don’t think I’ve done five “on the record” conversations with him in nearly 15 years, No. 3 was always “go to” guy in the clubhouse literally since the nanosecond the team arrived from Cleveland in 1996. I always love to tell the story of the “altercation” we had in the Memorial Stadium locker room after the first game against Oakland. I was wearing a hardhat with the flying B logo. He chastised me. I introduced myself. We came to terms and and it’s been “all good” ever since. Stover is a rock star of a great guy. A community, family and biblical guy. Always very straightforward and honest, I

Purple Crossroads: Time for offense to check ego and give defense a lift

Luke Jones

Nearly every notable season in the brief history of the Baltimore Ravens has included a critical point that determined which path the team would travel. Of course, the Super Bowl winner of 2000 endured a five-game touchdown drought before head coach Brian Billick reinvented his coaching philosophy and turned to the “Dark Side” of winning ugly with a record-setting defense and a power running game. The 2006 Ravens posted the best regular season record in franchise history (13-3) but experienced a two-game losing streak and fired offensive coordinator Jim Fassel during the bye week before Billick’s play calling rejuvenated a team that would go on to win nine of its last 10 regular season games. And only a year ago, Baltimore’s record stood at 2-3 after being lambasted by Indianapolis, 31-3, in Week 6. Instead of folding with a three-game losing streak, the Ravens earned a big victory in Miami to spark a four-game winning streak and nine of 11 victories to close out the regular season before advancing to the conference championship game. Simply put, adversity is a part of the game—even for the greatest teams. And it’s exactly what the Ravens face after losing two straight and traveling

Bengals-Ravens Notebook: 100-yard streak snapped, Ed Reed strikes again

Luke Jones

– The Baltimore rush defense hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in nearly three years before the Bengals’ Cedric Benson ended the streak at 39 games on Sunday. Benson’s 28-yard touchdown run pushed him over the century mark while also giving the Bengals a 10-7 lead in the third quarter. The former Texas Longhorn rushed 27 times for 120 yards in the Bengals’ 17-14 victory over the Ravens. “It sucks,” defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said about allowing a 100-yard rusher. “We definitely try to stop the run first, and basically, we didn’t do that today. We’ve got to go back and fix it, and hopefully do better this week.” Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was the last opponent to eclipse the 100-yard mark against the Baltimore defense before Benson on Sunday. Johnson’s 120-yard day took place in Kansas City on Dec. 10, 2006. – Ed Reed continued to cultivate a Hall of Fame resume on Sunday, picking off Carson Palmer in the second quarter and returning it 52 yards for the first score of the game. It was Reed’s sixth career interception return for a touchdown, a franchise record. It was the 45th interception of his eight-year career. His 45

Former Raven Tony Fein dead at 27

Luke Jones

Former Ravens linebacker and Iraq War veteran Tony Fein died early Tuesday morning, according to his agent. While Fein’s last impression with the Ravens was a charge of misdemeanor assault on a police officer on August 23, the news of his death is very sad to hear. Very few details about his death were available as of Tuesday night. He was the former Ole Miss teammate of Ravens rookie tackle Michael Oher and Jason Cook, another Rebel that was on the training camp roster. Cook currently serves as chaplain for the Ole Miss football team. The link to the story can be found here.

Matt Birk is laying down charity roots in Baltimore as well as Minneapolis

Nestor Aparicio

I spent the early part of last night with Ravens center Matt Birk at Mother’s Grille in Federal Hill where he kicked off his local charity initiative, the HIKE Foundation, with a dinner and cocktail reception. Birk was extremely active (think, like Cal Ripken kinda active) in the Twin Cities while playing for more than a decade for the Vikings. A well-publicized Harvard alum, Birk has been a finalist for NFL Man of The Year and routinely won awards and accolades for his public service in Minnesota. His work in Baltimore is just beginning and we had a little fun shooting this video about what HIKE stands for and why there’s a pizza with his name on it at Mother’s. Here’s the 411 in his words: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieKSCC95Da4&feature=channel_page[/youtube]

So long, Melvin, and hold your head up

Luke Jones

As the Orioles fall toward the 100-loss mark with seemingly little resistance over the final week of the season, their elder statesman winds down his 10-year stay with an organization fixed in what feels like an endless era of losing. Melvin Mora arrived in the Charm City after being traded with three others from the New York Mets for shortstop Mike Bordick in Syd Thrift’s infamous fire sale of 2000.  The 28-year old utility player was coming to a struggling team with a future Hall of Famer (Cal Ripken) winding down his career and its best hitter (Albert Belle) only months away from retirement due to a degenerative hip condition.  The Orioles were completing their third-straight losing season in 2000. Change was needed. Mora’s addition, along with the 13 others acquired in the five summer deals, would pump youthful energy into an aging organization and eventually bring the Orioles back to where they belonged at the top of the standings, right? If only. Of course, we all know the story. Despite the quantity of players coming to the organization for veterans such as Bordick, Charles Johnson, B.J. Surhoff, and Harold Baines, Mora would be the only acquisition to contribute beyond the next couple seasons. Most would never contribute at

The indignity of 100 losses for the Orioles

Nestor Aparicio

Naturally, the Orioles theme of the offseason — after the firing of Dave Trembley at some point this Monday — will be “progress.” Isn’t that what Jim Hunter and Rick Dempsey talk about after all of these losses, night after night? Andy MacPhail (and after 2 1/2 seasons of this perpetually sinking ship that knows no depths, we might revert to Chicago’s theme of referring to him as “MacFail,” but that would be giving him too much credit) will preach youth and patience and the injuries to Brad Bergesen and Adam Jones derailing an otherwise promising campaign in 2009. Brian Matusz is Mike Mussina. Matt Wieters is Joe Mauer. Adam Jones is the next Eddie Murray. Blah, blah, blah. Look at the standings. Look at the scoreboard. Look at the 11-game losing streak that they’re adding to every night with complete disasters coming out of the bullpen on a 24-hour cycle. (Oh, that’s right, you forgot they were even playing back around the time Route 140 opened toward Westminster on July 30th!) I sat the at the bar at Piv’s Pub in Cockeysville last night in a sea of NFL watchers as the Orioles played on one little TV with

Want a better WNST purple fan experience?

Nestor Aparicio

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

Billick Chaltktalk 101 at Mother’s was a blast…

Nestor Aparicio

“When you go into the lion’s den, you don’t tippy toe in, you carry a spear, you go in screaming like a banshee, you kick whatever doors in, and say, ‘Where’s the son of a bitch?!’ If you go in any other way, you’re gonna lose.” A guy wearing this on the back of his shirt sauntered onto the second floor of Mother’s Grille last night for our Billick Chalktalk 101 series with cold Coors Light. Instead of just writing about, via the power of the internet, we can take you live to Mother’s… [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHpU_vDth8[/youtube]

First aid & Band aids don’t aid Ravens’ Festivus run

Nestor Aparicio

The nagging injuries to Joe Flacco, Ray Lewis & Haloti Ngata are doing nothing to help the Ravens’ postseason run here in December. Here’s one gloomy observation on the upcoming purple postseason hopes for January in the AFC.

Giving Thanks to Baltimore coaches everywhere

Nestor Aparicio

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

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