I didn’t do the show on Monday. My voice sounded like the chick from “Throw Mama From The Train” and I’m crampy and aching and tired and emotionally spent. I’ll be back on the radio at 2 p.m. today and will try to bring some new perspectives to what we’re trying to do here at WNST.net and with our radio station.
There are a lot of exciting things happening at WNST with ownership, Brian Billick’s commitment to the community via Living Classrooms, our creative energy and the one thing that’s been the most fun for me personally has been meeting so many of you at our parties from Miami to Nashville to Pittsburgh. So many people — we had over 5,000 people attend our three parties just in the past nine days — have been so nice and just seeing the diversity of our community – the REAL people, lifers, and fans of all colors, races, creeds, sizes, shapes, ages, genders from Baltimore and it’s surrounding area – has been inspiring to me. I want our company to be the sports place on the web that you trust for accuracy, authenticity and most of all the notion that all of the people under our tent – from Brian and I straight down the line to every facet of this website – all love Baltimore and Baltimore sports as much as you do.
It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks of road trip activities with the games in Miami, Nashville and Pittsburgh. If you know anyone who was at our parties in three states, two time zones and four facilities, ask them to drop me a line with some pictures and videos of their own. Or just reach out to me via Facebook, where we’ve managed to corral folks who love Baltimore sports quite easily. Lots of people have already reached out to me with nice notes about the memories and laughs they had following the Ravens on road and attending our purple pep rallies. You can go view the videos on your own, which is one of the beautiful parts of the internet – full disclosure. You can see just how many people WNST affects every day.
The most sickening part was that during the game on Sunday night I was thinking about all of the fun we’re going to be cheated out of because of the loss in Pittsburgh. When Troy Polamalu was returning that ball I felt the wind go out of me.
I went on a covert mission to Tampa last Wednesday night to set up a myriad of Super Bowl week activities. I had flight difficulties, delays, wound up flying into Orlando and driving over to Tampa for the night but came away from Florida ready for all sorts of fun if the Ravens had won in Pittsburgh.
Among other things, we had a gigantic mansion booked for a VIP party on the Friday before the game. We also had a tiki bar (think Seacrets in O.C.) ready for Saturday afternoon and a tent party at a sports bar set up for Saturday night with a great Florida band. And, of course, gameday would’ve been Whiskey Joe’s Party II for more than 5,000 people.
That loss on Sunday night cost Baltimoreans a lot of fun in Florida, that’s for sure. I’m wondering how many people who had “booked their flight and made their hotel reservations” will be going to Florida anyway next week?
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But today is a new day…
Rex Ryan is the new coach of the Jets. Ray Lewis will test free agency. The scouting staff is in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl. And the combine is just five weeks away. The NFL never seems to stop.
Today is also a new day for our country and our culture as Barack Obama steps in to lead Our People.
Obama’s first day is also my first day. It’s a new beginning for the country and a new beginning for me as an afternoon talk show – at least for the time being. When I find someone who’s really good at it and really passionate about it and really cares the way Bob Haynie and Drew Forrester care, then I’d be delighted to step aside again and let someone host radio on WNST and fulfill their dream to follow sports.
But I’ll promise you – like everything else you see in life – it ain’t easy doing four hours a day of sports radio, while blogging, selling advertising and staying in touch with everything that’s going on in Baltimore’s sports world. But it’s been times in my life like these where “little WNST” is throwing the biggest parties of them all and having the most fun and enjoying the highest web ratings for traffic in the marketplace, where I really appreciate all that I have.
Let’s watch Barack Obama today. And let’s be ready to help our community in Baltimore via WNST.
I’m ready for a new challenge. Talk with you at 2…
