followed on my journey – through good times and bad – and because I’ve been earnest, honest and for the most part a much better person than any rumor about “Nasty Nestor” ever portended.
I’m a very fortunate soul to be doing what I love to do for a living and to have devoted 30 years of my life to one mission: reporting and enjoying and learning about Baltimore sports. And, as I get older, I like to learn about all sorts of things like politics, global warming, new music, philosophy, yoga, charity, psychology, community, TEDx topics and human development. I’m also feeling very inspired and fulfilled by any charitable work that I can do to help people who need help the most.
A complete stranger saved my wife’s life eight weeks ago from half way around the world with a bag of his blood.
Just think about it…
Guided by the spirit of Charley Eckman and buoyed by the vision of Harry Shriver, I’ve led with the passion and conviction of John F. Steadman and the faith and heartstrings of John Ziemann. Giving a voice to every “Wild” Bill Hagy and Loudy Lounenslager, I’ve been defending, representing and informing Baltimore sports fans with thought-provoking commentary – and sometimes a few tough questions – but always with unparalleled dedication and tenacity over the past 30 years.
I learned to read by reading the sports section of The Sun when I was four years old. I learned to write in middle school and by the time I was a junior in high school I was working in the sports department of The News American alongside legends in our industry. I interviewed Geddy Lee and Paul Stanley the month of my 16th birthday. I covered hockey. I was a Hammerjacks regular. I covered rock and roll, high school sports and anything else they’d let me write about.
Baseball and football have been my life’s work – from my first Colts game with my Pop in 1973 to my Aparicio baseball heritage and lifelong love of the Orioles. And, then, the first Baltimore miracle occurred and Saint Arthur Modell brought the Ravens here to fill my soul and Sundays with laughter, joy, heartbreak, heartache and drama.
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I was a fan then and I’m a fan now. I’ve just learned a lot over the years – about sports, the people who play the games, the men who run the games and the men who own the teams and where the money comes from and where the money goes.
And its effects, expectations and economics on the sports fans who fund it all, cheer for it all and make it all work.
I’ve dedicated my life to this work. I write books about this stuff.
(And I must say that after watching these doctors and nurses save my wife’s life over the past six months, I feel like a real chump doing this for a living.)
Developing WNST has been completely unique. There is no road map. Even though Dr. Pepper is not a sponsor, we are truly “one of a kind.”
There is no other “family owned” AM sports radio station in America in 2014 that operates like WNST. There is no other radio station in America that has given its hosts the freedoms that I’ve presented to let them “be their own man” and attempt to find an audience, sponsors and a voice with depth, credibility and integrity.
I’ve done more “American Idol” talent searches than Ryan Seacrest. Some have called me the Simon Cowell of Baltimore sports radio and I’ll accept that as a compliment. It’s no secret that I have high standards.
8There is no sports brand that is more “Baltimore” or authentically local than WNST.
We worship Cal Ripken. We respect Ray Lewis. We listen to Jim Palmer. We laughed at Art Donovan. We touched Johnny Unitas. We revere Brooks Robinson. And we’ve interviewed every athlete, news maker, politician, author, blogger, reporter and significant individual in Baltimore sports many times over the past two decades and we’ve grown old(er) together.
And, yes, even Peter Angelos once…
I am a very available individual with delusions of grandeur.
“Little WNST” came from the ashes of AM radio to become the most relevant, shared and discussed sports media brand in the marketplace. All of our social media statistics, web traffic and reach would back that
