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We get together weekly with Maryland Lottery Executive Director John Martin to discuss winners, wagering and how it all works. And as a New Year of celebration and football winners circle for the playoffs, we discuss some realities of the early years of mobile sports wagering and slowing the roll if the bowl games are coming too fast.
There’s plenty to debate in this Baltimore Orioles’ offseason of promise and high expectations for change and improvement. Luke Jones and Nestor begin the new year by measuring the Orioles’ acquisition of veteran pitcher Charlie Morton and evaluating the real strategy of Mike Elias under new ownership led by David Rubenstein.
Rob Halford discusses four decades of Judas Priest with nothing to lose at all. And Nestor shares memories of the night when a 17-year old #AlmostFamous version of himself was treated with kindness by the legend.
The last time the Steelers came to Baltimore for an NFL playoff game, it involved Donald Kroner, a plane crash and a bad home loss. That was 1976. As Leonard Raskin and Nestor reminisce about the more recent January battles of the Ravens going to Pittsburgh for this epic rivalry, this one figures to be a much more favorable match up for Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry to run to the next stop on a Super Bowl run as a 3 seed over the struggling renegades on the run Saturday night.
With everything riding on every play, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers in a frigid Saturday night playoff game in January for the first time in the history of the franchise. Luke Jones and Nestor buckle up the chinstraps for an epic battle that everyone seems to expect Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to win.
During his Almost Famous music critic era at The Baltimore Sun, Nestor Aparicio interviewed hundreds of musicians and is unearthing lost tapes with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immortals like this one from November 1989 with Debbie Harry, who was bringing her legendary band Blondie to Hammerjacks.
Rarely has Nestor been star struck by a rock star but the greatest voice in rock stopped him in his tracks at Super Bowl Arizona 2008. Free. Bad Company. The Firm. Jimmy Page. Queen. Paul Rodgers is a rock and roll god.
As part of his unearthing of long-form music interviews from his music critic life last century at The Baltimore Sun, this is a spirited chat with teen idol, actor and musician David Cassidy, who gave an incredible performance at Max’s On Broadway in Fell’s Point in September 1991.
In an effort to release all of his Almost Famous-era rock and roll interviews from his time as a music critic at The Baltimore Sun, Nestor Aparicio found an October 1989 chat with legendary keyboardist Jonathan Cain, just as his new band Bad English was approaching Hammerjacks. Some Steve Perry chatter here from four decades ago as Journey has gone its separate ways into the wheel in the sky of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immortality.
With Corbin Burnes departing for Arizona, Luke Jones and Nestor wonder whether the signing of Japanese veteran right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano is all that Mike Elias plans to do on the front-end of the 2025 starting rotation for the Baltimore Orioles.
During their final weekly gathering of 2024, Leonard Raskin and Nestor discuss the Hall of Fame candidacies of Terrell Suggs, Marshal Yanda and Steve Smith Sr. and marvel at the Alex Ovechkin march toward Wayne Gretzky.
All baseball fans know No. 1 starters don’t come cheap on the free agent market. The Baltimore Orioles couldn’t retain the services of ace Corbin Burnes, who went “home” to Arizona for six years and $210 million. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss what comes next for Mr. Rubenstein and Mike Elias on their path to better pitching in 2025.
Plenty has gone right for the Baltimore Ravens this season regarding good health, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry and historic offensive productivity. The defense and special teams problems feel like ancient history as the team carries a three-game winning streak and are a gaudy 18-point favorite to finish off the AFC North crown with a victory over the lowly Cleveland Browns on Saturday afternoon. Luke Jones and Nestor set the stage for a January path to February.
Talking about insurance is boring – until you need it and have the wrong coverage or a horrible deductible. Our Harford County insurance man on the streets Pete Raimondi from Erie Insurance brings Nestor some holiday reminders and wisdom on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour about having the right coverage, which is paramount for you and your family or business.
The formerly porous Ravens secondary looked healed against Pittsburgh and Houston during Christmas week and that makes this new-and-improved defense worthy of going into Buffalo and Kansas City in January and winning. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the sudden emergence of Zack Orr’s unit and how roles have changed, starters have been benched and the pass rush has blossomed with better coverage on the back end.
The past 11 days have emphasized the potential for greatness for this Baltimore Ravens team. Luke Jones and Nestor recap a Christmas clinic in Houston as the Ravens embarrassed the Texans in a 31-2 rout as Derrick Henry ran over the AFC South champions.
With a new Baltimore County Executive coming into focus and a bridge that needs to be federally funded, our favorite Essex attorney and recovering local politician Todd Schuler returns to educate Nestor on the search process and Key Bridge concerns entering a second Trump administration.
The sisters of Curio Wellness, Rebecca and Wendy Bronfein, join Nestor for a spirited – and highly educational – conversation about all things cannabis and science, including how their father’s illness sparked a desire to use the plant for efficacy and modern medicine. They promise to lift your mood for the holidays as families convene and chat about all sorts of fun things…
Yeah, he’s still “Cal’s guy” but our lifer pal and one-time sports public relations executive has moved his business and life into other sectors in Maryland. John Maroon joins Nestor for a spirited holiday chat about communicating to the world an authentic local message that resonates beyond the playing field.
Once he found out that his 1990s Orioles reporter and the guy who runs the Baltimore Convention Center were great friends, Nestor knew he had a fun holiday idea for a baseball, hockey and holiday set up at Amicci’s. Allen McCallum and Mac Campbell return – simultaneously – to share some Orioles offseason love, Ovechkin repect and holiday cheer from Little Italy.
The promotion has become “last chance” but some recent winners had some fun times with their Ravens scratch-off victory trip to Met Life Stadium in New Jersey for another purple victory. John Martin and Nestor power up for a billion dollar holiday draw and unwrap the recent winning.
They’ve gathered for many years to discuss how to lift the Baltimore sports community and how local business and humans support it all. Finally, Georgetown sports business professor Marty Conway joins Nestor on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour at Amicci’s in Little Italy to discuss the commerce and future of professional sports in Maryland.
Calvin Statham entered the life of Nestor Aparicio in September 1979 as his 7th grade chorus teacher at Holabird Junior High School. The 83-year old legend and veteran of 58 incredible years of teaching children on both sides of Baltimore County returns to Costas Inn on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour to talk about his love of children.
With just hours not days between games, none of the four Christmas teams will be resting comfortably before Wednesday afternoon. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the Ravens holiday path toward the playoffs and what happens if the Steelers lose to the Chiefs?
It was a fun night for Baltimore sports fans beating the Steelers at home but the holiday work is far from complete. Luke Jones and Nestor recap the Ravens 34-17 win over Pittsburgh and prep for a quick Texans’ Christmas slog in Houston with high stakes and fatigued football players.
Rock And Roll Hall of Famer Gina Schock of The Go-Go’s tells Nestor the girls are head over heels about putting the band back on stage in 2025 as she prepares in Dundalk for a spring at Coachella and Cruel World Festivals that’ll show they’ve still got the beat. Our lips are no longer sealed about the West Coast reunion of the five ladies who paved the way in the early 1980s.
Holiday visits with friends around town brought Sam Sessa to Amicci’s in Little Italy to tell Nestor everything he ever wanted to know about public radio life at WTMD, WYPR and the massive summer magic created by their incredibly successful First Thursday summer nights of music at the Canton Waterfront Park.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the AFC North and have been quite sturdy against the Baltimore Ravens in recent years but remain a 7-point underdog on Saturday afternoon. Will Graves of The Associated Press in Pittsburgh gives Nestor a full preview of the game of the year from behind enemy lines in Da ‘Burgh.
Former Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Mark Clayton has stayed in touch with WNST ever since the day he was drafted 20 years ago and was a frequent guest on our Monday Night Live shows. Now an entrepreneur, the former first-round draft pick from Oklahoma tells Nestor his unlikely journey into the world of premium sound, full body athletic movement and finding a headset that goes where you wanna go when you are trying to break a sweat.
Our Maryland Lottery pal Seth Elkin joins Nestor at Amicci’s of Little Italy for a holiday visit to discuss a great Ravens scratch-off season and the rivalry that divides their professional relationship during Pittsburgh Week. We decided the loser should have to wear a Browns jersey…
As the holidays draw near, Nestor Aparicio is gathering some end-of-year guests to assess a wild ride in Baltimore sports. On the Maryland Crab Cake Tour at Amicci’s in Little Italy, sports editor of The Baltimore Banner Chris Korman discusses modern journalism and local coverage – and the high expectations – of the Orioles and Ravens and a cranky beltway fan base.
Luke Jones and Nestor buckle up the the holiday chinstraps for Steelers at Ravens for AFC North supremacy and the Christmas follow up as the Chiefs and Texans will factor into all of this before Santa comes down the chimney. We got a big one in Baltimore on Saturday evening!
Like many in Baltimore, our financial family planner Leonard Raskin will be cheering on the Ravens this week and offers our audience some sensible and friendly advice for making 2025 the best year ever for knowing your future and where your money and important assets are assigned. Always solid advice here for year-end planning about what’s really important.
It’s been a while since our government policy expert Matt Gallagher of The Goldseker Foundation has joined us at Faidley’s but with another Trump government and a stocked cabinet of completely unqualified humans about to run the United States of America, it was time for Nestor to try to attempt to make sense of nonsense reality.
The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers play at least twice a year. Sometimes, they even meet in January. There is nothing better than the best rivalry in the NFL on a big stage for the holidays. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the AFC playoff picture and the significance of Saturday’s big game on a path to the Super Bowl in February.
By any measurement, the Baltimore Ravens saw the junior varsity in the Meadowlands on Sunday with the New York Giants. As a 6.5 point favorite at home on Saturday afternoon, Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town looking to test the improvements to the Ravens’ pass rush and secondary.
With former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley in the news running to lead the DNC, we turn to local Democratic National Committee member Robbie Leonard, who joined Nestor on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour at Faidley’s in an effort to educate us on the process of the organization and the massive work ahead after an embarrassing loss in Kamala Harris’ bid for President of the United States of America.
On a day when the Baltimore Ravens seemed to have everything working against the over-matched New York Giants, the dozen penalties were a reminder of the mistakes that has led this team to five losses. Luke Jones and Nestor recap a 35-14 beatdown of the hapless Giants in the Meadowlands and short week before Pittsburgh arrives.
If you want crab cakes for Christmas, they’re a click away! Let Damye Hahn of Faidley’s Seafood in Lexington Market tell you about the ease of sending the best holiday box of love anywhere this month. And if you’re in Catonsville, The Fishmonger’s Daughter on Frederick Avenue has some activity that will be bringing a new Faidley’s to the ‘burbs next summer in the 21228!
Still in denial about the NIL, Nestor Aparicio welcomes Ruffin Bell of Coppin State over to Faidley’s Seafood in Lexington Market for a crab cake and a discussion about Eagles history and future goals. Bell, the marketing and promotion specialist on campus, highlights the success of various sports teams, including the volleyball and baseball teams winning the MEAC and the women’s hoops beating Arizona State and George Washington this month. You can always hear Coppin State sports action on WNST-AM 1570.
