There are many, many “pre-requisites” for being able to successfully be a Baltimore sports media member (in my humble opinion) circa 2009. Many, many times over the last 17 years I’ve railed against and “outed” various phonies, Johnny-come-latelys and “faux” sports media members in our marketplace.
These are the same people who call me the “amateur” when they can’t even grasp basic sports history in the marketplace and aren’t prepared or qualified to take a simple phone call about anything that happened before 2006.
As a kid growing up in Dundalk and reading the paper, listening to the radio and watching the 6 o’clock news, I always thought that anyone who worked in the local sports media MUST know more than me about sports.
How could they NOT, I thought?
“Isn’t that their JOB?” I thought as a young person in the early 1980’s.
Well, it didn’t take long as a 15-year old at The News American and then later The Evening Sun and The Sun to realize that knowing anything about sports was secondary to politics, race, gender, education and a whole bunch of other nasty and patently unfair “real world” issues that superceded actual knowledge, dedication and ability.
So, in the midst of this “Coors Light King of Baltimore Sportstalk” competition, I pulled out of my files some notes and a questionnaire from my “So you want to be a Sports Talk Show Host?” event almost three years ago and decided to update it and distribute it as a pre-cursor for Wednesday night’s live auditions at Donna’s Tavern in Dundalk.
Needless to say, I was shocked at how lousy some of my 12 finalists fared on the pop quiz. I won’t embarrass anyone with specific results or poor answers, but these inquiries are fundamental “How much do you know about current and past Baltimore and national sports?” questions that anyone who seriously wants to do this for a living should at least have “educated guesses” if not specific answers to these questions.
Along with Bob Haynie, Drew Forrester, Ray Bachman and Glenn Clark, we assembled a list of the questions below, just to test the waters.
For the record, we didn’t expect “perfect” answers but I was certainly taken aback by how little the prospective sports media “experts” really knew about the depth and bredth of the reality of the Baltimore sports media landscape.
Take the quiz yourself WITHOUT using google or any other artificial means.
These are the kind of “meat and potatoes” nuggets of knowledge that make a sports talk show host/blogger/new media writer credible and respected within the marketplace. In my opinion, it’s the essential ingredient to being able to host a four-hour show, write blogs with impact and perspective and carry forth as a true “expert” on Baltimore sports.
Needless to say, I think Anita Marks and various other “outsiders” would flunk this test in an embarrassing fashion, which in my mind makes them unqualified to act as an “expert.”
HERE IS THE ULTIMATE BALTIMORE SPORTS QUIZ:
(Feel free to distribute it to your Baltimore sports “expert” friends and see how you do. We think these questions are “hard” but fair…)
Who was Charley Eckman?
Who was the Orioles famous groundskeeper at Memorial Stadium?
Who kicked the GW FG for the Colts in Super Bowl V?
Who are the last 7 Maryland basketball players to have their jerseys hung in the rafters?
Who were the two Maryland football coaches prior to Ralph Friedgen?
Who is the Ravens defensive coordinator?
Who were the four 20-game winners for the 1971 Orioles?
The three names for Baltimore’s downtown arena?
The last line of the Memorial Stadium façade?
Memorial Stadium was the World’s Largest __________ __________ ________
This Orioles picked off three Blue Jays in one inning:
In your opinion, name the 3 biggest trades in Orioles history:
Name the last 11 Orioles managers:
Going backward, list every Ravens starting QB and years they started:
Name five Baltimore Colts head coaches:
Name three members of the 1973 Maryland Terps hoops team:
Who is the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs?
Who is the Beyer Speed Rating named after?
Name three current Washington Capitals:
Who is the Ravens head of college scouting?
Name as many Ravens assistant coaches as you can/titles:
What is the NFL’s overall team salary cap number for 2009?
