Baltimore Sports and Life has MOVED!!!

Baltimore Sports and Life has moved....   please find us at our new site linked below:

http://www.baltimoresportsandlife.com/

Thank-you from Baltimore Sports and Life!

Baltimore Sports and Life would like to thank those who voted for us in The Baltimore Sun's Mobbies' contest.

BSL finished 3rd among Oriole blogs (Camden Chat, and Orioles Hangout / Tony's Take were the top 2 in this category, and the top 2 blogs overall).

BSL won both the Ravens, and Terps categories.

All results can be found here:
http://data.baltimoresun.com/mobbies/2010/voting/

I previously made known my take on the Mobbies, which you can read here:
http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-take-on-mobbies.html

Based on our showing, I feel better stating the following. The idea of the contest is great, but I hope some changes are made next year. I think some element of voting should remain, but I would like to see a component of judging be added. I guess that can be discussed another day.

As I said in my previous take on the Mobbies, the contest was somewhat trivial, but I am competitive and did want to win. Winning feels good, because I know there are a lot of quality sites in each of the Oriole, Ravens, and Terps categories.

Congrats to all of the other sites that were nominated, and to the other blogs which won. My sincere appreciation once more to those that voted for BSL.

For those finding the blog for the first-time, check us out on Facebook and Twitter at:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52519216267
http://twitter.com/Bmoresportslife

Cheers,
Chris

PS: BSL will be announcing a significant change to the site later this week.

My take on The Mobbies

The Baltimore Sun is running a contest with the stated goal of honoring the best blogs in Maryland with their 'Mobbies' awards. After a nomination process, voting became open to the public this past Tuesday (the 2nd) concluding this coming Friday the 12th.

Each blog could be nominated in up to 3 individual categories, and is also eligible to be named as the best overall blog. Baltimore Sports and Life was nominated in the Orioles, Ravens, and Terps categories. Currently we are running 3rd among Oriole blogs, 2nd among Ravens blogs, and leading in the Terps categories.

Lets discuss each of the categories a bit, and the contest in-general.

The Mobbies Contest:
This contest exists because the Baltimore Sun recognizes there are a lot of independent sites that are attracting a regular audience. By having a contest where voting determines winners, and where voters are encouraged to register to The Sun's site; The Sun is bringing 000s of extra-hits per day to their own site, and gaining email accounts for them to potentially solicit later.I think everyone understands that. I certainly do not begrudge The Sun for it, it is sound business. The Sun is gaining additional hits, and in-return they are giving additional exposure to countless blogs such as mine.

Orioles Category:
As I mentioned, I am currently running 3rd in the O's category. I do not deserve to be ahead of Kubatko, and Melewski. Both do this full-time, and they provide excellent daily reporting and commentary. Based on everyone else, I feel good about what I produce. With only limited time to spend on the blog, I've interviewed Lee MacPhail IV, Joe Jordan, and Dave Stockstill (among others) during the past-year. The O's did provide access to me (and several other blogs) for 5 games each. Since I typically can not post during the day, I try and spend less time 'reporting' and more time analyzing and projecting.

The best actual Oriole blogging (of those eligible, Schmuck is not) is done by Kubatko, and Melewski. Camden Chat does the best job of finding all Oriole discussion and housing it in one place. Orioles Hangout is the center of the Oriole fan universe, and has the best overall discussions of the Orioles anywhere. Based on the discussion that goes on there, OH should win as the best Oriole site.* I have personally been a member of OH since 2001, and have referred countless other Oriole fans to the Hangout message boards.

*Orioles Hangout Publisher / Founder Tony Pente does have a blog within the site titled 'Tony's Take' that absolutely should be eligible in this contest. The site overall though is not a blog, and it does not belong. Pente penned the easily most-read Oriole article anywhere this Summer, which included a sit-down with Andy MacPhail. That by itself should gain Pente plenty of votes. If you compiled the postings Pente made on his message board, they would of course provide further merit. I don't think you can count Pente's message board posts though. If you were to do so, you would have to additionally count the contributions of everyone that posts on OH as a member. By my count, Pente has written a total of 14 entries in 2010 as part of his 'Tony's Take' blog. Those 14 entries should be what Pente is being judged on.

If OH wins, I'll be happy for the Hangout. It is run by good people, and as I said I've personally been coming there for years. If Camden Chat wins, I'll feel good for their Editor Stacey Long as well. I've had the chance to meet her a few times (MASN blogger nights, the FanFest Blogger Forum last year, and we have both appeared on some of the same radio shows). I like her personally, and think she provided good commentary this spring on her regular appearances on WNST this Spring. I disagree with Long's point of view that 'Tony's Take,' does not belong. By that logic, one could also object to Camden Chat being listed as a blog. Most of the commentary on Camden Chat appears as comments within the daily compilation of articles, or on their own message board. Camden Chat is another large community (part of the larger SB Nation of blogs) full of intelligent Oriole fans. As far as actual blogging, there is very little of that to be found.

Regarding the other blogs nominated, I am in very good company. I can't speak for everyone, but I know that I regularly read the work of lots of others. I do this because I am an Oriole (and a Ravens, and a Terps) fan and I am always looking for additional perspectives. I think Daniel Moroz does great work with Camden Crazies. Matt Taylor is very solid with Roar from 34. Same for Eutaw Street Hooligans, The Loss Column, and Oriole Post. I am not as familiar with a couple of the others, but due to this contest I will read their work more often.

I hope if this contest occurs again next-year, that other worthy blogs such as Camden Depot, Charm City Sports Talk, Dempsey's Army, The Bad Oriole, and the Oriole Report get the nominations they deserve.

Ravens:
My thoughts are similar with the Ravens and Terps categories. I'm flattered to be in the running to win the categories, because I respect the 'competition.'

I've personally interviewed Tony Lombardi of Ravens 24x7, and Bruce Raffel of Baltimore Beatdown because I think both are very well informed and have good information to share. I'll be checking out the others more regularly, and also hope to see Dan Kolko / MASN, and John Eisenberg / CSN Baltimore get increasing recognition for their quality work. Like I said with the Orioles category, I like what I have produced in covering the Ravens. Beyond my 'Good, Bad, Ugly' review of each game, I have also provided numerous relevant interviews including the Ravens Vincent Newsome, Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Weekly, and the beat-writers of several Baltimore opponents.

Objectively, I do not think I should win the Ravens category based on what has been produced during the past-year. Lombardi and Raffel are putting out both quality, and quantity. If either of them win, their victory will be deserved.

Terps:
I'm currently leading the Terps section. I'm excited about my current lead, not just because I want to win; but because I appreciate the other blogs. Currently in 3rd place is Shell Games who won this contest last-year. I appeared with Shell Games' Scott Harris on Bruce Posner's Terp Talk (another eligible blog) on ESPN 1300 last-year. Harris is a really good guy, and I enjoy his writing style. Posner is obviously plugged into all things Terps related and I'll always be appreciative of the opportunity he provided to me. I interviewed Terrapin Station's Pete Volk prior to this Football season, and his commentary was apt.

I am a big fan of the work Ben Broman does with the Testudo Times, and have told him as much via email. He provides a lot of timely content. Like Camden Chat (and Baltimore Beatdown) Testudo Times is another SB Nation blog. Like Camden Chat, Testudo Times is the best Terrapin site at compiling all Terps information in one-site. Without a doubt, Testudo Times currently provides far greater content than I do covering Terps Football, and also Recruiting (Football and Basketball).

I do have to say that if Orioles Hangout can be nominated in the O's category, than InsideMDSports, Turtle Sports Report (Scout.com), and Terrapin Times.com (Rivals.com) should all probably be in this category. If any of those sites were in this category, they would win easily. I do not have any illusion that the couple of hours I spend a week blogging, compares to those sites which operate and produce work full-time.

Like the other-sections, there are a couple of blogs I was not familiar with, that I will be checking-out more regularly. I also feel good about what I put out with the Terps. My previews and reviews of the Terp Basketball games are as good as anyone. The interviews I provided with beat-writers of opposing teams were valuable. I'm also proud of the interviews I've had with Chris Knoche, Mike DeCourcy, Todd Helmick, and Phil Steele. Those experts have added great information to my site.

Bottom-line:
Here is the bottom-line from my perspective about The Mobbies. Overall this contest is somewhat trivial. (At-least as it is set-up currently) That said, I am competitive and I would like to win. I believe the quality of the work I do produce is strong. The better I do in this contest, the more likely it is that I get the opportunity to do this full-time. If I could spend more time blogging, I believe my content would only improve.

I have been pestering friends and family and supporters of the blog to vote daily, and I will not apologize for that. (Every single site mentioned above - aside from Kubatko and Melewski - that is a nominee in this contest, has also been soliciting votes. The joke is that many of us are members of each others Facebook Groups or Mailing lists and have received the solicitations of our competitors lol. ) This contest is an opportunity for me to increase the following of this blog and I'm going to take advantage of it.

We will see what happens with the voting, either way I will work to continue to improve both the content and the site.
I wish all of the blogs continued success and good-luck.

Vote 4 Baltimore Sports and Life! Baltimore Sun 2010 Mobbies

Hello all,

The Baltimore Sun is honoring the best Maryland blogs through their Mobbies awards. Baltimore Sports and Life has been nominated in the best Oriole Blog, best Ravens blog, and best Terps blog categories.

Voting for the Mobbies starts tomorrow (Nov. 2nd) at 8am, and lasts through Nov. 12th at 5pm.
This link below to the nominations page, will change over to the voting page as of tomorrow:
http://data.baltimoresun.com/mobbies/2010/voting/

1) Any votes cast before 8 a.m. tomorrow will be thrown out.
2) To be eligible, a voter MUST be a registered user of baltimoresun.com. Or Facebook, Yahoo, Gmail, etc. etc.
3) You can VOTE for BSL once DAILY! Registered users get one vote per category per 24-hour period.

Thank-you for your help!

Cheers,
Chris

BSL interviewed by Kevin Van Valkenburg / Baltimore Sun

Baltimore Sports and Life was interviewed this week by Kevin Van Valkenburg of the Baltimore Sun.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-ravens-or-orioles-20100924,0,1418901.story

I think Van Valkenburg got an interesting cross-section of opinions for his article, and we appreciated being asked for our thoughts.

A view from the Press Box; Kudos to the O's

For the 4th time in the past two-months I am watching the O's game from the confines of the Press Box at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Kudos goes to the O's for reaching out not just to me, but other Baltimore bloggers such as Stacey Long from Camden Chat, Matt Taylor from Roar from 34, and James Baker from Oriole Post among others.

Deciding how to treat bloggers is something that every professional sports organization, and every University that plays high-level Collegiate sports is dealing with.

The biggest issues in deciding how to treat bloggers are:

1) Do you provide Media Credentials to an entity that is outside of accepted traditional Main-stream Media? (i.e. Print (Newspapers, National Magazines), TV, and Radio)?

2) If you decide you are willing to provide Credentials to bloggers, what type of validation process do you install? After all, anyone can start a blog - how do you determine the blog is 'worthy' of sitting among the established press?

If I were sitting in a leadership position with the O's, would I have provided Press Box access to a blog such as mine? I would have to say honestly, I probably would not. With traditional Media, you have a known quantity and a certain established journalistic credibility. When the Washington Post's Mike Wise produced an inaccurate report on Twitter (as part of his social experiment), this was a National story because numerous Media outlets accepted the reporting of Wise as-fact, solely because of his stature of working for the Post.

The Post had to react swiftly to the growing outrage, by placing Wise on suspension. They did this to protect their 'brand' of quality reporting.

The reason that many organizations and Universities would be hesitant to provide unknown bloggers with full-time credentials is because they worry the bloggers would not police themselves. Essentially the idea being I could go on the Baltimore Sports and Life Twitter page this afternoon, and post inaccurate information about the O's, with little ramifications.

As I said above, if I was in a leadership position with the O's, I probably would not have provided access to a blog such as mine. Mainly because you would like to avoid having to validate every blog that comes along. That said, I think those that hold the opinion that blogs would not police themselves are missing the bigger point.

If you run a blog, and are attempting to build a following, you can only do so by being consistent and credible over-time. If I were posting here, or on Twitter, or Facebook inaccurate information - the policing that would occur, would be a corresponding loss of credibility from the readers I am attempting to attract. Again, I think the O's deserve kudos for understanding this. Some will argue the O's had Machiavellian type motives with providing these credentials. That the O's gave us the Press passes with a tacit understanding that criticism of the organization would not be allowed. To that, I can whole-heartily confirm that would be an inaccurate representation of facts. If anything, I have been encouraged to continue to criticize the organization when I think it is deserved.

This past Wednesday night I traveled to Washington D.C. to be part of meeting of Washington and Baltimore bloggers hosted by Comcast SportsNet. It was interesting sharing stories and similar experiences with a number of like minded bloggers. Part of what was discussed, was the formation of a 'Bloggers' group. The initial idea being more of a group for meeting, but I can picture it progressing to a point where ethical standards and criteria for membership are established.


P.S. Cal Ripken threw out the first-ball today in honor of the 15th anniversary of tying Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak. I was here on 9/6/95 for 2131 (& 9/6/96 for Eddie's 500th). It is hard to believe so much time has passed. Before Ripken threw out the pitch, he was warming-up with Roberts in-front of the O's dugout. Apparently even for a warm-up pitch Ripken wants to do things the right way.

P.S.S. I worked for the O's during the 2001-03 season in a variety of gopher rolls inclusive of being a Ballpark Tour Guide. When I gave the tours, my favorite spot was always the Press Box. All these years later, it has been great personally to return.

Fox 1370 Friday 3:05 PM with Jerry Coleman

Catch me live Friday on Fox 1370, as I will be a return guest to the Jerry Coleman show.

I'm scheduled to be on starting at 3:05 pm. There is a 'Listen Live' option at Coleman's site which is linked below.

http://sportswithcoleman.com/

I will be on Fox1370 today at 4:05 with Jerry Coleman

Tune into Fox 1370 today at 4:05, as I will be a guest of Jerry Coleman. You can also 'listen live' online via Coleman's site which is linked below.

http://sportswithcoleman.com/

EDIT: Here is a link to the audio from the interview: http://sportswithcoleman.com/audio/chris-stoner/

Vacation - Back on the 26th!

I will be on Vacation for the next week, coming back on the 26th.

If anything major happens in the world of Baltimore sports I'll try and pop-in.

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!

Cheers,
Chris

Baltimore Magazine Best of Baltimore Voting Ends Friday!

At Baltimore Magazine, they are holding their annual Best of Baltimore voting.

http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/

On the front-page of the Magazine, they have 4 lead graphics - Beach Escape, The Hieronimus Code, Family Matters, Readers' Poll. The Readers Poll is where you can vote for 2010. In the fun section of the Readers Poll, you can vote for your favorite blog. You must vote in at-least 10 categories for your vote to count.

If you think I deserve it, please vote for me. It will be hard for anyone to come-close to approaching the votes that Roch, and Schmuck are going to get - but I'd like to get as many votes as I possibly can.

During the past year I have been able to interview a number of people, including:

Dan Kolko, MASN
Bruce Raffel, Baltimore Beatdown
Ken Zalis, Fox 1370
Patrick Stevens, D1Scourse
Pete Volk, Turtle Sports Report (Scout.com)
Lee MacPhail IV, Director of Pro Scouting of the Baltimore Orioles
Terry Hutchens, Indy Star
Bruce Pascoe, Arizona Star
Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jim Meehan, The Spokesman Review
Jeff Lockridge, The Tennessean
Bill Koch, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Joe Reedy, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Steve Meleweski, MASN
Marc Unger, Fox 1370
Rob Long, Fox 1370
Jerry Coleman, Fox 1370
Drew Forrester, WNST 1570
Bob Haynie, WNST 1570
Tony Pente, Orioles Hangout
Scott Hoffman, Orioles Hangout
David Ginsburg, Associated Press
Ian Rapoport, Boston Herald
Kent Babb, KC Star
Chris Knoche, Radio Analyst University of Maryland Basketball (Twice)
Jonathan Okanes, Contra Costa Times
Phil Steele, College Football Analyst
Mike Wilkening, Pro Football Weekly / NFL Network
Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News College Basketball Analyst
Todd Helmick, College Football Analyst / National Champs.net
Tom Tango, Co-Author 'The Book - playing the Percentages in Baseball.'
Rich Lederer, Baseball Analysts
Tony Lombardi, Ravens 24x7 (Twice)
Numerous Bracketologists
Dave Stockstill, Player Development Director of the Baltimore Orioles (Twice)
Joe Jordan, Scouting Director of the Baltimore Orioles (Twice)
Dave Studenmund, Owner of The Hardball Times
Phil Wood, MASN
Jim Beattie, Former GM of the Baltimore Orioles
Greg Bader, Director of Communications of the Baltimore Orioles

A successful showing in this voting, will only help increase our access and improve the content we can provide.

Thank-you for your help,
Chris

http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52519216267
http://twitter.com/Bmoresportslife

WNST gives me an award!

For the second-time in a week, 1570 WNST has given me an award! No, not the King of Baltimore Sports Talk crown that I should have won last-year*, but the 'Apologist of the Morning' award as named by Glenn Clark. I would prefer to not go back-and-forth in public with Mr. Clark, but having been called out for a second-time, I feel the need to respond.

*The comment about the KOBST contest is slightly tongue-in-cheek. Yes, I clearly thought I should have won. There was/is no animosity to the winner Luke Jones. I thought that Luke was very solid in the contest, and he did an excellent job last-summer with the Ravens. I would have had zero interest in doing that job.

That does not change a couple of realities.

First, Drew Forrester (and a number of the other contestants) have told me I should have won.

Secondly, Nestor Aparacio stated repeatedly during the contest how important blogging would be. I wrote 157 more blogs than Luke. Myself, and the other 6 finalists wrote a total of 443 blogs during the contest. I wrote 202 of those blogs, which equates to 45%.

I fully acknowledged at the time, that a large percentage of the blogs I had written were purely informational. Glenn Clark quipped at the time, that anyone with access to the internet could post stats. That is true, but as Glenn has proven numerous times, not everyone has the ability to understand stats. Amazingly, Glenn actually said on the air last year that stats were 'unimportant.'

It should also be noted that I had plenty of other blogs that were not just stats based. I was the only one in the contest that provided multiple-interviews of both local, and National figures. You can click on the link below to see the interviews I have had during the past year.

http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/search/label/Interviews

Third, the realities of why I did not win the contest are fairly obvious. Nestor knew I had full-time employment, and would not be willing to work as a glorified intern. Additionally, the night before the final I had been a guest of MASN for their 2009 Oriole Blogger night. This did not go over well with WNST. Perhaps the final nail in the coffin was that I had the audacity to tell Glenn the truth. There was plenty he could teach me about Radio, but there was absolutely nothing he was going to teach me about the Orioles, Ravens, or Terps. Glenn held a grudge, and voted accordingly.

The bottom-line with the KOBST contest is that I am still greatly appreciative of Nestor providing a forum for aspiring media types, and putting me on the air. He did not have to do that, and I appreciate the opportunity he provided. I am a believer that things work-out as they are supposed to. As I said above, I would not have wanted to do the jobs that Luke has been used for at WNST. If I had won the contest, I probably would not have had the chance to appear on ESPN 1300, or Fox 1370 as I have.

I get a very pedestrian 90 hits a day to this blog. I'll gladly produce Google Analytics for anyone that is interested. If Glenn was able to track the direct traffic to his blog (vs. the WNST site as a whole) I would be interested to see the results.

By the way Nestor, if you are reading this, you also commented about the importance of Facebook and current 'social media.' Does it bother you that I have 215 more people following BSL on Facebook, than the Comcast Morning Show (Drew & Glenn) have following them? They are the ones with forum right?*

That rant over, let us get back to why I have been twice branded as an 'apologist.'

The first-time was after Opening Day in Tampa, when Glenn took exception with me stating O's fans should have been somewhat enthusiastic of Gonzalez's 1st appearance. I made the comments, because I was encouraged by seeing some of Gonzalez's physical-skills. His outing was poor overall, but after spending most of Spring Training battling a back-injury and having inconsistent velocity and movement, I liked seeing him consistently working at 92-93 and showing some good movement with his secondary pitches. His control was abysmal, and I was shocked by the Mitch Williams-esque mechanics. When he pitched in Game 3, I did not see his velocity, but was bothered by the two walks. No reliever, and certainly no closer, can be successful when you give free-runners to the opposition. What bothered me most at the home Opener was not Gonzalez's results, but the fact that the OPACY radar-gun (which has traditionally been accused of running high) showed Gonzalez consistently at 88-89. As a lefty, you can work at that velocity and be successful. BJ Ryan regularly pitched in that 88-90 range, but appeared to throw harder due a deceptive wind-up. Still, 88-89 is a 4 to 5 mile-drop from what he was showing in his first outing in Tampa. On a 20-80 Scouting Scale, that is the difference from a 50 rating to about 65. That is a huge difference.

He appeared unwilling to challenge hitters. He certainly was not attacking hitters. Think about that for a second. A guy that came into 2010, having pitched 280.2 career innings having allowed just 213 hits, with 330 k's was not challenging hitters.

My first thought is questioning his health. However, I have to take Gonzalez at his word that he is healthy, and has just not performed. The O's believe they have spotted a flaw/change in his mechanics. We will see what happens. In the American League East, you can not afford to lose games you are supposed to win. Gonzalez was signed to help avoid the O's losing those games. For the first-week, he has been part of the cause. However, just because he has had a poor week - that does not equate to a poor signing.

What I would like people to know, is that I offered Glenn a bet, but he did not take it. The offer still stands. If Gonzalez stays healthy, he will finish with a very productive year. By productive, I am saying he finishes with more than a K per IP, and less than a hit per IP. Separate to that, if he remains the Closer - I think he finishes with 30+ saves.

Today I received my second apologist award, because of a comment I had made on Facebook last-night.
I stated, "When you see Pie today, do you think back to early 2009 and all those that vocally knocked him? Does it make you laugh, when those same people are commenting in 2010 about Gonzalez?"

As I wrote to Drew Forrester today, I had to admit that comment was directly with Glenn in-mind.
Check-out this link from June 25th, 2009:

http://wnst.net/wordpress/glennclark/2009/06/25/thursday-mornings-crabs-and-beer-61/

Glenn stated, "Do you want me to say something about Felix Pie? I already have. He has no business here. It’s borderline embarrassing. Joey Gathright can do the things Felix Pie does (and Joey Gathright is not a particularly good player either)."

So in June 2009, you have Glenn saying Pie had no place in the Majors, that he was an embarrassment. That Gaithright was basically the same player. Mistakenly, I would think that a guy that gets paid to follow sports would have been able to look at Pie, and see a guy that came into 2009 as a 24 year-old with less than 300 career Major League at-bats. Should have seen Pie's physical tools, and what he had done at the AA, and AAA levels. By June, Glenn should have been aware of the numerous reports of Pie's work-ethic. Glenn should have been able to figure-out, that if you combine those physical skills with a player willing to work to improve... you do not casually dismiss the player.

Now in April 2010, it is apparent that Glenn has not learned that lesson in his recent (repeated) comments about Gonzalez. This is even harder to understand. With Pie, you had to at-least project what he could be capable of at the Majors. With Gonzalez, all you have to do is have the ability to look up his career numbers. Again, Gonzalez is a guy that came into 2010, having pitched 280.2 career innings in the Major Leagues and allowed 213 hits, with 330 k's. That is exceptional (even if his career walk-rate is not). Basically what Glenn has said, is that his first 2 innings in 2010 carry more weight than the previous 280.2 innings of his career. That is a bizarre way looking at things.

Check-out Glenn's comments today in response to my Facebook quip:

http://wnst.net/wordpress/glennclark/2010/04/13/tuesday-mornings-crabs-and-beer-93/

"Well Chris, in a word, no.The reason people “vocally knocked” Felix Pie is because Felix Pie hasn’t BEEN ANY GOOD since coming to Baltimore. A couple months of decent play when the season was out of hand does not mean he isn’t a .270 hitter with ONE stolen base and a walk to strikeout ratio of 25:61 during his tenure in Charm City. If Mike Gonzalez is going to “bounce back” and be as effective as Felix Pie, he’ll be gone in June. I’m personally PRAYING that he’s much better than that. But nothing about his track record leads me to EXPECT that."

Hyperbole much? He actually says there is nothing about Gonzalez's track record, for him to expect improvement. Wow, just wow. He also says if Gonzalez does not show improvement, he will be gone by June. Does Glenn not understand how contracts work in baseball? His comments about Pie are just silly. Pie has proven to be exactly the player I said he was in March 2009. A physically gifted player with raw skills, and limited Major League experience. At 24 last-year, and 25 now he is still several years away from his 27-28 year-old peak. He needs extended playing-time to determine exactly what you have. However, if Glenn is incapable of seeing Pie's bat-speed, defensive abilities, and ability to run, that is on him.

By the way Glenn, there is no-doubt that a current flaw to Pie's game, is him being unable steal bases. On the other-hand, there are additional uses for speed beyond stealing. An example being Pie scoring from 1st on a SINGLE from Izturis on Friday.

I will give Glenn and WNST some ammo for Apologist Award #3. It has been a horrible first-week for the Orioles, but there will be tangible improvement on the field this year. I'm sticking with 82-80. Anything under 75 wins would be a huge disappointment. The biggest difference during the year, will be the rotation. Still amazing that the O's started 2009 with a rotation of Guthrie, Uehara, Simon, Hendrickson, and Eaton. Millwood, Guthrie, Matusz, Bergesen, Hernandez / Tillman / Arrieta will keep the Orioles competitive most nights. As brutal as the offense has looked, there is no reason to believe it will not improve.

After this response, I have no desire to go back-and-forth through blogs. Glenn, if you want to take me up on the bet I offered, let me know. If I have a problem with any of your comments, I will again contact you directly. If you want to directly mention me on your show, address me directly. I will always gladly debate you in an open-forum.

MASN's O's Blogger Day

For the 2nd-consecutive season, MASN invited me to take part in their O's Blogger Day.

It was again an opportunity to meet with fellow Oriole Bloggers, while also meeting with MASN personalities, and Oriole executives.

My sincere appreciation for the hospitality shown.

Myself, and the fellow Bloggers, were provided time to meet with Gary Thorne, and Mike Flanagan as they prepared for the game-telecast. In the MASN Suite, we were able to meet with Jim Hunter, Rick Dempsey, Steve Melewski, Roch Kubatko, and Spiro Alafassos from MASN. We were joined by Oriole executives Andy MacPhail, Greg Bader, Monica Barlow, and Bill Stetka as well.

Every person we met, was just kinder than the next, and gracious with their time.

A special thanks to Todd Webster from MASN for orchestrating the event.

My apologies if I am missing any of the blogs that took part, but I know the following blogs were represented:

Oriole Post (http://oriolepost.com/)
Dempsey's Army (http://dempseysarmy.blogspot.com/)
Camden Chat (http://www.camdenchat.com/)
The Wayward Oriole (http://www.thewaywardoriole.com/)
Baltimore Sports Report (http://baltimoresportsreport.com/)
Camden Crazies (http://camdencrazies.com/)

Updated Google Analytics for Baltimore Sports and Life

As I stated a few weeks ago, I installed Google Analytics for this Baltimore Sports and Life blog on January 1st. this month.

Fairly regularly I get inquiries asking me about the traffic I get, or suggesting I should write for their sites to increase my name recognition. With that in-mind, I am going to provide a monthly update on the numbers this blog receives. If anyone seeks a PDF copy of the stats, I will be happy to provide.

Here are a couple of stats between January 1st through today February 23rd:

7,167 page views
5,137 visits
2,834 unique visitors
95.13 visits a day

5,137 visits from 39 countries
4,974 visits from the US, including 49 states

Maryland leads with 2,408 visits

Average Time on the Site = 1 minute 24 seconds

Visitor Loyalty = 26.59% of visitors have been on the site at-least 9 times

54.68% of visitors have been new visitors
45.32% of visitors are returning visitors

43.64% of traffic has been direct
39.32% of traffic has been referring sites
17.03% of traffic has been search engines

Google Analytics for Baltimore Sports and Life

I installed Google Analytics for this Baltimore Sports and Life blog on January 1st this month.

I am sure that nobody cares about this, but I found it interesting, and thought I would share.

Here are a couple of stats since that starting date:

2,450 page views
1,745 visits
1,046 unique visitors
91.84 visits a day

1,745 visits from 26 countries/territories
1,676 visits from the US, including 44 states

Maryland, as you would expect, leads with 902 visits.
New York was second with 115 visits.

24.42% of the visitors, have visited at-least 6 times.

59.60% of traffic is direct
23.84% of traffic is from referring sources
16.56% of traffic is from search engines

2010 Orioles FanFest / Blogger Forum

The Baltimore Orioles will return to the Convention Center for their annual FanFest, to be held on Saturday January 23rd.

I have been invited by The Orioles to participate in a 'Blogger Forum', between 5 and 5:45 that day.

The format will be a Q&A with forum host ( I am currently unaware of who that will be), and the fans in attendance.

I am looking forward to the event, and hope to see you there.

Good-bye '09, Hello Year 2 of Baltimore Sports and Life

My first blog entry was January 6th of this year, where I compared myself to Admiral Stockdale, stating:

"Who am I? Why am I here?

Everyone has a blog these days, and ultimately it is a narcissistic endeavor.

I say that, because a blog exists essentially because the author believes their opinions are worth public consumption. I would like to tell you that I am above that… that I am not that self-involved, but that reality holds for me as well.

I have listed my primary interests, and what I will be blogging about regularly.

The blog will exist because I have enough of an ego to believe I can add value to the discussion, and rise above the current rhetoric.

To be clear, I am not claiming to be an expert on all matters I will post on.

However, I will claim that I will definitively show that many hailed as 'experts,' regularly show questionable logic.

My number one passion is baseball, and I believe my knowledge in that sphere is strong.

One of the first things my father taught me about baseball, is that there is always more to learn.

I have never forgotten that, nor do I ever believe I will reach a point where that is not true.

I am looking at this blog as an opportunity to post my opinions, with my name attached to the thoughts.

I will respond to all emails with questions, or any points of contention.

Thank-you for indulging me…"

Today, someone responded to me on the blog and called me delusional about the Terps. That is fine, that person is entitled to their opinion. I like debate, and exchanging of opinions. If you think I post something wrong, readers are always welcome to disagree with me. My only problem with the comment is that it was left without their name.

Part of the reason I started this blog, was so that I would be out-front with my name attached to my opinions; not hiding behind a screen name on a message board. Again, if you disagree with me, you are always welcome (and encouraged) to leave comments stating as much. Hopefully we can have an exchange of ideas as adults, and remember that sports are supposed to be fun. There is no reason to be malicious.

Is anyone else as turned-off as I am by the level of 'anger' expressed by local fans? If there is a bad loss, all sense of decorum and maturity seems to leave. People that have the audacity to call themselves adults, suddenly have tantrums like those of a child. Sports can allow for a wide gamut of emotions, which is part of the reason sports can be the ultimate drama. That emotion should never get to the point, where all analytical sense leaves you.

If you think I am making too much of this, check out the comments from people on Facebook, various message boards, and on sports-radio if the Ravens lose Sunday in Oakland. There might not be two nicer people in Baltimore than Roch Kubatko with MASN, and Peter Schmuck with The Sun. The venom these two receive in the comment sections of their respective blogs is hard to understand. If you can not discuss things as an adult, or keep a proper perspective on the events you are discussing; perhaps it is time reevaluate your priorities.

Basically everything I stated in that initial post, I still believe to be true. I do not claim to be an expert on all matters I post on, but I do believe I have proved capable of adding value to the discussion.

As 2009 closes, and I reflect on this year, I am proud of what has been accomplished during my initial 1,000 posts. Baltimore Sports and Life has been mentioned or linked to in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, MASN, The Baltimore Examiner, and the City Paper. I have been able to appear as guest on ESPN 1300, Fox 1370, and WNST 1570. One of the true-highlights of the year, was when I had the opportunity to meet some fellow bloggers, when MASN kindly invited me to be part of their Oriole Blogger Night this past May.

When I started the blog, I had no idea if anyone beyond my Dad would read my thoughts. Currently there are 265 people following the blog through Facebook, and an additional 45 or so following via Twitter. I appreciate each one of those followers, and the positive comments and well-wishes I have received from a lot of the Baltimore media.

During this year, I have been able to interview the following National and Local figures of note:

Terry Hutchens, Indy Star
Bruce Pascoe, Arizona Star
Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jim Meehan, The Spokesman Review
Jeff Lockridge, The Tennessean
Bill Koch, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Joe Reedy, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Steve Meleweski, MASN
Marc Unger, Fox 1370
Rob Long, Fox 1370
Jerry Coleman, Fox 1370
Drew Forrester, WNST 1570
Bob Haynie, WNST 1570
Tony Pente, Orioles Hangout
Scott Hoffman, Orioles Hangout
David Ginsburg, Associated Press
Ian Rapoport, Boston Herald
Kent Babb, KC Star
Dave Stockstill, (2nd interview) Player Development Director of the Baltimore Orioles
Chris Knoche, Radio Analyst University of Maryland Basketball
Jonathan Okanes, Contra Costa Times
Phil Steele, College Football Analyst
Mike Wilkening, Pro Football Weekly / NFL Network
Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News College Basketball Analyst
Todd Helmick, College Football Analyst / National Champs.net
Tom Tango, Co-Author 'The Book - playing the Percentages in Baseball.'
Rich Lederer, Baseball Analysts
Tony Lombardi, Ravens 24x7
Numerous Bracketologists
Dave Stockstill, Player Development Director of the Baltimore Orioles
Joe Jordan, Scouting Director of the Baltimore Orioles
Dave Studenmund, Owner of The Hardball Times
Phil Wood, MASN
Jim Beattie, Former GM of the Baltimore Orioles
Greg Bader, Director of Communications of the Baltimore Orioles

It was extremely gracious of each one of the aforementioned to provide their time and comments. The reality is that I work full-time, and have limited discretionary time to spend on the blog. I think these interviews provides a glimpse into what I would be able to produce, if I had the ability to dedicate further time to the blog.

What I will be working on in 2010, is attempting to gain increased exposure for this blog. For that to happen, I need some help. The Baltimore Sun, and Baltimore Magazine both gave out awards for blogging this year, and it illustrated that there is a lot of quality out there. I enjoy reading the works of many different people, and I link to a number of my favorites on my blog list. While acknowledging their efforts, I believe this blog deserves to be held in the same esteem as the best this City has to offer.

When The Sun, and Baltimore Magazine have their votes for the 2010 awards, I will ask the people that enjoy this blog to help Baltimore Sports and Life receive some additional notoriety.

Another way you can help this blog gain some notice, is if you provide the links below to friends of yours that are fans of the O's, Ravens, and Terps.

http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52519216267
http://twitter.com/Bmoresportslife

I would like to close by again giving thanks to a lot of people that deserve it.

First, I really appreciate those who regularly read the blog, and provide comments to me, and the people that have joined the BSL group on Facebook, or Twitter.

Secondly, I would again like to thank the people that I interviewed for their time and comments; and again need to publicly thank Nestor Aparicio, Marc Unger, and Bruce Posner for providing me air-time, and exposure.

Third, thanks to my Dad for his feedback, and just for reading. I also need to thank my Mom for the BSL shirts, and bday cake she had made for me.

Lastly, I need to thank my wife Laura for indulging the hobby and time I spend on the computer writing.

Less anyone think I am taking this too seriously, you can rest assured that I am not. I realize it is just a blog. When those that have known about the blog have asked me how it is going, my standard answer is that, 'It is a nice diversion." For the most part that is true, the writing has been a nice diversion from everyday life sometimes. Following sports should be fun, and this has added to my personal enjoyment.

However, as long as I continue to do this, I want to make it as good as it can be. I hope you will continue to read, and I wish you and yours a happy and healthy 2010.

Cheers,
Chris

I will be on ESPN 1300 Thursday 6PM with Bruce Posner

Mr. Posner operates Terp Talk (http://terptalk.com/), and hosts a weekly show on ESPN 1300.

Listen to us, and other Terp Bloggers, as we preview the University of Maryland Basketball season.

For Terp fans, check out the Terp Basketball link for previews of the exhibition tonight, and the first 3 games of the season.

Before the Maui Invitational, the ACC/Big 10 Challenge (Indiana), and the BB&T Classic (Villanova) we will have Q&A's posted with numerous beat-writers of the opposing teams.

I will be on Fox 1370 tomorrow from 10 to 11 am with the Fighting Ungers

Happy 4th of July from Baltimore Sports and Life.

WNST KOBST Final - Interview with Brian Billick

Below is a link to my interview with Coach Brian Billick at Padonia Station last night as part of the WNST KOBST contest.

Brian Billick is extremely classy, self-depricating, and very knowledgable. It was fun to interview him, and I am glad he has made Baltimore his long-term home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzxOjH78mV0

WNST KOBST Final Round Results

Tonight at Padonia Station, Luke Jones was named the WNST 1570 KOBST. Congrats to him on a well-earned victory, and a thanks to Nestor Aparicio for the opportunity provided.

Drew Forrester and Bob Haynie deserve recognition for serving as judges for the semi-final, and final rounds... and a special thank-you has to be provided to the celebrity judges of Brian Billick, Jon Buren, Phil Jackman, and Billy Ripken.

It was an enjoyable experience, and I wish the fellow contestants, and WNST continued success.

You can hear the Final Round on WNST Friday morning.