Should Ray Lewis get a rich extension even if it burdens the team's cap?
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Tony Lombardi
Tony is ProFootball24x7.com's founder and has been contributing columns and reports for the site since its inception on July 3, 2003. Born and raised in Baltimore, Tony combines the heartfelt passion of a fan with journalistic objectivity and the result is insightful commentary that cuts to the core and challenges readers to look beneath the surface.
Tony's work has been featured on various sports websites and he has been a guest on several local and out of town sports radio programs. He also hosts the site's critically acclaimed Ravens sports talk show GAMETIME which is featured on Baltimore's ESPN Radio AM 1300 where it is currently heard on Friday's from 7 to 9 PM. He also hosts The Hot Sauce With Bart Scott on Tuesday nights from 6-8PM live from Della Rose's in Canton.
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Aaron Wilson
Aaron Wilson is well recognized by Ravens fans throughout the area for his well-informed insight, attention to detail, knowledge of the game as well as his thoroughness and high level of credibility. He is respected by his peers both in and outside of Baltimore for his solid work ethic and his accountability. Aaron previously covered the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans and has covered the NFL since 1997. He has won several regional writing awards, including, most recently, Best Sports News Story this year for the state of Maryland in voting conducted by the Associated Press managing editors.
Aaron will be providing his usual insightful stories regarding the Ravens and the NFL and he will also be hosting his own blog and weekly chat sessions here on 24x7. Get inside the Ravens with contributing writer Aaron Wilson, Ravens beat writer for the Carroll County Times.
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John Gehrig
John Gehrig split his formidable years between NE Baltimore and Westminster. He is a former tight end out of Lehigh University and even knocked heads with 24x7's own Bill Pisano who played LB for Bucknell. John is our resident "Web Guy" who brings 11 years of experience in cyber space to 24x7. That experience coupled with his passion for the Ravens has fueled a determination that John vows will result in the best spot on the net for anything Ravens. This new site is just the opening kick off and he swears the best has yet to come!
John now resides in Ocean City and hosts GAMETIME'S sister program, Ravens Wrap along with Bruce Laird.
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Bill Pisano
Bill has been 24x7's football analyst since 2003 contributing columns and commentary about fundamentals, strategy and techniques involved in playing and coaching the game. Bill also is an in-season contributor to GAMETIME providing analysis and insight with a focus on the previous week's Ravens game. Bill is a former collegiate linebacker from Bucknell University where he was an All Patriot League Linebacker. After his playing days ended, Bill coached defensive line and special teams at Division III Wesley College for three years then Linebackers for two years at Bucknell University.
Although he is no longer involved in the game as a player or coach, Bill's passion for the game is reflective in his desire to educate the average fan. He continues to teach and professes that an educated fan enjoys the game more if he/she has a deeper understanding of the demands the sport has on athletes and coaches. A team has a responsibility to its fans and the fans have a responsibility to the team. A more educated fan earns the right to demand more from his or her team. With Bill's guiding hand, 24x7 vows to do its best to help in that regard.
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Bruce Laird
Bruce Laird is a 12 year NFL veteran who played 10 seasons with the Baltimore Colts. The American Institute grad who hails from Lowell, MA was known for his hard nosed play, leadership and intelligence on the field. Although he never possessed top end speed, Bruce was one of the league's best kickoff return men averaging 29.1 yards per return as a rookie. Bruce has 20 interceptions to his credit to go along with 20 fumble recoveries and was always considered to be a very solid strong safety. His most memorable play was an interception return for a score of a Ken Stabler pass during a double overtime playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders at Memorial Stadium in 1977.
Bruce is also recognized as the best analyst in Baltimore covering the NFL. He has the rare ability to combine his thorough understanding of the game and articulate that knowledge to listeners in such a way that doesn't speak over the audience's head. Instead he informs and educates them. Bruce can be heard on GAMETIME regularly and he is a contributor to ProFootball24x7.
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Ryan Grymes
Ryan is a graduate of John Carroll School where he lettered in golf and basketball. He arrived at John Carroll by way of St. Margaret’s in BelAir and then he spent a year at Calvert Hall before transferring. Ryan went on to play golf at Randolph Macon College and is now enrolled in the accelerated business program at Villa Julie.
When asked about his hobbies Ryan states, “Sports and that’s about it.”
Ryan is still a scratch golfer, frequent fisherman and as a 4 year veteran season ticket holder, he absolutely loves tailgating at Ravens games (game face on above). He’s also crafty in the kitchen and claims to be a “very good, Italian style cook”, something he owes to his Mom, Phyllis. His Dad Win is happy to be the taste tester.
Ryan was recently appointed as our newest staff member heading up our marketing efforts in addition to being named 24x7’s Master Chef. Well, he’s also our only chef but it’s all good nonetheless.
Click on his link above and drop Ryan a note or give him a call 410-652-2336 if you'd like him to cook you up a winning advertising plan or a homemade bowl of pasta!
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Kurt Backert
Kurt Backert is our resident fantasy football expert. His articles are carefully crafted with unparalleled detail. Kurt's work can be found in the Fantasy Forum and his flair for nostalgia also finds its way to other areas of ProFootball24x7. During the season on GAMETIME, Kurt boldly and accurately forecasts the upcoming weekend's action and what it will mean to GAMETIME listeners who play fantasy football.
Kurt's passion for the game began in the 60's watching the Colts on TV and at Memorial Stadium. He began following the statistics of not only his beloved Colts but also those of the Colts opponents, with a keen eye on Vince Lombardi's Packers. His passion for and attention to statistical detail would eventually lead Kurt on a journey to the world of fantasy football in the late 1980's where he's captured more titles than John Wooden's UCLA Bruins
Kurt carries a distinction that no other fan of the NFL can boast about. He is the reigning NFL National Trivia Champion and he credits his Dad for passing on such passion for the game, something Kurt also hopes to pass along to his 9-year-old son.
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Dev Panchwagh
Dev Panchwagh is a versatile analyst who breaks down the Xs and Os of the game. He also evaluates player movement, the salary cap and the NFL draft. Dev has been a columnist/analyst for ProFootball24x7.com since the summer of 2004. In his regular season column Dev highlights the Ravens' keys to success against each opponent they face. He also gives detailed analysis on the other teams around the league.
Dev's start as a sports journalist started modestly, when his contributions to sports talk radio were noticed, leading to duties as a regular columnist for the Scouts.com network before joining ProFootball24x7.com. It would be very difficult to find his rare combination of youthfulness, knowledge and insight in all facets of football anywhere else. Fortunately, Dev brings it here each and every week.
In addition to writing for ProFootball24x7.com, Dev is a regular on GAMETIME. Aside from working on the website, Dev is currently completing his B.A. degree for English and Political Science at UMBC and he is considering a law degree.
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Rick Johnson
Rick Johnson is a native of Baltimore who has followed the local sports scene since the early sixties. Rick has been a regular contributor to the website since November, 2005. His contributions to ProFootball24x7.com range from the business of the NFL (CBA, retired players pensions) to nostalgic retrospectives; from topical Baltimore sports issues to an occasional book review.
Rick has also lived in Rockville (when the Senators were still losing), Chicago, and Jacksonville, Florida. Rick and his family became overnight celebrities in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale after they sold their home to Blackhawks star right-winger Dennis Hull in 1972 before moving back to Baltimore.
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Lucky Lund
Patrick "Lucky" Lund is an occasional co-host on GAMETIME and also chips in with his whimsical yet passionate flair here on ProFootball24x7.com. Lucky was born and raised in Baltimore and attended Loyola High School and the University of Delaware where a little known Rich Gannon was his classmate.
A huge fan of all things sports, Lucky is proud of his local sports heritage and credits the Ravens with giving him the thrill of a lifetime when he was a live spectator at Super Bowl XXXV. Lucky credits his parents as his sporting muse and he takes great pride in being part of GAMETIME since its very beginning.
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Sabina Moran
Sabina has been working behind the lens to bring the best in game action photos to the fans and readers of PRoFootball24x7 since the summer of 2005. Continually striving to see the game from many different perspectives, Sabina's dedication allows the fans a fresh and unique vantage point.
Specializing in sports action photography, Sabina started SKM Photography in June 2004 to market her artistic skills. Sabina has done freelance photography work for a community paper in Carroll County since December 2005, as well as having her photographs featured in Baltimore?s new weekly all sports publication Press Box.
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Scot Kleinfeld
Scot is a Baltimore native, a Towson University graduate, and has followed sports since the early 1980's. Scot likes to go inside the numbers and get the real "411" on the wins and losses, hence his Behind The Numbers column.
Besides being an avid sports fan, Scot has been involved with televison sports production as an Associate Producer since 1993 for WMAR, ESPN, ESPNU,ESPN2, and the former Home Team Sports network. In addition to his television work Scot has written articles for Baltimore Magazine, Lacrosse Magazine and Patuxent Publishing. These experiences make him a natural as the creator of the Media Watchdog, another of SK's fine contributions.
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Mark Considine
Mark is a long-time visitor to 24x7 and shares a passion with this staff for all things purple. Since the Ravens Super Bowl victory, watching a Ravens' game once is hardly enough. Mark puts his TiVo unit through its paces regularly. He'll bring that passion here from time to time as a guest columnist.
Mark hails from Towson, the same neighborhood the old Colts lived in (Johnny U, Marchetti, Shula, etc.) and used to watch the Bert Jones' Colts at training camp at Goucher College. Mark is a graduate of Calvert Hall and Towson University. His oldest brother is a well known music critic (J.D. Considine), who's written for Rolling Stone, Musician, Revolver, Maxim, City Paper, News American, The Sun, and had a television show on VH1 for over a year. While Mark claims that he is not as eloquent and articulate as his more famous brother is, said brother can't throw a football like 24x7's Considine.
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Shan Shariff
Shan Shariff is a Sports Talk host and Program Director for Delmarva's ESPN Radio 1240 in Cambridge, MD. He is recognized for his interviewing skills and ability to attack a subject from a number of different angles. He has interviewed the likes of Jim Brown, John Wooden, Red Aurebach, Oscar Robertson, Brooks Robinson and Earl Weaver. Shan is a native of Maryland and attended college at American University in Washington, DC. While there, he interned for the George Michael Sports Machine and traveled back and forth to Salisbury, MD for television experience at WMDT Channel 47. After graduating, Shan did play-by-play and color for the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association.
Shan gets made fun of constantly for winning a state tennis championship in mixed doubles although he openly admits to not being good enough to win one by himself. If you want to harass Shan regarding his love for the Redskins and Lakers, tune in Monday-Friday from 10am-1pm on Delmarva's ESPN Radio AM 1240.
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Eric Buckner
Eric Buckner is a native of Baltimore and has lived in the area his entire life. A graduate of Towson University , Eric has been a student of professional football since the day he wept in his grandfather's bedroom after the Baltimore Colts were upset by the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. A loyal fan of the Colts and subsequently the Ravens, Eric's passion for the NFL is unwavering as evidenced by his near flawless attendance record at Ravens' games. He's missed only one preseason game -- back in 2005. We'll cut him some slack since he was on his honeymoon. You won't find Eric slacking when it comes to covering the AFC North for ProFootball24x7.com.
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Ken McKusick
Ken comes to us via area message boards where he has consistently posted some of the most insightful and memorable posts that you'll find anywhere. Known as "Filmstudy", Ken is a lifelong Baltimorean and rabid fan of Baltimore sports who grew up about 1 mile from Memorial Stadium. He attended all but a handful of Orioles home games from 1979 through 2001.
Ken bleeds orange in more ways than one. He's a graduate of Syracuse University where he earned degrees in both Broadcast Journalism and Math and now works locally as an actuary.
The message board member name "Filmstudy" comes from his collection of video from every Ravens game ever played and his player-participation-by-play tracking system for defense that he developed in 2006. This system is the cornerstone of his thoughtful and one-of-a-kind analysis of the complex Ravens defense.
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Brian McFarland
Known on Ravens Message Boards as "B-more Ravor", Brian is a life-long Baltimorean and an avid fan of the Ravens and all Baltimore sports (yes, even the Orioles still). A PSL holder since 1998, Brian has garnered a reputation as a cap-guru on Ravens' message boards because of his strange desire to wade through the intricacies of the salary cap as it relates to the Ravens.
Brian, who hails from Catonsville and still resides there, is married and has two young children.
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Matt Zenitz
Matt Zenitz is the co-host of Pressbox Live, which airs Sundays from 10-11 a.m. on ESPN Radio 1300-AM. Matt is also Pressbox’s beat writer for Maryland football as well as the paper’s “NFL Draft Expert.”
Matt closely follows high school football recruiting and college football, so a lot of the players you see on Sundays, Matt has been tracking since before they could get into an rated-R movie.
Matt is also a self-described fantasy football expert and will provide analysis along with Kurt Backert each week on who you should sit and start each week in your fantasy football league.
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Steve Gardner
Steve Gardner is one of the gurus behind the ProFootball24x7 message boards.
Steve was born and raised (on Guinness) in London, England where he managed to avoided jail time despite being a soccer fan. He moved to Maryland in the late 80s "for a laugh - and the cable telly".
He started the now infamous Ravens Nest 2 message boards in the fall of 1999 for members of his Ravens Nest to chat online. The RN2 board grew into one of the largest and most visited Ravens message boards on the internet with over a million posts and 30 million page views in 6 years.
Always trying hard to keep out of trouble (and usually failing miserably), on the day of Johnny U's death (9/11/02) he started an online petition to rename the old PSINet Stadium 'Johnny Unitas Memorial Stadium'. In less than 24 hours the petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/3307d/petition.html) received over 30,000 signatures, made the local TV news and the national newspapers. The petition was eventually signed by 58,000 people.
"It was just a lighthearted prank" Steve told us, "I fully support the current sponsor, bank with them and often use their Ravens Visa card - I need it to buy those $8 stadium beers."
Steve lives in Harford Co. with his keg of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, his wife Claudine, daughter Megan, Guinness the dog and Spice Boy the Guinea Pig.
He is a Ravens season ticket holder (4 semi -nose bleed seats since '96). During normal working hours, he pretends to be an engineer and "blows stuff up".
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Bob "The Chief" Jones
Bob Jones, aka "The Chief", has been with 24x7 since its inception. Bob's moniker is attributed to his Native American heritage and as a youngster many likened him to an Indian scout given his athletic prowess and his speed afoot. Bob was once a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Besides applying his analytical savvy as our resident handicapper, Bob also uses his deductive reasoning skills as a computer analyst which certainly has applicability to 24x7. This southpaw was born and raised in old school Canton in southeast Baltimore. His work can be read and heard on 24x7 and GAMETIME during the season. In the offseason, "The Chief" heads for the foothills, kicks back and dusts of his favorite peace pipe, an heirloom handed down through generations of Cherokee ancestry.
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Fran "The Fan" Vojik
Fran Vojik has been a regular contributor to the ProFootball24X7 "Letters to T.L." page since 2005. A huge football fan and a former season ticket holder of the Baltimore Colts, he now roots on the Ravens from his corner end zone seat in section 134. A regular traveler to various pro football cities and football web sites, he brings an analytical and humorous perspective to the world of professional football.
Born in Highlandtown and a graduate of Calvert Hall College and the University of Maryland, he now lives in Anne Arundel County with his wife Rosemarie. Their den room has been renamed "The Sports Palace" and contains many mementos from the Colts and Ravens eras.
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Gerome Sapp
Ravens safety Gerome Sapp will chronicle his thoughts and observations about the Ravens and their performances on and off the field right up to the start of the 2006 regular season.
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Rich Grimmel
Rich's site NFLRaven.com has been the gracious host of our GAMETIME recordings and he is our techno wizard who edits those recording for your enjoyment. He also serves up other fun things on NFLRaven and despite our attempts to coerce that domain name from him, Rich says he won't give it up for anything. Well, almost anything...
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Matt Katula
Matt Katula was signed by the Ravens on April 29, 2005 as an undrafted free agent. As a Wisconsin Badger, Katula played in 48 of 51 possible games where he was a big contributor on special teams, particularly as the long snapper in his final three seasons.
Entering camp in 2005, it was considered quite a challenge for Katula to unseat the incumbent long snapper Joe Maese yet he managed to overcome the odds and do exactly that. For our benefit, Matt to chronicled his experiences with the club while he sought to fulfill a dream to play in the National Football League.
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Sy Saulynas
Sy Saulynas teaches Computer Science at a well respected crucible of higher learning in the Baltimore area. He is also a long-time member of Ravens Nest 1 - Harford County, where he runs rampant, forcing football pools, trivia contests and pickems on the unsuspecting membership. So much in fact that said membership raised him to the lofty level of Vice President. He hails from Bel Air via Catonsville and has a lifelong devotion to all Baltimore sports teams with an almost spiritual zeal for Baltimore football.
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Craig Chasis
Craig Chasis or "Quaz" as he is known, has been a columnist for Profootball24x7.com for two years. Craig has been involved in various sports throughout his life, rugby being the most prominent. Craig has even competed on an international level in rugby. An avid traveler, Quaz has a unique perspective on the world around him, and this is reflected in his writing which is often light hearted and a bit quirky. Although knowledgeable he prefers to keep his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, and leave the hard hitting articles to others.
Craig sights his parents, Mike Curtis and Eddie Murray as driving influences. In his spare time, he has embarked on several unfinished novels and will find any excuse to go swimming.
Craig is a Baltimore resident who resides in the Canton area and can be found frequenting many of the fine establishments in the area (hey he loves to support our sponsors.) One of Craig's claims to fame is that he has amassed more concussions than both Troy Aikman and Steve Young combined. Craig is the one 24x7 staff member most likely to appear on Jeopardy and America's Most Wanted in the same week. "World Cup Soccer for $100 please?"
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Matt Ennis
Matt is another of a growing list of NFL draft junkies. He comes to 24x7 by way of Chicago as a respected member of our message board who charts draft eligible player projections. You can follow this year's projections here.
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Drew Forrester
Drew Forrester is a part-time guest columnist for ProFootball24x7 and the Morning Show Co-Host with Terry Ford on AM 1570 in Baltimore. A native of Glen Burnie, Forrester spent 17 years working with the Baltimore Blast/Spirit indoor soccer franchise, rising from an entry level assistant PR position to the team's General Manager from 1992 to 1998. After leaving the soccer world, he spent two years teaching broadcasting at his alma mater, the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland, before assuming his current radio role in July of 2002.
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Tommy Costantini
Tommy Costantini is 24x7's original Smack Daddy. Although his work on 24x7 has been rather rare of late, Tommy serves as a consultant and guiding hand to GAMETIME. He has been involved in radio for over 15 years. Born and raised in the soccer crazed Highlandtown area of Baltimore, naturally the other football is his first love. But when it comes to professional sports, he embraced the Baltimore Colts (a game for simpler minds) and sat comfortably atop his father's lap at every home game until he finally scored his own seat (at age 19). When Irsay snuck out of town, Tommy focused on other ways to enjoy "the simple man's game" by becoming a football official for the ACC football conference. Tommy also worked on the chain gang for Maryland games as well as those of the Baltimore CFL Stallions.
He continued his labor of linkage with the Baltimore Ravens working the sidelines for the first 4 seasons in B'more until one day he realized he had more fun sitting in the stands with his two sons than he did moving those chains.
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Bobby Nyk
You've heard him on the airwaves, you've seen him entertaining at parties and bull roasts and you've likely encountered him at a Ravens game. His streak of consecutive games is the fan equivalent of 2131. On these pages you will find Bobby Nyk's account of what happened on and off the field through the eyes of a Ravens' diehard fan.
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Ken Weinman
Ken brings edgy, opinionated and insightful commentary to his radio program "Overtime" heard weekend afternoons on Baltimore's FM Talk, 105.7 FM. Now he brings that biting edge to the pages of 24x7 in Just Say It.
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