Ron Cassie's picture
September, 7th 2012

Ain’t the Beer Cold!

“It was a fun night,” Mark Reynolds said after smashing two home runs to help beat the New York Yankees last night, launching the O’s into a first-place with the hated-Bronx Bombers.

Are you kidding me?

Fun?

Same night Cal Ripken's statue was unveiled? It was insane.

Adam Jones called his game-winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning “the biggest hit” of his life.

Friends tweeted out updates and posted Facebook photos from the ballpark all night. One buddy, who rode his bike to Camden Yards, sent me a text during the game saying he hadn’t seen anything like it years.

Yeh, like 15 years.

And now, we’ve got three games left with the Yankees this weekend at home — and the winner of the next two of three walks away in first place. The weather looks good for tonight, iffy Saturday, great Sunday, and tickets, according to the last time I checked the Orioles website, ...

Ron Cassie's picture
September, 2nd 2012

Grand Prix: Delays, Clouds Dampen Race and Turnout

After the second Grand Prix of Baltimore Sunday, Will Power, last year’s winner and the current IndyCar Series points leader, “cursed the weather and his awful luck,” according to ESPN.

Baltimore City and IndyCar officials might be cursing the weather and their awful luck as well. Although, surely they made some of that bad luck themselves, taking too long to finalize the race’s return to Charm City.

Although the expected rain Sunday afternoon amounted to just a brief drizzle, it did alter the race. The aforementioned Power dropped from the lead while pit stopping for a change to rain tires — and then back again — a costly decision that winner Ryan Hunter-Reay did not make. Still, despite a number of cautions and restarts, the race was exciting — if for no other reason than the shear amazement of watching the blur of open cockpit metal and rubber maneuvering around downtown’s normally plodding streets.

But whether it was the...

10:32 pm Comment Count Tags: Grand Prix
Max Weiss's picture
August, 30th 2012

As if you needed ANOTHER reason to love Ray Rice

Check out his Facebook posts in the wake of the tragic Perry Hall shooting in this chronicle (from Buzzfeed) of how he wields the power of social media for good. We ♥ Ray.

 

Photo courtesy of Buzzfeed.

 

Ron Cassie's picture
August, 29th 2012

Got Skills? Baltimore Blast Now Seeking Applications

Hey, all the weekend forwards, fullbacks, midfielders, and goalkeepers out there...the Baltimore Blast is offering a chance to make your dream of playing professional soccer come true.

The Blast is holding open tryouts Sept. 15 and 16 at the DuBurns Arena, 9 a.m. to noon each day. If you’re a male soccer player, 18 or older and not a college player with remaining eligibility, here's your shot. First, submit a tryout application — with $100 — to the Blast office by 5 p.m. Sept. 4. Walk-in players will not be granted a tryout.

Players will be assessed by the Blast staff, including head coach Danny Kelly, assistant coach David Bascome, and general manager Kevin Healey, according to the Blast’s website. Players making it through the open tryouts will be invited to attend a three-day mini-camp Oct. 10-12. The Blast opens training camp the following week.

“We are looking to provide an opportunity to those players who wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to come out and take a shot at making the Blast,” Kelly said. More...

Ron Cassie's picture
August, 24th 2012

Underwater Homes: Baltimore Not Sinking or Swimming

Courtesy: Wikipedia Commons

A report by Zillow Real Estate Research this week found that the housing market is showing signs of life after five long years. Their conclusion: many metro areas have "hit the elusive bottom" and homes in some cities are now beginning to increase in value.

That’s the good news. In Baltimore, as well, certain neighborhoods are seeing housing prices climb.

The bad news is that the negative equity on huge numbers of homes across the country continues to weigh down the market. The Baltimore market, it turns out, mirrors almost exactly the national figures on underwater homes. According to Zillow, 30.9 percent of U.S. homeowners — 15.3 million people — have a mortgage that’s underwater. In the Baltimore metro area, that number is 30.8 percent.

Zillow has also posted a handy ...

Ron Cassie's picture
August, 21st 2012

Giving It Away: Baltimore & Maryland Score High in Generosity

A report released over the weekend by The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks Baltimore-area and Maryland residents among the most generous in the country.

The study examined IRS records of Americans who itemized their deductions and earned $50,000 or more in 2008, providing data sets for every state, city, and ZIP code. An interactive map can be found here.

Maryland ranked 10th overall among the 50 states, contributing 5.7 percent of its discretionary income to charity. Maryland placed 11th in total...

Ron Cassie's picture
August, 20th 2012

'Unconference’ Sets Out to 'un-Wire' Baltimore

Initiated by gb.tc (formerly the Greater Baltimore Technology Council) and sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, local tech, nonprofit, business and government leaders are gathering this weekend at a new event called “unWIREd.”

Billed as an “unconference,” unWIREd hopes to pull together and mobilize Baltimore’s resources in a way that addresses the city’s challenges, according to a gb.tc press release.

UnWIREd is hosted by Johns Hopkins University and will take place at Maryland Hall on the Homewood campus, this Friday from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Attendees will plan the conference’s agenda upon arrival, with Friday’s session dedicated to a series of status updates on current efforts to address local problems such as poverty, violence and struggling schools. At Saturday’s session, organized teams will set out to identify demands and resources, and brainstorm potential solutions.

“We all know Baltimore isn’t The Wire,” said gb.tc’s Jason Hardebeck in a statement. “We’re frustrated with the overly negative perception of our city. But rather than get angry, we should use it...

5:58 pm Comment Count Tags: gb.tc
Amy Mulvihill's picture
August, 17th 2012

Make Way for Harbor Point

 

 

Baltimore’s inner harbor could be looking at a new addition. Plans for the Harbor Point development—to be located between Harbor East and Fells Point, as the name suggests—were approved Thursday by Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architecture Review panel, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Exelon, an energy provider that delivers electricity and natural gas to companies including BGE, plans to make its headquarters at the Harbor Point development, at the former site of the Allied Signal chromium plant.

Designed by Baltimore-based architectural firm Ayers Saint Gross, the proposed 27-acre development includes office and retail space, restaurants, and hotels. Plans show a cultural use building at the entrance to the inner harbor and an eight-acre park marked at its entrance by Thames Street and continuing Harbor East’s existing waterfront promenade...

Max Weiss's picture
August, 17th 2012

Take the Baltimore Google challenge!

Got this tip from a friend on Facebook. Go to Google and type the following: "Why is [name of city] so . . ." and see what comes up.

For Portland, the first two to come up are "weird" and "cool."

For New York, it's "expensive" and "great."

For Seattle it's "expensive" and "cold."

For Atlanta it's "cheap" and "popular."

And for Baltimore? First word "dangerous." Second word—sigh—"violent." (Third word "humid." Heh.)

So we've decided to take matters into our own hands. Call it the great Baltimore Google challenge. Every day, when you're bored, on hold, waiting in line, procastinating at work, etc. type into Google: "Why is Baltimore so CHARMING?"

We'll check back in a week and see how we've done. For now, only YOU can change the perception of Baltimore, one Internet search at a time!!

3:13 pm Comment Count Tags: Google
Ron Cassie's picture
August, 17th 2012

Hi, How Are You? Maryland Fourth on Well-Being Index

Courtesy of Gallup

Hawaii, according to a recent Gallup-Healthways “Well-Being Index” poll, has the highest percentage of residents (61.9 percent) who consider themselves “thriving.” Go figure.

Utah (59.3) and South Dakota (58.3) ranked second and third, respectively, in the percentage of citizens describing their lives as thriving, according to a study covering the first six months of 2012. Maryland, we are pleased to report, came in fourth among the states, with 58 percent of residents surveyed describing their lives as thriving.

West Virginia, Maine and Delaware scored lowest in the survey.

Atlantic Cities wrote about the findings in a story Thursday. Gallup classifies...

2:12 pm Comment Count Tags: Maryland