After months and months of harassment, b finally caved and gave me the keys to my own sports blog. You would be surprised by how quickly your workplace demands will be met if you take a vuvuzela into your boss's office.
(Now that the 2010 World Cup has come to a close, let's take a moment of silence -- I hope -- for the vuvuzelas.)
Loyal b readers are familiar with my columns and reporting, but allow me to introduce myself to those who aren't. I won't bore you with some rambling, epic opening blog post that tells my entire sports life story, like how I got hit by a pitch 17 times in one Little League season or how I decided sports writing would be a cool way to attempt to pay my bills. Instead, here are 10 fun facts about me:
1. I've been at b since its debut in April 2008. I cover the Ravens and Orioles, and I earned a reputation for being the toughest pound-for-pound sports writer in Baltimore by taking on the Charm City Roller Girls. OK, not really. We fought to a draw. {Photo, right, by Brian Krista, b}
2. My Baltimore sports man crushes are Ray Rice, Brian Matusz and Sagu. Matusz gets the nod only because Adam Jones insists on playing centerfield 15 feet from second base.
3. I giggle every time I watch Joe Flacco's awkward TV commercials or hear Gary Thorne talk about one of the Orioles getting "fisted."
4. I'm a puck lover. I've played hockey since I was eight, and the hockey rink is the only place I can be considered to be remotely athletic. I'll talk Capitals a little on the blog, but I promise I'll try to keep the hockey chatter to a minimum.
5. I spent the best five years of my life at Penn State, so I have an appreciation for dairy products, pasty women and smashmouth football.
6. I went to Towson for grad school, so I have an appreciation for hair gel, "Jersey Shore" and smashmouth binge-drinking.
7. At least 70 percent of my popular culture references come from the 1990s, so brace yourself for some N.K.O.T.B., "Legends of the Hidden Temple" and "Bio-Dome" allusions. Hell, there's two of them in my blog banner.
8. I'm the guy constantly checking on his four or five fantasy football teams in the press box at Ravens games. I think I have a problem. (Shameless plug alert: Look for my faux football column in August.)
9. Believe it or not, I was one of Baltimore Magazine's top singles in 2009, but I have a feeling Brendon Ayanbadejo attracted more interest. Probably because I look like Val Kilmer did when he started to get fat. {Photo, left, by Baltimore Magazine}
10. I'm going to need your help for this thing to work. Send me funny and/or interesting links, photos, YouTube videos, blogs, Tweets, comments, emails, ideas, leads, etc. If I deem them to be worthy for the blog, I'll hook you up with a plug. Maybe even some b schwag, too, if you're a fan of cheaply-produced products that are bright orange.
You can reach me at matt@bthesite.com, twitter.com/mattvensel and facebook.com/VirtualVensanity.