Maese

One of the most anticipated aspects of anyone's run-in with the law is the mug shot. And this is why I have so many questions surrounding this week's news that Tony La Russa was charged with DWI. The police report says La Russa was asleep at the wheel, his car sitting in front of a green light. He later blew a 0.093 blood-alcohol count. But did you see the photo? He doesn't look tired or drunk in that mug shot. La Russa looks more like a guy who's confronting someone he suspects of stealing his wallet.

Few people could compare being a firefighter and a professional football player, but former Ravens long snapper Joe Maese knows they have one thing in common. It's called preparation. "The biggest thing is that you need to be professional," said Maese, a firefighter for Long Reach Station 9 in Howard County. "You go through all those practices, meetings and all of that training. There might be that one fire a year, which is like having that one playoff game, and you had better [have]

THE RAVENS' JOE MAESE has heard the joke about long snapping being the second-best job in the world next to caddying for Tiger Woods, but Woods' aide never had someone trying to break his fingers. Or punch him in the back of the head. Oh, the life of a long snapper can be a great one. Paid expenses. Great travel. Gourmet meals. Luxury hotels. Superb medical benefits. And these guys don't take nearly the same punishment of regular players. Starting pay: about $209,000 per year. Fathers, please teach your sons to become long snappers.

I'm no psychic: But the worst thing to happen for the Ravens was the Philadelphia Eagles getting within spitting distance of victory a week ago against the New England Patriots. This is a team that plays every game with a chip on its shoulder, and it will enter tomorrow night's game as if it has something to prove. On the one hand: Kudos to Ray Lewis for telling reporters that he's dealing with heavy emotions and doesn't have time to fan the flames of their made-for-the-tabloids feud with former teammate Adalius Thomas.

Too short to play defensive end and too slow to play linebacker for a mediocre college team in the Mountain West Conference, Joe Maese is just right as the long snapper for the Super Bowl champions. Maese, 6 feet, 241 pounds, seems out of place in the Ravens' locker room, where he's a few stalls down from Elvis Grbac. If the quarterback was the most heralded addition of the off-season, Maese was the least. Conference all-star teams may not single out long snappers, but the Ravens did when they selected him in the sixth round of the draft in April.

His name is starting to circulate among Ravens followers, rendering one of long snapper Joe Maese's fears a reality. Maese spent much of the season in relative anonymity, but after trying to fight through a medial collateral ligament strain in his left knee that limited his ability to stop Tampa Bay's Todd Yoder from blocking a punt in the Ravens' 22-10 loss to the Buccaneers on Saturday night, he is starting to receive his share of unwanted publicity....

Joe Maese is alone no longer. With the Tuesday signing of Mike Solwold, Maese lost the distinction of being the Ravens' only long snapper, a title he held throughout the entire offseason. While the long-snapping job is Maese's to lose, the third-year veteran out of New Mexico welcomes the competition. "It's not anything different from what I expected. If I'm lucky enough to be out here 10 years, hopefully they'll bring another guy in then, too," said Maese, who has been the Ravens' long snapper since being drafted by the club in 2001.

Of the four players the Ravens selected in yesterday's later rounds of the NFL draft, the one with the weakest credentials has the best chance at making the team. The Ravens selected long snapper Joe Maese, a former walk-on from New Mexico, with its sixth-round pick (194th overall). The Ravens also chose Western Illinois middle linebacker Edgerton Hartwell in the fourth round, New Mexico State running back Chris Barnes in the fifth and Northwestern defensive end Dwayne Missouri in the seventh.

Maese is off base in UM comparison I have had a high opinion of Rick Maese's work since he began with The Sun. After reading Thursday's column ["To avoid men's blueprint, Frese will build off title"], I now wonder if Peter Schmuck is really kidding when he speaks about Mr. Maese's youth and inexperience. Maese says Brenda Frese would be wise not to follow the blueprint "scripted by the school's men's program after it won the national championship in 2002." Sounds like something disgruntled fans of the men's team would eat up, doesn't it?

Columnists contribute valuable perspective and focus to the coverage of important news events. A few recent columns in The Sun bear this out. Two incisive, well-reported pieces by Metro columnist Jean Marbella about the special legislative session in Annapolis received a lot of attention from readers. In her Nov. 9 column, Marbella wrote: "For those of you keeping score at home, health clubs and real estate property managers -- they're good. No new sales tax on them. But landscapers, computer service providers and video arcades -- not so good.

Today I'd like to introduce you to schmo. I nicknamed him as such in a column Sunday. His actual name is Nick Christy and he is the founder of FireSamPerlozzo.com, the recently registered Web site dedicated to critiquing the Orioles' field manager. Not only do I disagree with the sentiment, but I think the anti-coach Web site has become somewhat of an e-cliche (as is putting e- in front of anything associated to the Internet). Hip and funny a couple of years; yawn-worthy today. First, the basics.