I’ve had plenty of late nights and early mornings, working at an exhausting pace to cover the Baltimore Ravens run to Super Bowl XLVII. It’s been the most exciting and rewarding time of my professional career, and the experience was something that I hope to never forget.

I’ve now had a little time to decompress – to wean my system off of a constant stream of caffeine and drain all the New Orleans fried food out of my veins – and to appreciate the unique perspective I had throughout the ride to the most watched Super Bowl ever.

I truly had a front row seat for sports history.

From standing in the scorching sun during every day to training camp, to sitting on the team plane back to Baltimore with the Lombardi Trophy in my hands, I was there every day for a season to remember. I stood five feet from Ray Lewis when he announced his retirement, and was then right next to him as he walked off the field at M&T Bank Stadium for the final time.

There were plenty of highlights throughout the way, but what stands out to me was how the city of Baltimore embraced the Ravens. It was remarkable to see droves of fans – more than 200,000 people – crowd into downtown to celebrate the Super Bowl victory with a parade through the city. The parade route was packed with shouting fans from start-to-finish.

I saw kids screaming at the opportunity to wave to their favorite players. I saw policemen and firefighters sneaking cell phone pictures every chance they had. I saw people climbing up trees on the parade route just to get a glimpse of one of the stars.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people say “thank you” for bringing back the Lombardi Trophy. I must have heard that nearly 1,000 times on the 1.5-mile parade route.

As we rolled through the streets, the word that kept coming to my mind was “surreal.”

That parade experience capped off a remarkable month, where I constantly had to remind myself to take a deep breath and soak up the surroundings. I realize that I was incredibly fortunate to be part of a Super Bowl championship team less than two years into my time with the Ravens. I know there are some people who have worked in the NFL for decades and never even been to a Super Bowl.

My focus throughout the trip to the Super Bowl was to do the best work I could covering event and the stories leading up to the game, but also to enjoy the experience as much as possible because you never know if that opportunity will come again.

Below I’ve included links to some of my written and video content from the Super Bowl run.

Written Pieces

Joe Flacco’s MVP Performance Caps Historic Postseason Run 

Ozzie Newsome’s Brilliance Built The Ravens 

Players Give Credit To John Harbaugh 

Video Content

Ravens Arrive In New Orleans 

Ravens Embrace Media Day Circus 

Go Inside Practice Facility 

Secret Weapon To Take Down 49ers

It was one of the most memorable and enjoyable weekends I’ve had since joining the team about six months ago. We worked long hours in a fast-paced and sometimes stressful environment, but that’s part of the fun for anyone who wants to enter the sports media business.

In addition to working hard on draft weekend, we also logged some long hours in the buildup to the draft, trying to satisfy fans’ insatiable appetite for any kind of draft content we could provide.

Part of the material we put together around draft weekend was a series of sit-down interviews with four people who essential run the Ravens’ draft. We talked with General Manager Ozzie Newsome, Head Coach John Harbaugh, Director of Player Personnel Eric DeCosta and Director of College Scouting Joe Hortiz.

Even though they were guarded in the information they provided (everyone in the NFL is that way), they still gave some valuable insights during one of the most important times of the year for the organization.

Here’s a look at all four of the interviews.

I moved to a different city and started a new job. I got thrust into the middle of an NFL playoff race. I covered some of the most intriguing games of the NFL season. I got “dunked on” in the locker room.

And in process of all of that, I’ve had to pick up on a pretty steep learning curve in a fast-paced environment. 

The last few months have been some of the most exciting in my life, and my new job with the Baltimore Ravens has been both thrilling and eye-opening.

And like any transition, it’s a change from what I was accustomed to.

Working for a team, and covering that same team is a much different experience than working for a third-party news outlet. Stepping into that role has been an adjustment, but it’s also exposed me to other parts of the news making and news gathering process, giving me valuable perspective about the industry.

One thing that I’ve learned since starting with the Ravens is that the NFL does an incredible job of making the offseason almost as exciting as the regular season. With the combine, free agency and the upcoming draft, there hasn’t been much of a drop-off in the amount of news coming out of the NFL these days.

With that being said, I’m planning to start posting on here more often, blogging about some of the things we’re doing at the Ravens, as well as various topics in the sports, social media and journalism worlds.

I’m making a renewed effort to contribute to my blog now, knowing that once the actual season starts up again, those posts will once again be fewer and farther between.

At the end of this week, I’ll be packing up my life in Cleveland, and moving to Baltimore to work for the Baltimore Ravens digital media team.

Growing up as a sports fan, it has been a dream of mine to work in the NFL, and this job gives me the unique opportunity to fulfill that goal with one of the best franchises in the pro sports.

I’m joining a digital media team that has a stellar reputation in the industry, and am looking forward to learning as much as possible, as quickly as I can.

I could not be more excited about this opportunity.

The position became available in the middle of the season, which creates an interesting set of challenges as I move into the role. With the Ravens once again in contention for a playoff bid, I won’t have time to wade into this job.

I’m jumping right in. And I’m fine with that.

The toughest part about making the move to Baltimore is leaving WEWS, the place I “officially” started my career and spent the last 16 months.

Simply put, my time at WEWS was incredible.

I was in the middle of the biggest sports story in the country, played an integral role in the evolution of a traditional newsroom, helped break new ground with our high school football coverage, and sat through a rare Cleveland earthquake. Twice.

The people I worked with at WEWS are smart, supportive and creative, and I learned more from watching the newsroom operate than they—or I—even realize. I worked alongside some iconic faces of Cleveland television, and my co-workers could not have been more helpful.

As a 22-year-old who started the job one week out of college, that welcoming atmosphere made WEWS a place I wanted to be. And that’s what makes it tough to leave.

But at some point you have to move on, and now is that time.

As I went through this process, legendary WEWS anchor Leon Bibb told me, “When it’s time to go, you’ll know, and then you gotta go.”

Well, now I know. And it’s time for me to go to Baltimore.

Thank you, WEWS…. And go Ravens!

Cleveland Browns fans had seen the story before: missed opportunities followed by a late score and crushing defeat.

The difference, however, was that the Browns flipped the script this time around and found a way to win. The Browns came from behind with a late fourth quarter drive to beat the Dolphins 17-16, improving to 2-1 for the first time since 2002.

“Those are the types of games we need to start winning,” wide receiver Josh Cribbs said. “And we finally went out there and got it done today.”

It seemed like the Browns had every opportunity to lose the game, and for fans who have watched the team struggle for years, the ending looked all but certain.

For three and a half quarters, the Browns offense struggled mightily. Quarterback Colt McCoy said they were “out of sync,” and that allowed the Dolphins to control most of the game and then take a 16-10 lead with 3:26 left in the game.

But when the team needed him most, McCoy was ready.

McCoy responded with the kind of characteristic fourth quarter drive this team has needed from a starting quarterback. He drove the team 80 yards in 2 minutes 40 seconds and made easily his pass of the day to hit wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi in the corner of the end zone, giving the Browns the lead and making all of the previous miscues an afterthought.

“As ugly as it was, it’s a huge win for us,” McCoy said. “We’ll definitely gain some confidence from this.”

McCoy saved his best for last, and was nearly perfect on the final drive. He spread the ball around to six players, completed 9 of 15 passes and then tossed a strong pass to Massoquoi, who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone.

McCoy–the second year player the Browns are hoping can become the franchise quarterback–was the unquestioned leader on the field. The game-winning drive showed that he has the kind of toughness and leadership ability the team has been looking for in a quarterback.

“It is way too early to say that I am a hero by all means,” McCoy said. “I certainly would be the first to tell you that I’ve got a ton of work to do to lead this football team.”

Even after scoring the late touchdown, the Browns nearly handed the game back to the Dolphins, thanks to 30 yards in penalties, giving Miami starting field position at the Browns 47 yard line needing only a field goal to win.

As the Browns defense took the field, the “here we go again” feeling hit the 66,000 in attendance at the stadium. The defense, just like it had done all day long, held strong and safety Mike Adams came up with an interception.

“We could not give up an inch,” cornerback Joe Haden said. “Everybody just gutted up and did their job.”

After the interception, McCoy and the offense came onto the field for one more play–this time, in the victory formation.

The victory gave the Browns a winning record for the first time in four seasons, and keeps them tied with Pittsburgh and Baltimore atop the AFC North standings.

It was a game where the winning team made plenty of mistakes—and will have a host of issues to correct for future weeks—but in the NFL, the final score is the only line that truly matters.

“We all saw it,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “It wasn’t pretty.”

But it was a win, and for a team that has struggled to collect them, that’s all that matters.

One of the trademark aspects of the show, especially in recent years, has been the prevalence of the cameo. Everyone from Matt Damon to LeBron James to Kanye West have appeared on the show, making Entourage as somewhat of a right of passage in popular culture.

In honor of the series’ final episode on Sunday, I’ve decided to put together a list of all the sports cameos from the last eight seasons.

If I missed anybody, comment below and let me know.

LeBron James

Tom Brady

Michael Phelps

Lamar Odom

Mark Cuban

Jerry Jones

Vitali Klitschko

Chuck Liddell

Evander Holyfield

Lennox Lewis

Brian Urlacher

Michael Buffer

Phil Mickelson

Steve Nash

Shawne Merriman

Linda Cohn

Jim Edmonds

Chris Moneymaker

Adrian Peterson

Mike Tyson

Chris Bosh

Kevin Love

Drew Brees

Ryan Howard

Jordan Farmar

Amare Stoudamire

Michael Strahan

Alex Rodriguez

Mark Teixeira

I heard that response about five times today. I saw it on Twitter about 100 times.

The reality that Beyonce’s “baby bump” could lead to 8,868 tweets per second (TPS) seemed shocking, especially when the final minutes of the women’s World Cup Final generated 7,196 TPS and breaking news of terror leader Osama bin Laden’s death lead to 5,106 TPS.

We know that Beyonce is a star, but still, a new Twitter record seems bit much. Until you consider some of the contributing factors.

Beyonce’s announcement came immediately after her performance on the MTV Video Music Awards, which integrated Twitter throughout the show, the pre-show and the promotion leading up to the broadcast. MTV knows its audience falls in the category of heavy social media users, and MTV uses that to its advantage.

During the East Coast broadcast of the VMA’s, there were 10 million VMA-related tweets, the most of any awards show to date. Overall, the VMAs have been the most discussed television show in the last week, generating nearly five times as much social media chatter as the second-highest ranked show, Jersey Shore, according to the social television rating service Trendrr.tv.

And it wasn’t all Beyonce talk. The information from Trendrr shows that Beyonce wasn’t even one of the top five most popular hashtags, evidence that the VMA social media success extended far beyond her big announcement.

The television broadcast was certainly aided by the online discussion, as the VMA’s scored MTV the biggest audience in network history, with 12.4 million total viewers.

Television records. Social media records. It’s hard to say if one of driving the other, but it’s nearly impossible to argue that they aren’t related.

All of these factors show that the VMA’s were the perfect example of audience engagement. And more television stations and news organizations should take note.

MTV knows its audience and encouraged its viewers to be part of the show by interacting on social networks throughout the broadcast. Television is no longer a one-way medium, and MTV showed the ability to connect an audience of active viewers.

What if other organizations could follow suit?

The company’s updated social media policy is no different.

Soon after ESPN released its amended social networking policy for talent and reporters, the Twittersphere took the company to task–specifically for one guideline.

Part of policy reads:

Do not break news on Twitter. We want to serve fans in the social sphere, but the first priority is to ESPN news and information efforts. Public news (i.e. announced in news conferences) can be distributed without vetting. However, sourced or proprietary news must be vetted by the TV or Digital news desks. Once reported on an ESPN platform, that news can (and should) be distributed on Twitter and other social sites.

The reaction went something like… Don’t break news on Twitter? Isn’t that the point of Twitter?? HOW DARE YOU?!?

Settle down. The fine print in the guideline provides some clarity–and sense–to the rule.

ESPN says this only applies to certain stories, and that “breaking” public information from a press conference or team release is fine. No need to run that up the ladder.

However, exclusive sourced or proprietary information must pass through the editing process, just like a story that would get broadcast on TV or published on the website or magazine. For that content, ESPN says reporters should get editorial approval and first publish the story on (at least) one of its platforms.

That approach has two key benefits:

1. The people ESPN pays to be editors maintain editorial control
2. A link is created, and ESPN’ers are tweeting out a link to their story, bringing people back to the website. (Page views= $$$).

The guideline is not that unique. I think most news organizations attempt to maintain something similar and prefer tweet a link back to their story when breaking news. It makes sense, and it really does not take much more time. (At our station, creating a story and providing a link back to the website only takes about an extra 1-2 minutes. Usually we take that additional step, unless the information absolutely needs an immediate social media response).

Bringing people back your news organization’s website is the smart thing to do, and ESPN clearly understands that value.

Although ESPN just announced its new policy, don’t expect to see any big changes. The “do not break news on Twitter” rule appeared to be in place for some time, and most of ESPN’s reporters have already adopted the approach.

“We have a rule at ESPN that all breaking news must be filtered through our news desk (not tweeted),” Bill Simmons wrote on Oct. 13, 2010. “That’s why our reporters (Schefter, Stein, Bucher, whoever) tweet things like, “JUST FILED TO ESPN…”

So it looks like that specific guideline isn’t really that new. Now, it’s just more official.

The rest of the policy is fairly straightforward: Know you’re representing ESPN so don’t tweet anything really dumb. Be careful about what you re-tweet. Be respectful. Don’t air out the company’s dirty laundry. And don’t start a website or blog that has sports content competing with ESPN.

Simple.

One aspect of the policy that is a little disconcerting, however, is the guideline that tells ESPN talent “Do not discuss how a story or feature was reported, written, edited or produced; stories or features in progress; interviews conducted; or any future coverage plans.”

The problem with that rule is the ban its places on discussing the process of the company’s journalism, something that can equally benefit ESPN employees and competitors.

“Being reflexive — publicly — about how any of us do our jobs helps all of us do our jobs better,” writes Timothy Burke of SportsGrid.com.

For the most part the policy is a strong, appropriate set of guidelines, even if the initial reaction makes it seem crazy.

ESPN also recognizes that the policy is hardly etched in stone, saying “We realize this is a fast moving space and these guidelines will be amended as warranted.”

And even if it were a perfect set of rules, people would still find a reason to complain. After all, it is ESPN.

The problem, however, is when those college kids using social media are high profile athletes who generate millions of dollars for their college institutions. Then things get a little more complicated.

To deal with the challenges of (student) athletes using social media–specifically Twitter–an increasingly popular strategy for college coaches has been to simply ban athletes from tweeting. It’s the easiest and most painless approach to control what information players put out there for public eyes to see.

The message from coaches is clear: I don’t trust you not to say something stupid.

“It’s just a distraction that we just don’t really need to have right now,” Boise State football coach Chris Peterson said after he banned his players from tweeting. “There’s plenty of time in their lifetime for Twitter.”

Coaches have plenty of evidence to support their concerns over the ills of Twitter. Trash talk tweets. Angry tweets. Dumb tweets. Drunk tweets.

To most coaches, it’s another headache to deal with, and banning Twitter is the easiest way to solve the problem. Gregg Doyel of CBSsports calls it “Self Preservation 101.

“If a college athlete says the wrong thing on Twitter,” Doyel wrote, “people like me are going to hear about. We’re going to talk about it on the radio and write about it in the newspaper or on the Internet.”

Doyel is right, but blaming Twitter for some athletes using it the wrong way is not much different than banning all players from talking with the media. It’s the latest “shoot the messenger” argument.

Some of the same players say dumb things to the media, but are coaches going to ban all players from doing interviews?

No. They work with the players to teach them how to handle and interact with the press, and those practices shouldn’t change based on the medium.

Twitter can be a great and powerful tool, and coaches and athletics departments should embrace the opportunity to teach athletes how to use it properly.

“Why don’t coaches or sports information staffs bring in someone to teach players how to use it?” CNBC’s Darren Rovell wrote in a recent blog. “Odds are most players are going to get more out of learning how to use instantaneous publishing tools as compared to applying the actual plays they learn to their work life.”

It’s a great idea, and something that all college teams should do: Host a social media summit, training players on the right and wrong things to broadcast through Twitter. Without that kind of education, Twitter can certainly lead to trouble.

The reality is that Twitter can be a distraction for college athletes—specifically high profiles ones. But so can many other aspects of college life.

The difference, however, is that Twitter can have a benefit beyond the college years, especially if someone takes the time to teach student athletes how to use it appropriately.

But that educating might just get in the way of winning games, and isn’t that what college athletics is all about?

The NFL knows its has a cozy deal–one that the other professional leagues wish they could match–and the league showed on Thursday that it will do everything possible to protect that partnership.

In an unprecedented move, the NFL announced Thursday that it will force former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor to serve a five-game suspension once he signs a contract with a team after the supplemental draft. The suspension begins after the preseason, and is the same length as the one he was handed down by Ohio State for selling team issued gear in exchange for tattoos.

Pryor broke no laws. He didn’t even break an NFL rule. And he fit the requirements (that a player’s NCAA eligibility or academic standing changes from the time of the draft and supplemental draft) of a player applying for entry into the supplemental draft.

But still, he’s facing an NFL suspension before he’s been hired, stemming from wrongdoing in the eyes of the NCAA.

“We are not enforcing NCAA rules,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote on Twitter in response to the Pryor decision. “We are upholding our own eligibility rules, which have never been based on the notion that a college player could choose to violate NCAA rules, obtain declaration that he is ineligible for college [football], then enter the NFL draft.”

The reality, however, is that the NFL is enforcing NCAA rules. Pryor did not choose to violate NCAA guidelines as a way to avoid the April draft and sneak in through the supplemental draft.

If Pryor had his way, he would still be playing for Ohio State, serving a five-game college suspension that he accepted from coach Jim Tressel. But much changed during the course of a few months.

Let’s recap what’s happened in the time that passed since Pryor elected not to declare for April’s draft (which he was eligible to do because he’s three years removed from high school):

Tressel was forced to resign, Pryor was the subject of additional NCAA and OSU investigations, his new coach Luke Fickell refused to take his calls, and Ohio State ruled him ineligible and ordered him to stay away from the program for five years.

If that doesn’t constitute a change in college eligibility, I’m not sure what does.

The NFL says that it does not want players violate college rules to become ineligible, and then try to get into the league through the backdoor using the supplemental draft. Instead, it would prefer that players fail out of school, then declare for the supplemental draft without any problems, just like Georgia running back Caleb King did this year.

By this ruling, Pryor would have been better served in the NFL’s eyes if he failed all of his classes, causing his academic standing to change. Great message.

Additionally, the ruling shows a stark contrast from the treatment of other NFL players and coaches who have escaped to the professional ranks to avoid punishment from the hands of the NCAA.

Reggie Bush skipped his senior season at USC and picked up a fat payday from the NFL, all while the NCAA continued an investigation into him receiving improper benefits in college. That investigation eventually caused Bush to return the Heisman trophy he won.

USC coach Pete Carroll did the same, leaving to coach the Seattle Seahawks just before the Trojans got hit with devastating sanctions stemming from his tenure at the head of the program. The football program will take years to recover from those punishments. Carroll, meanwhile, has a 5-year NFL coaching deal worth about $35 million.

Just last year, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton skipped his senior year and jumped to the NFL in the middle of the NCAA investigating his father’s pay-to-play scam. His rookie deal is worth about $22 million. It remains to be seen if Auburn will face NCAA sanctions for his actions. If the NCAA finds he accepted money, then fled to the NFL to avoid punishment, shouldn’t the precedence set by the Pryor decision mean that the NFL will hand down a punishment?

And what about all of the former Miami Hurricanes now in the NFL mentioned in the school’s current scandal?

Did the NFL punish any of them? Where’s the consistency?

It’s one thing if the NFL wants to work in cohoots with the NCAA to make amateur rules violations carry over to the professional level. But it’s a dangerous path to start selectively enforcing college regulations, all in the interest of protecting the NCAA beast at the expense of the “student-athlete.”