Sports fans might recognize Lisa Salters from NFL’s Monday Night Football talking with players like Joe Flacco and NBA games with Lebron James, but her humble beginnings can be traced back to Baltimore in the late 1980s where she got her start on WBAL-TV.  After working in major markets and traveling the globe to cover everything from wars to economics, Salters decided to settle her family in Baltimore.

“I’m from King of Prussia and I wanted to be close to family, but not in Philly,” she said. “I’m really good friends with Jayne Miller and Jan Bledsoe, and they talked me into coming back to Baltimore.”

After reacquainting herself with Baltimore and her Fells Point neighborhood, Salters wanted to settle down here when adopting her son, who is now 5. As a mother, Salters says she’s honored to participate in this Thursday’s Sports Legends Series to benefit the Casey Cares Foundation, which raises money for critically ill children and their families.

She believes that sports have a “universal bond” that can bring people together no matter the background. “I love what I do, so it’s an easy thing to talk about,” she said. “People always want to hear about the athletes—what they’re like, are they jerks, are they nice? When I tell them, they’re all surprised, they’re normal people just like us.”

In past years, honored guests have included Bob Costas, Jim Palmer, Gary Williams, Brooks Robinson, Justin Tucker, and Matt Stover. This year, Salters will be joined by former Ravens coach Brian Billick, who led the Baltimore team to its first Super Bowl.

“With Lisa Salters and Brian Billick, we liked the idea of pairing a Monday Night Football reporter with a Super Bowl coach and having them swap stories from the sidelines of the NFL,” Amy Rosewater, director of communications for Casey Cares, said in an email. “We really like to make sports heroes more accessible for a fun and intimate evening.”

The philosophy of putting a more human face on the world of sports is something that Salters lives by and plans to share on Thursday night.

“It’s not so much about the sports, it’s about the doors that sports have opened for me,” she said. “I have been able to experience different cultures and ways of life and different people. I tell people all the time, it’s about the relationships we build. It could be a really great game, but what I’m going to take away, when I retire eventually, are the people that I’ve met and the relationships I’ve built more than the events.”

Ravens start off season with Shake Shack and a win.
We’re not quite sure what made bigger headlines this week—the fact that it was the Ravens’ first preseason game or that Shake Shack is coming to M&T Bank Stadium. The New York City-based burger and shake chain, which already has a location in the Inner Harbor, decided that Baltimore will be home to its NFL stadium location. Shake Shack already has locations in Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Mets’ Citi Field, and just down 95 at Nationals Park in D.C. “They’re in other stadiums and areas and do very well there,” said Ravens senior VP of stadium operations Roy Sommerhof. “Their burger is a great burger and they have a lot of great options with it.” Though the signature long lines are to be expected, we’ll take a Smoke Shack Burger over chicken tenders any day.

Arguably more important, the Ravens beat the Redskins 23-3 in the first pre-season game of the year last night. It was a good start considering the team didn’t have its franchise quarterback and a couple of starting offensive linemen. According to ESPN, players and coaches alike are hoping that the Ravens can rely on the run game to really move the ball this year, including reinventing some tactics with new senior offensive assistant Greg Roman. “Especially in the running game, you really do not know where you are at until you play somebody else,” coach John Harbaugh said. “It is a point of emphasis. We have been working really hard at it, and I like what we are doing. I like the way it is being coached, and I like the way the guys are working on the drills, and proof will be in the outcome.”

This seems promising, as does the fact that the team restructured cornerback Jimmy Smith’s contract, creating $5.15 million of cap space. Let’s hope that—Kaepernick or no Kaepernick—these are all good signs for the regular season.

Manny Machado, aka Mr. Miami, hits a grand slam.
It’s been an up and down week for the Orioles (who still have a chance to make the playoffs, by the way) but a real highlight was seeing Manny Machado hit a grand slam on Monday night. The seventh-inning bomb led the Orioles to a 6-2 win over the Angels. Though the season started out slow for him, Machado has been on a hot streak since the All-Star break, going 33-for-95 (.347) and homering in back-to-back games. “Things [are] turning out how I want, hits start falling off,” Machado told MLB.com. “I’m getting a little couple cheap hits instead of hard line-outs I’ve gotten in the past. Just trying to continue my routine and hopefully things turn around . . . This has obviously been a learning season for me and I’m going to take everything positively and just learn from this.”

Something we learned this week is that, while there are a lot of common player nicknames on the Orioles (Crush, Tilly), there are many that we didn’t know existed. In honor of the inaugural Players Weekend, Aug. 25-27, all players will wear colorful, non-traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs. Each player picks a nickname for the back of their jerseys and we were certainly impressed with the selection. What’s your favorite? We are partial to Pappo and Cabob.

Maryland women’s basketball team readies for trip to Taiwan.
The World University Games will take place in Taiwan August 19-30 and the Terps women’s basketball squad will be the second college program to be invited in lieu of a hand-picked all-star team. This has given the team a chance to avoid the NCAA’s 40-day practice restriction rule and get to on-court training sessions in College Park earlier than normal. “This international competition is going to be a tremendous head start for us going into the following season,” coach Brenda Frese told University of Maryland newspaper The Diamondback. “You can’t simulate this kind of international competition that we’re going to face . . . I think we’re going to learn a ton about our team, which will prepare us for the upcoming season.” Look out for burgeoning talent in freshman guard Channise Lewis.

Speaking of basketball…
We were so excited that Baltimore Boys, an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary about the phenomenal early ’80s Dunbar basketball team premiered this week. We spoke to co-director and Park Heights native Sheldon Candis about making the film and finally got to see the final result Tuesday. The documentary was an honest look at Baltimore during that time, an emotional chronicle of difficult childhoods and the death of Reggie Leiws, and ultimately a celebration of the Dunbar Poet players and fierce leadership under Coach Bob Wade. 

Just for fun, here’s a highlight video of the incredible 5’3″ Muggsy Bogues doing what he does best.

The early 1980s was a tumultuous time in Baltimore—and paralleled what was happening in a lot of other American cities. Drugs were running rampant, the public health and school systems were failing, and Bethlehem Steel closed down, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs.

But there was a group of young men that found success on the hardwood court of Dunbar High School, and it wasn’t thanks to a big budget or even a proper training center. Despite all odds, they became the greatest high school basketball team of all time. On Tuesday night at 8 p.m., ESPN will air Baltimore Boys as part of its popular “30 for 30” series and chronicle the tale of the Dunbar Poets both on and off the court.

“The best documentaries lead you to an unexpected place,” says co-director and Park Heights native Sheldon Candis. “You think it’s about this great basketball story, which it is, but it also holds a mirror up to American society in the 1980s.”

Candis, 38, said that he’s been waiting a long time to tell this story. The film opens up showing the 1968 riots in Baltimore following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and chronicles the triumphant journey of the Dunbar High School boys basketball team, who went undefeated for 59 straight games between 1981 and 1983. Even more impressive, 11 of the players joined a Division I program and four of those—David Wingate, Reggie Williams, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, and Reggie Lewis—were drafted into the NBA.

“This is really my love letter to the city,” Candis said. “Growing up, we didn’t have to look to Michael Jordan. We had the Poets right in our own backyard.”

Wrangling up former players, family, and supporters of the team presented quite a few challenges, as did finding quality archive footage since the early ’80s was right on the cusp of the handheld video camera. Luckily, two other local filmmakers, Tommy Polley and David Manigault, made a Poets documentary a few years back and had already scoured East Coast news stations to find footage.

“There would be so many moments that people would describe to me or remember in their heads,” Candis said. “But trying to match up and find that footage was a challenging scavenger hunt.”

Shot over a five-month period last year, Baltimore Boys provides some behind the scenes moments from players like Bogues (“he reached genius on the hardwood,” Candis said) to Dunbar coach Bob Wade, who was instrumental in not only coaching, but nurturing his team. At one point, Wade reveals in the documentary that, because his team didn’t have a proper facility or weights, he drove around Baltimore City collecting bricks and had his team practice running with them.

“You better believe that’s why they were the most well-conditioned team in the fourth quarter,” Candis said. “One man’s junk became another man’s treasure.”

As a filmmaker, Candis admits that seeing Coach Wade get emotional during an interview was a highlight for him. The moment comes when he’s talking about having the Dunbar court dedicated to him and he started thinking about every player he coached, fathered, and protected during those years.

“It’s Bob Wade who is the unsung hero that everyone should really rally behind,” Candis said. “I am just some kid from Park Heights that has been lucky enough to share this story with a wider national audience. It’s about time.”

Michael Phelps takes home two ESPYs
Wednesday was a big night in sports as the 25th annual ESPYs kicked off in Los Angeles. Baltimore’s own Michael Phelps was nominated for three of the coveted awards presented by ESPN, snagging two of them—best record-breaking performance and best male U.S. Olympic athlete. While accepting his first award, he couldn’t help but gush over his wife Nicole—who was also celebrating her birthday—and their first meeting at the award show a decade ago. (Aww, feels). 

Jonathan Schoop scores in first-ever All-Star Game.
He may not have been the star of the game, but he did provide his team’s first run to revitalize the American League. As the only Baltimore Oriole to be selected this year, Schoop was not in the starting lineup, but he got his shot in the fifth inning replacing Houston Astros Jose Altuve at second base. After a double to left field, Schoop was on second with two outs, when Minnesota Twins Miguel Sano hit a fly ball single to right field, giving him the chance to score the first run of the game. 

Raven Brandon Williams takes his dance moves overseas.
No. 98 is quickly becoming one of our favorite Ravens, and his killer dance moves have everything to do with it. This nose tackle is more than just a dominant powerhouse on the field—off the field his personality shines. On his most recent trip to the U.K.—part of the promo tour for the upcoming London game against the Jaguars—he stole the show with his version of the “Carlton Dance” at the U.K. fan forum. 

Earlier this month, he married his college sweetheart and mother of his two sons, Alyssa, where he showed off more of those sweet dance moves at the wedding reception. 

Former NFL star helps Baltimore youth track team
Four 8-year old girls from West Baltimore’s Mary Ann Winterling Elementary are now able to compete at the National Junior Olympics thanks to the generosity of former Bengals receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. The former NFL star donated $2,200 to help them reach their $5,000 goal, later tweeting: “You good now, I’ll see y’all at Junior Olympics in Kansas.” Johnson’s 12-year old daughter also just happens to be one of the nation’s top runners. The team will make the trip to Kansas City in two weeks. 

Good luck girls!