Most people know Connie Johnson as, “Chef Connie.” She’s earned the title after more than 20 years of experience in local kitchens, once serving as an executive chef at Ciao Bella—now known as Lew Gambino’s—in Little Italy.

But in her current position as the assistant manager of food and hospitality services at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s (UMMC) midtown campus, Johnson takes on more of a supervisor role. Her main focus is collaborating with chefs to ensure the food served is compatible with a given patient’s diet.

Johnson loves the work, but also enjoys being the person in charge of a kitchen. In one week’s time, she’ll have the opportunity to do that on a large scale as she heads to Miami to cater events leading up to Super Bowl LIV. It was announced last week that Johnson, through connections at Lew Gambino’s, was selected as one of several Baltimore-area chefs heading down south for the football festivities.

“I’m a woman who knows the art [of cooking] and puts her heart into it,” Johnson says. “I want this to be about Baltimore and all the chefs going to the Super Bowl.”

In Miami, she’ll focus mainly on appetizers. Fig prosciutto bruschetta, as well as a sirloin with horseradish cream sauce, shaved onions, and olives, are some of the menu highlights. She’ll be cooking at a party for wives of the National Football League, a celebrity gala, a dinner with NFL Legends, and other private events.

A West Baltimore native through and through, Johnson attended Western High School, and has spent most of her life in the city—which is why she’s made it a priority to give back to her hometown.

For a while, she ran a culinary program, “Vegetable Time,” at Calvin M. Rodwell Elementary School in West Baltimore to teach kids how to cook gourmet meals. An initiative that started with 25 students grew to 100-plus, drawing the attention of the Obama White House, which sent its chef to learn more. Subsequently, HBO sent a crew to film a segment on the program as part of its four-part obesity documentary, The Weight of the Nation.

These opportunities have allowed her to further her work helping kids understand how to cook and choose a healthy lifestyle. Through the publicity that came with the documentary, she was able to secure funding to start a free sports and culinary-focused summer camp at the Gwynn Oak United Church’s community center.

After a snag with funding, Johnson was forced to stop organizing the camp a few years ago, but she hopes that cooking at the Super Bowl will help boost her profile and get the program up and running again. And, with the recent renovation of Calvin M. Rodwell into a 21st-century school with brand new facilities, the timing is right.

“I’m not a celebrity chef,” Johnson says. “I don’t want the notoriety. This is a way for funders to know that I’m still here—having events for these children is my ultimate goal. I want my art to provide a safe place for children with nowhere to go in the summer.”

But before that can happen, Johnson has a full plate ahead of her. She says that, while it’s an honor to be selected, the high expectations she has for herself are no different as she prepares for the Super Bowl. In total, the events are a way for her to show off her skills to a larger audience, and do some good in the process.

“It means a lot to me to represent Baltimore,” Johnson says. “I believe in the good of this city. I just want to do what I do and make people smile through my food.”

If you ever talk to CBS Sports reporter Evan Washburn at Eddie’s, sometimes reading a Baltimore magazine issue near the register, you’ll notice he doesn’t use any extraneous words—like, um, or uh—that the rest of typically use to fill the air.

“Word efficiency,” Washburn calls it. “I’ve made a calculated effort in everyday life not to use wasted words.”

It’s practice—for his TV job, one that this Sunday will bring Washburn’s voice and blond-haired likeness into the homes, computers, and phones of the more than 100 million people watching the Super Bowl—the biggest American television event of every year.

As an Annapolis native and Severn High grad who’s lived in Baltimore the last 10 years, Washburn is a sideline reporter for CBS. And, in the second Super Bowl game broadcast appearance of his TV career, he’ll work the New England Patriots beat when they face the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta.

His job, as it has been working NFL games the last five years, is to deliver news and observations from the field, in short but informative 15 to 35 second bursts, and without getting in the way of the action.

And so, it helps to limit the ums and the likes in practice in a phone conversation with a friend, or with a stranger at the grocery store. It’s preparation for game day, if Tom Brady is injured and the world is curious to know what’s going on with him before play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and analyst/football sage/former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo call the next play.

“You have to get everything in quickly,” Washburn says. “For the whole game, you’re on the air probably for a grand total of two minutes. And you better get done with whatever you’re saying in a succinct way before they snap that ball, because that’s the time for the play-by-play and sometimes the analyst to talk and set things up.”

A former lacrosse player at the University of Delaware, where he graduated in 2008, and a production assistant and intern with Comcast SportsNet, Washburn started with CBS eight years ago as a college lacrosse TV analyst and has quickly worked his way up the broadcast ladder. He earned a full-time job in 2014 and has since covered college football, March Madness, and NFL games, with a straightforward brand of reporting. He’s also worked locally with the Ravens.

He calls the job a privilege, and if he has any advice for those wanting to be in his position on sports’ grandest stage, it’s “You need to be ready at all times for when the luck happens,” because he was willing and able when the cable CBS Sports Network needed a fill-in analyst for a Princeton-Cornell lacrosse game in Ithaca, New York, (his first job with the company), and later when a college football reporting job opened just weeks before the season in the summer of 2012.

“[CBS] gave me opportunities when my paper resume by no means qualified me for it, which I always appreciated, because they saw something and ran with it,” he says. “Hopefully, up until this point, I haven’t really let them down.”

For the last four years, Washburn worked with CBS’ No. 2 NFL broadcast team and has gotten called up to the top squad each year the network has broadcast the Super Bowl, joining Tracy Wolfson on the sideline this year and in 2016 when the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers played in San Francisco.

This time around, as Washburn spoke before heading to Atlanta, he feels a little calmer—and not just because he’s more experienced. You’d think preparing for the greatest professional opportunity of your life in front of the largest television audience possible would be enough for one person to handle, but how about doing it while your newborn and wife rested in a neonatal intensive care unit?

“That was a wild time for me,” Washburn says of three years ago.

Two weeks before Super Bowl 50, Washburn’s wife, Kate, delivered their son, Hudson, a month early, on January 22, 2016, as blizzard hit home — and while Washburn was away in Denver preparing to broadcast the AFC championship game.

He was in a production meeting with Patriots coach Bill Belichick when his wife actually gave birth. Washburn’s phone kept buzzing, but he didn’t want to take it out and interrupt, you know, because he was trying to make a good impression with the coach who’s notoriously publicly curt with reporters.

He finally saw the texts from his dad, with pictures of his son, after the session with Belichick was done. Washburn called his wife, but they only spoke briefly before Brady walked in the conference room for his interview with CBS’ crew. After the game, Washburn flew home from Denver, but was only in Baltimore for four days before heading back across country to be in California for Super Bowl media week.

“My son, he was doing okay, but it was still a stressful, shocking time. It was all kind of a blur,” he says. “This time around, at least leading into the week, is much nicer. I have a lot more mental space to stop and smell the roses.”

Hudson is now 3, the family is settled at a home near Loyola University, and Washburn has several seasons of high-profile NFL coverage behind him. “It’s fun being in this community, and being out there at these big events and coming back to this place,” he says.

He describes the mechanics of his job—the things that are hidden to the TV viewer—as only a veteran could do. The analysts, like Romo, whose play-predicting ability is already becoming legendary, always have their microphones on. (“He couldn’t be a cooler dude,” Washburn says of Romo, with whom he worked for the first time during the Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game two weeks ago.) Sideline reporters, meanwhile, need to be more proactive to get air time.

“There’s nothing in the broadcast, other than maybe one report before the game starts, that says Evan is going to get on the broadcast,” Washburn says. “You have to earn your way on the air. Everything falls on your shoulders to create your content.”

Oftentimes, those are injury reports from teams (“questionable to return,” and the like), but whether other information has value is left to his discretion.

If he has something to say, or context to add to what’s happening in the game, he’ll tap a button on his microphone to communicate off air with a producer, and when it comes time to report, suddenly Washburn will be speaking or appearing live to millions of people—trying to make his point without any of those wasted words.

“All of us like to voice our opinion on things, but that’s really just not the position,” he says. “Early on [in your career], you’re worried making sure that you’re doing a good job so that you can advance. But once you get comfortable with your status, it’s about the game. The game is going to dictate how much you get on the air, what you do on the air, and how people receive it. It’s always about the game.”

And none are bigger than this one.

For some, an eternal, undying hate for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is sufficient fuel to make it through the Super Bowl. Still, man cannot live on hate alone; he needs beer and bar grub—and plenty of it. Luckily, with a raft of Super Bowl events all around the area, some of Baltimore’s finest eateries and drinkeries are more than willing to oblige. Whether you’re a face-painting zealot or a gridiron agnostic, these nine specials promise sweet victory. Even if the Patriots win.

Jimmy’s Famous Seafood
This Dundalk restaurant’s Super Bowl party is a Baltimore staple. For the 28th consecutive year, Jimmy’s will be host to an open bar and an oyster and bull roast. What’s more, there will be a silent auction and appearances from past and present Baltimore Ravens. Oh, and 30 (!) televisions. While this year’s special guests have not yet been announced, Steve Smith Sr., CJ Mosley, and Torrey Smith have attended in the past. Tickets are $70 and going fast.

R. House
To celebrate the Big Game—well, big games, depending on how much you wagered on the Puppy Bowl—this Remington establishment is rolling out the green carpet. The food hall will be decked with wall-to-wall astroturf for a family-friendly and pet-inclusive Puppy-Bowl-cum-Super-Bowl watch party. R. House is also offering food and drink specials: $5 cups of punch, buck-a-shuck oysters from The Urban Oyster, and $3 Michelob Ultra and Natty Boh. Oh boy, what a deal.

Bunzzz Sports Bar & Grill
Located in a space in The Gallery formerly occupied by a Brooks Brothers—or Brookzzz Brotherzzz—this recently opened Inner Harbor spot has quickly become a sports-watching haven. As such, it’s commemorating its inaugural Super Bowl with an open bar and specials on wings, pizza, and sliders. Door prizes, namely $25 gift cards, will be awarded at the end of each quarter. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Mother’s Federal Hill Grille
Although there will be no tailgate on the famous Purple Patio until next fall, when Lamar Jackson—please, let it be Lamar Jackson—and the rest of the Ravens take the field, that doesn’t mean that this Federal Hill favorite will lie fallow on Sunday. For just $25, you can watch the game, play free video games, and strive to find the bottom of the bottomless wings, draft beer, and rail cocktails.

GAME
Equal parts arcade, night club, and sports bar, this massive Federal Hill mainstay will fill its 10,000 square feet with not only 30 televisions, but six high-definition projectors as well. For those looking for an early kick-off, the drink specials begin at 2 p.m., leaving ample time to indulge in $4 domestic beers and tin cup spritzers, $5 Absolut bombs, and $6 cups of super punch. During halftime, wings will be just 50 cents a pop.

The Port Public House
Have you ever dreamed of watching the Super Bowl alongside some of Baltimore’s elite (yes, elite) football players? Now’s your shot. This 118-year-old Locust Point institution’s Super Bowl party, hosted by the Baltimore Nighthawks (Baltimore’s women’s tackle football team), will display the game on a goliath 168-inch projector. Portions of the proceeds from the Super Bowl Squares pool and the night’s food and drink specials will go toward covering the Nighthawks’ travel expenses this upcoming season.

Johnny’s
As great as a traditional Sunday football experience can be, sometimes you need a respite from two long-lost Sobotka cousins working their way through a rack of Natty Boh and grunting that it’s so stupid—pronounced stew-pid—that you can’t even touch the quarterback anymore. Enter Johnny’s. While some other specials are mere vehicles for copious amounts of fat and salt and beer, this Roland Park restaurant provides a more elevated option: $14 for crab dip in a bread bowl; $18 for a burger piled high with pulled pork, pepper jack cheese, bacon, coleslaw, crispy onions, and an Old Bay barbecue sauce.

The Mt. Washington Tavern
Closing out the football season in style, this Mount Washington, uh, tavern is cheffing up its own spin on classic ballpark fare. These party plates—$4 for a choice of a plate of buffalo bites, two hot dogs, soft pretzel bites with beer cheese dip, or cheese curds—will be served in the restaurant’s SkyBar (which is PR-speak for “up a few stairs” bar). And lest you forget that this, after all, it is a bar, there will also be $2 cans of Narrangasett, $4 drafts of Old Hilltop, and $6 cocktails made of Tito’s Vodka.

The Brass Tap
The Baltimore City location of this chain gets most of the attention, but the county one has fun, too. Namely, this Towson venue has established itself as a game-day go-to way out in that pastoral idyll we call Baltimore County. Food and drink specials abound—$2 Jell-O shots for $2, $15 buckets of beers entire bucket of beers for $15, $4 glasses of house wine, and, most exciting, $5 for pizza fries.

The Baltimore Ravens drafted Torrey Smith out of the University of Maryland in the second round in 2011, winning a Super Bowl title in 2012 with the help of eight touchdowns from the standout receiver during the regular season.

Smith added two more touchdowns in the thrilling overtime playoff win over the Denver Broncos that year, but the moment the city embraced Smith came earlier in his second year in Baltimore.

In the early morning hours before a Week 3, Sunday night match-up at M&T Bank Stadium with the New England Patriots, Smith learned his younger brother had died in a motorcycle accident. Obviously distraught, Smith visited with his family in Virginia and then decided to return to Baltimore and play to honor of his brother, catching two touchdowns in a game-winning effort and receiving the game ball for his performance. 

“They [my family] didn’t know I was going to play until the last minute. I texted my Mom when I got to the stadium,” an emotional Smith said afterward during the post-game press conference. “She was excited about it. She said, ‘Of course he would want you to play.’ He admired me so much, which is what makes it so tough.”

Smith, of course, left the Ravens after the 2014 season, but never forgot the city where he got his professional start—even after winning a second Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles this season. In 2016, he was named a nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for his work centered in Baltimore while playing for the San Francisco Giants.

For the seventh straight year, Smith announced last wee that he will be hosting the Torrey Smith Family Fund Charity Basketball Game in Baltimore this offseason. The event, which will include current and former Ravens, is scheduled for March 17 at the Royal Farms Arena. 

The Torrey Smith Family Fund supports local after-school and teen mentoring programs as well as the Tevin Jones $5,000 college scholarship named after his younger brother. By the way, for some fun, check Smith’s Twitter feed. His 3-year-old son T.J.’s recent interview on the NFL Network is the best post-game Super Bowl interview to date.

(One more thing, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Smith and his wife Chanel Williams got married in Baltimore, making the cover of our sister pub, Baltimore Bride.)

After watching his team go a third straight season without a playoff appearance, Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti announced a (future) change at the top of the organization Friday.

No, John Harbaugh is still head coach, but Bisciotti told reporters at his annual “State of the Team” press conference at the Ravens’ Owings Mills headquarters that longtime general manager Ozzie Newsome, the architect of the franchise’s two Super Bowl championships, will step down at the end of the 2018 season. Newsome has been on staff since the Ravens’ first season in 1996.

Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta will take over control of the 53-man roster then, a move that’s the culmination of a succession plan hatched after the 2013 season, when Newsome was given a five-year extension with the idea that DeCosta would take over when the contract was through.

“That’s a year away,” Bisciotti said, “so Ozzie will step down as GM, and has assured me that he’s not going anywhere, and that he will work with me and work with Eric for a smooth transition.”

Bisciotti made the announcement in response to a question about whether he considered firing Harbaugh or Newsome after the Ravens missed the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years.

“It was certainly a consideration, but not one I was inclined to make this year,” Bisciotti said.   

DeCosta, who has been courted by many NFL teams to be their general manager the last few seasons, has repeatedly declined interview opportunities in order to stay with the Ravens, most recently last offseason with the Green Bay Packers. 

It seems his loyalty is being rewarded now, as the team looks to reclaim its perch among the league’s consistent playoff contenders. The Ravens have a 41-41 record since its Super Bowl XLVII win, and since signing quarterback Joe Flacco to a mammoth contract afterward. 

Newsome will remain with the organization after 2018 in a consulting role and Bisciotti joked “he’ll be the highest paid scout in America.” A 1999 Hall of Fame inductee as a tight end, Newsome became the NFL’s first minority general manager when he was promoted from VP of player personnel in 2002.

Bisciotti said he’s looking for changes in the scouting department—recent rookie drafts haven’t necessarily panned out great for the team—and DeCosta is a “great leader of the scouts.” 

DeCosta has worked for Newsome for 20 years. Before being named assistant general manager in 2012, he was the Ravens’ director of player personnel and director of college scouting.

“I think he has learned from Ozzie,” Bisciotti said. “It’s Ozzie’s department, but most of all the interaction with the scouts is with Eric. I’ve seen the way he goes about the business, embracing technology and analytics. I like working with him. … There are people running other franchises who got the job because Eric wouldn’t take it.”

Harbaugh, meanwhile, will appear on NBC’s pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage of Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. No doubt he’ll be asked about this front office move, and his own future.

Bisciotti said Friday that the coach is safe heading into what will be his 11th season at the helm of the franchise.

“I’m not going to give a playoff or bust edict to you all, or my coach,” the owner said. “He’s been under the most pressure he’s been under his whole life. I may as well replace him now if I tell him make the playoffs or you’re out of town next year.”

He also brushed aside a question asking if the franchise was getting “stagnant.”

“I don’t think we’re stagnant at One Winning Drive,” Bisciotti said. “Disappointed, embarrassed, and determined, but not stagnant.”

The story goes that one of the Dolaway boys was on a business trip in Baltimore for his father’s scrap metal company when he took interest in a beat-up corner building for sale in Federal Hill. He called his brother and asked him how he felt about moving from Philadelphia to open a bar together, and by October 2000, they established MaGerk’s Pub and Grill.
 

Eventually, the bar gained a reputation for being Philly-themed, both for its food and football, and expanded to three additional locations including one in Harford County and two in the Philadelphia suburbs.  

“We welcome new fans every year,” said Sarah Clark, manager of MaGerk’s in Federal Hill for 16 years. “There are people who have moved to Baltimore and hear that MaGerk’s is the place to watch the Eagles game, so they show up alone and leave feeling like they’ve gained 100 new friends.”
 

The bar will certainly be packed this Super Bowl Sunday as the Eagles battle it out in the championship game for the first time since 2004, and vie for the ultimate title for the first time in nearly 60 years.
 

“We’re [really excited] to spend the day with the fans that have been coming in through the good times and the bad,” Clark said. “We want it to be a great day shared by the people who love the game and the team.”
 

MaGerk’s will be featuring $15 buckets of Miller Lite and Eagles Bombs—green shooters mixed with Red Bull—to celebrate. The bar will also be serving pub grub including its famous Philly cheesesteaks—made with rolls delivered straight from Philadelphia—and its cheesesteak egg rolls. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.  

The staff is keeping the restaurant reservation-free because they want to leave the space open for regulars and provide a memorable experience for devoted fans.  

Regardless of the game’s results on Sunday, MaGerk’s will always be a proud supporter of the Philadelphia Eagles and promises to chant the team’s fighting song even in the middle of July.  

The owners credit their success to the local community and deem their pub crowd as being one big and welcoming family. MaGerk’s prides itself in giving Baltimore’s growing number of Philadelphia transplants a sense of home.  

Clark recalls a number of regulars who come in on Sundays, including a Philly migrant who hesitantly showed up alone at the bar last year in an Eagles jersey and even a couple who got married at the restaurant last fall.  

“Seeing the way the Eagles have played this year and the momentum that’s grown at this point has just been phenomenal,” Clark said. “Their fans deserve this.” 

For football fans spending their Super Bowl Sunday at home, Clark has shared the restaurant’s original cheesesteak recipe, which has been a long-time staple on the menu. Although she highly recommends using a sub roll from Philadelphia, any open-faced one will do the trick.  

Recipe

The inside:

• Chopped 8 oz. rib eye
• Sliced onions (MaGerk’s uses Vidalia onions)
• Two slices of white American cheese
   

The outside:

• An open-faced sub roll
• Two slices of white American cheese

Start by sautéing the shaved rib eye and sliced onions until the meat is cooked and the flavors are combined nicely, then add two slices of white American cheese to the mixture until they are melted. While that is cooking, melt two more slices of American cheese on the open sub in a toaster oven, and once the meat is ready, place it inside of the roll and enjoy.

During week five’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, Ray Lewis
suffered torn triceps and ESPN commentators began using those dreaded
three words: “season-ending injury.”

In Lewis’s case, those words were even worse than usual because
“season ending” meant “career ending.” Several weeks later, the veteran
linebacker—the marquee star of the Ravens roster since the team’s 1996
inception—announced he would be retiring from the game. But never doubt
the will of a champion.

Lewis battled back from his injury and played in his final home game
against the Indianapolis Colts—a 24-9 win—and Coach John Harbaugh sent
Lewis onto the field to be the last line of defense in the victory
formation.

After Joe Flacco took a knee to end the game, Lewis got one last
opportunity to do his signature pre-game “squirrel dance” in the middle
of the field at M&T Bank Stadium.

Of course, as it turned out, this wouldn’t be Lewis’s last hoorah
moment, as he helped lead his team to a Super Bowl victory and was able
to parade through the streets of Baltimore, Lombardi Trophy held high.

“And now, I get to ride off into the sunset with my second ring.”—Ray Lewis

It was a story that couldn’t have been written any better. Before the
rollercoaster season even began, the Ravens franchise lost its beloved
founder, Art Modell.

Then, throughout the 2012 season, the team suffered more losses, both
on and off the field: There was the Eagles upset in week two, a 43-13
whooping at the hands of the Texans, and three straight losses that led
to the firing of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Not to mention the
crippling injuries, like Ray Lewis’s triceps and Lardarius Webb’s ACL.

But some of those losses led to uplifting moments, too, like how
Lewis’s retirement announcement (more on that later) served to galvanize
the team or when Torrey Smith played the game of his life in New
England following his brother’s passing. And, of course, the team had
plenty of plays to fill the highlight reel: beating the Raiders 55-20,
Ray Rice’s 4th and 29 run in San Diego, and Jacoby Jones’s Hail-Mary
reception in Denver.

With all this in mind, it’s no wonder the Ravens had a downright
cinematic Super Bowl. Between two brothers battling it out, a 33-minute
power outage, and a no-call for holding (yes, the refs got it right!)
that will live in infamy, the Ravens capped off a dramatic season with
an equal amount of flair.

We know it’s just a game and all, but when the purple, gold, and
white confetti came raining down in the Superdome in February, it felt
like nothing short of destiny.

“It’s never pretty, it’s never perfect, but it is us.” —John Harbaugh

They all got their chance at 11:45 a.m. when players appeared on the front steps of City Hall, including wide receiver Anquan Boldin, linebacker Terrell Suugs, linebacker Ray Lewis, running back Ray Rice, quarterback Joe Flacco, and safety Ed Reed with his son on his shoulders. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake got the crowd riled up by starting a “Seven Nation Army” chant before introducing Coach John Harbaugh. “How bout them Ravens?” he shouted to raucous applause. He also broke into a call-and-response-chant of “What’s our name?” “Ravens!” three times before giving the floor to Reed.

Like he’s been doing, Reed starting singing Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise” and let the crowd know that the Ravens were ready to repeat it next year. “They better look out for us, Baltimore,” he said. Finally, Lewis spoke passionately to the crowd, saying “Baltimore, I love you, forever and ever and ever.”

Soon, all the players, coaches, staff, family, and friends hopped on various humvees and floats, which were getting ready to meander through the downtown streets and end up at at M&T Bank Stadium, already filled with 100,000 fans. National media trucks—CNN, NBC, NFL Network, ABC—trailed behind them to show that, for today, all eyes are on Baltimore.