Some 18 years ago, Baltimore's Kirk Maggio was an All-American punter coming out of UCLA after finishing second in the nation in his specialty. The Green Bay Packers made the Calvert Hall graduate their 12th-round draft choice and thus ensued a football odyssey through what was then the World Football League and the training camps of a half-dozen NFL teams.

Today Maggio, 40, has become one of the most sought-after sports artists in the country and the future is bright indeed. His startling action portraits done in oils exhibit an unusual touch with lighting, layering and contrast that makes the finished product appear to leap off the canvas. 

That metamorphosis from punter to painter makes for an intriguing story and may only be beginning. To date, Maggio has made a decent living by completing personal commissions from the world of sports, but he doesn't want to stop there. More and more, works of nature are finding their way into his products and a portfolio of scenes from Tuscany is in the works. 

"After a half-dozen years of hanging around football leagues and camps, I decided it was time to do something else," Maggio recalled about the start of his "second career" from his Parkton studio just north of Hunt Valley. His background had not included any formal training, but he had been an eager art student at Calvert Hall, and he went to UCLA to study graphic design.

When the Ravens came to Baltimore from Cleveland, then-team president David Modell saw Maggio's artwork and asked if he could do some football samples. He did, Modell loved it, and those pieces still hang in all the private suites at M&T Stadium. After a few Ravens players like Michael Jackson and Larry Webster hired Maggio to do personal portraits, word got out, the rush was on -- and shows no signs of slowing.

Another huge breakthrough came when the father of two moved to Florida for awhile and was commissioned to do some work during the Presidents Cup competition in 2005. Golfer Fred Funk and wife Sharon asked Maggio to create for team captain Jack Nicklaus a portrait of Jake Nicklaus, his 17-month-old grandson who had drowned in a tragic accident. The American team members presented the piece to their beloved captain, and it still stands as one of the Golden Bear's most prized moments.

Since then, Maggio has done quite a bit of work for individual PGA tour regulars, in scenes which especially lend themselves to their picturesque sport and the artist's unique hand.

Painting takes up most of Maggio's daily hours, but he still makes time to read and study art history.

"The Old World Dutch masters are particularly intriguing for me," he said. "Their works have lasted a few hundred years; they must have done something right."

He also admits to a trace of Impressionism sneaking into some recent nature works -- Monet, beware -- but he tends to shy away from contemporary painters, and his major goal is, of course, to expand and get a firm grip on his own style. He hasn't yet prowled the streets of Paris in search of the perfect light, but he does expect his career to evolve.

"I've never gone the gallery route," Maggio said. "I need to weigh the future of my art, but I am very optimistic." 

Kickin' Weekend

Matthew Mbuta and Crystal Palace USA treated more than 3,000 fans to a 3-0 victory in the season opener. (Sabina Moran/PressBox)

Local soccer enthusiasts had plenty to cheer about last weekend. The Blast decisively captured a fourth Major Indoor Soccer League indoor championship in six seasons Saturday night by beating Monterrey La Raza in Milwaukee, 14-11 (Story, Page 8).

That game took place about 24 hours after the city's newest outdoor team, Crystal Palace, opened its regular season with a 3-0 shutout over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at UMBC, its home base for the season. Over 3,000 showed up to see goalie Matt Nelson hang up the goose egg while Gary Brooks, Alex Ughiovhe and rookie Pat Healey scored goals. 

Crystal Palace and a delighted co-manager Pete Medd move on to the second home game Sunday at 4 p.m. at UMBC against the Richmond Kickers. 

Out Of His Way!

After his Sunday victory at high-speed Talladega, one of the really entertaining stock car races in recent years, it becomes obvious that young Kyle Busch is indeed a driving prodigy. He won't turn 23 until next month, but his ability to control and save a "loose" car, combined with his craving to run at the head of the pack, has already put him in a class with the other NASCAR top guns. 

Max Muhleman, the Carolina sports marketing guru who was one of the nation's foremost auto racing writers back when superspeedways were just a figment of Bill France's imagination, sees a great deal of the "old guard" in young Busch's daring.

"Curtis Turner would be a good comparison with Busch," Muhleman said. "Almost recklessly wild but so talented they continually pull off the near-impossible. Junior Johnson is worth a thought. Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison are close to that category, but just a smidgen more controlled. … Kyle is still in that stage where finishing will happen if it happens, but meantime the glory is in going to the front and leading, fighting off all comers."

The 1-3 finish for Joe Gibbs' team ended any speculation that Toyota might not have the horsepower to stay with Chevy and Ford on the big tracks. Twenty drivers swapped the Talladega lead an incredible 52 times at nearly 200 mph. Saturday night's race at short track Richmond will surely be quite a comedown, but don't be surprised to see Busch leading there, too. 

Forgotten Man

With all the headlines going to Joe Flacco, the name of Rich Gannon has slipped through the cracks. Remember, he was also a quarterback out of the University of Delaware, and his numbers over a 17-year career are close to shocking.

A fourth-round choice in the 1987 draft by Minnesota (98 overall), Gannon was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 2002 when he passed for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns for Oakland. He took the Raiders to the Super Bowl that year, where they got destroyed by Tampa Bay, coached by the Raiders' offensive coordinator of the previous season, Jon Gruden. Some say Gruden could spot nearly every Raiders play in that game because the offense never changed after he left.

Gannon beat out a couple of guys named Brett Favre and Steve McNair to win that MVP honor. He also had four Pro Bowls (two MVPs in that game) on his resume when neck and shoulder injuries forced him to hang it up. 

From The Cheap Seats

• A couple of words that long ago outlived their usefulness in the sports world: "awesome" and "warrior." The next phrase to go should be "taking it to the next level."

• Ho-hum, spectacular tennis star Rafael Nadal once again topped Roger Federer on clay last weekend. The over-and-under bet in Monte Carlo was how many times Raffi would adjust his wedgie.

• The flap about Roger Clemens and country singing star Mindy McCready isn't nearly as juicy to oldtimers as the revelation in a new Doris Day biography by David Kaufman that the ideal girl next door sometimes partied hearty in a New York hotel with Mickey Mantle.

• Assuming anyone is dying to know, ESPN's resident "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi already has his first version of the 2009-2010 NCAA basketball tournament pairings online. Maryland is among the "last four out."

-- L.H.

Issue 3.18: May 1, 2008