Bo Smolka is in his 13th season covering the Baltimore Ravens, first for Comcast SportsNet (2011-16) and since 2017 for Press Box.

He has also written travel stories on subjects including Cooperstown, N.Y.; the Dominican Republic, Slovakia, the Appalachian Trail and a cross-country train ride, and he won a gold medal in the 2023 Solas Awards for travel writing. His personal essays have appeared in The Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Boston Globe and other publications.

Scroll down for samples of his work.

Travel

• “West With the Night: We thought a cross-country train trip would be great. We were half right,” Half and One
• ” Welcome to Baltimore, Hon!” ASEE Prism
• “On the trail of Harriet Tubman,” Boston Globe
• “Bears fans can make like Urlacher with a trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Chicago Tribune
• “The Boys of Winter” Dominican Winter League baseball, the Baltimore Sun
• “In Siena, sound of horses signals a wild, storied ride,” the Baltimore Sun
• “Home Field Advantage: Cooperstown and the baseball Hall of Fame are a winning team” the Baltimore Sun
• “Old World Roots: A traveler finds his heritage at a Big Fat Slovak Wedding,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer
• “Golden days: sleds, arcades and sodas,” the Baltimore Sun
• Appalachian Trail series
  • “From Georgia to Maine: An Appalachian Trail
    thru-hike”

Personal essays

• “My Father Not Yet My Father,” Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place and Nature
• “As a Catholic parent, allowing my children to be altar servers is an act of faith,” The Washington Post
• “Arrivals and Departures,” Tomahawk Creek Review
• “When the baby will die, depriving a woman of choice is just cruel,” Baltimore Banner
• “Windows to His World,” New Plains Review
• “Sale Away: The pandemic has given us time to look around the house and realize that as the kids get older, we just have too much stuff,” Boston Globe
• “Tears of Grief, Tears of Joy,” The Baltimore Sun
• “This fan has Memorial Stadium’s best seats,” baltimorebaseball.com

NFL/Ravens

• • “Larger than Life: Mark Andrews’ Rise to Top NFL Tight End”
  • “Faster Friends: From South Florida to NFL for Ravens Lamar Jackson and Marquise Brown“
  • “Ravens coach John Harbaugh: It’s been a tough week”
  • “Ray Lewis: What a Ride”
  • “Eric Weddle relies on family, faith and football”
  • For more, see pressboxonline.com/author/bo-smolka

College sports

• “Leveling The Field,” Bucknell World
• “The college game, especially in March, rules over the NBA,” Annapolis Capital and Sunbury (Pa.) Daily Item