Recent stories by Don Marcus

6:16 PM EDT, May 20, 2013

Once a fan of the Indy 500, Ryan Hunter-Reay hopes to win it Sunday

For as long as Ryan Hunter-Reay can remember, the Indianapolis 500 was a huge deal. As a small child growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Hunter-Reay used to plop down a plastic race track and line up his miniature race cars in front of the television set on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend.

2:22 PM EDT, May 25, 2013

One of four programs will get a steal in Antonio Barton, coaches say

Antonio Barton had only a handful of Division I basketball programs interested in him three years ago coming out Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts, where he spent a post-grad year after playing his senior season at Lake Clifton.

2:11 PM EDT, May 25, 2013

History Channel's 'Top Shot' gives Sykesville man a chance to show off his talents

Adam Benson is a different kind of weekend warrior.

8:51 PM EDT, May 18, 2013

Upset win by Oxbow gives D. Wayne Lukas record 14th victory in Triple Crown race

He kept coming back, year after year, horse after horse, trying to get another victory in the Preakness Stakes before he was done. Going into the 138th running of the Triple Crown's middle leg, D. Wayne Lukas had tried eight times since Charismatic won at Pimlico Race Course in 1999 — with 12 different entries.

2:16 PM EDT, May 25, 2013

'Catch and Release' tournament coming to Grasonville on June 1

The 10th annual Coastal Conservation Association Maryland Catch and Release Fly and Light Tackle tournament is expected to attract some of the region's top anglers on June 1 between the Sassafras River and Cedar Point.

2:08 PM EDT, May 18, 2013

Robert Vigorito to be honored before 30th annual Columbia Triathlon

Robert Vigorito knew he had changed some lives over the years since he helped start the Columbia Triathlon in 1984. He transformed an inaugural event that attracted fewer than 100 competitors into one of the top triathlons in the country with as many as 2,500 coming to Centennial Park each spring since 1988.

8:54 PM EDT, May 23, 2013

Aboard 'Coaches Caravan' cruise, Randy Edsall says his Terps are on course

There was a questionable forecast for Thursday night, making an evening boat cruise out of Annapolis an uncertainty for Maryland football coach Randy Edsall and a couple of his counterparts who came from College Park to schmooze with fans over dinner and drinks.

2:11 PM EDT, May 18, 2013

Tips for National Safe Boating Week

As Maryland takes part in National Safe Boating Week (May 18-25), Natural Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Albert has a number of suggestions and warnings for those planning to be on the state's waterways this spring and summer.

6:52 PM EDT, May 17, 2013

PREAKNESS 2013

Fiftyshadesofhay wins Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

She had a cool name and a hot jockey, but Fiftyshadesofhay didn't look like she had much of a chance for most of Friday's 89th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

5:03 PM EDT, May 17, 2013

PREAKNESS 2013

Jockey Gary Stevens discovering his love of racing again

Nearly a quarter century ago, Gary Stevens was an up-and-coming jockey in Southern California, hoping to make his mark on the sport, put a lot of money in the bank and move on to something else as quickly as possible.

6:07 PM EDT, May 15, 2013

PREAKNESS 2013

Long wait continues for next Triple Crown winner

Horse racing fans talk about their sport not having a Triple Crown winner in nearly 35 years much the way baseball fans lament the fact that their favorite game has gone more than twice as long without a .400 hitter.

2:15 PM EDT, May 11, 2013

Canoe Kayak Slalom trials are one of many big events coming to Deep Creek Lake

Once thought to be a somewhat out-of-the-way spot for winter ski trips and summer getaways from the scorching heat, Deep Creek Lake and the adjacent Wisp Resort could become "the No. 1 — bar none — adventure sports destination spot in the world" if Todd Copley has anything to do with it.

2:11 PM EDT, May 11, 2013

Surfer moms are catching the wave more and more

Beth Schub started surfing with one of her uncles on Long Island when she was 13, but she went off to college in Pennsylvania and later settled there after getting married, she thought she was pretty much done with the sport.

3:53 PM EDT, May 9, 2013

With ankle injury, Alex Len misses chance to 'skyrocket' to top of NBA draft, agent says

In Mike Lelchitski's office at Sports International Group, Inc., the company his father, Boris, founded more than a decade ago after emigrating to the United States from Russia, there is a framed panoramic shot of Comcast Center from the first men's basketball game played there in 2002.

5:28 PM EDT, May 6, 2013

After LPGA's International Crown, more tournaments could be in Caves Valley's future

When the United States Golf Association packed up its corporate tents after the 2002 Senior Open concluded, Caves Valley returned to its roots as a private club that was selective in the tournaments it hosted. Mandated to promote the amateur ranks, the Owings Mills club welcomed a handful of events in the intervening years — none involving professionals.

6:14 PM EDT, April 30, 2013

Promise of Terps' past two football recruiting classes gives Randy Edsall hope

In a perfect world, Randy Edsall can envision the day when the Maryland football team plays before packed crowds at Byrd Stadium, when the Terps challenge perennial powers in their league, when he and his staff attract most of the top high school talent in the state as well as from other parts of the country.

2:28 PM EDT, May 4, 2013

Thousands of anglers competing in 'world's largest rockfish tournament'

What is now billed as the "world's largest rockfish tournament" began 30 years ago with a different catch in mind — bluefish — and pretty much remained that way until a decade ago.

1:24 PM EDT, April 27, 2013

Annapolis sailing community remembers Don Backe, founder of CRAB

Don Backe never won the America's Cup or any other world-class sailing event, but he probably had more of an impact on the sport around the Chesapeake Bay than any champion.

6:40 PM EDT, May 1, 2013

In new Big Ten, Penn State football expects to grow more comfortable in Maryland

Penn State has had a run of the neighborhood for as long as anyone can remember, from its years as the most successful independent Division I-A football program on the East Coast and a national power, to a little more than the past two decades in the Big Ten.

1:26 PM EDT, April 27, 2013

New J/70 sailboat most popular entry at Annapolis NOOD Regatta event

Even as an experienced sailor, Peter McChesney said that racing the J/70 gives him a different kind of thrill.

9:20 AM EDT, April 17, 2013

Lefty Driesell honored with bas-relief at Comcast Center

More than a quarter century after he was forced to resign in the months following the cocaine-induced death of basketball star Len Bias, longtime Maryland coach Lefty Driesell was officially — and permanently — recognized Tuesday with the unveiling of a bronzed bas relief sculpture in his honor at Comcast Center.

2:28 PM EDT, April 20, 2013

Sacrifices lead to prime opportunity for G.G. Smith

Moving around has always been a big part of new Loyola basketball coach G.G. Smith's life.

11:00 PM EDT, April 19, 2013

Big Ten settles on divisions for football

While the majority of the University of Maryland's athletic teams will be trekking all over the Big Ten beginning in 2014, the Terps will have a few shorter trips when it comes to football.

12:14 PM EDT, April 15, 2013

Alex Len leaving Maryland, entering the NBA draft

What has been anticipated around the Maryland basketball program for months has become reality: sophomore Alex Len will forgo the last two years of his college career, a source with knowledge of the situation said Sunday night.

4:02 PM EDT, April 4, 2013

Syracuse's C.J. Fair focused on Final Four, not the NBA

C.J. Fair is all too familiar with the history of former high school players from Baltimore who left Syracuse early for the NBA.

5:14 PM EDT, April 1, 2013

Terps in a different state of mind as they return to New York

When Maryland opened the season five months ago against defending national champion Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Terps were full of the hype and hope that comes when many expect a team to find its way to the NCAA tournament.

3:48 PM EDT, March 31, 2013

Terps' trip to MSG is an opportunity to play on 'world's most famous' stage

COLLEGE PARK — Before playing at Madison Square Garden in the 1990 ECAC Holiday Festival, Walt Williams was considered an up-and-coming player for a down-and-out program. A junior, Williams had stayed at Maryland rather than transferring to another school without penalty after the Terps were put on a harsh probation by the NCAA.

6:55 PM EDT, March 31, 2013

Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos will interview at Siena, sources say

Loyola men's basketball coach Jimmy Patsos, who has led the program to its first back-to-back seasons with more than 20 wins as a Division I team, has emerged as one of the top candidates for the opening at Siena.

9:24 PM EDT, March 30, 2013

C.J. Fair relishes his re-do and helps Syracuse to Final Four

WASHINGTON — A year ago, C.J. Fair and top-seeded Syracuse left Boston's TD Garden unfulfilled after losing to No. 2 seed Ohio State in the NCAA tournament's East Regional final. Fair had done little to help, taking just two shots and scoring eight points in a seven-point loss to the Buckeyes.

2:57 PM EDT, March 30, 2013

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run tentatively set for November 2014

Imagine running a 10-kilometer race more than 185 feet in the air, looking down and seeing the Chesapeake Bay.

6:09 PM EDT, March 17, 2013

Navy coaches excited for Year 2 of the Keenan Reynolds era at QB

As Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper broke down film from the team's 2012 season, they noticed that the Midshipmen didn't look out of sync when freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds took the snap out of a shotgun formation.

2:45 PM EDT, March 23, 2013

Track star Alix Membreno has been crucial to Navy's basketball success

Alix Membreno was not destined to play Division I college basketball, let alone become a key member of a team that has now made three straight NCAA tournaments. Recruited to Navy as a state champion and record-holder javelin thrower in New Mexico, Membreno quickly realized how much she missed basketball.

2:04 AM EST, March 9, 2013

Before teeing it up, weekend golfers limbering up

Like professional athletes who get ready for their respective seasons in training camp, weekend golfers prep their games in the offseason. Some work out feverishly doing golf-specific exercises. Others take lessons to hone their swings. And more than a few simply go out and take their whacks on the driving range.

5:56 PM EDT, March 20, 2013

Maryland finds its own motivation in NIT

COLLEGE PARK — As the televisions in Maryland's locker room showed fans at Robert Morris storming the court after their team upset Kentucky in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night, the Terps seemed to differ in their reactions.

6:15 PM EST, March 8, 2013

Chesapeake BMX season starts Sunday

Few sports can claim participants from toddlers to retirees, but BMX is one of them. BMX — short for bicycle motocross — will begin its local season when the first event in 2013 for Chesapeake BMX is held Sunday at Severn-Danza Park in Severn.

6:50 PM EST, March 5, 2013

Erratic season leads to tough lessons for Terps' Pe'Shon Howard

— If it has been a roller coaster season in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the Maryland basketball team the past two months, junior point guard Pe'Shon Howard might be the poster child for the erratic Terps.

10:15 PM EDT, March 18, 2013

Navy relieved to be a No. 15 seed, faces Kentucky in first round

The first cheer erupted among the Navy women's basketball players when they saw that another team would face top-seeded Connecticut in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

9:12 PM EST, March 2, 2013

Tigers beat Hofstra, 67-64, in final men's basketball game at Towson Center

For more than a decade, Towson's last regular-season home game has been a sleepy, sad event.

1:53 PM EST, March 2, 2013

With some changes, pontoon boats make comeback in the United States

Back this hitch up into the water

1:43 PM EST, March 2, 2013

11th annual Tiefest coming next Saturday in Grasonville

The first step to being successful at fly fishing is tying a fly creatively enough to make it seem real to the fish you're trying to catch.

10:50 PM EST, March 6, 2013

Maryland's at-large chances likely whited out after loss to North Carolina

COLLEGE PARK — Considering the shiny new white uniforms and the extreme weather that never quite materialized, Maryland dubbed Wednesday night's game against North Carolina a “White Out” for its students and fans who braved the elements to come to Comcast Center.

6:30 PM EST, February 25, 2013

No controversy, no contact for Maryland quarterbacks come spring practice

With C.J. Brown back in a limited role after missing last season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe continuing to rehab their own knee injuries, Maryland coach Randy Edsall said Monday that his two healthy quarterbacks will be off-limits to contact when spring practice starts Saturday.

7:33 PM EST, February 21, 2013

Derrick Lewis 'turning the corner' with Archbishop Spalding boys basketball team

His players sat silently in the corner of the locker room.

7:48 PM EST, March 1, 2013

Former high school rivals Ricardo Young and Deon Long together again as Terps

COLLEGE PARK — They left Washington as friendly rivals, respecting each other's talents and having formed a bond from summer camps and scouting combines. They reunited as teammates briefly, first at the University of New Mexico and later at a junior college In Iowa.

4:26 PM EST, February 13, 2013

End of the Maryland-Duke rivalry is fast approaching

From Maryland's perspective, the basketball rivalry with Duke was born in the late 1990s when Gary Williams brought the Terps from the bottom of the ACC to the top. During the 2000-01 season — when the teams met four times, including in the ACC tournament and at the Final Four — it was considered the most heated college rivalry in the country.

6:19 PM EST, February 9, 2013

Terps' Nick Faust adjusting to his role running the offense

After finishing his freshman season at Maryland, Nick Faust figured that he had a good chance to become one of the men's basketball team's leading scorers as a sophomore. With the departure last spring of Terrell Stoglin, the Atlantic Coast Conference's top scorer a year ago, it seemed only logical for Faust to make that step.

3:10 PM EST, February 23, 2013

Baltimore Boat Show provides glimpse into marine technology industry

Larry Jenc has been working in the marine technology industry for more than four decades and, until recently, thought he was part of a dying profession.

3:11 PM EST, February 9, 2013

National Archery in the Schools Program hits the target

John Leck will never forget the look on the face of the paralyzed boy sitting in his wheelchair. When the arrow left the bow that had been strapped onto the eighth-grader's arm, a mixture of wonder and excitement was apparent as he watched it sail toward the target inside the gymnasium at Rocky Hill Middle School in Clarksburg.

3:08 PM EST, February 9, 2013

Coast Guard Foundation Cup sailing race coming in April to Annapolis

For many years, the Coast Guard Foundation held charity golf tournaments to raise money to help support enlisted personnel, reservists and their families who suffered a personal or financial loss.

4:16 AM EST, February 17, 2013

Foosball isn't what it used to be

The memories are usually fuzzy, clouded by decades of other diversions or simply by the fact that, even back then, you'd already forgotten by the next day that you'd played.

8:37 PM EST, February 6, 2013

Terps football's recruiting class gives Maryland hope for future

A few months after his team failed to hold late leads in several games, Maryland football coach Randy Edsall and his staff won three key down-to-the-wire recruiting battles Wednesday that could help hasten the rebuilding process for the Terps.

5:06 PM EST, February 2, 2013

Former Terps star Greivis Vasquez making his mark with New Orleans

NEW YORK -- The conversation took place during his freshman year at Maryland. Greivis Vasquez, still learning a new language and getting adjusted to playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, sat down in his coach's office one day to talk about his dreams.

2:00 AM EST, February 3, 2013

Members of the outdoors industry upset about show in Harrisburg, Pa., being postponed

Brian Doyle had been to the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show in Harrisburg, Pa., as a consumer, but the Pasadena resident was looking forward to this year's event for a different reason. Doyle and Ken Kerschner of Centreville were going for the first time as the partners in a new venture, Hammer Hollow Outfitters, booking guided hunts on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

10:24 PM EST, February 16, 2013

Despite turnovers, Seth Allen points Terps to win over Duke

During halftime of Saturday night's game against No. 2 Duke at Comcast Center, Maryland freshman point guard Seth Allen gave himself a little pep talk.

3:18 PM EST, February 2, 2013

'Bone Collector' TV show opens doors for Michael Waddell

Michael Waddell didn't plan on being famous, at least among the hunters who now watch his weekly "Bone Collector" television show on the Outdoor Channel. He never thought about people buying his camouflage hats, T-shirts and other merchandise. He still can't believe that he has his own trademark muzzleloader with his now-recognizable logo engraved on it.

4:55 PM EST, February 16, 2013

5 questions with Captain John Martino of Annapolis School of Seamanship

Captain John Martino, the founder and president of the Annapolis School of Seamanship, will lead seminars during this year's Baltimore Boat Show at the Baltimore Convention Center from Feb. 28 to March 3.

1:30 PM EST, January 26, 2013

Sparrows Point student a world-champion duck caller

Bobby Spivey can walk through the halls of Sparrows Point High School without drawing much attention from anyone aside from his group of close friends. But put the 16-year-old in the small Southern hamlet of Stuttgart, Ark. — the self-proclaimed "Rice and Duck Capital of the World" — and Spivey is something of a celebrity.

6:46 PM EST, January 21, 2013

Maryland hopes to address offensive issues against Boston College

There's a generations-old adage in basketball that might go all the way back to the invention of the jump shot.

6:37 PM EST, January 19, 2013

Legacy of Bill Belichick's father lives on at the Naval Academy

The story has been told many times over the past three decades, as Bill Belichick went from being an up-and-coming defensive coordinator in the NFL to an unsuccessful first-time head coach with the Cleveland Browns to eventually becoming one of the most accomplished coaches in league history.

6:09 PM EST, January 18, 2013

Terps hopes to raise their scores against North Carolina

COLLEGE PARK -- With the euphoria of its 51-50 near-the-buzzer win Wednesday over No. 14 North Carolina State fading, the Maryland men's basketball team knows it will have to do more than just the run the plays that second-year coach Mark Turgeon calls Saturday at North Carolina.

6:31 PM EST, January 18, 2013

Former Navy FB Eric Kettani left a lasting image with Patriots owner

The painting is hung prominently in the private office of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Titled "Wide Left," it shows an oversized football, a tiny goal post and the final score of 23-20, collectively representing the end of last year's AFC championship game won by the Patriots on former Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff's botched 32-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds.

12:12 PM EST, January 19, 2013

Teaching students about environmental awareness in Maryland

Since 1998, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has taught more than 32,000 students in 1,200 classroom programs about the Chesapeake Bay, coastal and bay marine life, as well as the state's streams through its Teaching Environmental Awareness in Maryland (TEAM) program.

5:57 PM EST, January 29, 2013

Despite big loss at Duke, Turgeon confident heading into Florida State game

His team has lost four of six games since its 13-1 start, including three straight on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After Mark Turgeon was widely praised for keeping the Terps competitive in his first season, fans are getting a little impatient with the progress the team has made in the coach's second year at Maryland.

2:49 PM EST, January 26, 2013

Captains Sharing & Caring looks for places to host events this summer

Captains Sharing & Caring, a nonprofit foundation that gives children with terminal illnesses or physical disabilities and their families a day out on several local waterways, is looking to marinas, yacht clubs and those with private docks to hosts events this summer.

7:36 PM EST, January 23, 2013

M&T Bank Stadium named a host venue for this summer's Gold Cup

Baltimore might have missed out on hosting World Cup matches when the U.S. lost its bid for the quadrennial event in 2022, but M&T Stadium will be part of another prestigious international soccer tournament when the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup comes to the city in July.

9:37 PM EST, January 14, 2013

Changes could be in store for Terps heading into tough stretch

Before his team began the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of its schedule earlier this month, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon begrudgingly acknowledged that the first three games could be pivotal for the Terps since the first two would be played at Comcast Center.

1:36 PM EST, January 12, 2013

After twists and turns, Brenna Doherty's figure skating career gets a lift from a shift to pairs

Brenna Doherty's dream of becoming a world-class figure skater has had its share of bumpy landings. They began when Doherty was a freshman at Oakland Mills High in Columbia. After making the finals at junior nationals at ages 13 and 14, Doherty thought she wanted to try being a typical teenager.

1:39 PM EST, January 12, 2013

Few deer killed at Crownsville CWMA so far this season

A 546-acre deer hunting area that opened in Anne Arundel County shortly after Thanksgiving and will close at the end of January has seen only seven deer taken so far, according to the deer project leader for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

10:38 PM EST, January 11, 2013

Loyola beats Fairfield in a game similar to last year's MAAC final

The last time the Loyola men's basketball team met Fairfield, a bid to the NCAA tournament was at stake. The Greyhounds staggered to the finish line — and promise land — after the lowest-scoring Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament final in history.

5:51 PM EST, January 4, 2013

After dominating non-conference games, Terps take a step up into ACC play

COLLEGE PARK — Losing is not the only thing Maryland has avoided since its season-opening defeat to then-No. 3 Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Terps have barely been tested during what has become a 12-game winning streak.

6:11 PM EST, January 8, 2013

Point guards critical to Terps' success this season

COLLEGE PARK -- During his college career at Kansas, Mark Turgeon can remember Jayhawks coach Larry Brown constantly barking in his ear, more often telling the young point guard what he had done wrong than what he had done right.

8:19 PM EST, January 2, 2013

Baltimore fans react to news of Lewis retiring

Dave Rather and Ray Lewis go back a long way. In 1997, Rather bought Mother's Federal Hill Grille, a popular Federal Hill restaurant that draws packed crowds for Ravens games. He has had season tickets since the Ravens arrived in Baltimore in 1996.

3:08 PM EST, December 29, 2012

Cross-country marathon, and diabetes loses

Long before Doug Masiuk became a serious runner, he had to learn how take his lifelong battle with Type 1 diabetes one step at a time.

December 30, 2012

First Day Out hikes return for 2013

The inaugural First Day Out hikes were such a hit across 17 state parks in Maryland last New Year's Day, the state's Department of Natural Resources will be ringing in 2013 with a similar event at 20 different locations.

4:26 PM EST, December 31, 2012

'The new Charles Mitchell' back in shape, standing out for Maryland

From the moment Maryland freshman Charles Mitchell emerged as a legitimate Division I prospect a few years ago, the comparisons to another undersized and overweight power forward were pretty obvious.

10:25 PM EST, December 28, 2012

Loyola run over by Bucknell, 66-46

Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos has compared Bucknell center Mike Muscala to one of his favorite former NBA players for his hometown Boston Celtics. Muscala is not the second coming of Kevin McHale, but against the Greyhounds on Friday night, the 6-11 senior looked the part of a modern-day mid-major replica.

6:48 PM EST, December 27, 2012

Former Navy athletic director J.O. 'Bo' Coppedge dies at 88

During Kelly Coppedge's final conversation with her grandfather last Sunday, she says he was still thinking about Navy's football team.

12:53 PM EST, December 22, 2012

Wide receiver Brandon Turner returns to leadership role for Midshipmen

There are days when Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner wonders how he is still at the academy, his college football career winding down and graduation within sight.

12:56 PM EST, December 22, 2012

Westminster man experiences Christmas spirit thanks to hunting website

John Ragan concedes that he is neither computer-savvy nor very much interested in using the Internet.

5:02 PM EST, December 15, 2012

Fewer deer taken in this year's two-week firearm hunting season

Hindered by cold, wet and windy weather at the start of the state's two-week firearm deer hunting season, as well as an abundance of acorns, fewer deer were taken this year, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

3:09 PM EST, December 8, 2012

Robert Vigorito steps down as CEO of Columbia Triathlon Association

Given Robert Vigorito's endurance as a six-time finisher of the world-famous Ironman Triathlon event in Hawaii, many figured that his tenure with the Columbia Triathlon Association would go on forever.

9:00 PM EST, December 6, 2012

Navy players to wear patches honoring fallen comrades

Navy linebacker Brye French had never met Brendan Looney, only hearing stories about the former academy lacrosse star and his two brothers from longtime coach Richie Meade. Then one day during French's sophomore year, Meade told his team that the eldest Looney brother had died in Iraq.

3:49 PM EST, December 28, 2012

Just two more tuneup games for Maryland before ACC play begins

Ten down, two to go.

7:25 PM EST, December 27, 2012

Loyola's game against Bucknell could have NCAA implications

What started out as the final game of a competitive four-year series between the men's basketball teams at Loyola and Bucknell became something more last summer. Friday night's game at Reitz Arena has become a preview, a taste of what the future holds for Jimmy Patsos and the Greyhounds.

5:04 PM EST, December 15, 2012

Annapolis native Hutchinson reacts to his America's Cup ouster

Terry Hutchinson was taught a long time ago to be resilient, to be able to adjust to the shifting winds on the sea or, for that matter, in life.

2:55 PM EST, December 1, 2012

Number of deer taken in first week of firearm season down 10 percent

The first week of the state's two-week firearm season for hunting deers has produced fewer deer taken and at least one hunter seriously injured.

9:27 PM EST, November 24, 2012

After 50 years, JFK 50-mile race keeps running

Wherever he has lived, whatever he was doing, Kimball Byron has always been drawn back to his running roots in Western Maryland and a 50-mile race that recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

5:27 PM EST, December 26, 2012

Navy hopes to reverse trend of bowl defeats Saturday vs. Arizona State

If anyone wants to nitpick at Navy's football success over the past decade, a starting point — and finish line — might be the team's record in bowl games.

2:20 PM EST, November 23, 2012

Maryland sophomore Nick Faust still finding his role with Terps

Nick Faust caught the ball in the corner, his hands in a shooter's position and his eyes focused on the rim as if the Maryland guard was ready to launch one of his rainbow jumpers.

4:08 PM EST, December 7, 2012

Quarterbacks enter Army-Navy game in different positions

Quarterbacks Trent Steelman and Keenan Reynolds will come into Saturday's Army-Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia from nearly opposite directions.

3:00 PM EST, December 1, 2012

Turning dirt racing into a career

Kyle Lear was a freshman soccer player trying out for the JV team at Arundel High when he had to make a choice between continuing in the sport or devoting his weekends to another of his longtime passions: racing cars.

4:52 PM EST, December 1, 2012

In Army-Navy rivalry, Black Knights can't keep up with Midshipmen

Nine months before Bobby Ross came out of retirement to coach football at Army in December 2003, the United States began its military involvement in Iraq. As he dug into his new job at West Point, Ross was thinking more about how to rebuild a team that had lost all its games the previous season than the escalating casualties of war.

7:57 PM EST, November 19, 2012

Terps face reeling Lafayette squad that was just routed by Kentucky

Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon had to reschedule this team's practice Monday in preparation for Tuesday's game against Lafayette in order to attend the campus news conference to announce the school's move to the Big Ten from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

9:27 PM EST, December 8, 2012

Notebook: Moment of redemption for Navy's Brandon Turner

Navy wide receiver Brandon Turner started off his senior year on a sour note. The team's leading pass-catcher in 2011 missed the season opener against Notre Dame and didn't start against Penn State after being suspended for failing his physical readiness test.

6:01 PM EST, November 28, 2012

More at stake in this year's Army-Navy game

Rarely, if ever, will a game between a team with a modest 7-4 record and its 2-9 opponent be as meaningful as the one scheduled to play here at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 8. Then again, this year's meeting between Navy and Army has more at stake than usual.

2:12 PM EST, November 24, 2012

More than 800 anglers participate in MSSA Fall Classic Rockfish Tournament

The final event of the 2012 season for the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association (MSSA) attracted more than 800 anglers on 220 boats in pursuit of almost $80,000 in prize money.

5:04 PM EST, November 23, 2012

Deer firearm season begins Saturday in Maryland

Two days after hundreds of thousands of turkeys were consumed at dinner tables across the state, white-tailed and sika deers are now in the crosshairs for hunters looking to feast on venison. The state's two-week deer firearm season is scheduled to begin Saturday and run through Dec. 8.

4:54 PM EST, December 1, 2012

What's behind success of Terps men? Passing, rebounding

Statistics don't always tell the whole story for Mark Turgeon's teams, but based on how poorly Maryland rebounded and how rarely the Terps turned passes into baskets his first season, you might have thought a somewhat respectable 17-15 record was a mirage.

6:45 PM EST, November 26, 2012

Navy third-string QB fighting for his life

As the Navy football team returned to the practice field Monday in preparation for its Dec. 8 game against rival Army, Coach Ken Niumatalolo and his players were thinking about one of their own fighting for his life in a Miami hospital after being seriously injured in a Thanksgiving night car accident.

7:05 PM EST, November 21, 2012

Maryland's departure raises questions about future of ACC

The University of Maryland's planned departure from the Atlantic Coast Conference has raised questions about the league's long-term survival, a sobering prospect for fans that grew up on games between the Terps and their Tobacco Road rivals.

7:37 PM EST, November 19, 2012

Big Ten move took Maryland coaches by surprise

Maryland's decision to move from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten not only caught its fans and students — and possibly ACC officials — by surprise. The stunning announcement that was first rumored late last week and was made official Monday also came as a shock to many of the school's coaches.

10:48 PM EST, November 17, 2012

Copeland carries load for Midshipmen

Considering what Keenan Reynolds had accomplished since taking over at quarterback for Navy more than a month ago, it was only a matter of time before an opposing defense was mostly designed to stop the talented freshman.

11:25 PM EST, November 20, 2012

Senior James Padgett helps the Terrapins in win vs Lafayette

COLLEGE PARK — Maryland coach Mark Turgeon didn’t seem to mind that his Terps missed a dozen 3-point shots and nearly as many free throws Tuesday night at Comcast Center. He even gave credit to Lafayette for hanging in with there only long-range shooting and surprisingly tenacious zone defense that shut down sophomore center Alex Len until early in the second half.

3:45 PM EST, November 16, 2012

At Navy, even those who rarely play make big contributions

Most of the 27 Navy seniors who will honored before Saturday's final home game against Texas State have contributed to the team's success on the field the past four years. But those who have made limited appearances — or even none at all — seem to share in that experience as much as those who have had starring roles.

7:02 PM EST, November 13, 2012

Terps' recruiting momentum continues with Mark Turgeon's second class

In the days following last month's nationally televised announcement that Texas twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison had chosen Kentucky over Maryland, there was a lot of message board chatter about Mark Turgeon possibly losing out on other top recruits, including Roddy Peters of Suitland.

6:46 PM EST, November 14, 2012

Texas State's Marcus Curry looking forward to facing former Navy teammates

Marcus Curry is still in touch with many of his former Navy football teammates, most of them having moved on to their post-graduate military commitments and a few others who are now finishing their college careers for the Midshipmen.

5:47 PM EST, November 9, 2012

Injury-prone Terps face plenty of adversity at Clemson

Despite a three-game losing streak and a seemingly never-ending string of depth-sapping injuries — the latest including the team's top offensive and defensive playmakers — Maryland enters the toughest stretch of its 2012 schedule with something it lacked a year ago: cohesion.

2:31 PM EDT, October 27, 2012

Stan Honey combines work with play for new sailing technology

Stan Honey has spent much of the past two decades living a double life — as a computer graphics innovator who made televised sports more easily watchable for the casual fan and as a master yachtsman who navigated large boats to a long list of nautical accomplishments.

9:14 PM EDT, November 3, 2012

Navy wins 5th straight, accepts bid to Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

The impressive numbers keep piling up for Navy freshman Keenan Reynolds. The winning streak that corresponds with Reynolds' insertion at quarterback last month remains intact. The recent string of bowl appearances, following a year's hiatus, has been revived.

5:22 PM EST, November 15, 2012

James Padgett still starting, Charles Mitchell still surprising

The assumption for Maryland going into the 2012-13 basketball season was that one of the team's freshmen power forwards was going to take away many of James Padgett's minutes, and perhaps his starting job.

8:03 PM EDT, November 1, 2012

Youth has become a strength for Navy over the past month

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo was standing on the field at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, before his team's season opener against Notre Dame, talking with longtime defensive line coach Dale Pehrson about the collective inexperience of the Midshipmen.

7:44 PM EDT, October 23, 2012

Former player accuses Towson's Rob Ambrose of practice violations, mistreatment

A year after being celebrated as one of the top college football coaches in the country, Towson's Rob Ambrose has been accused by a disgruntled former player of breaking NCAA rules and making offensive remarks to help pump up his team in a pre-game pep talk earlier this season.

4:58 PM EST, November 10, 2012

In barely losing to Kentucky, Maryland grows up

As obvious as it seems to state that the beginning and end of college basketball games often determine their outcome, the first half and final seconds of Maryland's 72-69 loss to No. 3 Kentucky on Friday night certainly played a huge part in the Terps leaving Brooklyn's Barclays Center disappointed rather than the talk of their sport.

5:59 PM EST, November 9, 2012

Navy offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper goes back to his roots, letting it rip

More than 20 years after arriving at the University of Hawaii as a big-armed quarterback from Los Angeles, Ivin Jasper knows his throwing days are behind him. Ken Niumatalolo can recall times before practice in recent years when Jasper would show off the arm by easily winning friendly distance competitions with the Navy quarterbacks.

2:12 PM EDT, October 26, 2012

Navy's Aiken making the most of his chances

The initial diagnosis was a sprained right knee. But as the two weeks Matt Aiken expected to miss turned into a month and the 2012 Navy football season began without him, the junior wide receiver made a rare request for an athlete at the academy.

3:16 PM EDT, October 20, 2012

Annual black bear hunt has its backers and detractors

Kaitlin Zembower had gone deer hunting with her father Jerry countless times over the years near their Frostburg home, but the experience they shared during last year's annual Maryland black bear hunt was much different.

4:59 PM EDT, October 19, 2012

Navy hopes its triple-option attack keeps Indiana's offense on the sideline

As last Friday's game at Central Michigan unfolded for the Navy football team, one thing became abundantly clear: With freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds running the offense, the Midshipmen began to resemble the teams from Ken Niumatalolo's first three seasons as head coach and Paul Johnson's last five years in Annapolis.

2:06 PM EDT, November 3, 2012

After coaching detour, Julie Culley got back on road to running

Julie Culley had retired from competitive running, finishing her career at Rutgers burned out and banged up as a fifth-year senior. She had started the next phase of her life, coaching the women's track team at Loyola College and assisting the men's and women's cross country teams.

2:08 PM EDT, November 3, 2012

Arrests rise as Maryland black bear hunt grows

With an increase in the number of permits given out and a record number of bears killed during last month's five-day Maryland black bear hunt came another high mark — arrests made for illegal baiting and other violations.

6:11 PM EDT, October 11, 2012

Former 'fat kid' Shaquille Cleare looking tough so far for the Terps

The buzz surrounding Shaquille Cleare has dulled a bit since the 6-9 power forward from Houston announced more than a year ago that he was coming to Maryland. The spring and summer of 2012 had all been about whether his former AAU teammates, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, would join him here next year.

2:30 PM EDT, October 27, 2012

Record kill in 2012 black bear hunt

Nearly seven decades separate the youngest and oldest hunters who killed black bears in this year's state-controlled hunt, which ended Friday night. A record 92 bears were killed in Allegany and Garrett counties during the five-day hunt, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

10:08 PM EDT, October 20, 2012

Navy rallies behind Keenan Reynolds to beat Indiana, 31-30

The blowout defeats the Navy football team suffered early this season are a distant memory, in the record books but no longer embedded in its collective psyche. The struggling offense and a quarterback plagued by turnovers are also no longer part of the game plan.

9:54 PM EDT, October 19, 2012

No. 1 Terps beat No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0, in OT in men's soccer

There is an old soccer adage that a wet field is often the great equalizer, favoring teams that play a more grind-it-out style over those that are more offensively gifted.

5:31 PM EDT, October 17, 2012

Navy QB Reynolds' early success doesn't surprise those who saw him in high school

What Navy freshman quarterback Keenan Reynolds has accomplished the past two weeks has impressed some of his coaches and teammates in Annapolis to the point of astonishment.

3:13 PM EDT, October 11, 2012

Navy hopes to avoid letdown vs. Central Michigan

The emotions and energy Navy puts into its annual game against Air Force typically takes a lot out of the Midshipmen for their next game.

7:15 PM EDT, October 10, 2012

Freshman QB Keenan Reynolds ready to start for Mids on Friday

Keenan Reynolds started his first game as a freshman in high school outside Nashville, Tenn., so the news that he was going to become the first freshman to start at quarterback for Navy in more than two decades doesn't seem like that big a deal to him.

7:01 PM EDT, October 9, 2012

Navy QB Reynolds draws comparisons to Dobbs

Ricky Dobbs holds a special place in the recent history of Navy football. In the two seasons he started at quarterback, he led the Midshipmen in rushing and put up more than respectable numbers passing. He led the team to 10- and nine-win seasons. He helped Navy twice beat Notre Dame, as well as Missouri in a bowl game. He nearly beat Ohio State at "The Horseshoe."

3:00 PM EDT, October 7, 2012

Loyola suspends R.J. Williams for violation of team rules

Loyola basketball coach Jimmy Patsos said Sunday that sophomore point guard R.J. Williams (St. Frances) has been suspended until mid-January for an unspecified violation of team rules.

3:22 PM EDT, October 5, 2012

Offensive line key to Navy's hopes against Air Force

Chris Culton has been an assistant coach at Navy for a decade, working with the team's fullbacks his first five years and the offensive line the last five. Given the importance of those two positions in Navy's triple-option offense, it is fair to say that Culton has played a significant role in the program's success.

5:05 PM EDT, September 28, 2012

With biggest game in school history, Towson looks to future vs. LSU

When Towson athletic director Mike Waddell broached the idea with Rob Ambrose of taking his football team down to play LSU in Baton Rouge for the fourth game of the 2012 season, the Tigers' coach was decidedly lukewarm.

6:50 PM EDT, October 8, 2012

Navy QB Trey Miller held out of practice with ankle injury

Navy quarterback Trey Miller was held out of practice Monday after sustaining an ankle injury in Saturday's 28-21 overtime win at Air Force. With his left foot in a boot, Miller watched as freshman Keenan Reynolds ran most of the drills in preparation of Friday's game at Central Michigan.

2:34 PM EDT, October 6, 2012

Jimmy Cornell shares his tips at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis

For Jimmy Cornell, it was all about freedom.

6:41 PM EDT, October 1, 2012

Navy sticking with Miller as starting QB

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo has given junior quarterback Trey Miller chances to hold on to his starting job this season.

4:11 PM EDT, September 29, 2012

5 questions on Park Quest with Maryland Park Service's Barbara Knisely

On Saturday, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources celebrated its fifth annual Park Quest event with Rendevous activities for the teams that completed at least 10 quests. Knisely, who helps run the popular event, discussed its origins and goals.

4:09 PM EDT, September 29, 2012

'Clays against Cancer' gives skeet and trap shooters chance to help

Deborah Gibson grew up on a dairy farm near Allentown, Pa., and learned at a young age how to hunt for deer and other animals.

2:38 PM EDT, October 6, 2012

Two Columbia residents know difference between pro, amateur triathlons

The life of a triathlete is decidely different for amateurs and pros.

6:44 PM EDT, September 28, 2012

Navy freshman corner Adams getting help from his friends

Plenty of Navy football players experience the same trepidation whether they go first to the academy's prep school or arrive directly in Annapolis from high school.

9:07 PM EDT, September 15, 2012

Navy struggles from start to finish in 34-7 loss at Penn State

Navy came into Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to add to Penn State's collective misery from the past 10 months. The Midshipmen had designs on keeping the Nittany Lions and their new coach, Bill O'Brien, winless.

6:30 PM EDT, September 14, 2012

Navy needs 'to play perfect' to win at Penn State

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said that his Midshipmen played near-perfect games to beat Notre Dame in 2009 and 2010, and came close to nirvana again before losing last season to nationally ranked South Carolina on the road.

1:49 PM EDT, September 22, 2012

Appalachian Trail Conservancy to host Family Hiking Day on Sept. 29

For those looking to get outdoors before going indoors to watch the Orioles and Ravens on television Sunday, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy wants you.

6:37 PM EDT, September 11, 2012

Navy wide receiver Shawn Lynch standing out in his return to offense

The life of a Navy football player usually reflects the regimented daily grind of a typical midshipman. There is one major difference: on the field, the route taken by many of Ken Niumatalolo's players is not always like an early morning march, a ramrod straight line from Point A to Point B.

2:24 PM EDT, September 1, 2012

Sykesville woman achieves longtime dream for Ironman competitions

Sue Komaromy has been out of New York since leaving her home on Long Island more than a quarter-century ago to play volleyball at Towson. Yet there is still a lot of New Yorker that remains in the 44-year-old mother of two who lives in Sykesville.

9:10 PM EDT, September 29, 2012

Navy suffers first shutout since 2006 in 12-0 loss to San Jose State

For most of Ken Niumatalolo’s first four years as coach at Navy, the references to the past were nearly all positive reminders of how the program had kept up the standard set by his mentor and predecessor, Paul Johnson.

8:06 PM EDT, September 2, 2012

Weather, poor pit decision rain on Power's parade

Will Power was widely considered to be nearly untouchable coming into in the Grand Prix of Baltimore. He had won the inaugural event last year, was on the brink of clinching this year's IndyCar Series title and, after sitting on the pole for Sunday's race, was leading 18 laps into the 75-lap race.

2:34 PM EDT, September 1, 2012

267-pound scalloped hammerhead shark was a state-record catch

Scott Cusick might not have caught the right species of fish to win a big prize in last month's White Marlin Open, but the 40-year-old New Jersey angler certainly had a memorable — and massive — catch.

5:47 PM EDT, September 21, 2012

Navy QB Trey Miller's shaky play gives voice to doubters

Not many college quarterbacks have faced the kind of immediate competition as Trey Miller has in his first three games as a starter at Navy.

11:02 PM EDT, September 18, 2012

National Hunting and Fishing Day event will be Sept. 22 in Marriottsville

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will take part in National Hunting and Fishing Day with a program at the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore on Sept. 22.

8:58 PM EDT, August 31, 2012

Carpenter returns to Baltimore as owner-driver

Years ago, a rising basketball coach at a little school in the suburbs outside New York used to introduce himself, "Jim Valvano, Iona College." In return, the coach who later gained national fame at North Carolina State said he would often hear, "Son, you're too young to own a college."

5:50 PM EDT, August 28, 2012

Wide receivers Leon Kinnard, Gerrard Sheppard team up again at Towson

The 2011 college football season was a whirlwind for Towson wide receivers Leon Kinnard and Gerrard Sheppard.

6:52 PM EDT, August 27, 2012

Navy's freshman kicker will be on his biggest stage Saturday

The biggest crowd Nick Sloan said he has kicked in front of was about 1,000 fans during his high school years in San Diego. The biggest kick Sloan ever made came last year, when he made a 39-yard field goal with three seconds left to help the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) team beat the Navy junior varsity in Annapolis.

7:06 PM EDT, September 13, 2012

Three with NFL ties making impact at local colleges

Towson coach Rob Ambrose was having a conversation with his agent this spring and asked if he knew anyone interested in joining his staff to work with the defensive line.

5:15 PM EDT, September 8, 2012

Grand prize escapes nine anglers in Maryland Fishing Challenge finale

The big one got away again at Saturday's Maryland Fishing Challenge finale in Annapolis.

5:36 PM EDT, August 30, 2012

In his last year at Navy, Gee Gee Greene is ready to lead

John Howell was at the Naval Academy for several months before he ever heard Gee Gee Greene utter more than a few words. In the weight room at Ricketts Hall, on the practice fields and even when the football team was eating its meals, Greene said little to his fellow freshman or anyone else.

3:45 PM EDT, August 25, 2012

Navy coach Niumatalolo not sleeping on success

Ken Niumatalolo's life changed dramatically the day he was named to succeed Paul Johnson as Navy's football coach after the 2007 season.

3:47 PM EDT, September 8, 2012

9/11 Heroes Run events continue to grow around the country

In mourning the death of her son, Janet Manion started a foundation in his honor in the family's hometown of Doylestown, Pa. But in terms of celebrating Travis Manion's life, his mother and others wanted to do something to bring together the former Navy wrestler's passion for sports and the patriotism that had led him to the Naval Academy in the first place.

10:22 PM EDT, August 20, 2012

Former Navy football players sorting out their future after breaking regulations

Jabaree Tuani and Kriss Proctor had much different football careers at the Naval Academy.

4:14 PM EDT, August 11, 2012

Navy WR Aiken injures right knee during intrasquad scrimmage

The first 10 days of preseason practice were not easy for Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo.

5:54 PM EDT, September 1, 2012

Track change gets mixed reaction from drivers

The outcome of Sunday's races could come down to how the drivers negotiate the chicane that officials initially removed after last year's inaugural event, then decided to put back late Friday night.

3:20 PM EDT, September 1, 2012

After accident, Sam Schmidt shifts from driver to owner

Sam Schmidt knows he would have been long retired by now, his racing career faded completely from life's rearview mirror. He isn't sure what he would be doing aside from helping his wife, Sheila, raise their two teenage children at their home outside Las Vegas.

6:46 PM EDT, August 14, 2012

Edsall establishes Perry Hills as Maryland backup quarterback

— There is a lot of interest among Maryland football fans about who the No. 2 quarterback will be this season, in part because there are still some doubts about the consistency and passing ability of the team's returning starter, junior C.J. Brown.

5:09 PM EDT, August 4, 2012

Navy moving forward without team captains

Nothing seemed out of sort for the Navy football team Saturday as coach Ken Niumatalolo and four of his players, including seniors Bo Snelson and Brye French, who answered questions on media day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Snelson and French were recently stripped of their roles as team captains by administrators for breaking unspecified academy rules.

6:21 PM EDT, July 28, 2012

When a 0-0 game really was nil

Maybe it was being unaccustomed to playing a preseason game in the sweltering summer heat. Or the fact that both teams were adjusting their tactics with new coaches. Or, perhaps, it was the reality that more than few soccer games end — in the sport's parlance — nil-nil.

2:43 PM EDT, August 25, 2012

On last try, local angler wins White Marlin Open

Bill Woody had made up his mind prior to the 2012 White Marlin Open that this would be the last time he competed in what is billed as the world's largest sportfishing tournament.

2:59 PM EDT, August 18, 2012

Navy scrimmage leads to positive results for first team

Navy's scout team was supposed to replicate Notre Dame during a scrimmage Friday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The white uniforms and gold helmets were a pretty good imitation of the Fighting Irish; the players inside them were not.

2:06 PM EDT, July 31, 2012

Navy football looks to get back on winning track

To those on the outside, it would appear that much has changed for Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo and the Midshipmen over the past year.

3:34 PM EDT, July 28, 2012

Tottenham, Liverpool fans relish chance to see favorite teams

John Irving came to M&T Bank Stadium from his home in New Jersey Saturday to see his favorite soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur, play in person for the first time. But Irving, whose allegiance is derived from the fact his father grew up near the team's base in North London, felt as if he could have been in Liverpool.

5:35 PM EDT, July 27, 2012

Soccer fans ready to welcome their brand of football to M&T Bank Stadium

M&T Bank Stadium has been transformed again this week, to accommodate another kind of football team and fan.

11:46 PM EDT, July 16, 2012

U.S. men's basketball team struggles against Brazil

— There has been much discussion in recent days about how this year's U.S. Olympic men's basketball team stacked up against its most famous predecessors, the Dream Team of 1992. There also has been a good deal of trash talking too by legendary trash talkers Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, not to mention Kobe Bryant.

7:03 PM EDT, July 26, 2012

Past meets present for Brad Friedel when Tottenham Hotspur faces Liverpool at M&T Bank Stadium

Brad Friedel began his career in the English Premier League when there were only a handful of Americans playing soccer overseas. He has watched the country's top league gain popularity in the U.S. and has seen some of his fellow Americans become stars in England.

6:21 PM EDT, July 23, 2012

Williams turned Terps basketball around after sanctions

Former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams can relate to what Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien will likely experience in the aftermath of the sanctions on the Nittany Lions announced Monday by NCAA president Mark Emmert.

4:55 PM EDT, July 21, 2012

Anthony seems to shine brightest on the Olympic stage, but his ultimate goal remains an NBA title

Ever since Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to an NCAA basketball championship as a freshman in 2003, his once-shiny reputation has been steadily chipped away.

5:08 PM EDT, July 15, 2012

Legacy of Dream Team casts shadow on 2012 U.S. Olympic basketball team

As an NBA assistant coach since retiring after a Hall of Fame career, Patrick Ewing might have a better seat than many of his contemporaries to compare this year's U.S. Olympic men's basketball team to the fabled Dream Team of 20 years ago.

July 8, 2012

Ravens tackle Michael Oher takes big brother job seriously

The relationship between Michael Oher and Sean Tuohy Jr. has — like Tuohy himself — grown dramatically in the 10 years since Oher was brought by Tuohy's family into their home in the leafy suburbs of Memphis.

5:00 PM EDT, July 21, 2012

Former Cardinal Gibbons and Duke star Wojciechowski helping U.S. men prepare for the Games

Steve Wojciechowski still looks like the pugnacious point guard who came out of Cardinal Gibbons nearly two decades ago and proved those wrong who said he wouldn't make an impact at Duke.

9:49 AM EDT, July 26, 2012

New Ravens QB coach Jim Caldwell hopes to raise Joe Flacco's game

There was an assumption during Jim Caldwell's eight years as quarterbacks coach of the Indianapolis Colts that he didn't have much to do. By the time Caldwell arrived for the 2002 season, Peyton Manning was four years into what is now sure to be a Hall of Fame career and his numbers were already impressive for a young NFL quarterback.

3:58 PM EDT, June 30, 2012

Summer camp fun turned into Olympic dream for Darnestown's Queen

Caroline Queen remembers the feeling she had when she didn't make the U.S. Olympic kayaking team going to Beijing in 2008. She finished behind Heather Corrie, who had grown up in England.

10:49 PM EDT, June 29, 2012

Hunter Mahan out front at AT&T National, while Tiger Woods lingers five strokes back

It has taken three years, a stretch of time when their career arcs crisscrossed, when their successes and failures were dissected like frogs in a high school biology class, when they seemed to share little except the same swing coach.

4:16 PM EDT, July 13, 2012

A fixture on the mound and in the booth, Palmer to become a permanent part of Camden Yards on Saturday

Four years into his major league career, Jim Palmer had gone from being a 19-year-old phenom to a World Series hero who outpitched Sandy Koufax before his 21st birthday to a sore-armed 23-year old trying to figure out a suddenly clouded future.

11:00 AM EDT, July 11, 2012

CAA considering options as conference shifting continues

Tom Yeager is old enough to remember when there was a Pac-8 rather than a Pac-12, when the Big Ten actually had the number of schools its name implied and when the college football landscape wasn't seemingly changing by the day, if not the hour.

2:59 PM EDT, June 30, 2012

Montgomery Co. kayaker hopes third Olympics will be the charm

Scott Parsons keeps going.

7:18 PM EDT, June 28, 2012

Hurley heating up after Day 1 at AT&T National

— Billy Hurley III might be in his element at steamy Congressional Country Club for the AT&T National. Not only is the former Navy golfer playing close to where he grew up in Leesburg, Va. and where he now lives in Annapolis, but the triple-digit temperatures that are expected this weekend could be to Hurley's advantage given his military training.

11:59 AM EDT, June 11, 2012

Focus will be on running backs when Ravens open mandatory veterans minicamp

Ray Rice's absence from organized team activities has given the Ravens a chance to focus on a group of unproven players hoping to back up a player many consider the best all-around running back in the NFL.

9:56 PM EDT, July 1, 2012

Former Navy golfer Billy Hurley III has career-best finish at AT&T National

Billy Hurley III came into the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club having missed the cut in six of his previous seven PGA Tour events. A week playing before friends and family proved to be the perfect panacea for the former Navy standout.

9:20 PM EDT, July 1, 2012

Tiger Woods bests Bo Van Pelt to win AT&T National

In the old days, Tiger Woods might have won the AT&T National with ease. In the old days, Woods might not have needed his closest competitor to bogey the last three holes at Congressional Country Club.

4:41 PM EDT, June 27, 2012

Beau Hossler taking fame in stride

— If Tiger Woods is the star attraction and host of the AT&T National tournament beginning Thursday at Congressional Country Club, Beau Hossler is certainly high on the marquee.

3:04 PM EDT, June 9, 2012

State parks ready to welcome the tents

Six Maryland state parks will participate in the Great American Backyard Campout on June 23.

4:39 PM EDT, June 16, 2012

Bowie State's Travis Hyman hopes to get noticed before NBA Draft

BOWIE — Travis Hyman is used to the questions he has been asked ever since he showed up at the NBA's annual pre-draft showcase in Portsmouth, Va., back in mid-April.

6:54 PM EDT, June 26, 2012

Tiger Woods doesn't expect putting woes to last

— When Tiger Woods broke a 2 - 1/2 year drought without an official PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, it didn't come down to a crucial putt as in 2009. Woods, much like he did when he was the most dominant player on the planet, won by five shots.

7:44 PM EDT, June 1, 2012

With two degrees, Calvert Hall grad Bobby Lucas Jr. armed for success in Nationals' system and off the field

Bobby Lucas Jr. has an out pitch. It's not a 99 mph fastball that makes hitters flail or a nasty curve that causes them to freeze. It's the confidence that comes from having completed his education at George Washington University after being drafted last year by the Washington Nationals.

12:22 PM EDT, June 25, 2012

Terrell Stoglin opens up about his time at Maryland, NBA draft prospects

Former Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin thinks he was wrongly portrayed, on and off the court, in College Park, and seems confident he will get a chance to change his image in the NBA.

4:37 PM EDT, June 16, 2012

Local golfers on verge of completing dream round

Duston Mersinger and Rick Broderick have been best friends for more than 50 years, having met in the second grade at the Sacred Heart School in Glyndon. It was there, on the field behind the school, where their passion for playing golf together began.

6:14 PM EDT, July 3, 2012

Brendan Rodgers will lead once-great Liverpool franchise in friendly at M&T Bank Stadium

For decades, Liverpool soccer fans at the team's 120-year-old stadium, Anfield, have been singing their adopted anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone."

11:55 PM EDT, May 30, 2012

Brazil's young Neymar dazzles Americans in 4-1 rout

The list of Brazilian soccer legends began with the incomparable Pele, who as a 17-year-old led his country to the first of five World Cups in 1958. It has continued, nearly unabated, for a half-century.

4:36 PM EDT, June 16, 2012

Maryland Bay Game is an old school form of entertainment for youngsters

Getting ready for that long ride to the beach? It's time for parents to take away their kids' iPads, iPhones and even those soon-to-be outdated iPods.

8:34 PM EDT, May 29, 2012

United States won't be 'friendly' host for Brazil at FedEx Field

The soccer term "friendly" can be a misnomer, depending on the teams playing the match and the circumstances surrounding it.

9:35 PM EDT, May 22, 2012

Navy cornerback leaves school after violating academy rules

David Sperry, a starting cornerback for the Navy football team, has left the school after violating academy rules, two sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

5:12 PM EDT, May 19, 2012

T M Fred Texas is first Arabian horse winner at Preakness

The jockey had raced an Arabian horse only once before and had never met the trainer before.

8:56 PM EDT, May 28, 2012

Terps basketball team set to start practice Tuesday

The start of the 2012-13 college basketball season is more than five months away, but practice begins today.

5:06 PM EDT, May 26, 2012

Children learn to fly-fish, catch fun and life lessons

— Christopher Gearhart does not know where he would be without fly fishing.

8:08 PM EDT, May 21, 2012

Tiger Woods still working on his swing heading toward his tournament next month at Congressional

BETHESDA — A victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March seemed to signal Tiger Woods' return to a short list of the world's best golfers. His five-shot win was reminiscent of what Woods had done for more than a decade — right down to the signature fist pump.

9:25 PM EDT, May 19, 2012

Jockey 'dumbfounded' by Bodemeister's loss to I'll Have Another at Preakness

Mike Smith appeared dazed in the moments after his horse, Bodemeister, was again beaten by Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another — this time by a neck in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The veteran jockey wore the frozen smile of a man hardly able to fathom what had just transpired.

7:52 PM EDT, May 18, 2012

Fox finds a home at Pimlico

Dickie Small grew up fox hunting with his family in Baltimore County, and the veteran horse trainer has occasionally seen the skittish red or gray creatures running around various tracks over the years. So the sight of a red fox at Pimlico Race Course early one morning last month did not make Small blink.

5:49 PM EDT, June 9, 2012

Q&A with fly-fishing expert Lefty Kreh

Lefty Kreh is to fly-fishing what James Naismith was to basketball and, perhaps, what Elvis was to rock 'n' roll.

May 19, 2012

Park Quest program fills up in less than two hours

In its fifth year, the Park Quest program run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources closed its registration for 1,000 families in less than two hours Monday.

May 19, 2012

Reaching new heights safely

Ian Yarmus can spot them when he goes down to his favorite indoor climbing gym in Rockville or when he travels to Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, the place after which he named his now 3 -year-old daughter.

3:28 PM EDT, May 18, 2012

Park Quest program fills up in less than two hours

In its fifth year, the Park Quest program run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources closed its registration for 1,000 families last Monday in less than two hours.

7:38 PM EDT, May 18, 2012

In Lingerie captures Black-Eyed Susan

Bob Baffert seemed pessimistic about Mamma Kimbo's chances of winning the 88th Black-Eyed Susan Friday, mainly because the previously unbeaten filly had never raced more than 1 1/16 miles before coming to Pimlico Race Course. The bettors who helped make Mamma Kimbo even money to win were confident.

6:05 PM EDT, May 26, 2012

Protecting terrapins from recreational crab pots

Those trying to celebrate what is traditionally considered an annual rite of summer — catching crabs to feast on — are reminded that those tasty critters typically can be found in the same waters as the state's reptile, the diamondback terrapin.

4:29 PM EDT, May 12, 2012

Ocean City will hold powerboat races Sunday

Powerboat racing has been compared with NASCAR or Indy car racing.

1:04 PM EDT, April 28, 2012

'Largest rockfish tournament in the world' expected to draw nearly 4,000 anglers

With the lure of making as much as $100,000 in prize money, nearly 4,000 anglers in some 650 boats are expected to descend on the Chesapeake Bay next weekend for what is billed as "the largest rockfish tournament in the world."

May 19, 2012

Reaching new heights safely

Ian Yarmus can spot them when he goes down to his favorite indoor climbing gym in Rockville or when he travels to Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, the place after which he named his now 3--year-old daughter.

7:03 PM EDT, May 17, 2012

Rick Dutrow brings Zetterholm to Preakness under cloud of suspicion

Rick Dutrow knows there's a difference coming into Preakness with a horse that has won the Kentucky Derby and one that didn't even make it to the starting gate at Churchill Downs.

4:27 PM EDT, May 12, 2012

Spartan Death Race may be 'brutal,' but it gains in popularity

Katy McCabe spent six years in the Marines, including a 13-month tour in Iraq and two shorter stints in Afghanistan. So when she signed up for last year's Spartan Death Race, McCabe didn't think it would be more difficult than being in the military.

9:52 AM EDT, April 22, 2012

10-month journey ends in Annapolis

More than 300 days had passed since Matt Rutherford pushed out on his 27-foot boat from Annapolis after a quiet send-off. More than 27,000 miles had been navigated to help Rutherford become the first sailor in history to go solo and nonstop around North and South America.

2:05 PM EDT, May 5, 2012

Senior basketball is serious business

They have survived badly sprained ankles and torn knee ligaments, mild concussions and more than their share of poor shooting days. Ralph Piersanti, one of the oldest in a group, has had two heart attacks.

6:42 PM EDT, April 23, 2012

Tottenham's trip to Baltimore will be homecoming of sorts

As an 18-year old coming to the United States from England to play college soccer, Darren Eales figured the competition was not going to be as stiff as what he had faced in the motherland.

5:51 PM EDT, May 15, 2012

Maryland horse racing has trouble holding its top riders

In another time, Maryland was a hotbed for horse racing, its history rich and its purses comparable to other states. It was a place where jockeys could make a career and not have to contemplate leaving for New York or California.

1:52 PM EDT, May 5, 2012

Sherry Stick will go for a three-peat at Saturday's Preakness 5K

Sherry Stick has been to racetracks since her parents took their then 3-year-old daughter to one near the family's Delaware home. Going to Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness has been a regular activity for Stick since she graduated Salisbury in 2000 and moved to the Baltimore area.

8:09 PM EDT, April 21, 2012

Walleye abundant, thanks to later start to season

A later start to the walleye season has resulted in the largest member of the perch family being "the most abundant fish species" in Deep Creek Lake, according to Al Klotz, Western Regional Fisheries Manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

8:09 PM EDT, April 18, 2012

Tough decisions have marked Anderson's 18-month tenure in College Park

The first months of a college athletic director's tenure are typically spent getting a feel for the landscape. For Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson, his first seven months included leading a major overhaul that included the messy divorce with a popular football coach who also happens to be an alum and the sudden retirement of one of the country's most respected men's basketball coaches.

April 21, 2012

Round-the-world sail raises awareness of CRAB, need for donations

Don Backe and Karl Guerra share more than a love for sailing: After their lives were transformed by tragedy, both men used the sport and the organization they now run to regain their sense of purpose.

3:48 PM EDT, April 7, 2012

State hopes to control snakehead population with contest

Snakeheads, which were illegally introduced into the Potomac River as far back as 2004, will continue to have a price on their nasty-looking heads.

10:34 PM EDT, April 12, 2012

Ex-Towson State linebacker Vitt named interim Saints coach

Joe Vitt went directly from the football field at Towson State to his first job in the NFL as the strength coach of the Baltimore Colts in 1979.

4:00 PM EDT, April 10, 2012

At 74, former Bullets GM Bob Ferry shows no signs of slowing down

Bob Ferry could spend his days on the deck of his Annapolis home that looks out onto the Chesapeake Bay, but he's not big on sitting still. He gave up boating when his three kids left the house and stopped playing basketball more than five years ago, at age 69, after he tore his rotator cuff. He and his wife of nearly 52 years, Rita, dote on their eight grandchildren, but on many of their visits, Ferry finds himself watching a basketball game on television.

4:28 PM EDT, April 14, 2012

Navy uncovers a few new starters in annual Blue-Gold spring game

Coming into spring football practice, Navy's Noah Copeland and Travis Bridges were relatively unknown commodities.

3:24 PM EDT, April 14, 2012

St. Michaels residents build friendship, start a running festival

It is a story about faith, friendship — and perhaps a little fantasy. It is about three people whose ages span 30 years, but whose careers and experiences led them to find this historic town on Maryland's Eastern Shore as the perfect spot to start the next phase of their lives.

5:34 PM EDT, April 2, 2012

Baltimore and Washington in competition to sell tickets for soccer exhibitions

In competition for another kind of football fan, the Baltimore Ravens hope to get a jump on the Washington Redskins when tickets go on sale Tuesday for this summer's friendly between two prominent English Premier League teams.

3:26 PM EDT, March 31, 2012

Changes in hunting regulations proposed

A number of hunting regulation changes are being considered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service as a result of receiving more than 1,000 comments at stakeholder meetings, public hearings and online forums.

3:29 PM EDT, March 31, 2012

Building teamwork with ropes, jumps and climbs

Some 25 feet in the air, standing on the top of a wooden pole looking down at a few of his Archbishop Spalding rugby teammates, Zach McCloskey is ready to take what Clive Felgate calls "The Leap of Faith."

6:44 PM EDT, April 13, 2012

Navy defensive coordinator brings intensity back to spring practice

Something was missing for the Navy football team as it prepared last spring for the 2011 season. The practices were quieter, and for those on defense, a little too easy. What was missing — in retrospect, who was missing — was longtime defensive coordinator Buddy Green, who sat out spring practice after complications following gall bladder surgery.

1:06 AM EDT, March 12, 2012

Loyola draws Ohio State in NCAA tournament

Jimmy Patsos prepared his Loyola University basketball team for this year's NCAA tournament long before the Greyhounds earned the school's first automatic bid in 18 years last week. The planning began in December, when Loyola played road games at St. Bonaventure and Kentucky in less than four days.

10:55 PM EDT, March 17, 2012

Angler hauls in record catfish

On New Year's Eve, Shawn Wetzel went from his home near Gettysburg, Pa., down to his favorite fishing spot on the Potomac River at Fort Washington Marina.

March 21, 2012

Four decades later, Baltimore has fond, bittersweet memories for Monroe

As an entertainment entrepreneur, Earl Monroe is engaged in putting together a reality television show with a woking title of "What If?" As a Hall of Famer who wears a ring he received for being one of the NBA's top-50 all-time players, Monroe asks the same question of himself.

4:30 PM EDT, March 26, 2012

First opportunity for Terps' Moseley, last chance for Irish's Mallory

At opposite ends of their college basketball careers, Notre Dame fifth-year senior guard Brittany Mallory and Maryland freshman guard Brene Moseley view Tuesday night's NCAA tournament regional final at PNC Arena through much different eyes.

5:08 PM EDT, April 4, 2012

Lessons begin early for Navy football team

There were times in recent seasons when Navy's offense would go weeks without making any huge gaffes. The snaps from center Brady DeMell to quarterbacks Ricky Dobbs and Kriss Proctor would be crisp, and thehandoffs from Dobbs and Proctor to fullbacks Vince Murray and Alexander Teich textbook.

3:31 AM EDT, March 15, 2012

Under Patsos, Loyola balances history, culture and basketball

Joe Boylan was sitting with Jimmy Patsos at last Saturday's Loyola-Duke lacrosse game when the former athletic director asked the man he had hired as the school's basketball coach eight years ago if he had any preference as to where Greyhounds would play their first NCAA tournament game in 18 years.

2:58 PM EDT, March 24, 2012

Baltimore Gaelic Athletic Association brings Irish sports closer to home

When Tadgh Prendeville moved from his native Ireland to Baltimore for work more than a decade ago, he couldn't play Gaelic football without going to Washington. The same was true for Lucy Clerkin in her pursuit to play camogie, or hurling for women, which the Maryland native learned while visiting her grandmother in Ireland.

9:30 PM EDT, March 19, 2012

For French, leadership role comes after tough choice at Navy

Brye French looked at Navy spring football practice a little differently during his first two years at the academy. It was a time Frye put on another kind of helmet and shoulder pads, picked up a lacrosse stick and gave football a rest.

2:54 PM EDT, March 24, 2012

COMPASS points way toward online licenses

Hunters, anglers and those hoping to drive off-road vehicles will need a COMPASS to get their respective licenses and registrations.

3:03 PM EST, March 10, 2012

Loyola's Dylon Cormier proud to be a 'hometown hero'

Jimmy Patsos can pinpoint the day when his Loyola basketball team began its ascent that ultimately brought the Greyhounds to the brink of the school's first NCAA tournament appearance in 18 years. It came two days after New Year's last season, during a game against Marist.

4:23 PM EDT, March 31, 2012

10 years after the national title, Juan Dixon says he's 'going to get back to the NBA'

The biggest overachiever in Maryland basketball history -- maybe in the modern college game -- is trying to beat the odds again.

5:13 PM EDT, March 31, 2012

Ten years after the championship: Q&A with Gary Williams

Gary Williams spent this college basketball season out of coaching for the first time in more than four decades. A fundraiser for the university and an analyst for the Big Ten Network and ESPN 980 in Rockville, Williams was honored Wednesday night at the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards ahead of the 10th anniversary of Maryland's national championship. The 67-year old sat down with The Baltimore Sun prior to the "An Evening With Gary Williams" celebration to discuss the anniversary.

5:26 PM EST, March 3, 2012

After hunting for medals and trophies, former track star has bigger game in her sights

Kari Kephart grew up as a competitive runner, good enough to win state championships in the two-mile event and in cross country at North Hagerstown High as well as a conference title while on scholarship at Mount St. Mary's.

5:30 PM EDT, March 21, 2012

Syracuse forward C.J. Fair hopes to recapture Big East form in Sweet 16

The scrutiny surrounding the Syracuse basketball team has been there for months, starting with the allegations of sexual abuse by former longtime assistant Bernie Fine and, more recently, with accusations that Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim used players for the past decade who had failed drug tests.

3:20 PM EDT, March 17, 2012

At nearly 85 years old, Millersville bowler hasn't slowed his roll

Steve Evan's trailer home in Millersville is a living, breathing tribute to an interesting life that on Monday will be 85 years and counting. Only a small part of it speaks to a bowling career that began when Evan was in his early 40s and trying his hand at every sport imaginable after going decades without playing one.

5:58 PM EST, March 2, 2012

5 questions with Dr. Richard Ruggiero, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist

Dr. Richard Ruggiero, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will make a presentation at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Blue Heron Room at Quiet Waters Park on "The fight to save African elephants, rhinos, hippos, chimpanzees and gorillas: The amazing story of a U.S. biologist's quest to preserve Africa's wildlife."

4:49 PM EDT, March 16, 2012

Loyola hope to punch another ticket to the NCAA tournament

The players and coaches on the Loyola basketball team displayed varying emotions after their magical run to the school's first NCAA tournament in 18 years ended early Friday morning at the Consol Energy Center .

3:47 PM EST, February 25, 2012

Proposed rise in fee has some hunters up in arms

This is typically a quiet time of year for hunters throughout the state. The four-month whitetail season is over at the end of January. The six-week waterfowl season that begins around New Year's has ended, too. Except for some geese and small game, Maryland hunters spend most of February and March celebrating their conquests and gearing up to do it again next fall.

12:45 AM EDT, March 28, 2012

Maryland falls to Notre Dame in Elite 8

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Maryland women's team buried itself with another big deficit Tuesday night against Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament regional final here at PNC Arena. Unlike defending national champion Texas A&M, the fourth-ranked, second-seeded Irish did not allow the Terps to get a second wind.

9:24 PM EDT, March 12, 2012

Jimmy Patsos: 3 Loyola assistants are 'guys who know the business'

There was a moment in last Monday's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament final against Fairfield when Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos stared for several seconds toward the court during a television timeout, holding his two index fingers close together between his eyes and nose.

3:52 AM EST, March 10, 2012

DNR scaling back its fee increase for hunting licenses

An outcry of protests by some Maryland hunters upset about the substantial fee increase for yearly licenses has led to the Department of Natural Resources restructuring the proposal being considered by lawmakers.

8:03 PM EDT, March 15, 2012

Syracuse survives controversial ending

Syracuse was the second of the four No. 2 seeds to lose to a No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament , when the Orange was beaten by Richmond in 1991 at Cole Field House.

1:29 PM EST, March 2, 2012

Erik Etherly powers Loyola to winningest season

Erik Etherly knows something about renewing old relationships. Though too young to remember the details of his parents' divorce when he was a year old, the Loyola University basketball player is still amazed at the fact that they remarried when he was 14.

10:14 PM EST, February 4, 2012

In Coughlin, Terps' Edsall sees same coach he's always known

Randy Edsall goes back with Tom Coughlin more than 35 years, when the first-year Maryland football coach was a backup quarterback at Syracuse and Coughlin, now on the eve of his second Super Bowl as head coach of the New York Giants, was his offensive coordinator.

3:58 PM EST, February 11, 2012

'New generation' of foosball stars will compete this month in Jessup

Are you ready for some foosball?

9:35 PM EDT, March 14, 2012

Ohio State's Dickerson sees a lot of 'flex' in Patsos' Loyola offense

Dave Dickerson

Employee stabbed at Sheraton Hotel in Towson

Baltimore mayor officiates at lobbyist wedding in Vegas

Arrest made in fatal shooting of 1-year-old

Man runs out of gas, sets up drum kit on Interstate 695

Police-involved shooting in Pigtown