Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with some reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.
Running it back:
Led by aggressive play from their guards, the Maryland men pulled away in the second half to beat Florida State, 78-62, on Wednesday night. ... Brian Roberts woke up with a sore neck Wednesday, but X-rays revealed that it was just muscle spasms. ... Alfredo Simon's lawyers are expected to ask a judge to release the pitcher on bail. ... Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points in his Knicks debut.
Hitting the links:
1. Don't expect a big turnaround by the Orioles [NBC Sports]
2. The Orioles are feeling the Showalter effect [USA Today]
3. Kevin Cowherd: Brian Roberts' sore neck has no place in the Orioles' feel-good movie [Baltimore Sun]
4. J.J. Hardy looks up to Cal Ripken Jr. [CSN Baltimore]
5. Want to watch and blog about every single MLB game this season? [MLB.com]
6. The Orioles aren't the only team that screwed up a name on a jersey this month [D.C. Sports Bog]
7. The best move for Zach Britton is to start the season in Norfolk [MASN]
8. Where do your expectations fall if Roberts misses significant time again? [Eutaw Street Hooligans]
9. Kevin Millwood goes from being an Opening Day starter to looking for a job opening [Baltimore Sun]
10. Here's an AFC North combine preview [ESPN]
11. Wednesday's game may have been the Terps' best 40-minute performance of the year [Tracking the Terps]
12. Four things we learned about the Terps last night [Testudo Times]
13. Brooks Laich: "This isn't last year's team" [Capitals Insider]
14. The Capitals should go after Brad Richards [On Frozen Blog]
You said it:
"You can talk about Flacco needing to improve -- which he does need to. But, you also have to talk about the play calling. ... Yes, Flacco has to do a better job of recognition/getting rid of the ball quicker and he needs to step up in the pocket when things are breaking down. But Cam Cameron and now Coach Harbaugh have to revise their playbook." -- reader RamboRaven backs Joe Flacco, who led the NFL in sacks after holding the ball for more than three seconds last season
Video of the morning:
Here's an Orioles commercial from 1994 to start your day
Send me your funny and/or interesting links, photos, YouTube videos, blogs, Tweets, comments, emails, ideas, leads, etc. If I deem them to be worthy for the blog, I'll give you a plug. You can reach me at Matt.Vensel@baltsun.com and twitter.com/mattvensel.