Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with 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:
The Orioles lost to the Red Sox, 8-7, on Tuesday night, but they have a chance to keep them out of the playoffs in Wednesday night's season finale. "You already know we ain't going to quit," Adam Jones said. ... Mark Reynolds apparently will break his string of three straight seasons with 200 strikeouts or more. ... Joe Flacco was nominated for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week award for the first time this season. ... Randy Edsall said he is trying to instill a new culture while addressing leftover "issues" from the Ralph Friedgen era. ... Maryland Madness has been scheduled for Friday, Oct. 14 at Comcast Center.
Hitting the links:
1. Peter Schmuck fears there won't be any verbal fireworks this week leading up to the Ravens-Jets game [Baltimore Sun]
2. Mike Preston answered readers' questions [