Coffee Companion -- 3/31

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:

The Orioles' four-man rotation is set. Brian Matusz will start Saturday and Chris Tillman gets the nod for Sunday. ... Earl Weaver will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Monday's home opener and Thurmont’s Richard Troxell will sing the National Anthem. ... Jennifer Royle from The Fan has filed an $800,000 defamation suit against WNST owner Nestor Aparicio and two of his hosts. ... A four-member Towson entourage expects to conclude interviews at the Final Four and announce a new basketball coach next week.

Hitting the links:

1. With a new heart of the lineup, there's no pitching around these Orioles [Baltimore Sun]

2. John Eisenberg: What to expect from the Orioles this year [CSN Baltimore]

3. Free Nolan Reimold [Dempsey's Army]

4. Vlad Guerrero tries to make history [Camden Depot]

5. Buck Showalter's slap at Theo Epstein has no sting [ESPN]

6. How many games will the Orioles win? [The Loss Column]

7. This chart will let you know when you can stop caring about baseball in 2011 [MTV]

8. An Orioles fan won the "MLB Dream Job" contest [MLB.com]

9. Steve Bisciotti said he "wasn’t surprised" at Joe Flacco speaking out about Jim Zorn's firing [Ravens Insider]

10. A few statistical tidbits on the Ravens to help bide your time during the lockout [PressBox]

11. Video: Discussing Jordan Williams' NBA decision [Tracking the Terps]

12. Kevin Cowherd: Jockey Club's Kegasus campaign is a sorry message for the Preakness [Baltimore Sun]

13. Peter Schmuck says he has no big issue with the Preakness marketing campaign [Schmuck Stops Here]

You said it:

"I think you are missing the bigger picture here. You got a Tweetback FROM A CENTAUR!!  A beer swilling mullet-wielding (mullet are not worn, they are wielded) centaur." -- reader thescottishgypsy puts Preakness -- and the whole Kegasus debacle -- into perspective for me

Video of the morning: 

Here's Tim Tebow's first Jockey commercial

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 [e-mail] and twitter.com/mattvensel.