Coffee Companion -- 5/4

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:

Jason Berken gave up a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the tenth inning Tuesday night as the Orioles fell to Royals, 6-5. ... Shortstop J.J. Hardy is tentatively scheduled to start a rehab assignment Friday. Meanwhile, Orioles infield and bench coach Willie Randolph is pushing shortstop Robert Andino to be an everyday player. ... The Capitals lost to the Lightning, 4-3, and they face elimination in Wednesday night's Game 4. ... As he tries to focus on swimming again, Olympic hero Michael Phelps continues tending to his other interests. ... After two months of uncertainty, Coppin State has given men's basketball coach Fang Mitchell a new three-year contract.

Hitting the links:

1. Peter Schmuck: Orioles fans still aren't sure how to feel about this team [Baltimore Sun]

2. John Eisenberg: The Orioles are better this season [CSN Baltimore]

3. Will Kevin Millwood pitch for the Orioles again? [SB Nation]

4. Almost prospects: Five guys to keep an eye on [Orioles Nation]

5. Vladimir Guerrero finally walked [Dempsey's Army]

6. Another honor for Manny Machado [MASN]

7. The new and improved Robert Andino [Dempsey's Army]

8. Ozzie Newsome drafted Tyrod Taylor to be a quarterback [NFL.com]

9. Michael Oher launched a Twitter attack on ESPN's Todd McShay [Ravens Insider]

10. The Terps are looking for a few good (big) men [Tracking the Terps]

11. Kevin Anderson is trying to rekindle the Maryland-Georgetown rivalry [Testudo Times]

12. Is Alex Ovechkin living up to his responsibilities as the Captials' captain? [Puck Daddy]

13. The Capitals' defense-first approach will be under scrutiny if they lose [Pro Hockey Talk]

You said it:

"If/when Polamalu is inducted into Canton, will his bust include all his hair? And if so, will it fit on the shelf?" -- reader RavenRob weighs in on the Ed Reed v. Troy Polamalu debate. Well, kind of.

Video of the morning: 

Soccer meets pool [hat tip to Hot Clicks]

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.