Angle

This column reflects on what some would consider "old" news - the shootings at Virginia Tech - and I offer this observation: Reporters, editors and readers needed breathing room after this horrific event to achieve some kind of perspective on what happened there. The coverage of the worst mass shooting in American history has raised interesting questions about the direction and velocity of modern American journalism. Some readers and television viewers felt assaulted by the in-your-face presentation of the bad news - very large headlines and photos, including menacing close-ups of the shooter brandishing handguns.

The final whistle was heard, an Annapolis win was secure, and the No. 6-ranked Panthers were racing down the field to greet their junior goalie Emily Childs almost as if they had won another state title.That's what the Annapolis-Severna Park girls lacrosse rivalry is all about.Yesterday in Annapolis, sophomore Kristy Dirks scored the game-winning goal with 10 minutes left, leaving the rest of the second-half work to Childs and a stifling defense as the Panthers advanced to the Class 3A-4A East region final with a 6-4 win over the No. 5 Falcons.

No. 8 Wilde Lake, which didn't have a hit through four innings and trailed 3-0, rallied with two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh for a 4-3 victory yesterday at Centennial.Wildecats coach Sal Milio said "any win is a good win," but he wasn't overjoyed."We have to start playing better softball," said Milio. "Pitching and defense are holding us up, because our offense is not doing it. If I see another pop-up I think I'll pass out."Wilde Lake (6-0) scored on a walk and a single by Megan Lucks in the fifth, but left the bases loaded.

WASHINGTON -- A Maryland woman has filed suit in federal court against Rep. Martin Frost of Texas and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, alleging she was fired because she was pregnant.A spokesman for Frost, who has chaired the committee since 1995, denied the charges of Amy Gleklen, who left the House Democrats' campaign arm in April.Gleklen says her dismissal is a violation of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which Democrats advocated to help ease the burdens on families.

NAGANO, Japan -- Maybe the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team will again thwart the red menace from Canada.The men sure couldn't.Out of sync on defense, unable to finish on offense, the U.S. men turned in another discouraging performance today, losing to the Canadians, 4-1.Keith Primeau scored two goals, Joe Sakic had a goal and two assists and goaltender Patrick Roy had 30 saves as the teams completed the round-robin phase of the Olympic tournament.The...

WASHINGTON -- The Delta Connection flight that crashed on approach to Detroit Metro Airport on Jan. 9, killing 29 people, went through an uncontrolled roll to the left and then a jerk in that direction a few seconds before the crash, according to information released Monday night by the National Transportation Safety Board.The partial picture given by the board indicates possible icing or a mechanical malfunction, outside experts say, and that one wing was giving more lift than the other.

A former New Windsor woman was given probation before judgment after being convicted yesterday of selling prescription pills from her apartment in November.Barbara L. Harleman, 54, pleaded not guilty to maintaining a common nuisance without contesting the statement of facts before Judge Francis M. Arnold in Carroll County Circuit Court. As part of the plea arrangement, all other charges against her were dismissed.Arnold recommended minimum supervision during 24 months of supervised probation because Harleman is addicted to her medication and cannot drive.

A Pennsylvania man died yesterday morning when he was caught in a rip current in Ocean City, and another man was in critical condition after a surfing accident a short distance away, resort police reported.The death of Kenneth Angle, 55, of Mercersburg was the first drowning in Ocean City this year, according to police.He was swimming alone -- about 15 minutes before lifeguards were to go on duty -- when the strong current pulled him away from the beach near 27th Street, police said.A vacationer on a boardwalk condominium balcony heard Angle calling for help about 9: 45 a.m. and called 911, said Officer Jay Hancock, a town police spokesman.

ATLANTA -- If it isn't one international incident, it's another. The United States was matched up against another one of its political rivals in last night's 220-pound freestyle wrestling final, and the tight decision that gave Pittsburgh's Kurt Angle the second American wrestling gold of the day created another nasty scene, this time involving the delegation from Iran.The night before, the Chinese women's softball team nearly walked off the field after a disputed home run that would eventually give the United States the first gold medal awarded in that event.

ROCK HILL, S.C -- For the past nine weeks, Home Team Sports producer Joan O'Brien and director Tim Walbert have been cruising up and down Tobacco Road, bringing Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball into your homes. Admittedly, ACC women's basketball isn't the highest-profile HTC sport, even on the channel you cheer for, but O'Brien and Walbert have approached the game with the same intensity and professionalism that HTS has brought to its award-winning Orioles coverage."No, you don't have Alonzo Mourning against Shaquille O'Neal, but you do see better playmaking and some really talented athletes here.

Kurt Angle participated in three world title matches overall at WrestleMania, including one against Brock Lesnar that went on last at WM 19. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ ringposts)

Monday night's Raw began with a well-executed angle and ended with a great match. What was in between was pretty good, too. When Chris Jericho came out to confront Stephanie McMahon at the top of the show, I never imagined it would result in Stephanie's firing Jericho. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

On Smackdown on Friday night, an authority figure vs. rebel angle between Smackdown general manager Vickie Guerrero and Triple H began to heat up. ... Even though angles with heel authority figures abusing their power have been done to death, I'm looking forward to more interaction between Triple H and Guerrero. It wouldn't surprise me if this is building to a Triple H-Edge match at WrestleMania 25. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

On Impact on Thursday, Kurt Angle cut a promo in which he again brought up Jeff Jarrett's three young daughters. He said that after he gets through with Jarrett, the girls will be orphans. Jarrett's wife, Jill, succumbed to breast cancer last year. By my count, this is the third instance in which Jill Jarrett's death has been used for story-line fodder. I just don't see the entertainment value in any of this. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

TNA crosses the line I usually enjoy watching Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett, and I have a lot of respect for everything they have accomplished in the wrestling business. But I'm pretty disgusted with what I saw from them Thursday night on Impact. Angle was cutting one of his best and most intense promos ever - and then he took it one step too far. For the second time since his angle began with Jarrett, Angle taunted Jarrett by bringing up his deceased wife, Jill, who lost her battle with breast cancer last year.

I didn't keep count, but it seemed to me that Vince McMahon's name was mentioned more times on TNA Impact on Thursday night than Samoa Joe's, Sting's and Kurt Angle's - combined. Angle and Jeff Jarrett made the WWE chairman the focus of their angle, and even Mick Foley took a shot at his former boss in his much-anticipated debut promo. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

If you're of the opinion there's too much "sports entertainment" on wrestling shows these days and not enough wrestling, I hope you caught Smackdown on Friday night. There was an Undertaker-Vickie Guerrero angle sprinkled throughout the show, but the main focus was on the action in the ring. With a quintet in the Championship Scramble at the Unforgiven pay-per-view next Sunday, there is no better way to sell that match than to showcase the wrestling skills of the participants. (For more, go to baltimoresun.

Single-A Delmarva center fielder Matthew Angle is not one to sit still, particularly when he finds himself standing on first base. The Shorebirds' leadoff hitter, taken in the seventh round of the 2007 draft out of Ohio State, has 23 stolen bases this season to lead the team. That total is also tops among all players in the Orioles system and comes on the heels of his breaking the Aberdeen single-season stolen-base record set last year with 34. "As a leadoff guy, you try to get on base, try to steal bases and try to do as much as you can to cause havoc on the base paths," said Angle, who has been thrown out attempting to steal eight times this season.

The two mothers knew each other. They'd bump into each other at the store in their small Western Maryland town. Their girls even played together and had a sleepover. So Laureen Angle could only say it was "very difficult" yesterday morning when she saw the other mother, Kathleen Ann Harris, admit in federal court that she sold the fatal dose of methadone to Angle's 17-year-old son. In a case that rocked Washington County last summer, the 39-year-old woman pleaded guilty yesterday to a single count of illegally supplying prescription painkillers to Boonsboro high school students, including Harry L. "Trey" Angle, who died in July.

Some thoughts on Thursday night's TNA Impact: The best reason to watch TNA continues to be Christian Cage, but his babyface turn - if indeed that's what this is supposed to be - continues to suffer from bad booking. Doing a slow, gradual turn is fine in some instances, but once Kurt Angle and his henchmen jumped Cage and laid him out - which happened three weeks ago - then Cage should have become a full-fledged babyface. The way the show is being written, it's hard to tell whether Cage is supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy. The only reason that I know that he's still a heel is because it says "heel" next to his name on the TNA script for next week's show that was leaked on the Internet.