Antics

I have never been a true horse racing enthusiast, but I have followed the sport's Triple Crown since I was a teenager. It's just what you do as a native Baltimorean. But leave it to the Baltimore Jockey Club to leave the Preakness bereft of any semblance of class or proud heritage. To them, it's simply about bringing back the wasted masses to the infield -- on their terms. Translated, that means "ka-ching" to the Jockey Club. Never mind the general welfare of the infield-imbibing imbeciles, just make sure they bring their wallets.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Can Maryland recover from its disappointing performance against Virginia to beat Duke Saturday at Comcast Center? Don Markus: Usually coaches fear their teams - especially young teams such as the Terps - having an emotional hangover after a big win. It happened last month for Mark Turgeon's team when it beat North Carolina State at home on a last-second tip-in by Alex Len and then came out flat three days later at North Carolina.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ike Taylor, who Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin matched up with at times last Sunday, certainly does his share of talking on the field. However, Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan's reputation stands alone.  Finnegan, a Pro Bowl starter in 2008, has been disciplined several times by the NFL because of his on-field antics, including last November when he had a fist fight with Houston Texans star wide receiver Andre Johnson. His reputation as one of the NFL's biggest agitators is well documented.

Under its new ruler, Kim Jong Un, North Korea has reverted to its old tactics of provocation and aggression with the launch this week of a long-range missile it claims was intended to put the country's first satellite into orbit. It's unclear whether the satellite made it into orbit, but that really isn't the point. The U.S. and its allies fear the country's space program is just an excuse to develop technology that can be used to build nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles, and Wednesday's launch showed the North Koreans are making progress toward that goal.

Despite the tea party's childish antics, there are reasonable Republicans out there; When will the party's adults call the children to order for the sake of our country? Like Leon Reinstein, I also am astonished at the "chutzpah" of the Republican tea party caucus ("GOP offers new definition of chutzpah," Aug. 9). They hold everyone hostage for weeks over the debt ceiling while insisting there can be no compromise on raising revenues, at the same time saying the debt-ceiling vote isn't really that important.

That was some show Mark Turgeon put on in Sunday's Maryland-Virginia game, wasn't it? Oh, he broke out all the psycho-coach moves. He stomped his feet. He whipped off his suit jacket. He shook his fists at the crowd. He got in the faces of his players. Oh, yeah, he even got T'd up. Picked up his fourth technical foul of the season for going thermo-nuclear on the refs. Remind you of anyone? Grey-haired guy who used to go nuts on the sidelines during Terps games? Guy who sweated so much he looked like someone pushed him in a pool when the game was over?

The San Diego Padres had watched Orioles reliever Willis Roberts flex his muscles to celebrate each strike. They'd seen him point to the sky as he walked off the mound after stifling their sixth-inning rally Monday. So Bubba Trammell decided to rub it in a little Tuesday when he hit a game-tying, two-run single off Roberts in the eighth inning. Trammell lifted his arms in the air while running to first base and made a fist pumping gesture like Tiger Woods after a big putt. "I'm not proud of what I did, but there's no place in the game for that," Trammell said of Roberts' antics.

"Maybe he wants to be a movie star." Anna Nicole Smith's mother Virgie Arthur on the bizarre and blubbering antics of Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin.

The wrong birds won the pennant, again.General Aidid made General Cedras' antics possible, in case no one had noticed.Merging Bell Atlantic with TCI gives one corporation control of every signal going in and out of your house. Bring back semaphore.Cheer up. The Postal Service is getting a new logo.

The number 11 Consecutive losses by the Colts in Pittsburgh, dating to 1968. The quote "I thought it was innovative. It is a heck of an idea. I was laughing when I saw it." Saints coach Jim Haslett on Terrell Owens' ball-signing antics after a touchdown catch Monday night for the 49ers.

That was some show Mark Turgeon put on in Sunday's Maryland-Virginia game, wasn't it? Oh, he broke out all the psycho-coach moves. He stomped his feet. He whipped off his suit jacket. He shook his fists at the crowd. He got in the faces of his players. Oh, yeah, he even got T'd up. Picked up his fourth technical foul of the season for going thermo-nuclear on the refs. Remind you of anyone? Grey-haired guy who used to go nuts on the sidelines during Terps games? Guy who sweated so much he looked like someone pushed him in a pool when the game was over?

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been blitzed with criticism in the past year, starting with NFL linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Dhani Jones during the lockout and eventually, after a 12-4 season and another win in the playoffs, he was criticized by his teammate, safety Ed Reed, sparking a minor media firestorm this week. Things have gotten so ridiculous that even a neighbor has called out Flacco for hopping aboard a skateboard. While making an appearance on “NFL Total Access,” Flacco revealed that during the team's playoff bye week, he decided to see if he could stand upright on a skateboard without falling.

Wall Street is its own worst enemy. It should have welcomed new financial regulation as a means of restoring public trust. Instead, it's busily shredding new regulations and making the public more distrustful than ever. The Street's biggest lobbying groups have just filed a lawsuit against the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, seeking to overturn its new rule limiting speculative trading in food, oil and other commodities. The Street makes bundles from these bets, but they have raised costs for consumers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' Ike Taylor, who Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin matched up with at times last Sunday, certainly does his share of talking on the field. However, Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan's reputation stands alone.  Finnegan, a Pro Bowl starter in 2008, has been disciplined several times by the NFL because of his on-field antics, including last November when he had a fist fight with Houston Texans star wide receiver Andre Johnson. His reputation as one of the NFL's biggest agitators is well documented.

Despite the tea party's childish antics, there are reasonable Republicans out there; When will the party's adults call the children to order for the sake of our country? Like Leon Reinstein, I also am astonished at the "chutzpah" of the Republican tea party caucus ("GOP offers new definition of chutzpah," Aug. 9). They hold everyone hostage for weeks over the debt ceiling while insisting there can be no compromise on raising revenues, at the same time saying the debt-ceiling vote isn't really that important.

The Baltimore County Council managed to wring something of real value from an ugly confrontation over a townhouse development in Catonsville on Monday night when it agreed to an amendment adding meaningful community input and professional analysis to the planned unit development process. PUDs are meant to allow the construction of high-quality projects that benefit the community even if they don't conform to traditional zoning rules, but community leaders increasingly see them as a way for politically connected developers to skirt the law. The proposal introduced Monday by Councilman David Marks, a Perry Hall-Towson Republican, and adopted 6-1, requires a community input meeting and initial analysis by county agencies before a council member introduces a resolution authorizing the formal consideration of a PUD proposal, and that is unquestionably an improvement.

Curious George meets his fans The antics of Curious George have delighted readers for nearly 60 years. Whether he's riding his two-wheeler at the circus or tripping his way into becoming an astronaut, this accident-prone primate promises a crash course in curiosity's consequences. Meet the inquisitive little chimp Friday at Barnes & Noble's White Marsh location at 10:30 a.m., where he'll take a break from his usual monkey business to have his picture taken with kids after story time. 8123 Honeygo Blvd.

Many seem to think the four guys of Interpol are a gloomy bunch. The group's darkly atmospheric music and penchant for black suits certainly don't help to change that perception much. But listen closely to the post-punk band's latest album, Antics, and you'll notice a few aural rays of light. The gray clouds that hovered over the band's acclaimed 2002 debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, have parted a bit, revealing tighter musicianship and less hopeless lyrics. "There's a fairly drastic difference in the sound of the record," says Interpol lead singer Paul Banks, who's calling after a sound check for a show in St. Louis.

In regards to Scott Calvert 's article about Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler ("Internal email suggests Gansler 'embarrassment,'" June 9), Maryland's own email-gate episode is shocking on most every level. First, it has come to light that a state lab was systematically shredding the records of lead poisoned children of the poor in Baltimore because the lab didn't have enough personnel to meet record requests from plaintiff's' attorneys who were suing on behalf of these children.

When Sue Spaid started her job as the Contemporary Museum 's executive director in November, she said she wouldn't be offering "an easy art experience. " But she didn't say it couldn't be fun, or even funny. And that's the point of her first show at the museum: "LOL: A Decade of Antic Art. " It's hard to predict if people will actually laugh at loud (let alone ROFL), but Spaid has assembled an exhibit that is bound to prompt plenty of discussion. "The idea has been brewing in my head for a long time," the director said this week, in between answering phones and lending a hand with assistants who were getting the works onto the walls.