Attendance

Carmelo Anthony is one of New York's biggest sports stars, but the Baltimore native made his allegiances clear at the Knicks' training camp Wednesday. "I've been an Orioles fan since I was like eight years old," Anthony told ESPN New York . "I actually have a tattoo, too. I've never been a Yankees fan. I'm close with some of the guys on the team. I support them. I have some mixed feelings right now. Here in New York you have to support the Yankees, but I'm an Orioles fan. " With the Knicks not playing a preaseason game Friday, Anthony said he plans to attend a potential Game 5 and would "wear an Orioles hat. " "I watched the games, man. It's a tough series," Anthony said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, fresh off his enthusiastic turn as a spin doctor at President Obama's subpar debate appearance last week in Denver, will travel to Kentucky Thursday to attend the faceoff between Vice President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Rep. Paul Ryan. The governor's press office confirmed Tuesday night that O'Malley has been invited by the Obama campaign to the debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky. Spokeswoman Raquel Guillory said she did not yet know what O'Malley's schedule would be, but it would come as a surprise if the governor weren't in front of the TV cameras within minutes of the end of the debate praising Biden's performance.

Melvin B. Lowe Jr., a floral designer and funeral home attendant who was also a partner in a special-events and decorating company, died Sept. 27 of renal failure at his Washington home. The one-time Northeast Baltimore resident was 47. "Melvin was a tremendously gifted person and could do many things," said Carlton C. Douglas, owner of Carlton C. Douglas Funeral Services in Baltimore, where Mr. Lowe was employed. "He was a gifted artist who could arrange flowers or redesign a casket.

The Orioles announced Sunday's attendance at 41,257. That gives the Orioles 2,102,240 fans for the season, the best attendance at Camden Yards since 2007. And it is a 19.8 percent increase from last year's 1.76 million. And you can put a happy-face asterisk on this year's attendance, if you like. Because of rainouts, the Orioles had two games turned into one-gate doubleheaders. So they've only had 79 home gates this year in comparison to 80 or 81 in past seasons. In fact, they haven't had fewer than 80 since the strike-shortened 1995 season (72)

The Orioles are expecting their largest late-September crowds in years when the team comes home next week for a final push to the playoffs. Tens of thousands of fans have bought tickets over the last two weeks for the series against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, though walk-up tickets will likely be available for most games. "I am 31 years old and I have never had an opportunity to go to a game in September that was part of a pennant race," said Chris Knoerlein of Rodgers Forge, who bought tickets last week with a group of eight friends and family members.

The Sun wonders why the attendance at Orioles games hasn't been better. Well, it certainly is not helped by the coverage provided by your newspaper. The Sept. 17 Sun has the Ravens, who lost, on the front page of the first section plus the first five pages of the Sports section. Meanwhile the Orioles, in contention for first place, do not appear until page 11 of the Sports section. Go figure! John S. White, Stewartstown, Pa.

John and Cindy Stevenson had the perfect set-up Saturday at the Maryland Wine Festival: topped-off glasses of vino, a cadre of friends and family, blankets and chairs spread out under a shade tree, crusty bread, caprese salad and two kinds of cheese. The Ellicott City wine connoisseurs were among thousands who attended the 29th annual event on the sprawling grounds of Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster. The two-day event continues Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The Stevensons said Napa Valley has nothing on Maryland's homegrown wines.

At the Zang Toi show Sunday evening, "Real Housewife of New York" Romona Singer tweeted that she was front row with Alex McCord, Avery Singer and Sonja Morgan. She tweeted that the three of them were her "three favorite blonds. " Baltimore's Stacy Keibler was front row and center Tuesday at Vera Wang's show. A very chic Keibler, her hair pulled back, was sporting dangling earrings, a black and white patterned sleeveless dress and pointed-toe black pumps. She was joined by other notables including Rachel Zoe and Kirsten Dunst.

With an announced crowd of 46,067 on Saturday, the Orioles have officially outdrawn 2011. Last year, they drew 1,755,461 fans in 80 home dates (they had one, one-admission doubleheader). This year the Orioles are at 1,778,041 through 69 home dates. They will have 79 home dates in 2012 because of two, one-admission doubleheaders that were caused due to previous rainouts. The Orioles are on pace to exceed two million fans for the first time since 2007.

Baltimore residents might never know how much money the city's second Grand Prix race generated or how it affected local hotels, restaurants and other businesses. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Tuesday that the city would not commission an economic impact study of this year's Labor Day weekend event, as it did last year for the inaugural racing festival. City and racing officials also said they might not publicly reveal the number of spectators; last year 160,000 people attended over the three days.