Big Event

Terry Hasseltine, the director of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, said that the Preakness is the "unofficial launch of the summer season" of high profile sports, including next weekend's NCAA men's and women's lacrosse championships as well as the season-ending first-time Grand Prix racing event on the streets of downtown Baltimore.  "It's huge," Hasseltine said of the Preakness. "It's a way to put the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore on the map, it connects us with the equine industry and the racing industry.

Once thought to be a somewhat out-of-the-way spot for winter ski trips and summer getaways from the scorching heat, Deep Creek Lake and the adjacent Wisp Resort could become "the No. 1 - bar none - adventure sports destination spot in the world" if Todd Copley has anything to do with it. Toward that goal, Copley's Deep Creek 2014 LLC will be helping run next weekend's USA Canoe Kayak Slalom Team Trials there, as well as the sport's world championships in...

Every community has positive attributes and problems. Heck, some states - New Jersey and West Virginia, to name two in the immediate vicinity - have their own brand of associated jokes. Yet plenty of people are proud to call New Jersey and West Virginia home, and both states can boast having strong tourism components to their respective economies. Jokes about what exit a certain attraction is off of or the number of dentists per 100,000 population are likely to persist, but that doesn't mean either state is lacking or in need of making a particular change because of what someone who lives in New York or Ohio or Maryland might think.

Brock Lesnar and Triple H officially sealed the deal on Raw and will meet at Wrestlemania. The two stipulations are that it will be No Holds Barred (similar to their match at Summerslam 2012) and that Triple H's career will be on the line. This, of course, is met with the same questions and concerns from longtime WWE fans whenever a career is on the line. Is it really on the line? From a performer standpoint, Triple H is in terrific shape. You could absolutely see him being able to handle several big matches a year.

When Valerie Fields and Jonathan Williams decided to get married last year, they didn't want to spend a fortune on the wedding. So when they looked for ways to cut costs, they immediately thought about the invitations. Instead of sending traditional engraved invitations by mail, they used the Internet to invite guests electronically. "E-mail is nontraditional, and we didn't want anything about our wedding or relationship to be traditional," Fields said. More and more people are sending "e-vites" for parties, office functions, get-togethers and fund-raisers.

Brock Lesnar and Triple H officially sealed the deal on Raw and will meet at Wrestlemania. The two stipulations are that it will be No Holds Barred (similar to their match at Summerslam 2012) and that Triple H's career will be on the line. This, of course, is met with the same questions and concerns from longtime WWE fans whenever a career is on the line. Is it really on the line? From a performer standpoint, Triple H is in terrific shape. You could absolutely see him being able to handle several big matches a year.

Athletes of every description want to know what pre-event meal will give them "the edge."For most athletes, a light meal, three to four hours before starting time is the best bet.Maximize your big event energy output this way:* Don't stuff.Daily workouts and a high carbohydrate training diet have stocked your muscles with energy for your big event.Overeating just before game time will not increase your energy stores. Lugging around a huge meal may, however, keep your circulation focused on digestion instead of sports, leaving you sluggish, or even crampy.

Brush up on your brogue and join the 25th annual Scottish Christmas Walk and a host of other events on Saturday in Alexandria, Va.The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. with bands, floats, antique cars and clansmen dressed in colorful tartans through the streets of Old Town historic district. It ends at noon with a massed band concert in front of Market Square.Also on Saturday there will be live entertainment such as the Bob Brown Puppet Show, the Alexandria Ballet, Christmas music, a holiday decorating workshop and Scottish country dancers at historic locations.

What does a hungry biker need to sustain himself on a 50-mile trip through the wilds of Harford County? How 'bout coffee, orange juice, bagels and biscuits with sausage gravy? That's what awaited about 100 guests of the March of Dimes of Maryland's "VIP Breakfast" in the Log Cabin at Jones Junction in Bel Air. The spread was a precursor to the day's big event -- the "5th Annual March of Dimes RIDE." Some 3000 motorcyclists rode a scenic route through Harford County, having raised pledges that totaled more than $205,000 for the March of Dimes' fight to save babies and lower infant mortality and pre-term delivery rates in Maryland.

Who says jazz isn't popular? The "Bridges From the Heart" jazz concert was a sellout. Some 700 jazz enthusiasts jammed into the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall lobby, as some local jazz musicians did some jammin' themselves in one corner of the room. Folks sipped wine and browsed a buffet, awaiting the night's big event -- a concert by acclaimed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; his father, pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr.; and several other musicians and artists. The evening celebrated the 10th anniversary of Learning Independence Through Computers.

Every community has positive attributes and problems. Heck, some states - New Jersey and West Virginia, to name two in the immediate vicinity - have their own brand of associated jokes. Yet plenty of people are proud to call New Jersey and West Virginia home, and both states can boast having strong tourism components to their respective economies. Jokes about what exit a certain attraction is off of or the number of dentists per 100,000 population are likely to persist, but that doesn't mean either state is lacking or in need of making a particular change because of what someone who lives in New York or Ohio or Maryland might think.

WWE "go home" shows always seem to be the most scrutinized. Often, pundits will cast away the past several weeks of television and focus most on the last Raw before a pay-per-view event, often with the same question -- did this show make me interested in buying the pay-per-view? While it's a fair question, perhaps its a skewed way to look at it when you are analyzing just one isolated show -- in particular, the closing moments of that show. If we were to do that for this past episode of Raw, then the closing segment did a very good job of creating interest and generating buys for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view coming this Sunday.

Mingled throughout the thousands of visitors who flocked to the city this past weekend for the Star-Spangled Sailabration's ships, cannons and jet fly-bys was a small army of police officers and emergency responders. Other local, state and federal law enforcement officials constantly monitored the crowds from command stations downtown, via live camera feeds. Partly as a result, the event celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, estimated to have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the city, had largely come off without a hitch as of Sunday night, police said - unspoiled by the sort of violence that has marred other large events in recent years.

What a bunch of grumpy gills we have in this town. What a bunch of whine lovers. Baltimore just played host to an amazing weekend event, unlike anything seen here since mustachioed men rebuilt downtown after the Great Fire of 1904. And what do we get? Drizzly rain on the parade. It's suggested that neither the crowds nor the TV audiences were as big as the promoters say. Not all the hotels sold out - the one on Fayette Street was only 90 percent of capacity. Sales of steamed crabs at a restaurant a mile away were slow.

Though the LPGA schedule might remain in rebuilding mode for another year or two, it certainly has no shortage of majors. The tour announced a fifth major will join the lineup in 2013, when the Evian Masters completes an overhaul that encompasses a new name, date and course. The tournament, renamed The Evian, will be in mid-September as the season's last major. By then, Evian Golf Club in Bains, France, will have completed a redesign, including amphitheater seating along its final four holes.

Terry Hasseltine, the director of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, said that the Preakness is the "unofficial launch of the summer season" of high profile sports, including next weekend's NCAA men's and women's lacrosse championships as well as the season-ending first-time Grand Prix racing event on the streets of downtown Baltimore.  "It's huge," Hasseltine said of the Preakness. "It's a way to put the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore on the map, it connects us with the equine industry and the racing industry.

REPORT by an Old Grad, back from Class Reunion at Alma Mater:"Weather was perfect; the campus, after the onslaught of one more academic year, was astonishingly beautiful; the students having lit out for summer scenes, we had the place blessedly to ourselves."Carrying our luggage from the carpark into a dorm, I at once crossed paths with a guy I'd seen before, somewhere. He greeted me by name, and kindly told me his. The college's director of development."But not one thing did he say about endowment campaign, estate planning or even annual giving.

St. Mary's College of Maryland is making an offer that sounds hard to refuse. Give back the college's Governor's Cup trophy and get $1,000, no questions asked. And one other thing. St. Mary's would like it back before Aug. 6, when the college's 31st annual Governor's Cup Yacht Race takes off from Annapolis, headed for St. Mary's and the finish line the next day. "The college desperately wants to find this missing piece of the Governor's Cup's history," Torre M. Meringolo, vice president for the college's office of development, said in a statement.

Nikki Yancey knew that no pictures had been released of Osama bin Laden after the terrorist leader was killed this week in a lightning raid by U.S. commandos in Pakistan. So she was surprised when a friend reported that Yancey's Facebook account had tried to entice her 600-plus friends to click on a link that allegedly would bring up photographs of the dead al-Qaida leader. In reality, no such images were available. What happened? Yancey's social networking identity had been hijacked.

In good times and bad, Derrick Mason has always been one of the more fascinating Baltimore Ravens players. He's opinionated, he's loud, he's sensitive, he's funny, and he's proud of what he's accomplished during his 14-year career in the NFL. Whether he's feuding with another team, trash talking with oppossing head coaches, firing back at Keyshawn Johnson for calling the Ravens' wide receivers bums, bristling at anyone's suggestion that he's lost...