Big Game

Maryland was so frequently overmatched last season that it didn't play many games that could fairly be called "big. " That's one reason the Terrapins (2-0) are particularly excited to play at West Virginia (2-0) on Saturday — it feels as if the outcome will have a bearing on the rest of the season. "This is a very big game for us, playing the 21st-ranked team in the country," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said Tuesday. "The more we win, the bigger the games get. " It's the first time this season the Terps will play a nationally ranked team.

It has been six days since Brandon Snyder got his first major league promotion, and he is still eagerly waiting to make his big league debut. But the 2005 first-round draft pick said his brief stay with the club has been "an absolute blast" and a big-time learning experience. "It's been great to be able to sit back and see how guys go about their business," said Snyder, a 23-year-old infielder whom the Orioles picked 13th overall. "It's amazing to watch how [manager Buck Showalter ]

BOSTON — Reinvention, thy name is Celtics. Everything old is new again. New Perk (Kendrick Perkins) new KG (Kevin Garnett), new Big Baby (Glen Davis) and new Sheed (Rasheed Wallace). OK, not so fast. Let's scratch that last one — that would be getting a little carried away on the so-called rapid road to maturity. First came KG, who seemingly has reversed the clock after a miserable showing in Game 1, abruptly, turning his fortunes around by Game 2. The Finals are tied 2-2 with Game 5 Sunday in Boston.

The Loyola Greyhounds did so many things right Saturday against Notre Dame in the Face-Off Classic. They took away easy scoring opportunities from the Fighting Irish, they forced them to shoot with a weak hand more often than not, they counter-punched when Notre Dame had all the momentum, and they frustrated and hounded midfielder Zach Brenneman, one of the best players in the country. But superior talent has a habit of wiping away both the sins and the sloppy play of the victor, and that's exactly what happened at M&T Bank Stadium.

Jamaal Wise hit a 3-pointer as time expired, lifting the Maryland GreenHawks of the Premier Basketball League to a 125-124 win over the Quebec Kebs on Saturday in Rockville. Harvey Thomas had 31 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and two blocks, and former Maryland standout Byron Mouton added 28 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the GreenHawks. Scooter Sherrill contributed 28 points and 12 assists. The GreenHawks led by 23 points in the first half. "It was a very good win," coach Otis Hailey said, "but there is still a lot to work on."

A quick glance at The Baltimore Sun's Top 15 boys basketball poll - in which seven Baltimore city teams can be found - provides a clear indication of the league's strength and balance this season. As City coach Mike Daniel , whose No. 3 Knights are 10-1, puts it: "We got a fight on our hands." The battle for the two invitations to the Baltimore City championship game - set for 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Morgan State - starts in earnest this week as teams in divisions I and II begin to play intradivision games.

Those uniforms must go Ken Murray Baltimore Sun Rarely has wild card weekend offered a more unpredictable set of games, and never more rematches from Week 17. Treading lightly through this forecasting minefield, I'll pick the Bengals to beat the Jets because Mark Sanchez isn't Joe Namath or even Joe Flacco. I like the resuscitated Cowboys over the erratic Eagles because Donovan McNabb never comes up big in the big game. I like the Patriots over the Ravens in a close game because if the Raiders could confuse Flacco, Bill Belichick will bewilder him. And lastly, I like the Packers over the Cardinals because one game of seeing those garish Arizona uniforms is one game too many.

Much like the game itself, watching football is a team sport. The crashing tackles, hard-fought yardage and nail-biting field-goal attempts are all the more intense when you're in the company of a hundred or so other hard-core Ravens fans. And Sunday's playoff game, when the Ravens take on the New England Patriots, promises to be a bruiser. Baltimore restaurants and bars are gearing up for the game with food and drink specials galore. One lucky fan will get to sit on a couch and down free beer and wings during the game at Luckie's Tavern . In Timonium, Padonia Station plans to serve more than half a ton of hot wings.

Much like the game itself, watching football is a team sport. The crashing tackles, hard-fought yardage and nail-biting field-goal attempts are all the more intense when you're in the company of a hundred or so other hard-core Ravens fans. And Sunday's playoff game, when the Ravens take on the New England Patriots, promises to be a bruiser. Baltimore restaurants and bars are gearing up for the game with food and drink specials galore. One lucky fan will get to sit on a couch and down free beer and wings during the game at Luckie's Tavern.

MINNEAPOLIS - - Gilbert Arenas had 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, but the Washington Wizards fell short as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat up on some old friends, 101-89, for their first back-to-back wins of the season. Corey Brewer scored 23 of his career-high 27 points in the second half to lead the Timberwolves. Kevin Love added 17 points and 10 rebounds against a Wizards team that has seven coaches and players who have significant ties to the Timberwolves organization.