BOO

Yes, it's true: Nick Markakis and Adam Loewen were roundly booed at Saturday night's Capitals game when they were shown on the video screen and identified as Orioles. A member of D.C. United, meanwhile, received a huge ovation. Maybe a few of the Nationals will attend a Blast game and fans can boo them. Better yet, don't tip the starting pitchers when they serve your popcorn and sodas. Another example of why people here will forever love Cal Ripken: He could have leaned forward in his seat behind a long table to have his photo taken with fans during his autograph sessions at the Baltimore Convention Center this weekend, but instead suggested that another line be created in an aisle where he could stand beside everyone, either shaking hands or putting an arm around them, and create a higher-quality keepsake.

CLEVELAND -- Mike Timlin remembers the frustration and the sense of helplessness compounded by his inconsistent usage and uneven performance. He remembers unprintable words that greeted him from every angle in every ballpark, especially within Camden Yards. He can remember because the words are still there, even if Timlin says he isn't listening.His contract a source of organizational controversy before he even threw a pitch, Timlin has righted himself within his team's listing season. The poster boy for a chaotic bullpen during the season's first half, he enters this weekend's three-game series against the Cleveland Indians with more confidence, a string of six straight converted saves and less sensitive hearing.

Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" is a play about a very specific group of people in a very specific city at a very specific time in history. But like Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie," a play it resembles in several respects, "Ballyhoo" uses a world of specific details to reveal a host of universal truths.The second play by the author of "Driving Miss Daisy," "Ballyhoo," which won the 1997 Tony Award, is receiving a beautifully staged Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre.

Highlights and lowlights from the Orioles' 9-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins yesterday in Fort Myers, Fla.Ups and downsUP: Eric Davis. Took over the club lead with his third and fourth home runs this spring. An amazing comeback story expands by the day.UP: Jeffrey Hammonds. An RBI double, two-run homer and two singles. Wears the travel well.DOWN: Batting practice. Who needs it? The Orioles certainly didn't yesterday.UP: Doug Drabek. A fifth starter getting people out and giving the club innings.

A conversation between the head and the heart about tomorrow's game between the Ravens and Colts at Camden Yards:Head: "I'm sorry. I wish I could view this as some great grudge match, but I can't. I'm just not that excited."Heart: "Are you kidding? Do you have a pulse? The Colts coming back to play in Baltimore? This is Armageddon."Head: "Aw, you're just living in the past. It's like Artie Donovan said, the Colts left town a long time ago. And besides, how can you be outraged when we've done the same thing to Cleveland && that the Colts did to us?"

After coasting to a 45-32 lead through three periods, No. 6 Annapolis had to withstand a furious fourth-period rally by No. 9 Broadneck before posting a 57-47 victory in Cape St. Claire last night.Annapolis' 6-foot-7 Boo Diggs (16 points, six rebounds, one block, two steals) is best known for his prolific offense, but last night, he proved he can play defense in holding Broadneck's Jamaine Young to three points and no rebounds in the first half.With Diggs, the county's leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, sitting most of the third period in foul trouble, Young could score only two from the line in failing to take advantage against Brian Barber and Matthews.

It wasn't a vintage performance by Annapolis junior Germaine "Boo" Diggs.But it was good enough to get the job done for the Panthers, who survived a strong fourth-quarter rally by Meade last night for a 65-56 victory at Annapolis.Diggs, a 6-foot-7 forward, slashed his way to the basket for 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the eighth-ranked Panthers (11-2, 6-1 in the South Division) to their fifth straight win."Boo can play a lot better than this," said Annapolis coach John Brady.

Opinion: Look for fans in visiting stadiums to boo the feathers off the Ravens, just on principle for ditching Cleveland.Fact: Rafael Palmeiro has more hits than any other American Leaguer except Paul Molitor in the '90s, yet he has batted only once in the All-Star Game.Opinion: Mike Mussina's recent struggles prove that dilution of talent isn't the only reason major-league pitching is so poor. If Mussina is getting rocked, something is up with the strike zone.Fact: Princeton has won all three of its lacrosse national championships in the '90s on overtime goals.

Admit your boo-boos, folks tell me, and it'll make a bigger man of you. Right now, I should be about the size of Hoss Cartwright.Boo-boo No. 2 was caught by a Mitch Tullai, who correctly read Saturday's column and noticed that I said that Preston Brooks of South Carolina, who viciously caned Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate in 1856, was also a senator. Tullai reminded me that Brooks was a member of the House of Representatives. Brooks bludgeoned Sumner in retaliation for remarks the Massachusetts senator had made about South Carolina Sen. Andrew Butler, Brooks' uncle.

How will the fans at Giants Stadium react to the Ravens today?Not by throwing roses.What kind of response will Baltimore's new team generate in its first road game as the team formerly known as the Cleveland Browns?That's easy.Boooooo!L And you can't blame those obnoxious New York fans this time.The Ravens will hear scornful booing in Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, everywhere they go for road games this year.And you know what? As much as you don't want to hear it, the reaction is perfectly understandable.

The Orioles' team plane bounced, dipped and rattled while passing through a thunderstorm on its way to Kansas City, Mo., early Thursday morning. Later that evening, Orioles manager Dave Trembley asked first baseman Aubrey Huff about the experience. Prepared for a rough flight, Huff said that when he got on board he downed a couple drinks, sufficiently chilled out and then went to sleep. "Couldn't have told you it was storming," he said with a sly smile. Welcome to Huff's world, where outside tumult - even occasional self-created chaos - doesn't seem to affect his easygoing attitude.

A press box colleague pointed out the most vociferous boo-birds on Opening Day were not booing Mark Teixeira for going to the Evil Empire, but for saying at a news conference he had always been a Yankees fan. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog)

On January 17, 2009, THOMAS J. SR., beloved husband of Lois C. Zinkhan (nee Marsh); dear father of Lois, Thomas Jr., Eddie and Tammy; loving brother of Frances May (Boo Boo), Eddie, Jimmy and Donal; cherished grand father of Shannon, Josh, Corey, Autumnn and Angel; great-grand father of Luca. Friends may call at the Gonce Funeral Service P.A. 4001 Ritchie Highway on Wednesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Services will be held Wednesday evening at 7:30 P.M. Interment private.

Maryland's split personality Maryland is 5-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. Offensive coordinator James Franklin said, "You go into somebody else's stadium, it's a different deal." One thing Franklin has noticed is that his older players tend to adjust better to playing away from Byrd. Senior Danny Oquendo, for example, says he likes it when opposing fans boo the Terps. He says it motivates him to play well. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

During the Ryder Cup, the European press painted American players as stiff, smug, country-club elites with Stepford wives and as much personality as a box of Pro V1s. Sometimes, it was hard to argue that they were wrong. But this time around, it felt different. It's easy to lose sight of it in an election year, but what makes our country special, in my mind, is that the Boo Weekleys and the Anthony Kims are a part of our big, messy, beautiful American tapestry. (For more, go to baltimoresun.

Like many sportswriters, I've covered the range of organized athletics, from high school through college and now, usually, the pros. And when covering student-athletes, a different sort of accountability is at work. A 16-year-old kid might wind up reading about his disappointing moment on the field in a news account, but it would be a hard-hearted sports journalist indeed who would judgmentally harp on such miscues. In contrast, the NFL or major league player who commits those same sins can expect the sting of criticism for the obvious reason: That player is getting paid to perform.

Let's start this off with the premise that you have the constitutional right to boo the 11-year-olds at a Little League game if you - like me - are that unstable, but I don't think there's any real gray area on this particular subject until you get up to the college level. Then there are all sorts of factors that might affect whether it's proper to vent your disapproval on scholastic athletes. For example, when a big-time college program pressures fans to donate big dollars in exchange for the right to buy tickets, then I believe that program has crossed over the line where the fans are required to view the athletes as wide-eyed innocents who should never be criticized for their performance on the field or the court.

COLLEGE PARK - Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen delivered an impassioned defense of Jordan Steffy yesterday, likening the beleaguered quarterback to his own son and making an unusual appeal to Terrapins fans to quit harassing Steffy. "If you want to boo me, boo me. Don't boo the kid," Friedgen said during a media briefing noteworthy for the coach's intensity, but also for the fact that he wouldn't commit to starting the fifth-year senior Saturday at Middle Tennessee State. The team was waiting for X-ray results on Steffy's thumb, injured in Maryland's 14-7 season-opening victory over Delaware at Byrd Stadium.

They all missed being in a band. But the guys of Was (Not Was) didn't expect such a long time to pass before they recorded again. The art-funk group's new album, Boo!, comes 16 years after its last effort, 1992's Hello, Dad ... I'm in Jail. And what took so long? "In two words: Bonnie Raitt," says David Was (real last name: Weiss), multi-instrumentalist and the band's chief songwriter. His longtime friend and the group's producer, Don Was (real last name: Fagenson), became an in-demand producer after overseeing the pop-rock star's 1989 Grammy winner, Nick of Time.

Of all the Orioles who jogged down the orange carpet during player introductions yesterday, only one was greeted with a chorus of boos. And the reception didn't grow any kinder as the game moved along. If this were Aubrey Huff's welcome-back to Baltimore, he would gladly settle for a gift basket. Huff braced for the worst after drawing the ire of fans and team officials for derogatory comments he made about the city during a Nov. 13 appearance on a Tampa, Fla.-based satellite radio show.