Championship Game

PLAYER OF THE YEAR Lauren Gibson Chesapeake-AA The sophomore standout combined poise and determination with a consistently high level of play to carry the No. 1 Cougars through the challenging Class 4A East region and on to the state championship. While her no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Damascus in the title game was the highlight, some of her work leading up to that point played big in the Cougars' getting there. Gibson hit a two-run homer to bring the Cougars back from a 3-0 deficit against North County in a 5-3 win in the regional semifinals.

River Hill junior running back Michael Campanaro reflects on Dec. 9, 2006, with mixed emotions. There's a feeling of disappointment, as the Hawks, playing in their first state championship game, lost to Prince George's County power Friendly, 37-18. But Campanaro, who rushed for more than 200 yards that day and caught a touchdown pass, also looks at the game as validation in his quest to play big-time college football. "That championship game, playing against the best team in the state with all those great athletes, I think I proved to a lot of people and myself that I can play against the top competition.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Adding a new chapter in the Colts' Indianapolis existence, Peyton Manning redefined his own history as well. Leading the Colts back from an 18-point deficit - the largest comeback in conference championship history - Manning put together four masterful touchdown drives in the second half last night to lift third-seeded Indianapolis to a 38-34 victory over the fourth-seeded New England Patriots in an AFC championship game for the ages....

Sabrina Ryals' one-out single in the bottom of eighth scored Becky Mooty with the game-winning run as Archbishop Spalding defeated Pallotti, 3-2, in the championship game of the Maryland Independent Schools tournament yesterday.The Cavaliers (25-8) have claimed the championship in each of the tournament's first two years. Spalding also beat Pallotti in last season's title game, 8-0.Ryals, who had two hits, was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player, batting .700 (7-for-10), with two doubles and three RBIs.

Had it not been for the opportunity to play in the 1959 NFL championship game for the Baltimore Colts, the future of Jerry Richardson, rookie wide receiver wearing jersey No. 87, would be impossible to foretell.Richardson took the $4,674.44 that went to players on the winning Colts team and, as the first matter of personal business, paid off his taxes. Then he bought stock in "Overnight Transportation" and cashed in to the extent of $2,800 two years later -- which he invested in a hamburger business called Spartan Foods.

Maryland coach Cindy Timchal had a one-word reaction to her team's performance yesterday in winning its fifth straight National Collegiate Women's Lacrosse Championship."

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The hardware sat neatly in front of the podium yesterday morning, the three trophies that were to be presented to Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer for his team's national championship.Each acceptance speech Fulmer made was a little different."It was an incredible ride by an incredible football team that wouldn't say die," Fulmer said after receiving the trophy from the College Football Writers of America."When this trophy was in Knoxville a few weeks ago, I refused to go look at it. I didn't want to put my hands on it," Fulmer said after getting the Sears Trophy from his fellow coaches.

As Brian Voelker reluctantly sat through his classes at Gilman School on Memorial Day 1987, his attention became fixed on the radio as he listened to the NCAA men's lacrosse championship game. Unbeknownest to the current Blue Jays assistant or the lacrosse world, that would be the last time anyone would hear this phrase: national champion Johns Hopkins.The Blue Jays won their first national title as Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association champions in 1891, which was 25 years before fellow final four participants Syracuse, Virginia and Georgetown even picked up sticks.

Tennessee and Florida State took different roads to get to tonight's national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium, yet each began from about the same place.With crushing and embarrassing defeats.For the top-ranked Volunteers, the motivation for the school's first 12-0 season began at last year's Orange Bowl, where Tennessee lost to Nebraska, 42-17. For the second-ranked Seminoles, it came from a 24-7 loss at North Carolina State in their second game of what became an 11-1 season.

The No. 3-ranked Spalding Cavaliers advanced to today's Maryland Independent Schools State Championship game with a 3-1 win over St. Mary's-Ryken in a semifinal yesterday at Randazzo Park.The Catholic League champion Cavaliers (24-7) will meet Pallotti at 5: 30 p.m. at Riverdale Baptist.Freshman pitcher Jessica Saunders allowed four hits and had eight strikeouts to get the win. The Cavs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior shortstop Sabrina Ryals led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Julie Bahus and scored on a wild pitch.

Bays under-19 team earns 2-1 win in 2nd round of nationals The Baltimore Bays under-19 team used goals by J.J. Raley and Gary Weisbaum in the final four minutes to top Pike Indy Burn from Indiana, 2-1, on Thursday in the second round of the U.S. Youth National Soccer championship at Lancaster, Mass. The Bays will advance to Sunday's national championship game with a win or a tie against the Colorado Rush today. The Bays under-15 team earned a 1-1 tie with Blast FC from Ohio and will qualify for the championship game with a victory over South Charlotte Gold from North Carolina today.

Baseball Adenhart fund gives $5,000 to Halfway Little League The Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund has made a donation to the Halfway Little League. The $5,000 check presented Wednesday was the first from the charitable fund created in Adenhart's name to benefit Little League baseball. Adenhart graduated from Williamsport High. Jim Adenhart, Nick's father, said at the tournament game where the donation was made, "This is where it all first started." Adenhart, a Los Angeles Angels pitcher, and two others died when their car was broadsided April 9 in Fullerton, Calif.

Annapolis Area Christian School senior Matt Soldano couldn't have asked for a better way to close out his high school career. In Monday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship game against John Carroll, the standout attackman produced seven goals and one assist, including all five of the Eagles' first-half goals. Soon after teammate John Phillips scored in the second overtime for a 14-13 win, Soldano was holding up the elusive championship plaque that signified the program's first title.

For the No. 1 Gilman lacrosse team, the celebration was brief and relatively mild Thursday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University. The Greyhounds had just come away with a 13-6 win over two-time defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion Loyola in the conference semifinals, finding satisfaction and a taste of redemption after last year's one-goal loss to the Dons in the title game. For the Greyhounds, who got a three-goal, three-assist performance from senior attackman Davey Emala, there was more work ahead.

Broadneck junior attacker Meghan Eshleman takes pride in being at her best in the toughest moments. In those times, she wants the ball and wants to make the difference, whether she's scoring or finding a teammate. The No. 3 Bruins took a season-opening loss to Annapolis as a lesson learned, rolling through the regular season with a 13-1 mark that included the Anne Arundel County championship and the inaugural District V championship, when they beat Howard County champ and No. 4 Mount Hebron last week, 11-9.

The Harvard-bound senior is first in a class of 124 at St. Mary's, maintaining a 4.375 grade point average while excelling in athletics and community work. Gonos, a standout and captain on the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference champion football team, now hopes to close out his athletic high school career with an A Conference championship in lacrosse. A captain and one of the area's most gifted defenseman, Gonos thrives on the challenge of containing some of the league's most dangerous attackmen.

A year ago as the professional indoor soccer championship game approached, Blast officials and fans were fuming. This year they were beaming. Simply put, a change of venue made a world of difference to everyone. Saturday night, when the Blast hosts the Rockford (Ill.) Rampage at 1st Mariner Arena for the National Indoor Soccer League title, the biggest event of the indoor season is finally where they believe it belongs - at the home of the top seed and regular-season champion. That was not the case in 2008 when the Major Indoor Soccer League held its finale in Milwaukee (which had won a bidding process)

PITTSBURGH - It was one month ago when the Pittsburgh Steelers walked off the field of M&T Bank Stadium with a 13-9 win and a voice rose from the crowd of players: "We're still the No. 1 defense! We showed you boys how to play defense!" Today, in the AFC championship game, those appear to be fighting words. The Steelers, who rank No. 1 in defense, are the NFL's best at stopping teams from moving the ball. The Ravens, who rank second, are the best at taking it away. If the two heated rivals agree on anything - and the list is short - it's that the best defense will advance to the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla. "They certainly deserve their rankings and all that," Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said.

At the very moment the Ravens are continuing one of the two greatest runs in their history, the team and the city it represents are on the verge of losing - if they have not already lost - something near and dear to their hearts. Their underdog status. Never mind the point spread for Sunday's AFC championship game (the Vegas line last night, for entertainment purposes only, made the host Pittsburgh Steelers a five-point favorite), the site of the game, the fact that the Steelers have already beaten the Ravens twice, and the seeding.

Many times after a Ravens game, I have had discussions with my son in which he complained about how an official's call cost them the victory. My answer to him always is that, regardless of the correctness of the call, the Ravens were culpable: They shouldn't have put themselves in a position where one referee's decision could tilt the game in their opponents' favor. And that's sort of my position on whether teams other than Florida and Oklahoma should be considered for college football's national championship.