Clash

Anyone who's been to the movies lately knows that "RELEASE THE KRAKEN!" is probably the catchphrase of the season. As uttered in the trailer for "Clash of the Titans" by a bearded, berobed, Olympic-size Liam Neeson in reference to an 800-foot beast with bad teeth and a worse attitude, it doesn't have the romantic tingle of "You had me at hello." Or the saltiness of "I'll have what she's having." But as movie mantras go, it captures the exclamatory quality of "Clash of the Titans."

Between 1983 and 2004, Syracuse advanced to the NCAA tournament semifinals every year, a remarkable accomplishment that may never be matched again. What makes Duke's seven consecutive appearances in the Final Four nearly as impressive is that the Blue Devils have achieved that in a four-round tournament, which was expanded from 12 to 16 teams for the 2003 season. But seventh-seeded Duke (14-5), which will tangle with Cornell (14-3) in the first of two national semifinals this Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, is just 2-4 in the Final Four, advancing to the title game in 2007 (losing to Johns Hopkins)

Lawyers in the case of Nathaniel Hurt, who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a 13-year-old boy, clashed yesterday over new ballistics evidence. Page 2B

By virtue of their unblemished records in the Capital Athletic Conference, reigning national champion Salisbury and St. Mary's are in the driver's seat for the top two seeds and accompanying first-round byes in the league tournament. But that hasn't diluted the significance of Saturday's tilt at Seahawk Stadium in St. Mary's City. The Sea Gulls (12-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference) have finished in first place in the league 16 times since the CAC was formed for the 1993 season, but their reign of dominance ended in 2009 and 2011 when Stevenson took home the championships.

Southwest Airlines Flight 327 from BWI to Boston has been delayed slightly today, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of what looks like an Orioles fan charter. There are dozens of people in Orioles regalia ready to cheer on the team during the critical three-game series that starts tonight at Fenway Park. “I've been a longtime fan, but this is the first time I've been excited about the postseason since the 1990s," said Will Jones of Sykesville.  “I've been a quiet fan for awhile, but now that they are doing a lot better, I'm all riled up.” Jones and Jeremy Martin of Glen Burnie are part of an Orioles sponsor trip, but there are plenty of fans who are on this Southwest bandwagon.

Not too many offensive tackles relish the idea of trying to block Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. But Houston Texans left tackle Duane Brown isn't shying away from the opportunity, which will present itself Sunday during the AFC divisional playoff round. “This will be my third time going against him in my career,” Brown said in comments distributed by the Texans Wednesday. “I'm up for it and I know what to expect. It's not going to be easy. Just because you know what he's going to do you still have to go out there and execute.

Baltimore Pro Boxing Heavyweights Byarm, Johnson to clash Dec. 11 in Pikesville Heavyweight Maurice "Freight Train" Byarm will take on Theron Johnson on Dec. 11 in the main event of Baltimore Pro Boxing's "Season's Beatings" live from the Pikesville Armory. Tickets start at $35 and can be ordered by calling 410-675-6900, logging onto Baltimoreboxing.com or going to the Armory's box office. Byarm and Johnson will battle it out over eight rounds for the East Coast Heavyweight Championship.

On July 17, 2009, JOHN S. CLASH, father of Victor Clash. Friends may visit the FAMILY OWNED MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue, on Monday where the family will receive friends at 11:30 AM followed by a memorial service at 12 noon.

On May 16, 2006, HELEN ELIZABETH, beloved wife of John Sterling Clash, loving mother of Victor Howard Clash. She is also survived by a host of other relatives and friends. Family will receive friends on Tuesday at St. Cecelia Roman Catholic Church at 9:30A.M. followed by Memorial Mass of Resurrection at 10 A.M. Arrangements entrusted to MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Ave.

F riday's release of "Clash of the Titans," Hollywood's latest take on the tale of Perseus and that vile, snake-haired Medusa, might just make the Greek gods cool again. And if that happens, Baltimoreans won't have to stray very far to immerse themselves in the mythic. The Walters Art Museum contains scores of pieces relating to Greek mythology, many of them dating to the days when the myths themselves were new. True, they might not be as garish and in-your-face spectacular as the Hollywood versions of Perseus, Zeus, Andromeda, Medusa, Aphrodite, Hades and the Nymphs.

In the Salisbury-Stevenson rivalry that has bordered on something akin to the dislike waged by the Hatfields and McCoys, there usually isn't room for ambiguity. You're usually rooting for one team or the other. That's what makes Wednesday night's showdown between the former Capital Athletic Conference rivals difficult for Chris and Brady Dashiell. Chris Dashiell is a junior midfielder-converted-to-attackman who starts for the No. 3 Mustangs (9-1). Brady Dashiell is a freshman attackman-converted-to-midfielder who plays significant minutes for the No. 6 Sea Gulls (10-2)

A fifth man has filed a lawsuit against Kevin Clash, the former voice of Elmo on "Sesame Street," making sex abuse allegations similar to those of four other plaintiffs. Kevin Kiadii, now 25, of New York, alleges that he was 16 when he and Clash engaged in sexual contact after meeting on a gay phone chat line. According to the lawsuit, Clash initiated contact with Kiadii on the chat line in 2004, invited him to his New York apartment and sent a luxury car service to pick Kiadii up in Brooklyn.

Sheldon Stephens, the first man to claim that “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash had an underage relationship with him, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the former voice of Elmo. Stephens is the fourth man to sue the Turners Station native, but in November he was the first to make his allegations public. Clash, 52, has denied all of the allegations. He has said he and Stephens had a relationship after Stephens became an adult. Stephens soon retracted his claim, calling the relationship adult and consensual.

A Baltimore County senator is engaged in a bitter public clash with a giant energy company over its plans to build an underground natural gas pipeline that would run through land alongside his Owings Mills home and through the yards of many of his neighbors. Sen. Robert A. Zirkin has introduced more than a dozen bills in Annapolis that take aim at the gas pipeline industry and its federally granted powers to seek condemnation of private property. Zirkin says he is doing everything he can to protect the environment and the safety of his constituents.

Even as the U.S Supreme Court reviews Maryland's law on police collection of DNA samples, many law enforcement agencies in the state are collecting and holding genetic material from murder victims and people never convicted of crimes. The practices have raised concerns among some legislators and the public defender's office, who fought for privacy protections and other restrictions in a 2009 state law that allows DNA collection from people arrested on suspicion of serious crimes.

A fourth accuser is coming forward to claim he engaged in underage sex with former "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash. On Monday, Florida-based attorney Jeff Herman filed his third lawsuit alleging that Clash, now 52, engaged in sex with minors. Herman also has filed suits on behalf of two of the previous three accusers. All three cases allege civil — in other words, noncriminal — violations, and are pending in the Southern District of New York. All three seek unspecified damages.

SAN DIEGO -- The Miami Dolphins' 1994-season roller coaster took its last plunge yesterday to the hysterical cheers of a record throng of 63,381, but the battle was not over. Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard kept things flaring after the Chargers' 22-21 playoff victory by refusing to offer a consoling handshake to his old friend and boss, Don Shula."Hell, no," Beathard said when someone asked if he had gone in to pay his usual respects to the Dolphins' coach. "I lost a lot of respect for Don for what he pulled yesterday."

OVETT, Miss. -- Redbud trees are abloom in the Mississippi hills, their sprightly lavender flowers enticing spring from the pine-dark forest. But another lavender hue in the woods outside this country town has become a harbinger of a different sort.Here, where men hunt raccoons at night with prized hounds and women fold backyard pecans into sweet pies, tree trunks along a stretch of rural road are girdled in lavender paint. They lead to the lavender gate of Camp Sister Spirit, the home of a lesbian couple whose plan to open a feminist education and cultural retreat center on their land has brought preachers from pulpits, grandmothers from kitchens and a menacing presence from the placid hills.

The lawyer for an Anne Arundel County councilman who lost his seat said Daryl Jones lived in his council district— until he was convicted last year of a misdemeanor count of not paying federal taxes, and his colleagues voted to remove him out of office. The county council wrongly redefined residency, deciding that Jones' five-month, out-of-state prison term meant he no longer lived in his district and was grounds for ousting him, Linda Schuett told the state's highest court Monday, as she argued for the Court of Appeals to erase the council's action and reinstate Jones.