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In many ways, this season was a new frontier for the Houston Texans, who captured their first AFC South title, earned their first postseason berth, and then cemented their first playoff win with a 31-10 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday evening. So reaching the AFC divisional round is quite an accomplishment for this franchise, but just making an appearance against the Ravens on Sunday isn't the objective, according to Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson. “We want to win,” he said during a conference call Wednesday with Baltimore media.

The No. 6 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team overcame a slow start at home to defeat Big East rival Georgetown, 10-8, on Sunday afternoon. Senior attackman Sean Rogers paced the Fighting Irish offense with two goals and two assists. Notre Dame (9-2, 3-1) fell behind 4-0 by the 6:46 mark of the first quarter but responded with a 6-1 run to claim its first lead of the game early in the third quarter. The Hoyas (5-7, 2-2) became the first team to score five goals in a quarter against Notre Dame since Syracuse on May 1, 2010.

In his brief comments to the media following the Orioles' ALDS Game 5 loss to the Yankees in New York, club managing partner Peter Angelos opened the door to the idea of a contract extension for manager Buck Showalter. “If they're interested in staying,” Angelos said of Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette, “nobody's more interested in keeping him than I am. And certainly I speak for everyone in the organization.” Showalter's contract runs through the end of the 2013 season, but speaking with reporters on Saturday, he indicated he was fine with the status of his deal.

Amid all the self-congratulation at the University of Maryland over a corporate financed modest boost in mental health services for students, I'd like to demur ("UM adds funding for mental health," April 3). In the article, we're told how happy everyone is that Pepsico, which "holds lucrative vending contracts with the university," is giving $500,000 a year for 10 years to allow hiring three new psychologists and 1.5 campus health center jobs to deal with a 23 percent increase in requests for help over the last few years and a tragic recent off-campus fatal shooting.

I am writing in response to Jeremy Schwartz's op-ed defense of extending unemployment benefits ("Unemployment benefits are not like welfare," Dec. 21). He babbles on about the virtues of continuing the give unemployment benefits and tries to decry those who see these benefits as another form of welfare. Mr. Schwartz is a professor of economics at Loyola University, but not a very good psychologist. I personally know of several people receiving unemployment benefits, and they have all have told me that it would be foolish to seriously look for employment as long as they can get a free handout.

Maryland Public Television said Wednesday that Steven J. Schupak, its senior vice president, has been named chief content officer. Schupak, who joined MPT in 2003, oversees the development, production, licensing and national distribution of the station's programs, among other responsibilities. Schupak is responsible for the station's local productions, including "Outdoors Maryland" and "State Circle. " During his tenure, MPT has earned 26 Emmy Awards and other industry honors for its productions.

Cable network RLTV, based in Baltimore and geared toward over-50 adults, has entered into a content-sharing agreement with Next Avenue, a public television website out of Minnesota that also focuses on creating content for people in their sixth decade and beyond. The agreement allows RLTV to use Next Avenue's articles and blog entries on its own website. The partnership, which was announced Wednesday and already has taken effect, also makes room for Next Avenue to develop exclusive content for RLTV down the road.

In his longest stretch on defense of the season, Corey Graham finished Sunday's 25-15 win against the Cleveland Browns with six tackles. But the cornerback was unable to register an interception or a pass breakup, which contributed to the sixth-year veteran feeling unfulfilled about his play. “It was all right,” Graham said Thursday. “Obviously, some things have got to be better, and I feel like I can play a lot better. I've got to find a way to make more plays. It was up and down, and to me, it wasn't that good.

Closing the digital divide may take more than simply connecting low-income people to the Internet. There also needs to be someplace for them to go once they reach cyberspace, according to a new report. In a yearlong study, the Children's Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, found that most content on the Internet is not useful for poor people or folks with weak reading skills. With more of these people getting online, the study urges community leaders, companies and investors to develop content for their needs.

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. is facing five charges in connection with an August boat crash that sent him and six other people — including four children — to the hospital. Investigators said Dwyer's blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal threshold for being under the influence when his powerboat, The Legislator, collided with another vessel on a Pasadena waterway Aug. 22. Dwyer, 54, was charged Thursday by Maryland Natural Resources Police with operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol, reckless operation of a vessel, negligent operation of a vessel, failing to register his boat and a rules-of-the-road violation.

Navy's 11-3 loss to No. 16 Colgate in the first game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium last Saturday did not officially eliminate the Midshipmen from the Patriot League tournament.But a setback to Lehigh this Saturday just might. A loss to the Mountain Hawks (6-4) would drop Navy (3-6) to 1-4 in the conference. Three teams -- No. 6 Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh -- are 2-0 in the Patriot League, Army is 1-1 and Holy Cross is 1-2. There are a number of tiebreaker scenarios that will become clearer after this weekend's games, but the conclusion that can be drawn is that the Midshipmen would do themselves a huge favor by beating the Mountain Hawks.

Amanda Forr of Bel Air has been hired as communications manager for the National Aquarium in Baltimore. As communications manager, Forr will create, edit and deliver content and communications relating to the organization's mission within brand guidelines. This includes content for online communications such as the website, http://www.aqua.org , mobile website and social media platforms, as well as for marketing materials, the quarterly magazine, Watermarks, and the weekly WYPR-FM show "A Blue View.

Aspects of recent debates about the value of a liberal arts education, its usefulness and its appropriateness strike a familiar and disturbing historical chord. Our nation's brightest students, contemplating the dedication of four years to the highest level of cognitive challenge, are discouraged by a contingent of their elders and asked to consider something more practical. "A liberal education won't prepare you for a job," the student is told. "What can you do with a degree in philosophy?

Several area wrestlers are still alive after the completion of the first two rounds of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association state wrestling tournament Friday at the University of Maryland's Cole Field House. The tournament, which is being wrestled on eight mats, resumes Saturday morning. The consolation rounds start at 9:30 a.m, and the semifinals begin at 11 a.m. No. 4 Glenelg (42 points) leads the Class 2A-1A team championships after the first day, with a one-point advantage over No. 2 Winters Mill (41)

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Maryland's men's basketball staff has shown the ability to recruit players from various locales, but the Terps do have a couple of hot spots. They've been successfully keeping top talent in the D.C. metro area, while also stretching their regular efforts all the way up the Eastern seaboard to New England, where assistants Scott Spinelli and Bino Ranson both have deep ties.

A year ago, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced an ambitious goal to grow Baltimore's population by 10,000 families in a decade. Today, in her State of the City address, she began to lay out her vision for how to make that goal a reality. She is seeking to increase investments in the things that will make city living more attractive and to reduce the costs that make it unaffordable. Her proposals reflect a clear-eyed view of Baltimore's assets and liabilities and a remarkable willingness to take on politically unpopular causes.

Baltimore County's Web site has a new address and has changed in its content in an effort to streamline the resource and make it easier for residents to use. The new address is www.balti morecountyonline.info, replacing the old address, which officials say was difficult to remember. "We want to make it a little more user-friendly for the public," said Alonza Williams of the county's Office of Information Technology. "The old address was too cumbersome." In what Williams called "the process of putting a whole new face" on the Web site, users have access to conveniences such as paying parking tickets online, downloading bids for county projects and subscribing to community newsletters.

Every media company desperately wants to reverse the slide in income from music, video, news and other traditional content. Sinclair Broadcast Group is doing something about it. Last week the Hunt Valley television station owner stared down a cable company called Mediacom Communications and yanked Sinclair major-network stations from almost two dozen Mediacom systems in the heart of the football playoffs and just ahead of American Idol's season launch....

From Liz Atwood: I can't believe I've come to the point where I actually would like to see the kids wasting their time playing video games.  What has driven me to this drastic change? Lately the kids have taken to wasting their time texting friends and posting pictures on Instagram and Twitter. Their new preoccupation with social media sets up a whole new challenge. In the past, I only needed to look at the rating on a game box to get a sense of whether the content was inappropriate.

He clutched the Lombardi Trophy again about 10 hours after he held it for the first time. He had watched his quarterback Joe Flacco receive a new car as the Super Bowl XLVII Most Valuable Player and he had done one more interview as a newly minted world champion. But before Ravens coach John Harbaugh left New Orleans on Monday afternoon, he stopped in front of a group of reporters, grabbed his arm and then aggressively pulled at his cheeks. "Is this real?" Harbaugh asked.