Crowd

The reality of the Ravens' salary cap situation and post Super Bowl XLVII world hit coach John Harbaugh early last week. With the Ravens failing to convince wide receiver Anquan Boldin to take a pay cut and not willing to carry his $6 million salary cap hit, Harbaugh knew exactly who to call. “Heck yes,” his brother, Jim, the coach of San Francisco 49ers, said when asked if he was interested in acquiring Boldin, a player that they struggled to stop a month earlier in the Super Bowl.

In its aim and ambition, Moonshine Tavern is nothing like the Gin Mill, the cozy Canton bar and restaurant it replaced after nearly 16 years of service. Like many of the nearby bars on Boston Street, the Gin Mill was more of a casual place for dinner and drinks than a hot spot. I talked to Moonshine Tavern co-owner Shanna Cooper in January, and it was clear that she and partner Jacob Millisock hoped to make Gin Mill a distant memory. "We're not looking to be a hole-in-the-wall bar," Cooper said.

He's across the Atlantic from his native Ireland, but Ken Keady was wearing the green Sunday as he bobbed his 3-year-old daughter on his shoulders to see Baltimore's St. Patrick Parade. "It's a great occasion, a lot of color, a lot of flags and lot of music. I come every year," said Keady, now of Towson, with daughter Carolyn waving the Irish flag above his head. Keady pronounced Baltimore's parade as "one of the best I've ever seen" - and he's seen them in Dublin, he said. The Keady family was among thousands of people lining the route for the kilted bagpipe bands and eye-popping string bands, dance troupes, students, classic cars, floats and more.

In Baltimore, everybody knows Costas Inn. The Dundalk institution has been around since 1971, when Costas Triantafilos - still the owner, now working with his son, Pete - opened the restaurant. Since the '70s, Costas has grown into a nationally recognized crab powerhouse, serving steamed crabs year-round and shipping crab cakes and crab seasoning all over the country. But back in Baltimore, the restaurant is more than just a place to pick crabs. We visited Costas during the "off" season to see what else the Baltimore landmark has to offer.

Annapolis runner Hale Bullen earned a spot in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the Feb. 18 issue of Sports Illustrated. The magazine talks about how the Navy-bound senior set a record while winning the 3,200 meters at the Anne Arundel County championships last month. His time of 9:18.01 easily beat former Broadneck standout Matt Centrowitz's previous mark of 9:40.8. Bullen also won the Class 3A Central Region meet on Feb. 8, and he will compete in the Class 4A-3A state championship next week.

The Ravens worked hard for their championship win, but the city just got lucky with its victory events. That "only" one person was stabbed and "only" two were non-lethally trampled - with an extra 200,000 excited people downtown last Tuesday - is more a testament to goodwill than to good planning ("Police believe stabbing victim was downtown for parade," Feb. 6). There were major problems with mass transit and traffic (before, during, and after the event), and people jumped barricades into the parade.

WEATHER: Windy, with sleet, rain and snow and highs in the lower 40s.  TRAFFIC: Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues. Baltimore-area school delays TOP NEWS Boy trampled by larger-than-expected crowds during Ravens celebration : Ravens officials said they won't extend an open invitation to fans again without first passing out free tickets, after larger-than-expected crowds amassed at this week's Super Bowl celebration and an 11-year-old boy was trampled.

Ravens officials said Thursday they won't extend an open invitation to fans again without first passing out free tickets, after this week's Super Bowl celebration at M&T Bank Stadium where larger-than-expected crowds amassed and an 11-year-old boy was trampled. Tiffany Hodge said she brought her son to the stadium from East Baltimore with hopes that he could see his hero, running back Ray Rice, but an unruly crowd overwhelmed them and both were knocked unconscious. She said her son, Tyrek, suffered a concussion, an injury to his eye, and still has a swollen face.

The Maryland Transit Administration is experiencing "massive delays" on local bus lines and the light rail system, a result of thousands of football fans attending the Baltimore Ravens parade and breaking through barricades controlling their routes through the city. "We put every available resource we had out on the system today, and the crowds were simply larger than the system could accommodate in the short time frame in which people were attempting to ride," said Terry Owens, a MTA spokesman.

The Dark Horse Saloon on Main Street in Bel Air kept the Baltimore Ravens love coming again on Sunday afternoon. Jacoby Jones, the Ravens star kick returner and wide receiver, arrived at the Dark Horse to meet an appreciative crowd of Harford County fans. Jones, one of the heroes of Baltimore's pulsating 38-35 overtime win over the Broncos in Denver in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs, signed autographs for a couple hours for fans of all ages. Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger visited the Dark Horse Friday night, when he also signed autographs.