Doghouse

It was only a matter of time until former Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who has earned a big role in the Denver Broncos backfield, spoke out publicly about his relationship with his former coach, John Harbaugh. McGahee carried the load for the Ravens in his first season in Baltimore, but after Harbaugh replaced Brian Billick, his role diminished. (The emergence of Ray Rice as a Pro Bowl back was also a factor.) In his final three seasons here, McGahee averaged 8.6 carries a game, though he did score 14 total touchdowns in 2009.

Along with Dez Wells scoring 23 points in Saturday's 10-point win at Wake Forest, the most important contribution came from junior point guard Pe'Shon Howard. The much-maligned Howard, who has spent most of the Atlantic Coast Conference season “in and out” of Mark Turgeon's doghouse, made his first start in nearly two months and wound up playing a team-high 30 minutes. Howard finished with eight points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and only two turnovers. Howard also a played a significant role in C.J. Harris, Wake Forest's leading scorer and a former AAU teammate of Howard's on a team sponsored by former Demon Deacons star and current Los Angeles Clippers All-Pro Chris Paul, shooting 5 of 16 from the field.

Two pet owners were in jail last night after drugs were found in a backyard doghouse occupied by three pit bulls. "You couldn't ask for a better way to protect the drugs," said Detective William Denford of the Central District drug enforcement unit. About 1: 30 p.m. yesterday, after Denford purchased $175 worth of suspected cocaine from a man in the 1800 block of N. Rosedale St., officers arrested the seller. At the suspect's home in the 3000 block of Presstman St., where a second man was arrested, police reported seizing $10,000 and drug packaging materials.

Ravens veteran offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie was convinced he had assumed permanent residence inside coach John Harbaugh's doghouse. Between frequently facing concerns about his weight and conditioning, reporting late for training camp after saying he hurt his lower back in a fall at his South Florida home, grading out poorly as a run blocker and facing multiple lawsuits from creditors, McKinnie experienced a year filled with nightmares....

Peter Bondra and Pat Peake worked on the ice for more than a half-hour after the rest of the Washington Capitals had called it a day. Together, they made an odd pair.Bondra, who broke his thumb two weeks ago, was trying to get a strong-enough grip on his stick that would enable him to return to the lineup, possibly as early as tonight against the Ottawa Senators.And Peake, a rookie center who has been in what he calls "le maison bowwow" -- the doghouse -- for the past week, is trying to work his way back into the good graces of coach Terry Murray.

A man was arrested yesterday in West Baltimore after an undercover narcotics officer said he saw him place drugs inside a doghouse. Sgt. Daniel A. Lioi of the Western District said Officer Timothy Stach was working undercover in the 900 block of N. Carey St. about 5 p.m. when he saw a man enter the back yard of a nearby vacant house and place what appeared to be narcotics in an unoccupied doghouse and walk away. Lioi said Stach, part of the district's drug enforcement unit, entered the yard, reached into the doghouse and removed a bowl that contained nearly 400 gelatin capsules of heroin with a street value between $1,800 and $4,000.

Along with Dez Wells scoring 23 points in Saturday's 10-point win at Wake Forest, the most important contribution came from junior point guard Pe'Shon Howard. The much-maligned Howard, who has spent most of the Atlantic Coast Conference season “in and out” of Mark Turgeon's doghouse, made his first start in nearly two months and wound up playing a team-high 30 minutes. Howard finished with eight points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and only two turnovers. Howard also a played a significant role in C.J. Harris, Wake Forest's leading scorer and a former AAU teammate of Howard's on a team sponsored by former Demon Deacons star and current Los Angeles Clippers All-Pro Chris Paul, shooting 5 of 16 from the field.

It is unknown how long the benching of Chris McAlister will last. Although there is a chance cornerback Samari Rolle and safety Dawan Landry could return Sunday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh wouldn't say yesterday whether McAlister would regain his starting job in the secondary against the Oakland Raiders. "If he's one of the guys that we feel gives us the best opportunity to play the best defense at that moment, he'll be out there," Harbaugh said. "If we think there's a guy that can do it better, then he'll be out there."

Ravens veteran offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie was convinced he had assumed permanent residence inside coach John Harbaugh's doghouse. Between frequently facing concerns about his weight and conditioning, reporting late for training camp after saying he hurt his lower back in a fall at his South Florida home, grading out poorly as a run blocker and facing multiple lawsuits from creditors, McKinnie experienced a year filled with nightmares....

It's August, and things are getting mighty interesting over at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia. For even as the old Washington Senators are winning the pennant nightly in the theater's excellent production of Damn Yankees, there have been sightings of a canine, World War I flying ace piloting his doghouse over the skies of France. A little boy has been heard singing to his security blanket, of all things, while a young musician plunks out Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on a toy piano as he is harassed by the terminal fussbudget who adores him. All this can mean one thing: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus and the gang have taken up residence at the area's premier dinner theater where the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown will play for several performances through the month.

Bob in Ellicott City: Joe Flacco was on in Sunday's playoff game and showed mobility and pocket awareness not always evident. I am, however, puzzled as to why you never see Flacco doing his homework on the sidelines. All the other great quarterbacks are pouring over pictures, interpreting game schematics or talking things over with their team members or offensive coordinators. Joe is always just sitting on the bench! What am I missing? Bob, you aren't missing anything. If that is the way Flacco prefers to operate, I don't mind as long as he is successful.

It was only a matter of time until former Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who has earned a big role in the Denver Broncos backfield, spoke out publicly about his relationship with his former coach, John Harbaugh. McGahee carried the load for the Ravens in his first season in Baltimore, but after Harbaugh replaced Brian Billick, his role diminished. (The emergence of Ray Rice as a Pro Bowl back was also a factor.) In his final three seasons here, McGahee averaged 8.6 carries a game, though he did score 14 total touchdowns in 2009.

Few people would fault Dannell Ellerbe for being disgruntled and disillusioned about being more of a spectator rather than a participant over the past month. Except that's not the approach the Ravens linebacker is taking. "Yeah, I had them, but this is a business," Ellerbe said of harboring negative feelings. "It really doesn't matter why. I'm back out there now. " His status for Sunday's AFC North showdown with the Cleveland Browns is still up in the air, but Ellerbe might have carved out a role with his performance in the Ravens' 30-24 win over the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas acknowledges without hesitation that this has been the most trying season of his 10-year career, marred by a public run-in with coach Bill Belichick and his least productive statistics since he was a rookie. But when presented with a hypothetical mulligan regarding his 2007 free agency choice as his current team prepares to face his former squad in the Ravens, he says he wouldn't change a thing. "I'm fine with how it turned out," Thomas said.

It is unknown how long the benching of Chris McAlister will last. Although there is a chance cornerback Samari Rolle and safety Dawan Landry could return Sunday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh wouldn't say yesterday whether McAlister would regain his starting job in the secondary against the Oakland Raiders. "If he's one of the guys that we feel gives us the best opportunity to play the best defense at that moment, he'll be out there," Harbaugh said. "If we think there's a guy that can do it better, then he'll be out there."

Anne Pearson gives her collie, Siri, the run of the fenced-in yard. She says she always keeps watch from the window. At night, the dog sleeps in her bedroom. But in the eyes of Anne Arundel County's Animal Control, Pearson was a menace to her pet. And they threatened to take the dog away - unless she agreed to buy Siri a doghouse. "Siri is very upset, and it will take weeks, if not months, to retrain Siri so that he is calm when visitors come to see us," Pearson said yesterday. Now, she has taken her fight to the County Council, saying that a law requiring dog owners to provide shelter for any unsupervised pet goes too far. At least one lawmaker agrees that animal control should be leashed, and he has introduced a bill designed to do just that.

Bob in Ellicott City: Joe Flacco was on in Sunday's playoff game and showed mobility and pocket awareness not always evident. I am, however, puzzled as to why you never see Flacco doing his homework on the sidelines. All the other great quarterbacks are pouring over pictures, interpreting game schematics or talking things over with their team members or offensive coordinators. Joe is always just sitting on the bench! What am I missing? Bob, you aren't missing anything. If that is the way Flacco prefers to operate, I don't mind as long as he is successful.

On the opening day of the 1998 season, Kerry Collins, Gus Frerotte, Bobby Hoying and Glenn Foley were young starting NFL quarterbacks who thought they had bright futures.Now their futures are clouded, and they have to wonder if there's a light at the end of the tunnel.Two of them -- Collins and Frerotte -- are looking for new teams, and Hoying and Foley don't know if they have a future with their current teams.Collins, the starting quarterback in the NFC title game just two years ago, wore out his welcome in two cities in the last year.

My roommate and I have a running joke that one of the biggest hurdles a potential significant other will face won't be about sex or money, but about that someone you already share a bed with -- your pet. If there's major hissing or growling upon meeting (from either of them), then a new romance seems all but doomed. Fluffy was there first, and her claws are firmly entrenched. Next week on Baltamour: Maryann James is going on vacation. Her column returns June 30. But the blog continues with guest moderator Anica Butler.