Early Bird

Submitting sports notices The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Monday. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). Questions? Call 410-332-6578. Baseball Atholton Youth Recreation Association spring 2013 baseball registration is open. Register by Feb. 22 to receive the early bird discount. The season runs from April 1 until the end of the school year. AYRA provides a youth baseball program central to Clarksville, Columbia, Fulton, Maple Lawn, North Laurel, Savage and Simpsonville communities.

When John Marzullo came up with the name Ravens Nest for his bar, he didn't realize what a good choice he had made. After all, it was 1965; and he's owned several different restaurants in the area since then. Now that Baltimore has a football team again, Marzullo wants to turn his Bel Air restaurant into a sports bar, and guess what? He owns the name.The Olive Orchard (306 S. Main St.), an Italian eatery, will become the Ravens Nest by the end of the month. The menu will feature bar food, but one thing won't change: the 1-pound T-bone steak for $5.95.

The sun wasn't up and the streets were empty when I left the house. Dundalk Joe was waiting in a car parked by the corner, and I hopped in. It was just after 6 a.m., and we were a little giddy from anticipation and lack of sleep. Our destination? Hogan's Alley, an old-school South Baltimore bar on Fort Avenue. The early-morning bar hop had begun. There are more than a few bars around town that close at 2 a.m. and reopen at 6 a.m. But who starts drinking before the sun comes up? Alcoholics?

The smartest-looking women tend to be smart with their wardrobe dollars. They also tend to have extra reserves of stamina. Early last Saturday -- around 6 a.m. -- a hardy group was encamped on the grounds at the GBMC farmhouse waiting for the doors of the Nearly New Thrift Shop patron's day sale to open it's doors at 10 a.m.The weather was balmy and the mood was chatty -- but competitive -- just before this bargain shopping marathon. To be admitted to the patron's sale this group had donated sale items in the fall.

David B. Wetherson graduated from Western Maryland College on a Saturday.Two days later he went to work as a retail control specialist."I lucked out," said the 22-year-old Westminster resident. "I have a lot of bills to pay. There are a lot of graduates out there looking for a job."Cathy Nosel, WMC's director of career development, said this year's graduates face one of the toughest job markets in recent memory. But she said students who reacted quickly to the economic downturn by sending out resumes early and taking advantage of contacts and interviews have fared well.

Some ran. Others walked briskly, carrying boxes or pushing carts. All of them headed like guided missiles for tables and tables covered with books - 45,000 of them, by one estimate. "It's the thrill of the hunt," said Catherine Lawrence, a bookseller from Harrisburg, Pa., who paid her $10 to be one of the first through the door yesterday for the annual Smith College Club of Baltimore book sale at the state fairgrounds in Timonium. "Yet there's enough for everyone to be satisfied." The annual book sale is a fundraiser for an endowment fund at Smith College, a liberal arts school for women in Northampton, Mass.

IT'S A TUESDAY morning when Bobbye Gorenberg walks into the beauty salon for her hair appointment. She's crisply dressed in a navy blue skirt and print blouse. There's a touch of freshly applied blue eye shadow and blush brightening her complexion.Already she's been to her aerobics class, filled up her gas tank and stopped by her bank's ATM. Had she had dry cleaning to pick up, she would have done that, too, she says.It's just past 7:30 a.m."I'm an early riser. I like to get things done before work," says the professor of nursing at San Jose State University, who plans to be at work by 9 a.m. With almost an hour and a half to go, that's plenty of time for a haircut and blow-dry.

Tax season is officially here, with the Internal Revenue Service and state of Maryland starting Tuesday to accept electronically filed returns. This is a good year for procrastinators. April 15 — the traditional due date for returns — falls on a Sunday and the following Monday is Emancipation Day, a holiday celebrated in Washington. This pushes the deadline to April 17. But this is also a leap year, so Feb. 29 gives us one more day to ponder our taxes. Many filers could use the extra time.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Manager Frank Robinson has named right-hander Ben McDonald the starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles' regular-season opener against the Chicago White Sox, but he apparently hasn't told McDonald yet."If that's true, that would be great," McDonald said. "It's hard to believe he has made up his mind already. I still think it will depend on how I throw this spring."But Robinson confirmed a published report that he had decided on McDonald, saying that his performance in the second half of 1990 established him as the ace of the staff.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened to rave reviews last week, and properly so, but that's not to say there weren't any glitches.While trying to get everything in proper working order, the best thing the Orioles have going for them is a light home schedule in the first month of the season. Other than the first three games against the Cleveland Indians, only a four-game Easter weekend series against the Detroit Tigers remains on the April schedule.For the most part, the club has gotten its message across clearly and often to the fans, who heeded advice about mass transit, parking and arriving early.