Ed Mcmahon

L aurie DeYoung doesn't hesitate when asked for a defining moment from her 24-plus years as the morning voice of WPOC-FM. The moment was not heard on air, has nothing to do with the country music the station plays and happened well out of the public eye. But it goes a long way toward explaining why she has remained a dominant force on Baltimore's airwaves for more than two decades, and why she was honored in Nashville on Tuesday with her induction to...

When she was told that she had won $250,000 in a Publisher's Clearinghouse sweepstakes and that Ed McMahon was in the room with the caller, Kathryn Hurt thought it was her lucky day. Prosecutors say the call was a part of a scheme that cost the 84-year-old Towson woman $26,000 and that an out-of-work Canadian actor who helped operate it was responsible. Michael Filion, 20, of Montreal was given a 10-year sentence yesterday in Baltimore County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to felony theft charges.

If you think you can sing, dance, or tell a funnier joke than the old stalwarts you see on television now, break out the sequins and the tights: Ed McMahon's "Star Search" is coming to town.You won't be able to audition today, but you can meet Mr. McMahon. He's touring the country to drum up support for the 12th season of "Star Search" and will be in Owings Mills from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at Boston Chicken, 10237 Reisterstown Road. He'll be touting the changes on his show and will be choosing the winner of a trip for two to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.His Baltimore-area stop is one leg of a 35-city national tour designed to stir interest in the show, which has been revamped with a new set, a new format and a new segment host: former MTV VJ Martha Quinn.

YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON.No -- you haven't won the American Family Publishers sweepstakes. But you may have won the right to sue the company in a courtroom somewhere near you.One of the great commonalities of American life -- Ed McMahon's smiling visage, the thick envelopes covered with breathless come-ons and promises, the coupons for cut-rate magazine subscriptions -- has collided with another great American tradition, the class-action lawsuit.Over the last three weeks, lawsuits have been filed in Maryland, Florida, Alabama, New Jersey and the District of Columbia alleging that consumers are being misled into thinking they are sweepstakes finalists and that they increase their chances of winning by buying magazines.

They're always the Other Guys. Sam Cassell's mother gets more hype than the Houston Rockets.They played opposite the mega-market Knicks in last year's NBA Finals. This year, they have played the foil in the postseason against the powerful headline-hunting trifecta of Charles Barkley's Suns, Dennis Rodman's Spurs and Shaquille O'Neal's Magic.They're Ed McMahon to the NBA's high-pub Johnnys, always the co-star, never cast in the leading role.In the time it takes you to read this sentence, Michael Jordan will sell more shoes than the Rockets ever have.

ATLANTA - I'm on high alert. Don't ask me for what. I can't reveal that. Suffice it to say that I have concluded, based on information developed, that someone somewhere could somehow do something really, really, really bad sometime. And don't ask me the source of my information. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it's credible. I can, however, tell you some of the things I've been doing while I've been on high alert. First, I've stopped using talcum powder after showering. Sure, I'm not quite as fresh as I used to be - moister than I prefer in certain areas - but who knows what's in that powder.

The editor called the reporter into her office. "I have a story idea. Why don't you do something about flattery in the workplace? We even have a headline: 'The Age of Obsequiousness.' ""I believe," the reporter said slowly, searching for the precise words to describe her feelings, "that this is a great idea. I'll get right on it."Flattery. Kissing up. Call it ingratiation, if you prefer psychological jargon. Or call it by its coarse -- yet far from crudest -- name: sucking up.But if you have an ounce of honesty or self-awareness, you know you do it. You know you love it when someone does it to you. And you know you are outraged when you see others doing it."

Jon Miller, who called the Orioles' final out of their last World Series Championship title in 1983, has been named the 2010 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions in baseball broadcasting. He will be honored in Cooperstown, N.Y., during this year's National Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony on July 25 along with 2010 Hall inductees outfielder Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey and New York Daily News writer Bill Madden, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient for baseball writing.

Jon Miller, who called the final out of the Orioles' last World Series title in 1983, has been named the 2010 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions in baseball broadcasting. He will be honored in Cooperstown, N.Y., during this year's National Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony July 25 along with the 2010 Hall inductees: outfielder Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey. Bill Madden of the New York Daily News will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing.

The Buzz Aldrins of the world have a new hero. Suddenly, Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa is the man for anyone who ever languished as a sidekick, runner-up, second fiddle or minor historical footnote. You know who you are.With his stirring challenge to Mark McGwire's eminence as a home run champion, Sosa has become a hero for the surpassed, eclipsed, outshone, dwarfed, diminished and towered over.Ed McMahons rule!If Sosa hits more homers than McGwire this season -- each has 62 -- he would shatter the ego-swallowing ideal set by Aldrin, who became the second man to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong.