Embarrassment

Finally, someone had the courage to call the ads for the Preakness just what they really are … "an embarrassment." I'm referring to Kevin Cowherd's "Get Your Preak On': From sport of kings to royal embarrassment," May 10. After hearing another one of these objectionable "Preak On" ads over the weekend, I thought: Just how low will the Maryland Jockey Club, and others, go to earn a buck? How sad that this ad represents not only Baltimore, but all of Maryland. The only word I can think of is DEGRADING!

Every year ESPN zeros in on one player who was expected to go in the first round and doesn't. It really is unnecessary. Last night, we had to endure the countless camera shots of a disappointed Geno Smith, West Virginia's star quarterback. We had to watch him doodle on his cell phone or some other electronic device as team after team picked someone else in the first round. I understand ESPN is trying to capture the emotion, but these are 21- and 22-year-old kids. They have waited for this moment all of their lives, but sometimes enough is enough.

I turned on my TV to watch the second scheduled presidential debate and instead saw an old-fashioned street brawl break out ("Obama takes an aggressive stand," Oct. 17). Both participants were an embarrassment. The so-called debate convinced me that the two-party system in our country is irrevocably broken and needs to be fixed sooner rather than later. President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney aren't totally to blame for their performance. Over the years the media have bent and twisted the protocol of the debates, which were originally instituted to discuss issues, not to get into verbal skirmishes full of half-truths, embellishments of the truth and, worst of all, full-throated denigration of one's opponent.

Local governments and police on Wednesday attacked a sweeping proposal to change Maryland's speed camera law. During the first hearing on whether to revamp a law that has been lucrative for local governments but also has sparked concerns about fairness, speed camera proponents defended what has been called a "bounty system" of paying contractors based on the number of tickets issued to drivers. Program supporters also rejected as unfeasible a proposal to require precise time-stamped photos and painted lines on roadways that would more easily allow motorists to challenge the $40 tickets in court.

If you heap on enough praise, is it possible for a whole county to feel embarrassed?Perhaps, especially now that American Demographics magazine has joined a long list of admirers declaring Howard County a mecca for the affluent and highly educated.Using data from the 1990 U.S. Census, the magazine ranked Howard fourth among the 20 jurisdictions in the nation with high concentrations of well-heeled residents.It was the only county in Maryland cited. In fact, the accolades were so plentiful, even the most skeptical would have to blush.

In recent times, the Schmoke administration has increasingly come to believe that circumventing such processes as open bidding will save time and enable government to produce results faster. Perhaps this outcome indeed can be obtained with thorough screening and research. Unfortunately, the Schmoke administration is not known for adept or disciplined staff work.The latest embarrassment -- coming after disclosures about questionable non-bid awards by the municipal public housing authority -- concerns the city's efforts to find a new manager to run the financially troubled Harrison's Pier 5 hotel at the Inner Harbor.

Abraham Paul Korotki should go to heal himself.Remember this Korotki? He's the attorney previously famous for ripping off injured firefighters and slapping a woman who dared to smoke in the smoking section of a restaurant. He told the woman she should be healed. He told the firefighters they were greedy. He said this when he took 75 percent of their money after the firefighters were burned in a chemical blaze.Yesterday, a Baltimore County judge told Korotki he was an embarrassment to lawyers and other human beings.

The republic would seem to be in good health, if not sound mind, when hurt feelings and public embarrassment are the picadors of public passion. The past few weeks have provided a surfeit of sensitivity challenges: A group of "lactivists" staged a nurse-in to protest an airline's insensitivity to a breast-feeding mom. Two African-American men hired a lawyer to sweeten an apology they're demanding from a racist, epithet-hurling comedian. Six Muslim imams, in an impressive demonstration of cultural assimilation, cried racism when airline officials removed them from a flight for mimicking the behavior of the 9/11 terrorists.

ABERDEEN - After three days of the Ripken Minor League Experience, I've reached a startling conclusion that goes against everything I ever believed about baseball: The game is way easier than it looks. How else do you explain the fact that I've made some of the most harrowing defensive plays this side of Jose Canseco and my team has streaked right to the top of the standings? So much for meeting the Ripken Challenge, which was delivered by Bill Ripken in January when the minor league fantasy concept was still in its embryonic stages.

Ricky Gervais has made a career out of making us cringe. His brilliant 2001 BBC comedy, The Office, took on matters of race, religion, disability and gender -- frequently crossing lines that we typically dare not cross in polite society. (Though we're about to cross them here.) Gervais played an office manager of a paper supplies company who badly wanted to be popular, but always said the wrong thing. Explaining his commitment to diversity, he said, "I haven't got a sign on the door that says white people only.

The problems cited by the article "VA falls short on helping veterans" (Jan. 27) regarding the Veterans Affairs Department's huge delays in processing disability payments raises another question regarding how well it administers its responsibility for providing health care to our veterans in general. Why is there a need for the "Wounded Warriors" organization that constantly solicits donations from the public? Isn't this the clearest indication of the VA's failures and an extreme embarrassment to this administration?

The first game full of errors, poor defensive coverage and careless penalties could easily be shrugged off as growing pains for a team with a new coach and new system. Maybe even the second, too. But as the Washington Capitals foundered for a third straight game, stricken with a familiar brand of self-inflicted calamity, the question became not when they would put everything together but if. Undone once more by a plethora of untimely penalties, inept special teams play and a downright lack of cohesion, the Capitals lost, 4-1, to the Montreal Canadiens at Verizon Center on Thursday night, dropping to 0-3 on the year.

The signs of frustration and desperation were everywhere at M&T Bank Stadium, which had so many empty seats by the middle of the fourth quarter Sunday that it felt like a preseason game. Ed Reed slammed and then kicked his helmet on the sideline after Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker grabbed a 51-yard touchdown. Torrey Smith yelled in the direction of a trainer when he was told that he was done for the day with concussion-like symptoms. Cary Williams and Anquan Boldin drew penalty flags for illegal hits.

The Ravens were fortunate that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't play Sunday because the score might have been worse. Much worse. In the past couple of weeks, the Ravens had the football gods smiling down on them, but Sunday they were beaten by a quarterback older than Moses. Some say Charlie Batch was playing in the NFL when there were no facemasks on helmets. There is speculation he has filed for Medicare and Social Security. But Batch, 37, outperformed his much younger and sometimes more talented counterpart Joe Flacco as Pittsburgh upset the Ravens, 23-20, before 71,442 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Initially, I had problems with the Ravens running a fake field goal and Sam Koch scoring a touchdown. The score was already 41-17 with 9:20 left in the third quarter, and the Oakland Raiders had no chance of catching up. But once Jacoby Jones ran 105 yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown with 12:34 left in the game, I felt no compassion for Oakland. At that point, the Ravens had to virtually take a knee to not score in the game. On Jones' run, the lead blocker ran through the hole untouched and didn't block anyone.

The outcome of the recent referendum notwithstanding, the process and result of congressional redistricting in Maryland was a disgrace and remains a badge of shame for the state ("Against Question 5," Nov. 6). It would be hard to imagine a clearer case of politicians choosing their voters, rather than the other way around, undermining the fundamental purpose of the election process. But that was the only transparent part of this exercise, since the actual wording of the referendum question seemed intended to mislead.

Kuwait ended an embarrassment when it wound up martial law tribunals of alleged collaborators and commuted 29 death sentences already handed down. U.S. and allied pressure to improve on the human rights front clearly had something to do with that.But that should not be the end of it. Kuwait remains a disappointment to its friends in the aftermath of the gulf war. The return to civilian rule means the armed men on the corner change their army uniforms for police uniforms. It leaves guns in the hands of Kuwaitis, in some cases to use against Palestinian and other guest workers as they please.

Out-of-control Ravens are embarrassment The conduct of the Ravens on Sunday against the Detroit Lions was disgraceful and an embarrassment to the city of Baltimore and should be an embarrassment to all those connected with the team. Judging from newspaper and TV reports since, neither players nor coaches nor, for that matter, higher management and ownership feel any embarrassment. This reaction is disappointing. However, the Ravens' conduct should come as no surprise. Several veterans and team leaders have shown by their actions that they have no respect for authority or, in too many cases, the law. Given that, why should anyone expect that they would feel constrained to abide by the rules of football or to look upon the officials, coach, general manager and owner as authority figures?

The reality smacked the Ravens in the face like one of Joe Flacco's passes that got batted back toward the line of scrimmage by a swarming Houston Texans defense. Over 60 frustrating minutes Sunday, all the Ravens' flaws through the first six games came to the surface. Flacco struggled, running back Ray Rice never was established and the Ravens' offense wilted again on the road. On defense, not even the successful return of linebacker Terrell Suggs could save a group that struggles to tackle, get pressure on the quarterback and provide adequate coverage.

I turned on my TV to watch the second scheduled presidential debate and instead saw an old-fashioned street brawl break out ("Obama takes an aggressive stand," Oct. 17). Both participants were an embarrassment. The so-called debate convinced me that the two-party system in our country is irrevocably broken and needs to be fixed sooner rather than later. President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney aren't totally to blame for their performance. Over the years the media have bent and twisted the protocol of the debates, which were originally instituted to discuss issues, not to get into verbal skirmishes full of half-truths, embellishments of the truth and, worst of all, full-throated denigration of one's opponent.