Fact

Fact: The Orioles have drawn more fans this season than in 1969 to '71 combined, when they won three AL pennants and one World Series.Opinion: Division winners in the NFL: Bills, Oilers, Broncos, 49ers, Lions, Eagles.Fact: Orioles lefty bullpen prospect Brad Pennington allowed only 12 hits in 39 innings at Rochester. He walked 33 but had a 2.08 ERA.Opinion: Gary Sheffield has slightly better numbers, but Barry Bonds is the hands-down National League MVP for doing it in a division-winning season.

As is often his wont, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s recent column on Obamacare provided a very one-sided narrative using gross generalizations and failing to provide context for his arguments ("Lost jobs, higher costs: Obamacare hits home," May 26). Mr. Ehrlich notes that landmark legislation typically passes Congress with some degree of bipartisan support. However, the examples he provides were all approved more than 48 years ago, at a time when many elected officials strove to do what was best for their constituents and the country.

Fact: Thirty-four of the Orioles' 63 wins belong to pitchers over 30.Opinion: When gauging Brady Anderson's '93, remember the sore knees.Fact: Back in baseball after a year off, Jim Traber has more than 100 RBI in the Mexican League.Opinion: Jim Lachey's knee injury only probably wrecks any shot the Redskins had at making the Super Bowl.Fact: Said Bobby Bonilla: "A lot of strange things happen to people when they come to New York." Oh, really?Opinion: The Orioles didn't complain about it, but, to set the record straight, Don Mattingly's homer Sunday was the definition of fan interference.

Fox News is not backing off on the Baltimore prison story scandal despite a bunch of big national stories that have conservatives salivating over the damage they see the Obama administration suffering. Take a look at this video (below) from Bill O'Reilly that features Jesse Watters bird-dogging Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Gary Maynard, the chief of Maryland prisons. Check out O'Reilly saying that Maynard "sounds like a moron. " I asked O'Malley about it Tuesday morning in Joppa during a set visit he paid to the soundstages where "House of Cards" is filmed.

Fact: When a recent ESPN study asked teen-agers to name their favorite pro team and athlete, just 6 percent named a baseball team and just 4 percent named a baseball player.Opinion: The Cowboys will whip the Redskins if they play in January.Fact (Part I): AL East rotations (top three only): Orioles: Mike Mussina, Ben McDonald, Rick Sutcliffe; Jays: Jack Morris, Juan Guzman, Dave Stewart; Brewers: Cal Eldred, Jaime Navarro, Bill Wegman.Opinion: In the Sugar Bowl: Miami 17, Alabama 6.Fact (Part II)

When I first heard about the rain tax ("Anger grows over stormwater fees," April 16), I laughed. Not because of the increase in living costs, or the fact that were being taxed on an uncontrollable environmental factor, it's the fact that Gov. Martin O'Malley got away with doing it. This bill has allowed legislators to cross into a new territory of taxes which makes me wonder if summer will have a tax next year due to the increased temperature causing...

Fact: Teams have a 26-15-4 record during the weeks that they have been ranked in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll this season.Opinion: A team with a losing record will make the NFL playoffs this season for the first time.Fact: Thirty years ago this month, Wilt Chamberlain grabbed 55 rebounds in one game.Opinion: The Eagles will be a lot less interesting after Buddy Ryan gets fired.Fact: The first five opponents on Maryland's 1991 football schedule are (yikes) Virginia, Syracuse, West Virginia, Pitt and Georgia Tech.

Fact: Without Mike Mussina, the Orioles have a 14-27 record.Opinion: Magic Johnson would make an excellent coach.Fact: Cal Ripken is on a 16-homer, 71-RBI pace.Opinion: One day, Riddick Bowe might actually have to train for a fight.Fact: At this rate, Barry Bonds will finish the season with 212 hits, 44 homers, 130 RBI and 29 steals.Opinion: Prairie Bayou wins the Belmont.Fact: It's five managers in 44 months for the Cincinnati Reds.Opinion: Tennis is pretty tame without Connors and McEnroe.

Fact: If not for John Elway's miracle finish against the Oilers, there would be three hurry-up offenses in the NFL Final Four.Opinion: Jerry Glanville would be fun to play for.Fact: The NFL expects sales of licensed merchandise this fiscal year to be between $1.9 billion and $2 billion.Opinion: Bill Parcells and Mario Cuomo were separated at birth.Fact: The Lakers' 6-8 December was their first losing month since March 1979, when Magic Johnson was still at Michigan State.Opinion: The Miami Hurricanes would beat the Washington Huskies on a neutral field.

Fact: Brady Anderson, Mike Devereaux, Ben McDonald and Gregg Olson will be eligible for free agency in the next two years.Opinion: Jacksonville vs. Carolina on Fox TV -- makes the CFL look like the big-time.Fact: The Orioles were last in the major leagues in road attendance. Cleveland whipped 'em by 26 thou.Opinion: The easiest way for the NFL to liven up its game would be to legalize the two-point conversion.Fact: The poor, pitiful AFC leads the NFC, 21-19, in inter-conference games.Opinion: If Paul Tagliabue is the last one to realize that the NFneeds livening up, that's his problem.

When I first heard about the rain tax ("Anger grows over stormwater fees," April 16), I laughed. Not because of the increase in living costs, or the fact that were being taxed on an uncontrollable environmental factor, it's the fact that Gov. Martin O'Malley got away with doing it. This bill has allowed legislators to cross into a new territory of taxes which makes me wonder if summer will have a tax next year due to the increased temperature causing...

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura A. Neuman has launched an investigation into allegations that county Police Chief Larry Tolliver used homophobic slurs and retaliated against officers whose testimony led to her predecessor's criminal conviction for misconduct. County Councilman Jamie Benoit called for the investigation in a letter to Neuman in which he recounted allegations from officers that Tolliver moved the detectives to less desirable positions and used the anti-gay term "fag.

The Maryland Senate on Monday overwhelmingly passed a weakened speed camera reform bill that would bar local governments from paying vendors based on the volume of citations but wouldn't ensure motorists had enough information to fact-check their citations. The measure, approved 46-1, goes to the House of Delegates, where lawmakers have been drafting a separate bill. The Senate bill, sponsored by Democrat James Brochin of Baltimore County, would outlaw per-ticket payments to any contractor that "provides, deploys or administers and processes" speed camera tickets.

If Towson University President Maravene Loeschke believes what she wrote in her commentary ("Painful cuts TU needs," March 17), then she is basing her decision on false information and without regard to the motives of the athletic department led by Mike Waddell. First, it has been clearly proven that Title IX compliance is not an issue and never was. Second, how are you improving the competitiveness of the entire athletic program by eliminating two of the most competitive teams which have been part of Towson athletics for 80 years.

Federal deficits are too large, and mounting national debt threatens future generations. But as Democrats and Republicans squabble over the mandatory spending cuts known as sequestration that went into effect Friday night, they are failing to face the facts of our budget situation or acknowledge the lessons of history. Since 2007, annual federal spending is up $1 trillion, and deficits jumped from $161 billion to $1.2 trillion over five years. Higher taxes on the wealthy and Obamacare levies will pull down the gap in 2014, but then it will rise again.

Paul Lang's piece on the selection of Mays Chapel for an elementary school was very much on the mark ("Mays Chapel Park wrong site for school" Feb 14). Instead of providing a comparative analysis of any substance, the Board of Education offers anecdotes, hyperbole and a "preliminary assessment" so cursory and flawed that it does not recognize the presence of public utilities at the other site it says it evaluated. It is an assessment so incomplete that it does not address costs to mitigate traffic issues, the costs of razing seven acres of mature trees or the comparative value to the local communities of the open space that will be lost.

Fact: Three of the five major-league teams that have fired their managers this season are still in last place. And the other two are in the same division as one of the last- placers.Opinion: The Seattle Mariners would win the AL East.Fact: The Chicago Bulls won 55 of their last 65 games.Opinion: It sure would make a positive statement if UNLV replaced the Tark with a law-and-order guy. (If there is a law-and-order guy, that is.)Fact: The combined lifetime ERA of the Orioles' current rotation -- Ballard, Mesa, Milacki, Robinson, Smith -- is 4.85.

Fact: The Ex-Oriole rotation (Pete Harnisch, Curt Schilling, Dennis Martinez, Mike Morgan, Rick Sutcliffe) has combined for a 6-21 record and two stays on the disabled list.Opinion: It would be interesting to see if America stayed inside in the middle of June to watch the Pacers and Jazz in the NBA Finals.Fact: (from the CFL transaction wire): Slotback Rob Crifo was traded from the Rough Riders to the Roughriders. (Ottawa to Saskatchewan.) He said, "In my heart, I'll always be a Rough Rider."

In his recent State of the State speech, Gov. Martin O'Malley said, "Our story, Maryland's story, is the story of better choices and better results. " This is certainly the kind of high rhetorical flourish we have come to expect from state leaders during legislative session time in Annapolis. Mr. O'Malley's rosy rhetoric reminded me of another former governor who harbored presidential ambitions: Ronald Reagan, who once said, "Facts are stubborn things. " In assessing the economic health of our state, I'm inclined to focus on the facts.

There are so many violent tragedies every day - I'm thinking specifically about the deaths of young people, and particularly those by gun - it's impossible to process it all, much less give our hearts to it. If we tried, our heads would burst. I remember hearing Joe Ehrmann, the life coach and minister who once played football for the Baltimore Colts, say the nation suffers from an "empathy-deficit disorder. " He believes human beings need more than ever to be trained to be empathetic, perhaps because self-interest is so powerfully innate.