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We're at the finale already (didn't this season seem short?). I'll say it right here at the top of the episode - unless William falls repeatedly on his keister, requiring the judges to give him 5's across the board, there's no way he's not winning this thing. That being said, I'd be OK with any of the three finalists winning, even though I'm personally Team Driver. Tonight's show will have each couple dancing two dances:  1. Judge's pick, which are new routines danced to new music, but in a style the couple has previously danced and in which the judges would like to see them improve.  2. Freestyle Tomorrow night, the couples will be doing some sort of third scored dance, details about which we'll learn later.

The size of the crowd at Camden Yards on Friday night even surprised Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Some of it could have been attributed to the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend. The postgame fireworks promotion probably brought a few out as well. The sudden excitement over the first-place Orioles also had to have some effect. Whatever brought the fans out to Camden Yards for the Orioles series opener against the Kansas City Royals, it filled the ballpark with a rare buzz for late-May.

In the wake of WWE's Over the Limit pay-per-view, a new Intercontinental champion has been crowned, four other champions continue to hold onto their titles and John Laurinaitis remains employed. Sunday night's show delivered an evening of quality entertainment and good in-ring performances. On a non-major PPV event, WWE delivered a product that surpassed the expectations of many. Here's a match-by-match look at the show: Battle Royale This last-minute addition to the card was a means of crowning a No. 1 contender for one of the midcard titles.

I am a Red Sox fan (I now live in New England), by way of having been a Braves fan (they were the team of the deep South in the '70s) , by way of having been a Brooklyn Dodgers fan as a very young child (their enemy was the Yankees, and they hired Jackie Robinson). I am a devoted Sox fan, and watch almost every Red Sox game on TV, unless I am at Fenway. It always seems weird to me to see a ballpark half full when I am used to Fenway full for every game. OK, there were lean times for theO'sin the past, but how can your city not come out to support the team this year?

Sometimes the small things make all the difference in professional wrestling. Too often, critics -- especially those on the Internet -- nitpick every decision WWE makes and find the logical or creative flaws. Many times, this creates an unnecessary sense or allegation of failure. But on tonight's Raw, WWE (or, more specifically, general manager John Laurinaitis) made a mistake that is almost unforgivable. While I personally wasn't offended by Sunday's match between John Cena and Laurinaitis at Over the Limit , many people have lashed out against the match.

All along, they had been so relaxed. So when it came time for Team O'Neill's horse to make his charge -- a historic one -- the colt moved forward almost nonchalantly. I'll Have Another glided past Bodemeister to win the 137th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, setting up a chance at the first Triple Crown since 1978. The California-based horse is the 12th to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Affirmed edged Alydar in all three races.

Tom opens calling it the "hardest fought season ever. " I'm not sure about that, but I will say that this is one with a lot of strong competitors, few loathsome personalities, and a satisfying final three. It starts with the pro dancers (the "real" pro dancers, not just the troupe) dancing to a song I would probably know if I were 20 years younger, but I'm not and the only 16-year-old in this house is a cat. At the end of the song, we get the pros walking the floor with their celebrity partners.

Fan criticism has apparently become the kryptonite to WWE's "Super Cena. " For the past several years, fans have been critical of the creative team's treatment of John Cena. Some fans have misdirected their gripes toward Cena himself, but he wasn't the one making booking decisions. No matter who the decision makers were, the facts were clear: Cena was not losing often, and when he did, it was rarely in clean fashion. But since WrestleMania, something has changed. WWE now seems to be taking Cena's character the opposite direction, pushing him into the corner and not giving him any breaks.

This past weekend I had a chance to soak in the WrestleMania 28 festivities from Miami - the Hall of Fame, Fan Axxess, the event itself at Sun Life Stadium and Raw the next night. Truly, for any WWEfan that came to participate in the crowd chants and invest themselves fully into the emotion of the stories being told, it would have been an absolutely draining 72 hours. Yet despite the Hell in a Cell curtain call, Sheamus pounding Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds (spawning a “YES!” chant that lasted through WrestleMania and in every segment of Raw, that will now transcend the superstar himself; also heard at the Miami Heat/Philadelphia 76ers game Tuesday)

It became as much a part of the mosaic of Orioles baseball as Esskay hot dogs, the collective roar of "O!" during the National Anthem, and Rex Barney intoning "Thank yewww" and "Give that fan a contract!"If you went to an O's game, you expected to jump to your feet during the seventh-inning stretch and hear John Denver warbling "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" in that high-pitched, hillbilly twang.Since the first time he danced and sang "Country Boy" atop the Orioles dugout during Game 1 of the 1983 World Series at Memorial Stadium, Orioles fans have felt affection for the 53-year-old pop singer, who died in a plane crash Sunday.

As a serious fan of the last place Red Sox, I have been appalled to see the size of the crowds at Orioles' games (16,000 or fewer during their recent series with the Sox). It's downright disrespectful to provide a good, young and first place team who are playing attractive baseball with so little local support. And so many of the sparse crowd are Red Sox fans that the Boston TV commentators actually referred to Camden Yards as "Fenway South. " It's not enough to make me root for the Orioles, but they really do deserve better.

During all the mounting losses, the short outings, the brutal beatings from the opposition that left-hander Brian Matusz endured last season, the Orioles faithful remained fairly kind, with only a smattering of boos for his worst performances. Matusz was, after all, considered a key to the club's future after a solid 2010, and the fan base was just waiting to embrace him again. So when he walked off the Camden Yards field Tuesday after throwing a two-hit gem in a 4-1 win against the Boston Red Sox, the announced crowd of 25,171 -- at least those there to cheer the Orioles -- showed its appreciation with a loud and long standing ovation.

It's usually one of the better non-scientific indicators of how many Orioles fans are in a road ballpark. And during Sunday's national anthem before the Orioles series finale in Washington, the “O” was head-shakingly loud. You could look into the seating bowl of Nationals Park and see nearly as much orange as you could red -- that is up until the eighth inning of the Orioles' 9-3 loss. Most of them were seen filing toward the exits then. This weekend's Battle of the Beltway series lived up to its hype in a lot of ways.

Kentucky has the Derby. Maryland, of course, is home to the Preakness Stakes. And Pennsylvania boasts the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, an annual celebration of all things equestrian that dates back well over a century. "It started as a one-day horse show in 1896," says Leonard A. King, Jr., 80, a longtime leader in the equestrian community who chairs the event. "We're now in the 116th year, and we'll go for 11 days. Over the years, we've had presidents, celebrities and visitors from across the country, and foreign countries, in attendance.

Robert T. Barry, a retired Exxon Oil Co. salesman and avid sports fan, died Friday from congestive heart failure at his Mays Chapel home. He was 83. The son of a lawyer and a homemaker, Robert Thomas Barry was born in Baltimore and raised on Dukeland Street. An outstanding athlete, he played varsity basketball, football and baseball at Loyola High School, from which he graduated in 1946. He was selected as a member of the All-Catholic Prep Football Team in 1945. Mr. Barry continued playing sports at what is now Loyola University Maryland, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1949.

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis could feel the energy back at Camden Yards. As the Orioles rallied from a six-run deficit Sunday against Tampa Bay in Baltimore's eventual 9-8 loss, Markakis - the most veteran player currently on the team's 25-man roster - took notice of more fans in the the stands. "It's awesome,” Markakis said. “A packed house, going into the ninth inning down by two runs. It's just momentum. Crowd is in it. That's all you can ask for. “It's all about the fans.

In 1988, the Honky Tonk Man lost the Intercontinental title to the Ultimate Warrior in 31 seconds. Honky Tonk would never reach that level of success in the WWE again, while the Ultimate Warrior was catapulted into the main event, winning the WWE title less than two years later. In 2012, Daniel Bryan lost the World Heavyweight championship to Sheamus in 18 seconds. But the rest of this story isn't a repeat of the Honky Tonk Man in 1988. Instead, something completely different happened.

The Orioles just released their 2012 promotions schedule, which is highlighted by a unique series of giveaways. In correlation with this year's 20th anniversay of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, sculptures of the six Orioles Hall of Famers will be unveiled each month during the season. And on the game nights when those former Orioles are honored, all fans will receive a seven-inch miniature replica scuplture of that player. Frank Robinson will be honored on April 28, Brooks Robinson on May 12, Earl Weaver on June 30, Jim Palmer on July 14, Eddie Murray on Aug. 11 and Cal Ripken, Jr. on Sept.

Get through to him Steve Gould Baltimore Sun As much as Josh Beckett's comments show a disconnect with — perhaps even outright disrespect for — his team and its fans, the Red Sox have little recourse other than to try to hammer into his head why his behavior is so rankling. And good luck with that. Don't let Beckett's horrid outing Thursday or his 5.97 season ERA fool you: He's still a good pitcher and one the Red Sox need. Four of his six outings have been quality starts, and all the outcry over beer and chicken doesn't change the fact that he posted a 2.89 ERA and 8.2 Ks/9 IP last season.

Here are a couple thoughts on Josh Hamilton's four-home run night against the Orioles - only the 16 th in major league baseball history, the first at Camden Yards and only the second in Baltimore. The other was at Memorial Stadium on June 10, 1959, when Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians did it. After Hamilton reached the milestone - a blast to center on a 0-2 pitch from Darren O'Day - the Orioles fans reacted appropriately. I know he is on the opposing team, but it was fantastic to see the fans - there were only 11,263 of you, so I don't want to see 20,000 stories next year about how all of you were there - jump to their feet and applaud this guy. And when Hamilton went out to the outfield after the eighth, he received another ovation - that apparently was especially cool for the Raleigh, N.C., native, who says he gets “worn out” by heckling Orioles fans, presumably about his well-publicized battle against addictions.