Field

Every point for Maryland this season is as valuable as a precious metal. The offense, weakened by injuries and led by a new freshman quarterback, is clearly a work in progress. It just doesn't score that often and can't afford to waste red-zone opportunities. That's why everyone will understand the decision revealed Sunday to use a new field-goal kicker - freshman Brendan Magistro - for the shorter attempts. Maryland has lost two close games in a row -- and Brad Craddock has missed kicks of shorter than 40 yards in both of them.

Not even the end of the Ravens' 31-30 win against the New England Patriots Sunday night could escape controversy. Officials ruled that rookie kicker Justin Tucker's 27-yard field was good although the ball appeared to be very close to flying outside the right upright. Immediately after the kick, Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork berated officials and coach Bill Belichick placed his hand on another official just prior to his post-game handshake with Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

The field for the NCAA women's Division I lacrosse tournament was announced Sunday night, and Maryland took the top seed. The Terps (18-1) will host Marist (10-7) on Saturday at noon. Navy (17-3) and Towson (13-4) were also selected to participate in the tournament as unseeded teams. This weekend's first-round games: Seeded teams play host Saturday Marist at No. 1 Maryland, noon Navy at No. 3 North Carolina, noon Boston U. at No. 8 Penn, 1 Stanford at No. 5 JMU, 1 Syracuse at No. 4 Georgetown, 1 Notre Dame at No. 2 Northwestern, 1 Sunday Towson at No. 6 Virginia, noon or 1 Vanderbilt at No. 7 Duke, 2

The biggest hit of the night during Friday's Orioles-Athletics game at Camden Yards came during the seventh-inning stretch, when a bare-chested fan ran onto the field. He ran around as the Baltimore City Police closed in on him. He ran down the third-base line and slid face first into home plate. He got up to the cheers of fans. And then he went down just as quickly - a blind-side tackle from plate umpire Jeff Kellogg. The fans erupted again.

HC

The Ravens' shocking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars ultimately was decided by five points. But could the outcome have been different if Billy Cundiff had converted that 52-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter? Coach John Harbaugh seems to think so. At the time of the miss, the Ravens trailed the Jaguars 9-0, but might have the field goal shifted momentum in the Ravens' favor? “That was a tough miss yesterday,” Harbaugh said during his weekly briefing Tuesday. “You know, they made three 50-yard-plus field goals, and we missed our one, and that was probably the difference in the game.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter promised some unconventional thinking when drawing up his lineup for these games at National League parks, and tonight's would qualify. With no designated hitter, Showalter found a way to get Chris Davis' hot bat in the lineup, sending him to right field, a position he's never played in the major leagues. Showalter wants to keep Mark Reynolds at first base, and there are several options at third (Wilson Betemit starts there tonight). Those are the only two positions Davis has played in the bigs.

Every week, blogger Matt Vensel breaks down a critical play, sometimes with the help of Ravens players, from that week's game. Today he looks at Sam Koch's touchdown run on a fake field goal against the Raiders. The intentions of the Ravens have been questioned after they scored on a fake field goal while up 24 points in the third quarter of Sunday's blowout victory over the Oakland Raiders. To their credit, the Raiders didn't whine about the fake, though defensive tackle Tommy Kelly did ask reporters, “Would you run a fake field goal?

When it was over, Scott Rodgers' voice sounded like he had spent the afternoon chewing on, and swallowing, a pint glass full of gravel. His eye black, which was painted on his cheekbones in the style that suggests both superhero and professional wrestler, was partially washed away by sweat, then smeared into his beard. He walked with delicate, weary steps, contemplating what had just unfolded. His team had lost. He had given up the decisive goal. And yet Rodgers was, by far, the most outstanding player on the field in Monday's NCAA championship between Notre Dame and Duke, a 6-5 overtime victory for the Blue Devils at M&T Bank Stadium.

Whatever it takes Dom Amore Hartford Courant How much force is needed when a fan runs onto the playing field? The appropriate amount is whatever it takes to get the situation under control as quickly as possible. One way to solve the problem is to line stadiums with netting or plexiglass so that fans cannot go onto the field in the first place. If that is not an option, the only other is to do whatever it takes. This is not about disrupting or interfering with a baseball game, though that is issue enough with the price of tickets.