Four Teams

There is, of course, one good and entirely selfish reason why Baltimore should embrace the concept of the NFL expanding by four teams instead of two: It means we get our team, period. Any shred of doubt is eliminated. No more maybe. Final score: Baltimore gets the ball. Go Rhavens!In other words, it's overwhelmingly, irrefutably, 100-percent-and-no-less self-serving for us to agree with the XTC four-team idea, which was posed publicly for the first time the other day by Jerry Jones, the Cowboys' owner and cultural icon.

On Wednesday, the sunny, breezy first day of spring, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young walked up to a podium inside the Warehouse at Camden Yards and started to sniff the air. Young asked an audience that included area high school players and coaches, Orioles team officials and local politicians if they got a whiff of what he was smelling, too, before exclaiming: "That's the smell of baseball in the air. " At the Wednesday morning...

The top four teams in each state region will be seeded for the first time in this winter's girls and boys basketball state tournaments under a newly adopted pilot policy.The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association executive council approved the policy on Thursday.The experiment addresses objections raised often by coaches and others in high school basketball over pairings in regional tournaments being made by random draw, regardless of a team's regular-season record. The lottery draw began in the 1995-96 season.

Here's another subplot in the build-up to what should be a free-for-all in the AL East this summer: Almost every team in the division can play the nobody-believed-in-us card. With the exception of maybe the Blue Jays, who generated the most offseason hype this winter, the teams in baseball's deepest division might all enter the season with a chip on their shoulder. Case in point: Yankees first baseman (and Mount St. Joe alum) Mark Teixeira suggesting that his $200 million team is embracing an underdog role this season.

Entering the final weekend of the Atlantic Coast Conference season, the race for the regular-season title is about as crowded as the Baltimore Beltway at 5 p.m.Only 1 1/2 games separate four teams -- first-place Duke (12-3); North Carolina State and Clemson, one game behind; and North Carolina, another half-game back -- after the Blue Devils defeated the Wolfpack last night."I can't remember it [the conference race] being this tight. You have four teams that have a really equal chance to win. It's incredible that it's come down to this," said Wolfpack coach Kay Yow yesterday.

Who's hot Juan Pierre of the Rockies led the majors with 47 stolen bases, and hit .422 (38-for-90) in September. Who's not The Blue Jays attracted 1,637,900 fans this season - their lowest attendance since 1982. Line of the dayChad Moeller, D'backs C AB R H RBI HR 4 3 4 6 2 He said it "Rather than goodbye, please allow me to say thank you. Thank you for letting me be a part of your family." Ernie Harwell, concluding his final broadcast after 55 seasons, 42 with the Tigers It's a fact Four teams (Tigers, Devil Rays, Brewers and Royals)

2 -- Remaining games for county football teams battling for state playoff spots. As many as four teams could advance to the postseason, which would be the most in county history. 4 -- Wins in a row for South Carroll's football team following a 2-2 start. The Cavaliers are hoping for their second trip to the state playoffs in three years. 5 -- Teams that finished ahead of Century's foursome of Justin Anderlik, Matt Richardson, Luke Shaffer and Andrew Stenger in last week's Class 2A-1A state golf tournament in College Park.

Steve Fisher holds back when talking about his top-ranked Michigan Wolverines. He has no qualms about telling the world about his conference.The Big Ten has four teams in the preseason Associated Press college basketball poll, and Fisher's band of sophomores was on top, with Indiana fourth, Iowa 11th and Michigan State 20th. Three other leagues -- the Big Eight, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East -- have four teams each, but Fisher wasn't biting."I think the conference will be much better than it has been in years.

C It took a while, but Purdue women's basketball coach Lin Dunn has found the only negative aspect to reaching the NCAA women's Final Four this weekend in Richmond, Va.For the first time in her seven years at Purdue, Dunn actually will be on duty, coaching the Boilermakers as they pursue their first national championship. That means she won't be available to entertain her colleagues in the lobby of the coaches' headquarters hotel."I just realized when we made the Final Four that the weekend would lose some of its vacation nature," Dunn said during a national telephone news conference.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The four teams that have made it through this year's NCAA tournament to today's national semifinals here at the RCA Dome have a number of things in common. But the biggest similarity could be in the fact that none will go down as a team for the ages.The North Carolina team that will meet Arizona in the first game isn't close to Dean Smith's two previous national championship teams. It lacks the overall talent of the 1982 team that included junior All-American James Worthy and freshman legend-in-the-making Michael Jordan.

The Ravens run defense stiffened against the New York Giants' duo of Ahmad Bradshaw and David Wilson, limiting that pair of running backs to a combined 56 yards and just one touchdown on 12 carries Sunday. But considering that the Washington Redskins' Alfred Morris and the Denver Broncos' Knowshon Moreno had gained 129 and 118 yards, respectively, in back-to-back weeks, the Ravens know their No. 24 ranking in the NFL against the run still leaves a lot to be desired. Next up is the Cincinnati Bengals' BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who posted 91 yards and one score on 18 attempts in the Ravens' 44-13 rout in Week 1. With 1,094 yards this season, Green-Ellis has already surpassed his previous career-high total of 1,008 in 2010 when he played for the New England Patriots.

One-by-one, Ravens players said Sunday night that their last-second 23-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn't define their season or deter them from their regular-season goals. However, the defeat, coupled by another significant injury to linebacker Terrell Suggs, has made their already daunting four-game stretch to end the regular season even more difficult. Suggs tore his right biceps Sunday, leaving significant questions about whether he'll be able to help the Ravens the rest of the way. Suggs appears intent on trying to play through the injury, which wouldn't be unprecedented.

Four games against teams that qualified for the 2012 NCAA tournament highlight the 2013 Navy men's lacrosse schedule, released Tuesday. The Midshipmen will host six home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including an April 5 contest against Maryland, the NCAA finalist the past two seasons. "We are excited about the challenge our 2013 schedule presents," said coach Rick Sowell , who guided the Midshipmen to a 6-6 record in his first season and featured wins over nationally ranked Colgate and Johns Hopkins.  "Parity in Division I lacrosse is at an all-time high, and we'll need to be on top of our game each and every week.

With three teams making the playoffs and two winning 12 games during the regular season, the AFC North was arguably the NFL's most competitive division last season. Unfortunately for the Ravens, it figures to be hyper-competitive again in 2012 -- well, except for anything involving the ever-rebuilding Cleveland Browns. The Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers both experienced some losses during the offseason, but they don't appear to be heading for a huge drop-off this season and both teams are popular picks to win the AFC North.

Desperately lagging in the world baseball market, the Orioles are attempting to step up their international efforts, and this weekend might serve as a primary example of that change in philosophy. An Orioles contingent — to include manager Buck Showalter, new executive director of international recruiting Fred Ferreira, international operations director David Stockstill and new bullpen coach and Dominican Republic native Bill Castro — will attend a private workout Saturday morning in the Dominican by 26-year-old outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, a Cuban defector.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday revealed his NCAA tournament bracket , and it included a very chalky Final Four with all four No. 1 seeds advancing to Houston. The Commander in Chief has Kansas beating Ohio State in the title game. In my bracket breakdown post from earlier in the week, I predicted that Ohio State would defeat Kansas in the final, but my track record isn't as sterling. Knowing my luck with tourney polls, my bracket will probably be busted by the end of The Baltimore Sun's tournament viewing party at Hightopps this afternoon (if you feel like faking a migraine and joining us, here are the details )

As the final four teams prepare to battle for the two Super Bowl slots today, there are no surprise teams the way Carolina and Jacksonville were last year.Green Bay, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Denver all have Super pedigrees. They've been in 13 of the last 24 Super Bowls and have combined to make 17 Super Bowl appearances.The four teams have one other thing in common: All play in old stadiums and only one, San Francisco, has a new one approved.The NFL keeps saying its teams need new stadiums to compete, but the evidence has yet to prove that.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue's long efforts to bring football's geography in line with reality appear headed for defeat, as team owners have failed to agree on a plan to realign the league.No action was taken yesterday on proposed realignment formats at the owners' annual fall meeting in this Chicago suburb, but Tagliabue said he would try again today.Several owners, however, said there did not seem to be sufficient agreement to pass a plan by the required three-quarters vote.

A possible four-team trade that could have sent Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony to the New Jersey Nets has fallen apart, according to multiple media reports Tuesday. The Utah Jazz and Charlotte Bobcats reportedly were in talks about a deal that would have sent Nets rookie Derrick Favors and future draft choices to the Nuggets. With the discussion swirling, Anthony began training camp Tuesday with his Denver teammates. The three-time All-Star said he was happy to get back on the court.

Ravens looking good Ken Murray Baltimore Sun In the absence of any truly dominant teams — no, the Saints don't qualify with their defense — the race is wide open. Starting in the AFC, the Colts probably aren't going to flirt with perfection again, and the Patriots still are clearing the rubble from a wicked playoff loss to the Ravens. Because of all their upgrades, I like the Ravens to challenge the Chargers in the AFC title game.