Games In Baltimore

It's hard to argue with the choices made by Gov. William Donald Schaefer to fill two slots on the Baltimore County school board.But it's not so hard to knock the way he made those choices.Both Sanford V. Teplitzky and Mary Katherine Scheeler, the newest members of the nine-person volunteer panel, appear to be well qualified. Both are lawyers who have been generous in giving their time to their communities. Both have sent their own children to Baltimore County public schools. Both seem committed to doing the kind of work that should help restore public confidence in the school board.

The Washington Capitals and 1st Mariner Arena announced today that they will make a "special" announcement Monday afternoon at the arena. Baltimore city officials and Capitals GM George McPhee will be in attendance, so expect a pretty significant announcement. This is pure speculation here -- and maybe a little bit of wishful thinking -- but it wouldn't surprise me if they revealed that the Capitals plan on playing a preseason exhibition at 1st Mariner Arena sometime in September.

The good news is that, in seven years of umpiring amateur baseball games in the Baltimore area, Frank Handley has had to give the thumb to only five adults. The bad news is he had to do it again a couple of weeks ago. But we're going to turn a negative into a positive today. We're going to get the message out - a reminder, really - that parents need to keep the ugly under control and set a good example for children. And parents who see and hear another behaving badly need to speak up. The story comes to us from Nancy Turner, who was so upset at what she saw during a Baltimore County recreational baseball tournament that she wrote me a detailed email about it. The game, on a Sunday morning in May, was for 11- and 12-year-olds.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said she would like to see the state's fledgling slot-machine gambling program expanded to include poker, blackjack, craps and roulette, adding her voice Friday to a growing number of lawmakers who support bringing Vegas-style table games to Maryland. Such games, the mayor said at a meeting of Baltimore's state lawmakers in Annapolis, would make any proposed city gambling parlor competitive "not only in the state, but within the region."

Officials from Baltimore City Public Schools are investigating a brawl that took place at a high school basketbal game Wednesday night in west Baltimore. According to reports, dozens of police officers were called to ConneXions School For The Arts on Wednesday night to respond to a fight during the school's game against Cardozo of Washington, D.C. Video of the incident shows both players and fans involved in the melee. Baltimore City Public Schools Police deferred comment to schools spokeswoman Edie House-Foster, who released the following statement: "Baltimore City Public Schools expects spectators and student athletes to exhibit excellent sportsmanship at all times.

Former Baltimore prep basketball star Aquille Carr plans to pursue a professional career overseas instead of playing at Seton Hall next season, he announced Saturday evening after he scored 52 points in his final high school game. Carr, who played his senior season at Princeton Day Academy in Laurel, had strongly hinted at his intentions in an interview last month and again in a series of tweets last week. He verbally committed to Seton Hall early last year and maintained all along that if he played in college, that would be his destination.

Sunday's football game between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets was seen by 18.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data released by NBC. While that is down about 10 percent from what the Sunday night telecast had been drawing, the telecast was still the most watched prime-time show of the week among young viewers (18 to 49 years of age). The overall audience was far and away the largest on television Sunday night. The dip in overall viewing was attirbuted to the blowout nature of the game with the Ravens jumping off to a fast 20 to 7 lead and never trailing as they went on to win 34-17.

No. 4 Okla. State (23-9)Head coach: Eddie Sutton.Career record: 549-208 in 25 seasons.Record at school: 119-44 in five seasons.Conference: Big Eight.Conference tournament: Beat Iowa State, 62-53, in final.Best win: Beat Kansas, No. 1 seed in Midwest, 79-69.Worst loss: Fell, 74-66, at cellar-dwelling Kansas State.NCAA tournament record: 21-12.Last NCAA appearance: 1994, beat New Mexico State, 65-55; lost to Tulsa, 82-80.Probable starters: C Bryant Reeves, Sr., 7-0; F Terry Collins, Sr., 6-6; F Scott Pierce, Sr., 6-9; G Andre Owens, Jr., 5-11; G Randy Rutherford, Sr., 6-3.Scouting report: The Cowboys won their first Big Eight tournament title since 1983.

The Royals are coming to Memorial Stadium . . . the ones from London, not Kansas City.Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be at the stadium May 15 to watch what apparently will be their first baseball match ever."