Glory Days

At Glory Days Grille in Pasadena, the crowd erupted in cheers and chants as the Ravens kicked off with four seconds remaining in Super Bowl XLVII and the clock wound down to give Baltimore its second NFL championship. "I told him, I was worried when it was 28-13," said Ginger Szydlowski, motioning to her partner at the bar. Al Szydlowski laughed. "I was never worried," he said. That may have been a slight exaggeration. Throughout the evening, the bar and restaurant went from jubilant to solemn, to people on the edge of their seats to leaping out of their chairs.

At Glory Days Grille in Pasadena, the crowd erupted in cheers and chants as the Ravens kicked off with four seconds remaining in Super Bowl XLVII and the clock wound down to give Baltimore its second NFL championship. "I told him, I was worried when it was 28-13," said Ginger Szydlowski, motioning to her partner at the bar. Al Szydlowski laughed. "I was never worried," he said. That may have been a slight exaggeration. Throughout the evening, the bar and restaurant went from jubilant to solemn, to people on the edge of their seats to leaping out of their chairs.

Nostalgic sports buffs, take note. There will be "A Celebration of Memories" Nov. 3 at the Senator Theatre, where they plan to roll the clock back 35 years to the glory days of the Baltimore Colts. The lobby will be decorated with Colts memorabilia; the Colts Marching Band, which never disbanded, will play; and former team members will be there.This will set the mood for the Maryland premiere of "Father's Daze," a 25-minute film about former Colt Bill Pellington and his struggle with Alzheimer's disease.

The season is upon us when the question, "Hot enough for ya?" becomes a conversation starter. Usually around Fathers Day, though sometimes earlier and, more rarely, a little later, the sun interacts with the shallow water of the upper Chesapeake Bay in such a way that the second part of the conversation can easily be, "It's not the heat. It's the humidity. " It is fair to say Harford County had plenty of both last week, and this week promises more of the same. Unofficial time and temperature signs were flashing heat levels in excess of 100 degrees, and it wasn't the kind of dry 100 degrees people talk about after they've traveled to Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon.

When the Tour Du Pont rolls into Columbia tomorrow afternoon, 88-year-old Frederick Krauk will be standing along the sideline rooting for Greg LeMond.At the finish line, 52-year-old Ron Fuller will be waiting with other dignitaries to hand out awards to the winners.Together, Krauk and Fuller represent 75 years of evolution in the sport of bicycle racing in Maryland.Krauk, who delights in saying he still has great legs from his biking days, was the Baltimore City School Boy bicycling champion from 1916 through 1918.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani now leads Arizona Sen. John McCain in the race for the Republican nomination. Given conservatives' wariness toward Mr. Giuliani - who is twice divorced and supports both reproductive and gay rights - it's surprising to find "America's mayor" as the GOP front-runner. Here's my theory for why Mr. Giuliani is ascendant: It's not so much because he triggers memories of the horrific day in the fall of 2001 when the terrorists attacked, but that he reminds Republicans of the fall of 2002.

The South Carroll Republican Club will have its third annual Ol' Glory Days Dinner June 18 at Martin's Westminster.Guests will be U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, an Arkansas Republican, and U.S. Sen. Robert C. Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who is a presidential candidate.A private reception with the guests will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by the dinner and program.Tickets are $40 for the dinner and $100 for dinner and reception. Deadline for tickets is Friday.Information: 410-781-6316 or 410-875-0605.

CLEVELAND -- After nearly five days of discussions, the Washington Bullets have agreed to a contract with Bernie Bickerstaff, who will be introduced today as the team's new coach.Bickerstaff, who began the season as the coach of the Denver Nuggets before stepping aside to resume his duties of general manager, was the top choice of the Bullets from the time the team fired Jim Lynam on Wednesday."We've agreed to a contract, in principle," Bullets general manager Wes Unseld said last night before the start of the NBA All-Star Game.

Did you ever have a craving for a slice of the Wellesley fudge cake sold from the bake shop of Hutzler's department store?Probably the only mortals who don't are those who never tasted this long-gone version of bakery bliss.The cake is gone, as is the Hutzler Brothers Company, that local institution that seemed as if it would be immortal. Founded in 1858, it made it through to 1990 when the final going-out-of-business sale was held.The Howard and Saratoga streets stores are now state offices.

John Mackey will span two eras of Baltimore football this month.In Canton, Ohio, today, he will likely become the last player from the Baltimore Colts' glory days to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.The prototype of the modern tight end, Mackey played with the Colts from 1963-71, capping the storied 1958-71 era in which the Colts won three championships and fueled the modern pro football boom. The era ended after Bob Irsay bought the team in 1972.Mackey will take his place with Colt Hall of Famers from that era such as Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Johnny Unitas and coach Weeb Ewbank.

There's more to sport than winning. There are life lessons. There's the camaraderie. There's the fun of it all. But there's also the thrill of victory, and it's a thrill known many times this season by the girls on the Aberdeen High School basketball team, most recently over the weekend when they won the Maryland Class 3A state high school championship game. The Eagles had a spectacular season, defeating just about every opponent they faced. Their only defeat came at the hands of Riverdale Baptist, a team ranked sixth in the nation by USA Today . Even in the team's one loss there was consolation to be found as forward TK Fowlkes told the Baltimore Sun : "It's a great learning experience.

As an individual who has seen Penn State football coaches come and go, I can say Joe Paterno was an anomaly, failing to retire after his 70th birthday in contrast to both Bob Higgins and Rip Engle, incidentally Mr. Paterno's coach and mentor. At his age, when the problem occurred, namely 75, the job of coaching a now perennial contender was overwhelming, and each year he worried that even as a legend at Penn State, his team would not live up to the expectations of both the student body and alumni.

Columnist Ron Smith states that our economic collapse is inevitable ("When will collapse come?" Sept. 16). As a tea party guy, I hold out hope that there will come a day when voters put enough pressure on our politicians that they see the light and we start paying down our debt to avoid that collapse. But seeing as how Senate Leader Harry Reid just inserted federal funding to create more bike paths into one of the bills going through Congress, I can see why Mr. Smith would conclude that our politicians don't get the gravity of the situation with regard to the debt.

Anyone who follows the Baltimore Orioles can see they are playing about the way they have for over a decade. They seemingly still can't beat the top-tier teams in their division, their starting pitching has been faltering and so far their bullpen has had some forgettable moments. Same old story, different year. Talented ball players with stellar major-league resumes were purchased in the off-season to turn the team's fortunes around, but unfortunately those players have not been performing up to expectations.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III went too far when he fired Officer Salvatore Rivieri ( "Judge upholds firing of officer in harbor skateboard incident," March 1). I was a business owner in South Baltimore and got to know Officer Rivieri personally. He treated his badge with respect and dignity, and only wanted the public to do the same. The young man in the video and his parents should be proud that the city had someone on the force who cared about the wellbeing of the youths.

You did not have to be around for the glory days of the Orioles to understand why putting Baltimore back on the road jerseys is so uplifting to the city's soul. "Every other team comes in here with their city's name on the front of their jerseys," said Kris Burton of Parkville as he stood inside the Gallery at Harborplace for the unveiling of the new jerseys yesterday afternoon. "It means a lot to me. I'm proud of Baltimore. It doesn't matter how bad [the Orioles have] been or how much they've been losing.

BOSTON -- On a bright Friday morning, Ray Flynn shows up at the hiring hall of the International Longshoremen's Association to pick up the union's endorsement.It was voted a couple of weeks ago, but it is necessary to have a press conference to announce it. As it happens, the only press on hand is one out-of-town reporter but, what the hell, in politics you go through the drill. So William McNamara, vice president of the ILA, says the union "will never forget what he did as mayor of Boston for the working people of the city of Boston."

Larry Doyle can seem a little obsessed with high school. He is 48, and the winner of two Emmy Awards for his writing on The Simpsons, but his resume still lists this achievement: National Merit Scholar, Buffalo Grove High School, 1976. Doyle would also like you to know that he graduated 13th in his class of 513, but that some of the people above him took easy classes. He wrote for the school paper, acted in student plays and was on the speech team (but not debate: he had his limits). It goes without saying that he still has dreams set at his alma mater.

1 Payoff time: The $390,000 winner's purse is at stake today in the final round of the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club (4 p.m., ch. 11). First tee is 8:30 a.m. 2 'I shook up the world': It's Cassius Clay's last fight, sort of. He meets champ Sonny Liston in 1964 (1 p.m., ESPN Classic). The next day, Clay said he was changing his name to Muhammad Ali. 3 Raising awareness: Figure skaters, gymnasts and musical performers look to raise awareness of women's cancers in the two-hour "Frosted Pink With a Twist" (4 p.m., Ch. 2)

Loren Roberts, the defending champion of the Constellation Energy Senior Tour Championship, was in town yesterday to do interviews with the media as he prepares to defend his title Oct. 9-12 against a field that includes Tom Watson, Jeff Sluman, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Jay Haas, Mark O'Meara and Maryland's own Fred Funk. Roberts cruised last year, beating Watson by six shots. Since its inception, the tournament has raised more than $8.5 million for local charities. Always a good sport, Roberts agreed to answer five wacky questions from us. 1. Politics aside, whom do you like in an alternate-shot match between Barack Obama-Joe Biden and John McCain-Sarah Palin?