Hail Mary

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thousands of Baltimore football fans circled the date after peeking at the NFL's 1996 schedule last spring. But here, where the heartland welcomed the Colts after they ditched their old home nearly 13 years ago, tomorrow's Ravens-Colts clash has sparked an emotional response that measures somewhere between a yawn and a raised eyebrow.Don't get the Indianapolis fans wrong. They want the Colts to rebound from their first loss last week, an overtime defeat in Buffalo. After last year's improbable run through the AFC playoffs, they would hate to see their Colts come up another Hail Mary pass short of the Super Bowl.

Wa-aay behind in the polls, the Republican who's trying to unseat Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski has resorted to a most unusual Hail Mary pass. Dr. Eric Wargotz has posted a video of his three kids — Jacob, 13; Samuel, 11; and Leila, 9 — singing a campaign rap song. ( See it on YouTube under "Wargotz-Mikulski Rap. " ) Here's a snippet: "Yo, what's up now, my brothers and sisters / Let me tell you 'bout a very smart mister / His name is Eric Wargotz and he's running for Senate / U.S., that is. And he's in it to win it. " Maybe this is part of that hip-hop makeover RNC chief and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele vowed to bring the GOP. It is certainly, as Steele promised, "off the hook.

Tonight's "American Idol" in Baton Rouge was the best episode thus far. We actually got to see more authentic talent than squabbles between the lady judges and misfits. It was awesome.  In the very beginning, we were introduced to Miss Baton Rouge herself, Megan Miller, who opted to postpone surgery on her leg to not miss her audition. Megan did us all a huge favor, siding with singing versus going under the knife. "I would let my leg fall off before I missed this audition," Megan said.

REGINA, Saskatchewan -- The news hit Doug Flutie like a blindside sack.His right arm, the most valuable one in the Canadian Football League, the one that had carried him through four seasons most quarterbacks only dream about, was a wreck. His flexor tendon was torn to the point where it had separated from the elbow. Surgery would be required. His 1995 season, which up to that point was shaping up as the best of his career, was over.More than two months ago, Flutie held a news conference to make the somber announcement.

The Ravens were on the brink of a historic upset. Instead, they had to deal with one of the most heartbreaking defeats in their history. Hurting themselves in the fourth quarter with questionable decision-making, the Ravens fell short in a painful 27-24 loss to the unbeaten New England Patriots last night at a blustery M&T Bank Stadium. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady capitalized on the Ravens' mistakes, throwing an 8-yard touchdown to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds remaining.

WNBA Finals, Game 5 Fever@Mercury 8 p.m. [ESPN2] Indiana missed a chance Wednesday night to clinch in front of Colts stars Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. Let's see if the Cardinals' Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald show up tonight in Phoenix for the decisive fifth game. What would they see? Maybe a Hail Mary basket put up by the Fever's Katie Douglas, near left, or the Mercury's Diana Taurasi.

Dwayne Wright was 17 when he spotted Saba Tekle on a highway in Northern Virginia, decided he wanted to have sex with her and pumped a bullet into her back when she tried to run away. Wright, now 19, awaits execution on Virginia's Death Row.Five New Jersey teen-agers, two of them 14, allegedly strangled a pesky classmate with an electrical cord as he recited the Hail Mary in his car. Three of the boys admitted to the murder in April and will testify against the others.A 14-year-old Los Angeles girl and two teen-age friends, including her 17-year-old boyfriend, allegedly poisoned, shot and burned the girl's well-meaning but strict father.

Ryan SutterPosition: SafetyHeight: 6-1Weight: 203Age: 23College: ColoradoSeason: RookieHighlights: Second of Ravens' fifth-round draft choices, he'll compete for jobs as nickel back and on special teams. Led Big 12 conference with 170 tackles in '97 to earn AP All-Big 12 selection. Walked on at Colorado in 1993 and saw time on special teams before starting all 11 games last season. Was nominated for first award honoring the nation's top special teams player.Favorite food: Mother's lasagnaFavorite TV show: "The Simpsons"Favorite movie: "Pulp Fiction"Memorable college moment: His whole senior year stands out. His favorite play was the "Hail Mary" pass from Kordell Stewart that beat Michigan in 1994, although he was not on the field.

A brazen con artist received the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison yesterday for the 2006 murder of her boyfriend, after adding another bizarre chapter to a life of crime with a court appearance that included a last-ditch attempt to take back her guilty plea. Cynthia J. McKay, a 52-year-old mother of six, said a prison "epiphany" had convinced her to try to fight the charges - even though her son's release from jail was tied to her following through with her plea. When the judge turned down the request for a trial, McKay then said that she had stabbed her boyfriend during a fight.

Joe Flacco's Hail Mary pass in Saturday's division game may have saved the Ravens' season, but it appears to have emptied the tables in Baltimore restaurants. Baltimore bars did clean-up business on Saturday, but restaurants lost customers, as patrons called in to cancel reservations, according to anecdotal conversations with local restaurant owners. Blame it on bad timing. The division game began at 4:30 p.m., which was perfect, in theory, for planning a Saturday night restaurant dinner -- if the game had ended in regulation.