Hannibal

Surprises aren't everyday occurrences - hence, the definition of the word. But that didn't stop a pair of teams from pulling off a couple of shockers in consecutive days. First, the Old Mill girls soccer team upset then-No. 10 Broadneck, 2-1, courtesy of an overtime goal from Patriots junior striker Kara Cullins Thursday. The next day, senior midfielder Danielle Werner's second-half score was all the Arundel field hockey team needed to topple then-No. 5 South River, 1-0. The prevalent thread running through both cases was an emotional pickup that seemed to energize the victors.

King Ramses II was there. Matthew Henson was there. King Tut, Harriet Tubman and George Carruthers also came.The famous and not so famous were on display yesterday at Meade Heights Elementary, as students put on "a living museum of black history."About 75 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders dressed in period costumes to show the life and works of blacks throughout history. Tour guides led the school's kindergarten through third-grade students through the museum -- which had once been the school's gym.The tour began with ancient leaders from Africa.

This was vintage Liberty High girls lacrosse.Precise passing and catching in a blistering transition game, constant cutters in front of the net, rapid-fire scoring from the big three of Kym Frey, Megan Horneman and Nathalie Skovron and a tough defense led by Natalie Hannibal.The result was a 23-9 romp for the top-seeded Lions over fourth-seeded Oakland Mills last night in the semifinals of the 1A-2A West Regional at Liberty.Liberty (14-1) will meet third-seeded Wilde Lake 7 p.m. Tuesday at Liberty in the 1A-2A West final.

Natalie Hannibal scored off a header with 25 minutes left in regulation as visiting Liberty twice rallied from one-goal deficits last night to defeat Westminster, 3-2.With Liberty (5-2, 2-1 in the county) coming off an impressive shutout win over Howard last week and Westminster (5-2, 1-1) recording four straight shutout wins behind senior goalie Julie Backof, last night's game appeared to have the makings of a tight defensive battle. It didn't happen.With the score tied at 2-2 midway through the second half, Hannibal chased down a bouncing ball by Michele Clawson and beat an aggressive Backof coming out of the net to score on the empty net."

Musical celebrationwill honor KingThe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture will present "Let Freedom Ring," a musical celebration in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Tuesday night at 8 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Concert Hall.Paul Lustig Dunkel, resident conductor of the New York American Composers Orchestra, will lead the BSO in the Baltimore premiere of "African Portraits," by jazz trumpeter-composer Hannibal Peterson. Featured performers include the Morgan State University Choir, the Hannibal Peterson Quartet, Vanessa Bell Armstrong and storyteller Papa Bunka Susso.

The Running Brook area of Wilde Lake has taken the first steps toward forming a crime watch.A community meeting on Nov. 10 featured Cpl. Tara Ball, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department's crime prevention office.The Hannibal Grove residents who attended discussed their concerns about crime and talked with Corporal Ball about prevention methods.Burt Thompson, the community director at Hannibal Grove, said the meeting went well."There was a lot of interest, and many good points were raised," he said.

BALTIMORE, we got dissed again. In fact, we got dissed twice.For those of you not up on the current vernacular, "dissed" is a term coined by rap musicians. It derives from "disrespect," but it's used as a verb meaning, in essence, to look down on or to show contempt or disrespect for.So where did this "dissing" of Baltimore occur? At the recent Academy Awards show. How did Hollywood "diss" us? Barry Levinson, Baltimore's beloved native son and producer-director of "Bugsy," got it first. Nominated for 10 academy awards, "Bugsy" could muster only two measly Oscars.

Liberty's Shanna Ziegenfuss was at her puzzling best last night, zigging and zagging through the North Carroll defense and scoring three times along the way to lead the Lions to a 4-0 win in Hampstead.Sidelined for the first three games with a bad knee, she has five goals in three games since returning."I'm glad she's back, what more can A say -- she's just a phenomenal player," said Liberty coach Chuck Martin.Liberty improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in county play, and North Carroll dropped to 3-2 and 2-1 in the county.

Police charged a Columbia man with first-degree murder yesterday in the violent death of a 6-year-old boy who had been his houseguest for about two months.Anthony Lee Crawford, 31, of the 5100 block of Brook Way is being held in the county Detention Center in lieu of $250,000 bail for a child abuse charge filed Tuesday.He will appear in court this morning for a bond hearing on the murder charge.Police said early autopsy findings show that the child died of "blunt force trauma to the head," and that he may have been sexually abused.

THE KNOCK on the door came about 15 minutes before 10 on Tuesday night. I answered, and there stood Hannibal Brisueno. Hannibal Brisueno was just one of the neighborhood teens when I moved to the 4900 block of Edgemere Ave. in 1986. He was grown now, with kids of his own, and had long since departed. His appearance at my door brought sad news. "My father died about an hour ago," he said, knowing that I, and every soul on this block, would want to know. Anibal Ayala Brisueno, retired Marine Corps master sergeant, community activist, anti-drug crusader and scold, and nemesis of every scofflaw and lowlife in our Pimlico neighborhood, died Tuesday.