Hard Work

IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE RETIRING is a lot of hard work. That life transition is still a long way off for me -- I can't give up a job until my youngest finds one -- but I have been daydreaming about what it will be like to retire: Books, gardening, museums and galleries, travel, cooking, movies, friends. And, apparently, an MBA. The idea that employers will provide us with an income and health care for the rest of our lives is one that died out with our parents' generation. Corporate America wants out of the long-term care business, so more and more businesses are handing their employees a gold watch and a pillowcase full of money as they leave and saying, "Make it last."

BOYDS -- There's a dripping baby bottle in the rental car cup holder and a basketball sliding around in the back seat. Steve Blake is driving to the gym to work out with his wife. Then it's back to his Montgomery County basketball camp followed by dinner with mom and dad -- last night was spaghetti -- at their chain hotel. Yes, regular guys do occasionally make it in the NBA. They do sometimes win an NCAA championship, as Blake did at Maryland in 2002, and marry a cheerleader (Blake did that, too)

Harford Tech first baseman Kaela Mason was a sophomore on a senior-laden Cobras softball team last season. But despite her underclassman status, Mason proved to be an effective leader. During the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference championship game against heavily favored C. Milton Wright, Mason gathered her teammates together between innings and urged them to keep battling after the Mustangs had taken an early two-run lead. She then backed up her words with action, lining the first pitch after play resumed for a triple.

To hear Lance Bass tell it, he and the other members of 'N Sync are five of the hardest-working guys in show business.It isn't just that the quintet puts on a show with enough singing, dancing and eye-popping razzle-dazzle to rival the attractions at Universal Studios amusement park. As much work as the show may be, it's only part of the job of being in a teen sensation like 'N Sync."We never knew how difficult it would be," Bass says, over the phone from a tour stop in Albany, N.Y. "You just never imagine that it would really be a 24/7 job, that you would be on [24 hours a day, 7 days a week]

A year or two ago, the Broadneck Bruins would have walked off the field with a loss in a game like Tuesday's. That was a year or two ago.This year's Bruins didn't, twice coming back from one-goal deficits and then getting a goal with four minutes left from one of their senior leaders, tri-captain Rachel Shuck, to continue a new trend this fall: Broadneck 3, Northeast 2.Winning just one game in each of the previous two regular seasons, the Bruins cleaned their...

He was signed as an undrafted free agent from the Dominican Republic and for several seasons, Roberto Rivera didn't do a whole lot to distinguish himself.A new work ethic has changed all that, and Rivera has developed into one of the most pleasant surprises in the Orioles' farm system in 1999."He has made himself a prospect," said Frederick Keys manager Andy Etchebarren. "He's got tools as good as anybody we've got, but he didn't always apply them. But the attitude changed, and he took it upon himself to work hard."

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- After her husband was elected governor, Terry Ventura's home phone rang 100 times a day and the transition team took over her dining room. To lighten things up, she occasionally donned a rhinestone tiara -- a gift from one of her horse-riding students -- and announce, "You must worship me now."Terry Ventura didn't go to college, travel in political circles or prep to be Minnesota's first lady. But she is easing into her role the way she has tackled most of her life -- with good humor, common sense, hard work and a stand-by-your-man philosophy.

A nearly full roster of major Howard County Democratic officials and candidates showed up to boost Gov. Parris N. Glendening on his campaign kickoff stop in Howard County yesterday.Glendening visited Howard Community College for more than an hour, joined by both Democratic members of the County Council, C. Vernon Gray and Mary C. Lorsung, as well as Dels. Elizabeth Bobo and Frank S. Turner, Howard Democratic Party leader Carole Fisher, county executive candidate James N. Robey and a host of other Democratic candidates.

Bryant Johnson, says City coach George Petrides, is as an example of what can happen when a student-athlete is determined both on the field and in classes.Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver, trains hard. His bench press is nearing 300 pounds. He entered the season as a preseason All-American in several tout sheets, including The National Recruiting Advisor, which rated him No. 17 among the nation's top 22 receiver prospects for good reason. He was a second-team All-Metro player last fall.

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)was born in Franklin County, Va., the son of an unknown white man and a slave cook. He too was born into slavery, and as such spent his childhood packing salt, digging in a coal mine and working as a general's houseboy.At age 25, he was chosen to become founding principal of a teacher-training school for blacks in Tuskegee, Ga.He argued that hard work, thrift and self-help were the keys to improving social status. His views were well received by the Roosevelt and Taft administrations.

Last week in Ocean City, professional promoters from all over the state gathered for the 29th Annual Maryland Tourism and Travel Summit, a schmoozefest and series of seminars on marketing and networking for those in one of the state's most important business sectors. (I was amused by the theme of one of the presenters: "Adding value to your product by making your product more valuable.") I was asked to say a few words before the Maryland Tourism Council's awards ceremony, and I stated what probably seemed obvious to people who get paid to tout Maryland: Promote what's unique, and preserve it in the process.

Summers were anything but vacations for Haloti Ngata. Before he became a burly 6-foot-4, 345-pound defensive tackle for the Ravens who would emerge as one of the top run-stuffers in the NFL, Ngata was a teenager at the mercy of his father, Solomone, who owned a construction business. So while his classmates could sleep the morning away and wake up just in time for lunch, Ngata usually had already put in five to six hours of work, laying down concrete, mixing cement and hauling away large slabs of concrete.

In a span of 18 short months, running back Ray Rice has gone from being an unknown to doing the unimaginable. Just six weeks into the regular season, Rice, the Ravens' second-round pick in last year's draft, leads the NFL in total yards from scrimmage. Rice, whose 766 yards are 44 more than the yardage totaled by Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson, said he was unaware of that statistic until Tuesday. "It's just hard work," Rice said. "It definitely feels good to know that your hard work is paying off. The offensive line always does a great job. Once I get the ball in my hands, I just feel like I've been able to make plays.

WASHINGTON - - Conservative activists blasted it as socialist. Worried parents called for boycotts. School administrators struggled over whether to let students hear it. But in the "back to school" speech President Barack Obama plans to give today, he will do what American presidents have done before - urge students to work hard, stay in school and follow their dreams. "If you quit on school, you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country," Obama will say in the speech, which is loaded with similar exhortations.

Union Memorial Hospital was named one of Thomson Reuters' 2008 top 100 hospitals, according to a ranking released by the information provider last week. Thomson Reuters annually ranks 3,000 hospitals across the country based on mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, patient satisfaction and adherence to clinical standards of care. Union Memorial was recognized in the teaching hospital category. "Being recognized for surpassing national benchmarks is an achievement that every one of us at Union Memorial can be proud of," said hospital President Harrison J. Rider III. "We are constantly challenging ourselves, in each department, to find new ways to improve every aspect of what we do, and the recognition means we're being effective.

Every successful basketball team could use a player like Annapolis senior Eddie Moon. The 6-foot-4 forward works hard in practice and brings positive energy to the game, always coming with a team-first approach that is infectious. In his second year of varsity and first as a starter, Moon is averaging five points and seven rebounds a game to help the Panthers get off to a 5-1 start. While Moon is focused on basketball right now, his true athletic passion is football. He played three years of varsity at linebacker for the Panthers and plans to play in college.

UHHH ... I can't jump rope in high heels!" "Really?" "Well, not that high a heel." OK, folks, who do we know who would jump rope (double-dutch, too) in heels? Of course! It is our old friend, the indomitable Madonna. La Ciccone has been rehearsing her "Sticky and Sweet" tour in a massive space in New York. Her latest troupe of beautiful dancers is present, as is every other member of a massive Madonna undertaking. When the boss works, everybody works! It is 80 degrees and humid outside.

Northeast's John Hodges, a senior pitcher-infielder, just completed his second straight seven-win season (7-3), although the season didn't end the way he had hoped. After winning the Anne Arundel County championship, Hodges and the No. 9 Eagles had their sights sets on a state championship. Those hopes were dashed by No. 8 Fallston, 5-4, in the Class 3A East regional final Saturday. The right-hander now must look ahead, as he is deciding between CCBC-Dundalk and CCBC-Catonsville. Hodges, who also played a couple of years of basketball at Northeast, played four years of baseball at the Pasadena school.

An interchange is being constructed at Interstate 95 and Interstate 695. The work is part of a 10-mile project that began in 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2012. Two express toll lanes will be added to I-95 in each direction, which involves reconstructing bridges and interchanges. View more photos and see a video of the construction at baltimore sun.com/whitemarsh.

The low-key coach and his unsung basketball team will huddle one more time today, roll up their sleeves and go to work. When Coppin State meets Maryland at Comcast Center in a women's NCAA tournament game, it will be the Eagles' latest milestone on the road to prominence. This game marks four postseason tournaments in four years for the Coppin women, three in the NCAA. It marks the end of a golden era for senior guards Rashida Suber and Shalamar Oakley. As much as anything, it underscores the job coach Derek Brown has done since taking over the team in midseason nine years ago amid a coaching controversy.