Hard Work

Marcus Valentine wasn't a part of a prestigious football team in high school. Maybe that's what made it easier for the defensive tackle to leave New Jersey to play for Towson Unviersity — a team stuck in the depths of college football. But for whatever reason, Valentine saw winning potential in the Tigers. He knew at some point the program would turn things around. Four years later, after enduring 27 losses in his first three seasons, Valentine is a part of history. With most of the attention this season focused on Coach Rob Ambrose for resurrecting the Towson football program, it is Valentine, a senior captain and leader of the defense, who is the "heart and soul" of the Tigers as they enter the FCS postseason for the first time.

For more than half my life I was a 99-percenter. I kept my first pay stubs in the news business to remind me where I came from and what was necessary in order to get where I am today. In 1975, while working at a TV station in Houston, I wrote a letter to a friend in Washington complaining about my stalled career and low salary. "I will probably die here with my boots on, boots bought on a revolving charge and not fully paid for," I griped. My memory is not that good. He kept the letter and showed it to me a few years ago. We laughed.

Ravens wide receiver LaQuan Williams, an undrafted rookie free agent from Maryland, had the first multi-catch game of his career in Sunday night's 23-20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second of his two receptions came as the Ravens embarked on their 92-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The 13-yard gain moved the chains for a first down. “It's just a great feeling being out there and having a chance to make a play, especially in such a key game,” Williams said before Thursday's practice.

Muffins and moms brighten school day for Relay students On Oct. 14, Relay Elementary School hosted "Muffins with Mom. " Over 700 students and their mothers shared a muffin and juice at school. It was wonderful to see these families enjoying time together in the schoolhouse that morning! I thank my committee of teachers and support staff for their hard work in preparing for the event. I would also like to recognize manager Vicente Zeledon and owner Jeff Taylor of the Elkridge McDonald's for donating milk and juice.

On Oct. 14, Relay Elementary School hosted "Muffins with Mom. " Over 700 students and their mothers shared a muffin and juice at school. It was wonderful to see these families enjoying time together in the schoolhouse that morning! I thank my committee of teachers and support staff for their hard work in preparing for the event. I would also like to recognize manager Vicente Zeledon and owner Jeff Taylor of the Elkridge McDonald's for donating milk and juice. At Relay Elementary, we truly partner with our parents for student success!

As president of the Chesapeake Bay Commercial Fishermen's Association, I have become increasingly angered and frustrated by the news media normally leaving the general public with such a negative impression of the watermen community. Over the past year, there have been numerous stories involving illegal fishing activities, both in print and as specials on local TV. Unfortunately, some of the facts are true - through at times the presentation is misleading - and we as an industry are certainly not proud of them.

Jarret Johnson still grimaces when he thinks about it. For as long as he could remember, he'd been a strong guy. Some of it was country strength, the kind of muscles you build when you grow up in in a small Florida town on the Gulf of Mexico, raised by a family of commercial crabbers and fisherman. But he could always hold his own in the weight room, too, moving metal plates with relative ease as he out-worked much bigger guys on his way to an NFL career. But at the start of the 2010 season, for the first time in Johnson's life, he would ask his body to do power through workouts, and it would simply refuse.

Give the CBS broadcast team credit for this: Even though the Baltimore Ravens game was a blowout, they never totally lost their focus. Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots tried to generate some enthusiasm at the microphone right up until the end of the broadcast, and that's not easy in a game that was never in doubt after the first Ravens offensive series. Overall, Harlan is a steady play-by-play announcer, and Wilcots generally knows his stuff, particularly when it comes to the passing game and defensive backfield play.

I grew up around the Northwood section of Baltimore back in the 1950's. My father was a cable splicer in the underground division of the Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. They were the days before "bucket"' trucks. My dad and his crew worked down manholes with city rats and climbed telephone poles with cleats and pole straps. When we had any storm outages, I can remember many times when I would not see my dad for a week or more. He would work 16 hours a day, go back to the shop to sleep on a cot for a few hours, and hit the street again.

About a month after last season ended, Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano received a text from a friend that read: "I'm watching one of your players run in the sand for an hour. " Later that morning, another text flashed on Pagano's phone: "Now, I'm watching your player swim 30 minutes in the ocean. " When Pagano finally asked for the name of the player, it was as if he already knew the answer: Ray Lewis. The enduring face of the franchise is entering his 16th season - a feat impressive for any NFL player, much less an inside linebacker - and the secret of Lewis' longevity is really no secret at all. The 36-year-old Lewis prides himself on outworking everyone, whether it's on the field, in film study or inside the weight room.