Hope

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them wherever they go. "It's so cheap — that's what's so cool about this," said Cantori, 52, who envisions a surf-and-turf future, alternating between the house and a sailboat. "We bought the house for $19,000.

For as long as Ryan Hunter-Reay can remember, the Indianapolis 500 was a huge deal. As a small child growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Hunter-Reay used to plop down a plastic race track and line up his miniature race cars in front of the television set on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. For the next few hours, he was mesmerized. "My dad was a gearhead - he loved cars. I grew up loving cars as well," Hunter-Reay recalled Monday. "He took me to a few races as a fan, and that's where it started.

This year's Extreme Rules pay-per-view event left us with some unanswered questions but also some new beginnings. In the main event (a rare moment in WWE history where all wrestlers in a final match on PPV weren't on a full-time WWE schedule), Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H in a cage match. Lesnar went up 2-1 on "The Game" and is likely poised for another future match in WWE (not against Triple H), perhaps at Summerslam or Wrestlemania 30. Questions coming out of this match are: will Triple H wrestle again?

Danny Valencia, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before Sunday's game, contributed immediately in his first start in an Orioles uniform. In his first at-bat Sunday, Valencia opened the second inning with a double off Rays starter Matt Moore. In his third at-bat, he hit a deep fly ball that Showalter said would have been a home run at Norfolk's Harbor Park. “He had some good swings off a tough left-hander,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “It's kind of the resume he brings, so hopefully we'll see him again tomorrow and see how he does.” Valencia was hitting .306/.339/.600 in 40 games at Triple-A Norfolk, including a .356/.375/.991 stretch with seven homers, 13 runs and 17 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Among the concerns for jockeys at the Preakness today is the weather. Shortly before rain began to fall minutes ago, jockeys were watching the skies. Some know all too well that their horses don't respond to sloppy tracks, and they were holding out hope that the rain stayed away from Pimlico Race Cource. “I hope it stays like this [without rain] and I hope he likes the track.” said John Velazquez, who is riding Itsmyluckyday. “[Itsmyluckyday] is another horse that didn't run very good in the slop at Churchill Downs.” Itsmyluckyday finished 15th at The Kentucky Derby with Elvis Trujilloaboard.

The greatest legacy of William Donald Schaefer is that he prevented Baltimore from becoming another Detroit or Newark or Camden. Because of his visionary policies, Baltimore was transformed from a dying, industrial-based city to one driven by tourism, health and IT. He restored hope to a city devastated by the riots in 1968 and by sheer force of will created the conditions that have led to the revitalization of neighborhoods like Federal Hill, Canton...

The low turnout in Baltimore's primary election Tuesday is the signal that the citizens of Baltimore have no hope for anything in Baltimore to improve ("Election draws lowest turnout in history," Sept. 14). Let me be clear, the citizens of Baltimore haven't lost hope, they have abandoned hope. They believe nothing can change, and they have resigned themselves to another four years of spiraling misery. The reason is clear - 45-plus years of uninterrupted Democratic mayors and administrations have brought Baltimore to it's knees.

Never have I read a more poignant and thought provoking opinion piece than Ron Smith's last column for The Sun ("My work here is done," Nov. 18). It seems cut and dried that realism is the proper philosophy when someone elects not to continue cancer treatment. But what about this idea called hope, the desire accompanied by expectation? Some oncologist or someone else might eventually come to say: "Hey, your tests have shown you are getting better. We've got a new promising drug that works wonders.

The success of football programs -- which are commodities in the business of selling themselves -- relies partly on perception. That -- among other reasons -- is why it would be hard to overstate the importance of Maryland's successful recruitment of standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who signed a national letter of intent Friday Maryland eagerly wants to turn the page. It hopes to turn fans' gaze away from the players departing to the ones arriving.  It wants its followers to look forward to 2012 instead of backward to 2011.

Douglas Bayne joined the Merritt Athletic Club in downtown Baltimore about five years ago, but he hasn't exactly been a gym rat. "I work out for two weeks and I'll take off for eight months," the 38-year-old social worker said. So like many other Americans, Bayne resolved to get healthy in 2012. He spent New Year's Day at the gym, hopping onto the treadmill for a 60-minute walk. He hopes to gain energy and improve his health as approaches "the big 4-0," he said. "I don't feel as healthy as I used to feel," Bayne said.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he hopes that getting second baseman Ryan Flaherty consistent at-bats at Triple-A Norfolk - while getting the 26-year-old to work on offensive problems away from the major league spotlight - will help him rebound from a tough start to the season. Flaherty, who has held most of the starting second baseman duties since Brian Roberts was injured in the third game of the season, was hitting just .133/.228/.233 in 30 games before he was optioned to the Tides on Saturday night.

D. Wayne Lukas may seem to the public an unlikely candidate to be one of the most hands-on trainers working in horse racing today. He shows up on television - like Saturday, when his horse Oxbow cruised to a win in the 138th Preakness - looking more like a grandfather enjoying an unbothered retirement in a place where the sun is barely hidden. But the opposite is true. Sunday morning he appeared at his barn a bit later than planned but still less than 12 hours after his horse fended off a listless field in an unexpectedly languorous middle leg of the Triple Crown.

Gary Stevens caught the water bottle tossed his way, took one swig and threw it back. “He don't want any?” a man asked, considering jockeys usually shower their horses, too. Stevens shook his head from his perch atop Oxbow, the wire-to-wire winner of the 138th Preakness. “Ain't even tired,” he said. Stevens, a 50-year-old grandfather who came out of a seven-year retirement at the beginning of the year, used a daring ride to clinch an anti-climatic second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday.

When the storm of administration scandals first hit President Barack Obama, he offered a good impersonation of Claude Raines in "Casablanca," expressing shock that gambling was going on in Rick's saloon. His verbal outrage at the snooping of the IRS and his Justice Department was intense, but not very reassuring. That's why the next day he announced the dismissal of the acting IRS director as a quick response to the disclosure of the tax agency's intrusion, which was reminiscent of the Watergate era. But on Thursday, Mr. Obama declined to apologize for his administration's reactions to the Benghazi terrorist attacks and for the secret scrutinizing of Associated Press reporters' phone calls.

MIAA A Conference lacrosse championship No. 1 Boys' Latin (19-0) vs. No. 4 Loyola (12-8) When: Friday, 8 p.m. Where: Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson University Coaches: Bob Shriver, Boys' Latin; Jack Crawford, Loyola PLAYERS TO WATCH Boys' Latin: Colin Heacock, Sr., A; Shack Stanwick, Jr., A; Mac Pons, Sr., D; Christian Knight, Sr., G Loyola: Devin McNamara, Sr., A; Alex Roesner, Soph., A;...

When right-hander Zach Clark was summoned to Orioles manager Buck Showalter's office two weeks ago and told he was being designated for assignment, the conversation suddenly veered off in a peculiar direction. Clark, who at that moment was still digesting the end of his brief four-day stint in the majors after parts of eight years in the minor, said Showalter abruptly began talking about reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey, who turned his career around after transitioning into a knuckleball pitcher.

The United Methodist Women of Grace UM Church in Aberdeen recently enjoyed a program given about "Threads of Hope. " This is ministry sponsored by Hopewell UM Church in Havre de Grace, which also includes members of Wesleyan Chapel UMC in Aberdeen. Prayer shawls, lap robes, quilts and blankets are made by members of the group, who then pray over them before taking them to those who are ill, bereaved or in need of comfort. The program was sponsored by the Priscilla Circle and arranged by member Virginia Phillips.

The story of Stephen Pitcairn's murder ("A promising life is cut short," July 27) elicits feelings of outrage and profound sadness, but much worse still, it elicits despair. As I consider the contrast between the many accomplishments in his young life and the details of his death, hope sinks like a stone. Where is the hope for Baltimore? What is the incentive for criminals not to commit crimes? Can we hope that prison will lead to a reformed life? Surely not, for prison is little more than a safer environment for gangs and gang mentality, for street culture, to thrive, a holding tank at best; and release from prison, statistically speaking, is merely an opportunity to commit more heinous acts leading to longer sentences.

Three goals from freshman attackman Brady Dashiell and a suffocating defensive effort fueled No. 12 Salisbury's 7-4 upset of No. 8 Washington and Lee in Saturday's second-round contest of the NCAA tournament. But that does not mean that all is well with the reigning national champion. The first midfield of senior Eric Kluge and juniors Tyler Smith and Greg Korvin finished with zero goals and zero assists against the Generals, marking the first time this season that the trio had been shut out since partnering together in March.

As the five young writers sat with bated breath, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post book critic Michael Dirda told them that a life of wordsmithing would bring them pain. One of them would soon win the nation's most lucrative literary award, the Sophie Kerr Prize, and experience a moment of greatness. Dirda spoke to those who lost. "You will feel heartbroken for a while, but if you pursue a literary career, it's best to get used to that feeling," he said. On Tuesday night at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Washington College bestowed its annual Sophie Kerr Prize on Tim Marcin, a 22-year-old graduating senior from Wilmington, Del., who hopes to pursue a career in sports journalism.