Insert

It's Week 2 of the NFL season, and Upper Deck just did a end run around the licensing feud between the NFL Players Association and NFL Properties.Upper Deck's NFL low series includes players under contract to both entities.Players under licensing contract to NFL Properties appear in a 50-card insert set in Upper Deck's NFL low series. These cards come in separate foil packs, are numbered G1 through G50 and carry the NFL Properties logo. Upper Deck lists odds of picking an NFL Properties pack out of a box at 1-in-30.

I enjoy the Howard County Times. It keeps me up to date on local goings on. At rare times I even find something in the enclosed advertising inserts useful. Mostly though these go directly to the recycle bin. The recycle folks will be happy this week because in the Feb. 14 edition I had six copies of the Mr. Tire insert to put in the bin. Six. Why six? Why more than just one for that matter? Does the Howard County Times expect me to distribute these ads to my family, friends and neighbors?

The timing just seemed a bit off - or on. In a news cycle dominated by the U.S. ports security story, an advertising insert in yesterday's USA Today featured positive political and economic stories about the United Arab Emirates, a country very much in the news. The Bush administration is trying to calm a furor over allowing a Middle Eastern company, Dubai Ports World, to take over partial control of six U.S. ports, including Baltimore. Critics of the deal say the Persian Gulf country has been linked to al-Qaida.

Didn't get the Shake Weight you asked for this holiday season?  No worries, Groupon Goods offers the piston-firing tricep sculpter at a 40% discount.  $12 for women's and $17 for men's - workout DVD's included (hilarious demonstrations seen provide ab workouts as well).  There's even a tab to 'Buy One for a Friend'!  Click HERE  to make your purchase.

An anti-abortion supplement in the University of Maryland student newspaper has created a small uproar on campus, infuriating some who accuse the paper of selling out to the abortion opponents' cause.A Minnesota anti-abortion group, Human Life Alliance, paid $760 for the insert inside the Diamondback and 19,000 copies were distributed Jan. 31. But now, angry readers are distributing their disapproval in the form of pink fliers bearing the words, "Buy the Diamondback -- The Human Life Alliance did."

A well-known Annapolis lawyer was found guilty yesterday of shoplifting an $11.29 bottle of pain reliever from Sam's Club - potentially putting his career in jeopardy. M. Willson Offutt IV, 50, was convicted of misdemeanor theft and sentenced to pay $500 in District Court for stealing a bottle of Aleve from the store outside Annapolis on July 10. Offutt, whose law practice is in financing and related fields, was acquitted of a second-degree assault charge stemming from allegations that he tried to hit a security guard with his shopping cart after he was stopped at the store's door.

Leaf Studio is back for a third season, 220 cards strong. Fronts feature players against team uniform backgrounds and a replica signature (Frank Thomas is shown). The Heritage insert set returns, and Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina is in the 10-card Silhouettes insert set. Studio, in packs of 12 and 20, is expected to be available in late August.

Upper Deck goes minor-league with a 330-card set and 26-card Players of the Year insert set. Top players from all levels of the minors are featured. Backs rate players in five skill categories at current and projected peak levels, thanks to Baseball America. There is also a nine-card hologram insert set.

Someone broke into a house under construction in the 1500 block of Ringe Drive in Severn and stole a fireplace insert valued at $1,000, county police said.A representative of Patriot Homes called police shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday to report the theft.The insert, which weighs 500 to 600 pounds, was last seen about 4 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The baseball card that made headlines five years ago when it was sold at auction for $451,000 is on the block again.That's the 1910 Honus Wagner T-206 card that hockey star Wayne Gretzky and former Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall bought for the record price at a Sotheby's auction. In 1994, Gretzky bought out McNall's half and subsequently sold the card to Treat Entertainment, a distributor of cards, collectibles and accessories.Treat made the card the centerpiece of a classic card give-away, and Patricia Gibbs, a postal clerk from Hollywood, Fla., won the card in a February drawing.

A reshuffled offensive line didn't seem to impede the Ravens in their explosive 37-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome Sunday. In fact, inserting Andre Gurode at left guard instead of Mark LeVoir seemed to be the antidote the front five needed after last Sunday's 26-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Unlike that outing, the offensive line contributed to 553 yards of total offense, opened rushing lanes for tailbacks Ray Rice and Ricky Williams to combine for an average of 9.3 yards per carry (121 yards on 13 attempts)

An MRI taken Monday on Luke Scott 's ailing right shoulder revealed a partially torn labrum, an injury that won't prevent the Orioles outfielder from playing this season but could force him to have offseason surgery. "I'm going to play through the pain, pray and believe in my miracle healing," Scott said. "That's it. " Scott has started 25 of the Orioles' 33 games this season, all but one in left field. He's batting .253 with six homers and 14 RBIs. He said the shoulder has been bothering him since the start of the season, and while he feels it while he's hitting, it mostly affects his throwing.

Broccoli is good for you. Bacon tastes good. Recently, as I struggled with my usual resolution to become a better person in the new year, I whipped up a dish that combined both ingredients. Nutritionally speaking, broccoli has a lot going for it. It is loaded with vitamins A, C and K. It has good folate and manganese levels. Also, it packs those powerful phytonutrients, sulforaphane and indoles. This duo, according to information I read on a Web site called the World's Healthiest Foods, boosts the body's "detoxification enzymes."

There seems to be a lot of talk here regarding former Atlanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones. His name is sure to come up during the Orioles' organizational meetings that begin Monday in Sarasota, Fla. Manager Dave Trembley seems in favor of keeping Corey Patterson if the two sides can work out a deal. He likes Patterson's defense and speed. But Jones will get some consideration - and then the Orioles will be outbid for him. How much would you pay Jones after the season he had (.222, 26 homers, 94 RBIs)

Johns Hopkins scientists have genetically engineered mice that carry a human gene linked to schizophrenia, an advance they say could open new avenues of research into a debilitating disease that affects millions. Researchers hope the schizophrenic mice will be better test subjects than current mice, which often get injections of mind-altering drugs such as PCP to induce schizophrenic symptoms and behavior. The mice carry a human gene from a Scottish family prone to schizophrenia, making them a more accurate model of the disorder in humans and a boon to scientists working to unravel its causes and develop treatments, the Hopkins researchers said.

Baltimore's Vertis Communications announced yesterday that it will acquire one of its largest competitors in a combination of two debt-laden firms struggling to make money in a rapidly changing printing and advertising industry. The value of the deal with privately held American Color Graphics was not immediately clear. American Color Graphics' owners will receive 10 percent of the combined company's equity and 8 percent of mezzanine subordinated notes of Vertis Holdings, the parent company of Vertis.

To estimate doneness in fish without using a thermometer, insert a sharp knife point into the thickest part of the fish. If the fish is sufficiently cooked, the edges of the flesh will be slightly opague and not adhere to the bones; the center may still be slightly translucent but will be beginning to flake.-- Cole's Cooking A to Z

Highlights of 1992 are the subject of Upper Deck's 20-card insert set. The set will be randomly packed in marked cases available only at Upper Deck's Heroes of Baseball shows and through select hobby dealers. Shows are scheduled for Cincinnati (June 5-6), New York (June 12-13), Denver (June 19-20), Seattle (Aug. 13-15) and Detroit (Aug. 20-22).

It was a sunny Saturday that began normally enough. It just didn't last. The first hint came as I was using a small portable car vacuum that plugs into the dashboard socket to suck up the dust and dirt from my wife Liz's car. To get the thing to work, I had to put my car key in the ignition and turn it to get electricity. So far so good. I finished, locked the car and realized that the key was still inside, draining juice from the battery. Then I realized I had locked the front door of the house behind me and Liz was in the shower.

Cardinal William H. Keeler is scheduled to undergo surgery this morning to remove excess fluid from his brain. Dr. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, will insert a shunt, or tube, into the cardinal's brain to allow excess cerebrospinal fluid to drain into his abdomen, said Sean Caine, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The surgery is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Caine said the cardinal's physicians believe that head trauma Keeler suffered in a car accident in October might have triggered normal pressure hydrocephalus, or an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or spaces within the brain.