Jacksonville

As a defender, Jacksonville junior Rachel Hannon doesn't contribute the big scoring numbers that make headlines, but she draws the spotlight in another way. Hannon set a NCAA record this spring for draw controls in a season. She won 131 to break the record of 126 set by Maryland's Dana Dobbie in 2008. She also broke the record for draw controls per game, averaging 6.89 to best the 6.29 of Towson's Hillary Fratzke in 2006. In addition, Hannon set a Dolphins record for most draw controls in a game with 13, just two off the all-time mark of 15 set by Virginia Tech's Allie Emala (Bryn Mawr)

Loyola sophomore lacrosse player Alex Roesner has committed to the admissions process at Penn, continuing a growing trend of commitments by underclassmen. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound attackman played varsity as a freshman for the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association runner-up. He is a member of Looney's Lacrosse Club and a two-time Most Valuable Player of the championship game in the Dick's Tournament of Champions. Roesner strongly also considered Michigan, Ohio State, Princeton, Villanova and Fairfield.

Ravens recap: Ravens implode in Jacksonville

People driving down a two-lane road in Jacksonville often slow down at a large Maryland Historical Society marker with the heading "Quinn. " It reads: "500-acre grant in 1704 to Thomas Mac Nemara. Later called Sweet Air. Charles and Daniel Carroll, Mac Nemara's kinsmen, acquired the property and sold it in 1751 to Roger Boyce, who built the present house. It was purchased in 1785 for Henry Hill Carroll, who died here in 1804. His son, Henry Carroll, sold it in 1838. " This could almost be a page from a 200-year-old courthouse document, were it not for the fact that a three-story, brick colonial sits at the end of the lane as a monument to the past.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- You ask why Jacksonville? Read the sign in a downtown antique store here: "If You Believe It, They Will Come. . . . We Believe! NFL."This is a city that without self-consciousness puts the words "passion" and "football" in the same sentence, that talks about itself as a "hot market."This is the little city -- relative to the other contenders in the National Football League expansion derby -- that thought it could and did -- much to its own surprise.Jacksonville was speaking in exclamation points yesterday.

The competition for the NFL's two expansion teams, which has been characterized as a three-way race, has moved closer to that with the withdrawal of long shot Jacksonville, Fla.The prospective ownership group in Jacksonville officially notified the league yesterday that it was quitting the race after failing the night before to come to terms with city officials on a lease and renovation plan for the 46-year-old Gator Bowl.The city's withdrawal leaves four contenders for the two expansion franchises the league is scheduled to award in October for play in 1995: Baltimore, St. Louis, Charlotte, N.C., and Memphis, Tenn.

It is a city split in half by a winding river which flows the wrong way, crowned by an unusual series of colorful bridges. Nearby, the mythical Fountain of Youth flows in St. Augustine, and the Rush Hours each day last from noon to 3 p.m. as Mr. Limbaugh spews forth to a legion of local dittoheads on the airwaves.As Baltimore's shock starts to fade over the astonishing selection by the National Football League to award a team to Jacksonville, rather than Baltimore or other competing cities, many in Charm City are asking "Jackson-who?"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Reggie Law's layup just before the final buzzer lifted Jacksonville (2-1) to an 84-82 victory over Navy (1-2) last night.Navy had tied the score at 82 on Erik Harris' three-pointer with four seconds left, and Jacksonville called a timeout with two seconds left. After the timeout, Danny Tirado inbounded the ball to Tabarris Hamilton who passed to Law for the game-winning shot.Law (33 points) had given Jacksonville an 82-79 lead with 10 seconds left by making the the second of two free throws.

The last time the Ravens saw the Jacksonville Jaguars, receivers Andre Rison and Keenan McCardell were dancing at midfield two weeks ago celebrating the Jaguars' 30-27 win -- and taunting the Ravens."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - They call this the Bold New City of the South, which is a nice way of saying that all the good nicknames were already taken, but you've got to give the people of Jacksonville credit for ingenuity. They were able to convince the NFL that they could handle the huge influx of Super Bowl tourists by bringing in cruise ships to provide thousands of overflow hotel rooms. The limbo contests are just a bonus. It's a brilliant plan for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it makes me start humming the Love Boat theme every time I look out at the St. Johns River from my cushy, land-based hotel room.

College football NCAA proposes rule change to allow ejection for hits above shoulders The NCAA has proposed a rule change that would eject any player who targets and hits a defenseless opponent above the shoulders. The Football Rules Committee, which met this week in Indianapolis, unanimously voted to increase the penalty to include an automatic ejection in addition to a 15-yard penalty. The proposal still awaits approval by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel on March 6. "Student-athlete safety will always be one of our primary concerns," said Air Force coach Troy Calhoun , the chairman of the committee.

The Atlantic Sun Conference will debut men's lacrosse as an NCAA Division I championship sport in the spring of 2014, adding its third new sport in as many years and the 20th overall to its roster. The conference will feature Jacksonville, Mercer, Furman (affiliate), High Point (affiliate), Richmond (affiliate) and Virginia Military Institute (affiliate). Furman and Richmond will play their inaugural seasons in 2013-14. The six teams will play a single round-robin schedule, along with the championship to be scheduled in May 2014.

NHL Free-agent right wing Fehr returns to Caps     Eric Fehr is coming back to Washington. The Capitals have invited Fehr to training camp with the intention of signing him to a prorated one-year, $600,000 contract once he passes a physical, according to a team source. Fehr, 27, recorded 13 goals and 25 points in 21 games with HPK Hameenlinna in Finland's SM-Liiga during the lockout. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound right wing was a first-round draft pick by the Capitals in 2003 and played 230 games with Washington, recording 46 goals and 93 points, but was often sidelined by injuries to both shoulders.

The Exxon Mobil Corp. asked Maryland's highest court Monday to erase most of the more than $1.5 billion awarded in two lawsuits over a large gasoline spill that Jacksonville residents claimed polluted their well water, left them fearful of getting cancer and made their property worthless. The oil giant's attorneys asked that new trials be held only on property value issues. That would leave the corporation and homeowners to argue over which homeowners to compensate for losses in property value.

I need to take a moment to tell you about Brad Marvel, a trained, certified, proud and professional automobile mechanic. I think I should add the he's sincere and earnest, and emphasize that he's a human being - a person, not a corporation. I had a meal with him at Bill Bateman's in Parkville. Marvel was so eager to tell his story that he barely touched his Monday night all-you-can-eat chicken wings special. At its core, Brad's story goes something like this: "I loved my customers at the Jacksonville Exxon station, and I want all of them to know - especially the ones who were harmed by the leak - that I had nothing to do with that.

Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette talked briefly with the media Sunday night in a conference call from Florida after the Orioles' charter plane - which had to make an emergency stop in Jacksonville because of smoke in the kitchen area - landed. Showalter talked about that experience, and both men spoke about the Orioles clinching a playoff berth for the first time in 15 years. The team learned of the Los Angeles Angels' loss while in the air. Showalter on the plane mishap: “I didn't get my coffee so I am a little ornery.

After a 19-week trial, a lawsuit brought against Exxon Mobil Corp. by 300 Jacksonville residents went to the jury yesterday. At stake are potential compensatory and punitive damages worth "several billion dollars," said plaintiffs' attorney Stephen L. Snyder, whose team received a standing ovation from the crowded courtroom after the jury had filed out. Snyder had argued that the 26,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline that seeped into the groundwater from...

It was a better day for high-priced youngsters than high-priced veterans in the NFL's expansion stocking draft yesterday.While such veterans as Mark Rypien, Gary Clark, Chris Doleman, Michael Dean Perry, Leonard Marshall, Ethan Horton and Carlton Bailey were bypassed, three 1992 first-round selections with million-dollar contracts -- wide receiver Desmond Howard, tight end Derek Brown and offensive lineman Eugene Chung -- were among the 31 players selected...

The Orioles team charter heading to Tampa Bay on Sunday night was forced to make an emergency landing in Jacksonville because of smoke coming out of the oven in the kitchen area of the plane, an industry source said. The landing was a precautionary move. The plane was inspected and the Orioles were slated to reboard to get back in the air shortly after a brief delay en route to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport. When the Orioles landed in St. Petersburg around 11 p.m. Sunday, the team issued the following statement about the incident: "Due to a minor incident in the galley, the Orioles charter made an unscheduled landing in Jacksonville, Fla. en route to St. Petersburg tonight.

The following is the 2012 schedule of Independence Day fireworks displays around Baltimore County that have been approved by the Baltimore County Fire Marshal's Office. The attached map shows these displays, as well as the display at the Inner Harbor on July 4. The Fire Marshal's Office notes that the use of backyard fireworks is illegal; some ground-based and hand-held sparklers are legal in certain counties, including Baltimore County. Detailed information about the laws regulating fireworks is available online.