Locker

Sometimes the small things make all the difference in professional wrestling. Too often, critics -- especially those on the Internet -- nitpick every decision WWE makes and find the logical or creative flaws. Many times, this creates an unnecessary sense or allegation of failure. But on tonight's Raw, WWE (or, more specifically, general manager John Laurinaitis) made a mistake that is almost unforgivable. While I personally wasn't offended by Sunday's match between John Cena and Laurinaitis at Over the Limit , many people have lashed out against the match.

Anne Arundel County police are searching for several people who are stealing from gym lockers at 24 Hour Fitness in Annapolis. Police said the thieves has struck at least four times -- Nov. 4, Jan. 28, Feb. 6 and Feb. 11. In several cases, police said wallets and credit cars were taken, and that the cards were used at various Annapolis stores including Target. Anyone with information is urged to call Det. Mark Ottey at 410-222-1960. See more photos and statement from police here .

Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a locked container in his locker, according to the team, and the NBA is looking into the situation. The Wizards issued a statement saying there was no ammunition in the container. Arenas and the team have notified authorities and the league. Arenas told the Washington Times he took his guns to the arena after his daughter was born this month. About a week later, he said he handed them over to security to give to police.

Mark Turgeon had to pause and collect himself while proudly recounting how his bench players rallied in Maryland's double-overtime loss to Miami - a game in which the coach was ejected and spent the extra periods in the locker room receiving texts and trying vainly to follow what was unfolding on the court. Turgeon - who faces a mentor in North Carolina coach Roy Williamsat Comcast Center on Saturday  - spent Friday's media session looking back to the bizarre Miami game and looking ahead to going against Williams for the first time.

A group of reporters was gathered around Ravens center Matt Birk this week, asking difficult questions about the team's pitiful pass protection, when someone across the locker room turned up his stereo as loud as it would go and began to sing. You didn't even need to turn around to identify the troubadour. Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in the Ravens' locker room over the last five years knew immediately that it was Terrell Suggs. When things get a little too tense during the season, especially after a difficult loss, there are a few things you can always count on at the team's complex in Owings Mills.

The Ravens' laundry list of free agents is highlighted by running back Ray Rice, left guard Ben Grubbs and linebacker Jarret Johnson, but that trio did not appear Monday when media was allowed in the locker room. However, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said keeping Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl player, is a “no-brainer.” “We're really good about that, guys who are truly Ravens, keeping them Ravens,” Suggs said. “There's no one better in the game to do it than [Ravens general manager]

The second annual Best of Bowling Mixed Doubles Duckpin Handicap tournament drew 124 doubles teams from the mid-Atlantic area to Riviera Bowl the last weekend in April.While the official prize list with a $2,000 first-place guaranteed prize has not been released by the Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association, it appears that the winners of the event are Sandy Locker and Wayne Gruss.The team of Locker and Gruss prove what every bowler should know but that many do not realize -- when a tournament is a handicap event anyone can be a winner.

Baltimore County police evacuated Franklin Middle School in Reisterstown yesterday afternoon after five vials of flammable substances were found in the locker of a 12-year-old pupil. Police said the seventh-grader told administrators that he was trying to sell the substances to other pupils as bomb-making ingredients. Sgt. Dean Brubaker of the arson and hazardous devices unit said a preliminary investigation showed that the materials were household chemicals that, if combined with "certain incendiary devices," could become explosive.

Outside her first-grade classroom at Sandymount Elementary School, Megan Bollinger opened a locker and whispered her opinion of the renovated building."

I hate lugging my gym bag back and forth to the gym and having to plan workout days in advance. Can I pay my health club extra money to get a permanent locker? At most gyms, this is simply a space issue. Membership usually exceeds the number of available lockers, but some larger gyms do offer locker rental. At the Merritt Downtown Athletic Club, for instance, $27.50-$44 will buy you your own locker for one year (but the locker space is not in the main locker room). If your health club has a strict policy against permanent lockers (some will even use cutters to remove your lock if left overnight)

There's nothing quite like the locker room scene the day after an NFL team has been eliminated from the playoffs, a scene that's surreal and tinged with sadness, as the Ravensdemonstrated again Monday morning.  Still reeling from Sunday's heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, they reported to The Castle for their season-ending position meetings and to clean out their lockers, some of them for the last time as Ravens.  Joe Flacco signed helmets for Lardarius Webb and Terrence Cody.

The Ravens' laundry list of free agents is highlighted by running back Ray Rice, left guard Ben Grubbs and linebacker Jarret Johnson, but that trio did not appear Monday when media was allowed in the locker room. However, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said keeping Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl player, is a “no-brainer.” “We're really good about that, guys who are truly Ravens, keeping them Ravens,” Suggs said. “There's no one better in the game to do it than [Ravens general manager]

The Ravens locker room, even on the quietest of days, is a churning, bubbling storm of music and voices. Most of the time, it feels as chaotic as a busy train station, as crowded and lively as a food market. A high-stakes game of bean bag toss in the middle of the room fuels perpetual shouting and arguing. Terrell Suggs' frequently leaves movies blaring on the Blu-ray player set up in his locker, but he ignores the dialogue to rib his teammates, or the media, with his booming voice. Terrence Cody has music thumping from his iPod speakers so frequently, his teammates dubbed the area surrounding his locker as "Patterson Park," and Cody responded by writing those words on a piece of athletic tape, then slapping it on the wall above his locker.

That they don't have the best postseason reputation is not lost on the Ravens. The franchise is 9-6 in the playoffs, and four of those victories occurred during the team's magical run to win Super Bowl XXXV to cap the 2000 season. The Ravens are the only club in the NFL to have qualified for the postseason in each of the past four years, but don't have a Super Bowl or AFC championship title and just one AFC North crown to show for their labor. "You don't want to be the team that just has an 18-game season every year," outside linebacker Jarret Johnson said recently.

  Running in Saturday's Foot Locker National Cross Country Championship in San Diego was an eye-opening experience for Hannah Oneda. It wasn't just that the Winters Mill senior was competing in her first national-level event. Oneda actually had to get used to chasing down the lead pack rather than separating herself from it. The freshly minted All-Metro Runner of the Year -- who won the Class 2A state title in record time last month -- finished 33rd out of 40 at the Foot Locker meet, completing the 5K course in 18 minutes, 21 seconds.

Greg Little repeatedly dropped the ball Sunday afternoon, and again after it when he ducked out of the locker room without speaking to the media. But he set about correcting both of those mistakes on Monday. He faced the music and stated his determination to become an elite receiver like Cincinnati's A.J. Green. "It was kind of like when basketball players have a bad day shooting free throws," he said. "Sometimes you can't throw it into the ocean. Sometimes you just can't ever hang onto it. It's definitely something I can learn and grow from.

The main attraction at the new Linton Springs Elementary School in Sykesville yesterday wasn't the middle-school-size gym or the state-of-the-art media center.The buzz was about the bright blue lockers.As schools in Carroll County opened for more than 26,000 students yesterday, Maria Griffith's second-grade class at Linton Springs sat in a hallway, mouths open, heads tilted up. They hung on Griffith's every word, as she gave instructions on how to use a locker."You will see that we have hooks, so if you have an umbrella, book bag or coat you don't have to put everything on one hook," Griffith said.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Eric Turner died in May, but his locker in the Oakland Raiders' locker room is still stocked with his practice gear, shoes and photo of his son, Eric Jr. On Monday, the TV cameras and cables scuttled back and forth across the locker room, looking for an angle for Sunday's AFC championship game against the Ravens. How about that Ravens' defense? How about the playoff pressure? How about those Raiders fans? Here's one: How about Eric Turner's locker? Want an angle? Try Turner, who was a Pro Bowl safety with Baltimore in 1996, then signed with the Raiders as a free agent.

A group of reporters was gathered around Ravens center Matt Birk this week, asking difficult questions about the team's pitiful pass protection, when someone across the locker room turned up his stereo as loud as it would go and began to sing. You didn't even need to turn around to identify the troubadour. Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in the Ravens' locker room over the last five years knew immediately that it was Terrell Suggs. When things get a little too tense during the season, especially after a difficult loss, there are a few things you can always count on at the team's complex in Owings Mills.

Joy swelled through every corner of Nationals Park late Thursday afternoon after a landmark victory by the winningest Washington Nationals team in six years. But before the announced 21,161 could reach the exits, and the players could change into their street clothes for their flight to Chicago, euphoria faded into shock, then shattered into a jumble of emotions. Manager Jim Riggleman had chosen this heady moment — the day the Nationals moved over .500 in June for the first time since 2005 — to resign abruptly, taking a principled stand against what he saw as an unfair contract situation: the team's refusal to pick up the option that would have kept him in place for the 2012 season.