Luck

It's Friday the 13th, and whenever that happens in February (in a non-leap year). March delivers another. Worse still (for the triskaidekaphobes among us), this year brings a third Friday the 13th in November. Such triple threats occur in 14 or 15 years per century. The last was in 1998; the next is in 2015. Friday falls on the 13th more than any other day. Just our luck

It's easy at this point in the baseball season to moan about brutally disappointing players. If you spent $30 to $35 of your fantasy budget on Jermaine Dye or Andruw Jones, your apoplexy is understandable. If you counted on rookies Alex Gordon or Chris Young to be fresh centerpieces, go ahead and rip up your prospect guides in outrage. If you thought Adam Wainwright would make the transition from closer or that Barry Zito had another stellar year in him, know that you have my sympathies.

It's your lucky day! Ours, too. The triple sevens of today's date have been hailed by gamblers and engaged couples as deliciously auspicious, making 07-07-07 the perfect time to bet your bottom dollar or else blow it on a fancy wedding reception. The number seven is considered special because of various hard-to-understand reasons, some of them relating to math. We'd explain the whole business in minute detail, but - it's your lucky day! (And ours.) We don't have to sit through the boring stuff.

He got beat - badly. But in breaking his silence yesterday about the end of his vaunted 15-year streak of outperforming the market, Legg Mason money manager Bill Miller was philosophical and, at times, contrite. In a lengthy essay that reveals much about his sometimes contrarian investing philosophy, Miller walked investors through the steps that led his Value Trust mutual fund to a 5.9 percent return in a year when the benchmark S&P 500 gained 15.8 percent, including reinvested dividends.

Auto Racing JOLIET, Ill. -- Twenty races had passed since Tony Stewart climbed a fence, his way of celebrating NASCAR victories. So he wasn't about to let Matt Kenseth get around him in the waning laps of yesterday's USG Sheetrock 400, even though Kenseth got three excellent shots on restarts after late caution flags. After Stewart earned his first win this season and climbed the fence at Chicagoland Speedway, the two-time Nextel Cup champion said, "I'm more overjoyed than anything. I'm glad we got the monkey off our back, at least for one week.

WASHINGTON -- It has been growing increasingly apparent in the past three weeks that the decision by President Clinton and the NATO allies to bomb the Serbs into submission was based on several fundamentally flawed premises.Now the situation is being made all the more difficult by a series of events that could not have reasonably been expected. Mr. Clinton's luck has run out.The original mistake was the supposition that Slobodan Milosevic would capitulate under pressure and mend his ways.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- After winning the Kentucky Derby at 31-1 and the Preakness at 8-1, Charismatic may finally be getting some respect.After drawing the No. 4 post yesterday for the Belmont Stakes, Charismatic was named the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/2-mile marathon Saturday at Belmont Park."

Quote: "We have good pitching. The consensus around the nation is that we don't, but I think we have a great pitching staff. People are always saying that we need this and we need that. Well, we're not in first place because it's luck." -- Indians' Dave BurbaIt's a fact: The Indians had their fifth shutout of the year and the Mariners were shut out for the fifth time.Who's hot: The Mariners surpassed 1 million in attendance in their 23rd game at Safeco.Who's not: The Royals' Chad Kreuter is hitless in 23 at-bats.

IT'S NOT OFTEN a man gets to see his hometown go stark, raving loony. But within one short week, Baltimore's slipped into demented mode.It started Oct. 7, when two Baltimore police officers chased a stolen car speeding up Greenmount Avenue. The car stopped and two men jumped out. One, Larry Hubbard -- who had a lengthy arrest record -- tried to run but was caught on Barclay Street.Officers Barry Hamilton and Robert Quick Jr. tried to arrest Hubbard. Hamilton either shot Hubbard after he grabbed Quick's gun or shot him as Hubbard lay on the ground pleading for his life, depending on whom you believe, the officers or witnesses.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Allen Jerkens began earning his nickname, "Giant Killer," in 1962 when his horse, Beau Purple, twice upset the incomparable Kelso.The wily Hall of Fame trainer will try again tomorrow in the 131st Belmont Stakes to slay another giant, Charismatic, as he attempts to win the Triple Crown. But this time, instead of trying to defeat a horse of Allaire duPont's -- she owned Kelso -- Jerkens will attempt to spring the upset with a horse duPont owns, Best of Luck.DuPont bred Best of Luck -- and Kelso and other stakes winners -- at her Woodstock Farm in Cecil County.

Many in horse racing would say trainer Larry Jones and part-owner Rick Porter, who are bringing Friesan Fire to the Kentucky Derby starting gate Saturday, are the sport's hard-luck connection. But despite a fair amount of evidence to back that up, Jones and Porter would beg to differ. The two saw filly Eight Belles tragically go down with two broken ankles after crossing the finish line second at Churchill Downs a year ago and get euthanized on the track, and this month they were forced to retire early Derby favorite Old Fashioned with a knee injury.

It's Friday the 13th, and whenever that happens in February (in a non-leap year). March delivers another. Worse still (for the triskaidekaphobes among us), this year brings a third Friday the 13th in November. Such triple threats occur in 14 or 15 years per century. The last was in 1998; the next is in 2015. Friday falls on the 13th more than any other day. Just our luck

Fox's pre-game show just briefly discussed the Ravens-Steelers game. And what did you expect? Terry Bradshaw: "The Ravens I don't think have a prayer." Michael Strahan: "Baltimore is fortunate to be in this position. ... When is the luck of Joe Flacco going to run out?" ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

It's officially too late to say, "It's just early." I usually spend the first month of every baseball season preaching patience to fantasy owners because we tend to freak out and reach for sweeping conclusions based on a few weeks' work. The Cleveland Indians' C.C. Sabathia starts 0-3 with a 13.50 ERA? Dump him for 50 cents on the dollar! Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks has five homers in the first seven games? He's going to hit 40! As much as we tell ourselves not to be impulsive based on small sample sizes, it's hard.

It figured that Marriotts Ridge would win on a missed sign, the way its luck was going yesterday. The host Mustangs scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a 3-2 victory over Calvert of Prince Frederick to win the Class 2A South regional final. Marriotts Ridge fell behind, 2-1, on some bad luck (Calvert scored on a pop-fly double and a bad-hop single), but that luck changed in the Mustangs' last at-bat. Calvert left-hander Brandon Crigger had three-hit the Mustangs through six innings, but he was out of innings (state rule)

High in the chandeliered Sports Palace at Pimlico, Neil Glasser's cell phone went off in his pocket. At first he didn't recognize the sound as his own. After all, Glasser and his other retired buddies were eyeballing TVs showing simulcasted races. Could be any horse making that sound. But no, it was Glasser's ring tone making neighing sounds. How fitting for a man who first went to Pimlico in 1948 and 60 years later, still goes to the track to place $2 bets and handicap races for his friends.

The NFL's vehement objection to wagering on its games is well known. And in practice, the league has demonstrated a serious antipathy for gambling in general. For instance, you don't see advertising for casinos - even ones that don't have sports wagering - in NFL stadiums the way you do at baseball parks. But when it comes to something as significant as draft position, the league uses one of the most rudimentary gambling practices - the coin flip. Yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons won a coin flip to draft third overall, beating out the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Wizards@Cavaliers 8 P.M. [CSN, ESPN] Actually, the better game on ESPN is Boston at Phoenix in what could be a preview of the NBA Finals, but that one doesn't start until 10:30 p.m. For folks with more normal sleep patterns, the team formerly known as the Baltimore Bullets, aka the free-falling Wizards (nine losses in the past 10 games), is on the road trying to conquer Mount LeBron. Good luck, especially since the Cavaliers just loaded up for their run at another Eastern Conference title by trading for center Ben Wallace and forward Wally Szczerbiak.

Exactly how good are the Patriots? So stinkin' good that no matter how high the point spread, they keep beating it. Be impressed with 5-0 in the standings and the notion that New England and their Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback, Tom Brady, will wrap up the AFC East before Thanksgiving, if you want. I'm floored that these guys are 5-0 against the spread despite the fact that every week, bettors who like these guys are looking at a line that the Pats have to beat by more than two touchdowns.

I recently spent 5 1/2 weeks in Iraq photographing the largest deployment of Maryland National Guard troops since World War II. Six Maryland units were scattered in bases across that country, filling an array of security missions. The soldiers, sometimes weighed down with body armor, helmets and ballistic goggles, looked imposing. But some - I came to notice over time - carried with them a very different kind of armor; religious amulets, good luck charms, photographs, and mementos given to them by loved ones or even strangers back home with the hope that they would protect in ways that Kevlar and ceramic might not and somehow ensure a safe return.