Main Event

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission opened the bidding yesterday for its long-awaited sell-off of wide portions of the radio spectrum for a new generation of wireless telephone services.First-round results showed that bidders weren't swept up in the hoopla. Companies played a waiting game in all but a few hotly contested markets, bidding only $379.6 million in an auction that is expected to raise billions.But if the participants were cautious, the cheerleaders were bold.Brandishing a prototype of a Dick Tracy-style wrist phone, Vice President Al Gore mined the metaphor of a "new Gold Rush" and told the throng at the old post office building near Union Station that "we're bringing a revolution into being."

What a difference a week makes. It's not like the members of The Shield weren't already on an upward trajectory to main event status. But, when you get to interact with The Undertaker to the degree the trio did last week in WWE, that's a game changer. On Raw last week, The Shield beat The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan. On Smackdown, The Undertaker beat Dean Ambrose, but then The Shield left the Dead Man laying and vulnerable. This week, The Shield was victorious again, against the team of Team Hell No and John Cena.

ARLINGTON, Va. - After the seemingly endless preliminaries, now comes the main event tomorrow night. Will many people watch the "debates," which will resemble joint news conferences? The rules are so strict that the candidates don't engage each other. One-third of homes with television sets watched the first 2000 presidential debate between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. The first debate traditionally draws the most viewers, possibly including those precious "undecideds," so here is some unsolicited advice and suggested questions for both candidates.

It looks like Wrestlemania-quality matches have come six weeks early. In a stellar half-hour main event match, John Cena defeated CM Punk and will (still) go to Wrestlemania and face The Rock in a rematch, this time with the WWE title on the line. The match had everything -- great storytelling, athleticism, the crowd was loud and invested, both men painted a great picture with false finishes. We even saw John Cena deliver what was once known as a "Batista Bomb" and CM Punk deliver a pile driver (a move thought to be banned by WWE but smartly used in the match in the place of a "signature" move)

Two days ago, world heavyweight contender Olin Norris did not have a clue as to who his opponent would be in the main event at Michael's 8th Avenue in Glen Burnie last night.But Norris won't soon forget Marion Wilson. "The best 10-18-3 fighter in the world," almost derailed the title ambitions of Norris by battling the former cruiserweight champion to a split decision.Gary Camponechi gave Norris (49-4) a 99-91 margin and Ken Chevalier favored the fighter from San Diego, 96-94. But Jodi Wingfield backed Wilson, 96-93.

The obvious question about poker since the game's popularity rocketed in 2003 has been: Can the growth continue? That query will be answered to some degree by the entries for this year's World Series of Poker main event, the game's bellwether tournament. It was the WSOP main event in 2003, won by a then-unknown accountant from Tennessee named Chris Moneymaker, that helped ignite interest in poker. That year, there were 839 main event competitors. In just a year, participation in the $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold 'em tournament jumped more than three-fold to 2,576, something pro Phil Gordon credited, in part, to "the Moneymaker effect."

Farm Fair week has arrived in Harford County. Although the 2011 Harford County Farm Fair doesn't officially open until Thursday morning, there is plenty being done in preparation for the event, which runs through Sunday evening at the Harford County Equestrian Center, 608 N. Tollgate Road in Bel Air. This past Sunday, the fair committee held its first ever pre-fair events at the fairgrounds on the Harford County Equestrian Center, a 5K...

When Jake Smith first saw former wrestler Jerome Featherstone Jr. working out six months ago at the Baltimore Boxing Club, the veteran trainer and promoter spotted his talent immediately. "The way he trained was unbelievable," Smith said. "I saw him and I was like, 'Holy hell, this kid's got something.'" The two began working together, and three months ago Featherstone won his debut amateur fight. In his second bout, on the March 23 "Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh" card at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, the Boys' Latin alumnus won the East Coast Championship middleweight belt, nearly scoring a third-round knockout.

WITH THEIR easy victories in last night's primaries out of the way, Ellen R. Sauerbrey and Parris N. Glendening can stop the shadowboxing and start the main event -- a replay of 1994's photo finish in which Mr. Glendening barely won the governorship.It is difficult to draw many lessons from last night's primary. Ms. Sauerbrey predictably displayed overwhelming support among Republican voters in trouncing Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker. Given the growing Republican registration figures, this should give her a solid base for November.

Mention of the World Series once exclusively evoked runs, hits and errors. But that's the old World Series. The new World Series, at least new in the consciousness of millions of Americans, has a far different lexicon: flop, turn and river. Also, all-in, on tilt and bad beat. The 36th World Series of Poker, the marquee event of the card craze that has saturated TV and even elbowed its way onto sports pages, begins its championship finale Thursday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas with an expected record-shattering field of 6,600 competitors.

Candy, an arts event, a free showing of a Dr. Seuss movie and a chance to sample wine and craft beer in support of higher education are some of the high-profile things to do this weekend to brighten the winter blues in Harford County. Though the annual Bel Air Chocolate and Candy Festival isn't until next weekend, a prelude event is planned for tonight (Friday) centered around the Bel Air Reckord Armory building on Main Street. Doors open at 6 p.m. at the armory for the main event, a free showing of "The Lorax," the animated movie based on the Dr. Seuss storybook.

On a blustery Saturday a few days before Christmas, the thirsty and the simply curious took a break from their last-minute shopping and headed to the Union Brewing Co. in Woodberry. There they took in a whimsical man cave on wheels that has been assembled from a vintage 1975 Winnebago Indian D-23 Sport Edition. It is the brainchild of two Baltimore artists, Chris Attenborough and Sean Naftel. The two artists, both graduates of the Burren College of Art in Galway, Ireland, have been "creating interventionist installations and events in the U.S. and Ireland since 2008," said Attenborough, who grew up in Anneslie and still lives there.

WWE pretty much saved the best for last, in terms of pay-per-view offerings.   Even with WWE champion CM Punk off the card because of injury, WWE TLC was a terrific pay-per-view event with several great things to write home about. First and foremost, many fans were pleasantly surprised with the final image of the broadcast -- a victorious Dolph Ziggler holding his Money in the Bank briefcase, having defeated John Cena. Yes, you read that correctly. John Cena didn't win. Dolph Ziggler did, and the match was great.

For the past week, many wrestling fans have been excited about the idea of the Survivor Series pay-per-view being headlined by a traditional 10-man Survivor Series main event. But WWE seemingly couldn't leave well enough alone. After rushing to announce the two teams - led by WWE Champion CM Punk and WWE legend Mick Foley - on last week's episode of Raw, WWE seems to have let its own doubt run rampant and cause major adjustments to the teams and the PPV card as a whole. Raw opened with a pre-taped segment in which former Intercontinental Champion The Miz walked away from Team Punk.

Friday night's Smackdown left me with one major question: Why did I just watch Wade Barrett face Randy Orton? That's not necessarily a complaint, as I enjoy watching these two share the squared circle, but it's a match we've seen twice on television in the past two weeks. And it was nothing new. The ending of the match may have been the most disturbing part. In their first encounter, Barrett won because of interference from Alberto Del Rio. In the rematch, Orton got his win back.

Even at the depths of a drug addiction that cost him a fortune and dulled his world-class poker skills, Greg Merson believed he could do something great. "He always had a lot of faith in himself," said his father, Stan. "I never saw him lose that. " Wednesday morning in Las Vegas, the North Laurel native showed the world that his faith was well-placed, winning the $8.5 million first prize in the World Series of Poker Main Event. "He's been through a lot, and a lot of people have told him he wouldn't make it at poker," said Stan Merson, still running on emotion as he watched a television replay in his hotel suite a few hours later.

The past 27 hours have truly represented just how much of a "tale of two wrestling companies" fans are living in the United States right now. On Sunday night, TNA Wrestling presented its Destination X pay-per-view, a wrestling-centric outing with a clear focus on the in-ring product and an emotional conclusion to a world title match. Tonight on Raw, WWE continued the build to this Sunday's Money in the Bank pay-per-view with a large emphasis on the very soap opera-inspired issues between WWE Champion CM Punk, his challenger Daniel Bryan and the woman stuck in the middle of them both, AJ. The two shows could not have had a more different build, at least as it pertains to the main event contests.

WWE pretty much saved the best for last, in terms of pay-per-view offerings.   Even with WWE champion CM Punk off the card because of injury, WWE TLC was a terrific pay-per-view event with several great things to write home about. First and foremost, many fans were pleasantly surprised with the final image of the broadcast -- a victorious Dolph Ziggler holding his Money in the Bank briefcase, having defeated John Cena. Yes, you read that correctly. John Cena didn't win. Dolph Ziggler did, and the match was great.

CM Punk has been on a campaign for respect. The on-screen character has lambasted WWE at every turn for giving priority treatment to other superstars instead of the reigning WWE champion. This week, though, it's hard to argue that Punk had the spotlight that a champion deserves. He was featured in the main event of Raw in a tag team match, was part of the centerpiece attraction of the debut episode of Main Event on Wednesday and main evented tonight's Smackdown in a match against Dolph Ziggler.

After a seven-month hiatus, Real Championship Wrestling makes its return to the Du Burns Arena with RCW Reloaded on Saturday. RCW, an independent wrestling promotion based in Baltimore, was formed in June 2009 by Brad Vance and several wrestling talents, including Ruckus, Derek Frazier and others from Maryland. The company hosted its first show - “The Takeover” - June 14, 2009. Since then, RCW has become a tour de force in Maryland and in East Coast independent wrestling, with names such as The Briscoe Brothers, The Osirian Portal, Shiima Zion (TNA's Zima Ion)