Maryland

Trespassing. Kidnapping. Assault. That's not a crime blotter. Those are some of the details of the rivalry between Johns Hopkins and Maryland. The Hopkins-Maryland series is the longest-running tradition in lacrosse, but the sides can't even agree on the exact beginning. The school in Baltimore recognizes 1895 as the first meeting, but the institution in College Park doesn't have records before 1924. Both programs have developed rivalries with other opponents. The Blue Jays' annual series with Syracuse is one of the most anticipated, and Princeton and Virginia aren't far behind.

COLLEGE PARK -With their most indispensable player suddenly dispensed to a spectator role, the Terps were a team with no options. Fouls handcuffed Greivis Vasquez to the bench, and the Terps' hopes were suddenly shackled to an unfortunate, inescapable reality. Despite the best efforts of players like Adrian Bowie, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, in the waning moments of last night's 78-67 loss to Duke, Maryland needed a leader, not a cheerleader. The Terps flirted with the possibility of winning without their star player; they winked an eye and played footsie with a chance at upsetting the No. 7 Blue Devils.

COLLEGE PARK -Hang around Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams long enough, and you begin to understand something: He doesn't mind being in the eye of a storm. In fact, he prides himself on his ability to find calm in the center of chaos. There is no question that this season has been somewhat chaotic for the Terrapins (16-8, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who face another must-win game on the road tonight against No. 13 Clemson (20-4, 6-4). But if you look beyond the recent turmoil, which includes a star player squabbling with fans and the coach publicly feuding with the athletic department, Maryland has won three of its past four games.

Are expectant mothers adding Marissa and Kristi to their lists of baby girl names today? Are thousands of Marylanders budgeting for $175 Final Four seats? If the General Assembly chooses to rewrite the lyrics to "Maryland, My Maryland," will it include laudatory references to Head Coach Brenda Frese? If not - why not? With their 92-89 overtime victory over Duke on Sunday, the Maryland Terrapins women's basketball team accomplished something their Y-chromosome-toting counterparts in College Park never have: They won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament after capturing the regular season title, too. Their position as one of four top seeds in the March Madness tournament is virtually assured.

Gov. Martin O'Malley charted a course for the state through a national recession yesterday, pledging to protect safety net programs, freeze college tuition and eradicate childhood hunger. The Democratic governor laid out the vision in his third State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly, which must approve many of his plans. In a 30-minute speech, O'Malley said he "never felt more energized" despite bleak economic times, and repeatedly invoked President Barack Obama's name, drawing applause in the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature.

Has the focus on basketball recruiting helped or hurt Maryland? On one hand, you could argue that publicly airing issues is a step toward correcting them. Or you could say that it's just embarrassing for Maryland. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

Two members of the state university system's Board of Regents yesterday urged an end to the "unhealthy" infighting between Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams and athletic department managers over two former recruits. One board member called the public bickering a "fiasco." Another said flatly, "It just needs to stop." "This stuff has got to get settled because it's hurting everybody," said Tom McMillen, a regent who served in Congress after playing basketball at Maryland and in the NBA. "It's very unhealthy to see these kinds of struggles get into the paper," said McMillen, who frequently attends Terrapins games.

WASHINGTON - Members of the state's congressional delegation have earmarked money for more than 200 pet projects as part of a huge $410 billion spending measure nearing final action in Congress, a Baltimore Sun analysis shows. Earmarks by Maryland lawmakers from both political parties would funnel more than $200 million to projects in every corner of the state. A final vote on the omnibus spending measure could come as early as tonight, though opposition from a few Democrats and most Republicans in the Senate could jeopardize chances for approval in its current form.

Sen. Jennie Forehand was attending a conference of Southern lawmakers some years ago when Maryland, My Maryland, the state song, began playing at a ceremony. An impassioned Confederate-era poem set to the tune of O Tannenbaum, the song takes a particularly exclamatory turn at the end: "She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb - Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum! She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come! Maryland! My Maryland!" "People were laughing at it," said Forehand, a Montgomery County Democrat, "They were asking, 'What in the world is this all about?

The Duke game lasted only about two hours in real time, but it seemed to take forever for Maryland. Best moment for Maryland: Dave Neal hits a three-pointer to put the Terps ahead 3-2 in the first minute. Second-best moment: There wasn't one. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It was one thing for Maryland's blitzing defense to bewilder a freshman quarterback in a win over Clemson a week ago. It turned out to be quite another to shut down a poised, senior Wake Forest quarterback who entered Saturday night's game as the Atlantic Coast Conference's hottest passer. If they had any doubt before, the Terrapins now know exactly why Wake Forest's Riley Skinner is on such a roll. Beating blitzes with quick, accurate tosses, Skinner led touchdown drives on Wake Forest's first five possessions in a 42-32 victory over the Terps.

COLLEGE PARK -- The Maryland Terrapins couldn't stop admiring their new defense during spring and summer practices. "That defense is something else," marveled senior quarterback Chris Turner in July. "It's really something to behold." But something happened on the way to Maryland's becoming a defensive dynamo. Like a new computer with bugs in the hard drive, the system installed by new defensive coordinator Don Brown kept crashing at the most inopportune times. After three games, the Terrapins had surrendered 119 points - nearly 40 per contest.

Gov. Martin O'Malley and the Public Service Commission are doing their best to save Maryland from Constellation Energy. Just when the state was plunging into its biggest recession since the early 1990s, Constellation threatened to spend $8 billion and create 4,000 construction jobs on a new nuclear power plant on the Chesapeake. Fortunately, the commission has ordered endless, expensive, irrelevant hearings that are likely to make Constellation and its partner, EDF Group, give up. So diligent is O'Malley that his energy department tried to suppress testimony from the commission's own expert showing that Marylanders would save a billion dollars over eight years from the new electricity supply and resulting lower prices.

The news that a complex tax law change known as "combined reporting" could have resulted in $170 million in additional payments from businesses into Maryland's coffers if it had been in effect in 2006 is bound to reignite a familiar debate in Annapolis next year, with progressive groups on one side and the Chamber of Commerce on the other. The two sides have been duking it out over this issue for years, with proponents of combined reporting insisting it ensures that businesses pay their fair share and are unable to hide profits in other states, and opponents saying it would be a logistical nightmare.

COLLEGE PARK - -Maryland running back Da'Rel Scott, who topped 1,000 yards last season, will be out at least five games with a broken wrist, and starting left tackle Bruce Campbell will miss Saturday's Wake Forest game, coach Ralph Friedgen said. Scott broke his radius, a bone in the forearm that extends to the thumb side of the wrist, Friedgen told reporters during his weekly conference call Sunday. The tailback might be able to wear a flexible cast later in the season, but "we have to see if he can handle the football or not," the coach said.

Homebuilders who just a year ago were mired in financial woes, putting projects on hold or drowning in inventory are inching back into Maryland's new-home market. Though sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. have shown solid gains over the summer and supply has decreased, builders say today's market is a far cry from the boom years. Credit for builders to buy land and put up homes remains in short supply. And rising unemployment and mortgage troubles are holding back consumers. Still, builders are positioning themselves for growth, expecting an upswing in demand by next year and fearing being left behind.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland field-goal kicker Nick Ferrara says he has been punting for years. But the freshman had never started a college game as the punter until Saturday. Ferrara, subbing for the injured Travis Baltz, could hardly have performed better. Ferrara's first punt traveled 61 yards, pinning Clemson at its 4-yard-line. His second punt went 53 yards and was angled toward the sideline so that it could not be returned. That was important because Clemson is among the nation's best teams at returning punts and kicks.

What Maryland thinks : Should filmmaker Roman Polanski be extradited from Switzerland to the U.S. in connection with his 30-year-old conviction for having sex with a minor? Yes 79% No 18% Not sure 3% (1,145 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Should the Supreme Court allow state and local gun control laws to be challenged under the Second Amendment? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

A hearing in Annapolis this week demonstrated with perfect clarity what the problem has been for all these years in caring for Maryland's most vulnerable children. Sen. Joan Carter Conway declared Tuesday that the Department of Human Resources' new strategy of placing troubled or neglected kids in family settings as opposed to group homes was unfair to the group homes. With all due respect to the group home operators who do a good job, that's just too bad. The children are our concern - not their livelihood.

Gov. Martin O'Malley stopped by a Coca-Cola bottling plant in East Baltimore on Wednesday - not for a drink, but to promote the company's environmental efforts and urge more Maryland businesses to jump onto the green bandwagon. After touring the plant and trying his hand at crushing a batch of aluminum cans for recycling, the governor praised Coca-Cola Enterprises, a distribution arm of the giant beverage company, for its efforts to reduce its waste, energy and water use. And he used his visit to plug his administration's "Maryland Green Registry," a self-nominating who's-who of businesses, universities and government agencies seeking recognition for voluntarily recycling waste and reducing energy use or pollution.