Maryland

I am a female sports fan. I go to games, watch them on TV, download the apps, read the stats, and buy the T-shirts. I recently heard about the launch of a new professional women's soccer league, and I started thinking about the sports to which I am attached. They are all professional male sports - plus men's college basketball - but I have never thought about why. I suspect it has to do with my age (51), which limited my exposure to girl's athletics - Title IX was just beginning to be implemented when I was in school - as well as my sports fan role model, my father.

For five days ending Sunday, thousands of film fans and scores of filmmakers watched movies together at the 15th Maryland Film Festival. From three-minute comedic shorts promoting horror films to gripping documentaries about the rise of Napster and cutting-edge narrative features about the relationship between a teacher and one of her students, the festival offered local cineastes the chance to lose themselves in the boundless possibilities of film....

For Capt. Martin Noorsalu, deploying to Afghanistan with the Maryland National Guard last year was an unusual opportunity. Noorsalu is one of only a dozen helicopter pilots in the Estonian Air Force. The sole air defense service of the former Soviet republic numbers some 400 personnel. They fly four helicopters. But from September to December, Noorsalu and fellow Estonian Air Force Capt. Rene Kallis flew medical evacuation missions in Afghanistan with Maryland National Guard members in the 1st General Support Aviation Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment.

Maryland moved Monday to reduce the commercial harvest of female blue crabs in the aftermath of a survey finding that the Chesapeake Bay's crab population hit a five-year low last winter. The Department of Natural Resources announced that it was lowering the daily allowable catch of female crabs, effective Thursday. The move comes nearly a month after Maryland and Virginia officials announced the results of their annual winter dredge survey, which found that the bay's crab population had declined by nearly two-thirds over the previous year, to around 300 million, with juvenile crabs plummeting 80 percent.

Maryland owns a commanding 13-2 advantage in this series and has won the last eight meetings. But the two teams have not played since March 18, 2000, and Cornell is 2-1 against the Terps in the NCAA tournament. The Big Red (12-3) have lost all three contests by one goal each, but a setback to then-No. 12 Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League tournament on May 3 cost the team one of the NCAA tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round. But that does not hide the fact that 2011 Tewaaraton Award finalist Rob Pannell (36 goals and 44 assists)

Major League Lacrosse Streaking Rubeor scores 4 as Bayhawks rout Machine, 14-5 Attackman Ben Rubeor (Loyola High) had another big game as the Chesapeake Bayhawks manhandled the Ohio Machine, 14-5, in a game shortened to three quarters Saturday night because of lightning around Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Rubeor, who scored seven goals in a win over the New York Lizards last weekend, scored four goals and assisted another against the Machine. He now has at least one point in 32 consecutive games, and was named Player of the Game for the second straight time Saturday.

Mothers are very important people. They give us hugs and kisses; they put Band-Aids on our wounds; they hide special notes in our lunch boxes. They're so special and important that they even get their own day. Today, my two brothers - Matthew and Jacob - and I will celebrate our mothers for Mother's Day. We'll plot how to surprise our moms and talk about what we should make for a special breakfast, then go do something fun with them. But this Mother's Day will be even more special than all of the others because we'll plan all our surprises knowing that soon after, on May 18 (one week before their 30th anniversary)

Here's what Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said three years ago as the nation's gap between rich and poor widened toward historic levels: "I think it's a very bad development. It's creating two societies. And it's based very much, I think, on educational differences. … It leads to an unequal society, and a society which doesn't have the cohesion that we'd like to see. " As college students complete final exams and the 2013 commencement season arrives, a look at the higher education landscape suggests that the nation still has a long way to go in closing the education gap at the root of the income gap - what we should call the opportunity gap. "Socioeconomic diversity" on campus remains elusive.

Maryland's 2013 season could be compared to an exhilarating amusement-park ride that kept passengers highly entertained through the first half before sputtering out and leaving riders wanting more. After back-to-back appearances in the national title game, the Terps fell well short of that goal this spring, falling to Cornell, 16-8, in the first round of the NCAA tournament Sunday. With the loss, Maryland extended its national crown drought to 38 years. As frustrating as that is, however, coach John Tillman said the program will not lower the bar. “Our expectations will always be the same,” he said.

Former Memphis point guard Antonio Barton (Lake Clifton) wrote in a text Sunday to The Baltimore Sun that his visit to Maryland on Friday “went tremendous”. Barton wrote that he loved the campus and was impressed with Terps coach Mark Turgeon and his assistants as well as the academic support staff. A source said Barton has not committed to the Terps. Barton expects to graduate this summer and be eligible to play immediately next season. He is reportedly also considering Syracuse, Texas A&M and Kansas State.