Milestone

This would have been unthinkable when I came to The Baltimore Sun twenty-seven years ago. My colleague Kevin Rector has launched a blog at Baltimoresun.com called Gay Matters , in which he and Michael Gold will present "a new home for gay news and commentary. " Mr. Rector will write on politics, policy, crime, and related matters; Mr. Gold will explore aspects of pop culture, sports, and the media. Mr. Rector's introductory post describes the Pepper Hill raid of 1955, in which Baltimore police raided the Pepper Hill Club (on North Gay Street; I am not making this up)

As you must know, May 22 is Richard Wagner's 200th birthday, and, as you must have guessed, Midweek Madness couldn't let that milestone go unturned. In fact, it will take at least three posts to do justice to this musical genius (and repugnant human specimen). Part 1 just had to be delivered by Bugs and Elmer -- predictable, yes, but still essential.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi praised Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski for "opening wide the doors of opportunity for the next generation of women leaders" in a statement Friday to honor the senator's latest milestone: Mikulski will become the longest-serving female in Congress on Saturday. Pelosi, a Baltimore native who attended the same high school as Mikulski -- the institute of Notre Dame -- credited with the Maryland Democrat with leading "the way for the many of us who came to public service after her. " Mikulski will reach 12,858 days of service in Congress on Saturday, surpassing the previous record set by Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, a Massachusetts Republican.

For all of his laser focus on Saturday's Preakness, Claude "Shug" McGaughey couldn't help but dream ahead to the possibility of his colt, Orb, going for a Triple Crown at his home track of Belmont Park in New York. "I wouldn't be telling you the truth if I said I didn't think down the line a bit," McGaughey said. "I thought that if we could get it done today, going back to Belmont, we'd be comfortable there and we'd probably really have a big chance. " For McGaughey and Orb, the story ended the way it has for every other Triple Crown aspirant since 1978 - in defeat.

The choice is the fan's Dom Amore Hartford Courant When Christian Lopez wrapped his meaty arms and defensive tackle's body around the ball struck for Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, the ball and its historic significance became his — and his alone. What that meant: It was for Lopez to decide what to do. It boggles the mind that such a baseball would have six-figure value to anyone but the man who hit it, but it does. Lopez could have held out for the highest bid and there would have been nothing wrong with it. He chose to give it back and ask for nothing.

Speaking of 3,000 hits, there is a possibility Robin Yount will be approaching the 3,000-hit mark while the Brewers are in Baltimore Sept. 11-13. The Milwaukee great has been struggling most of the year, hitting .253.As of Friday, Yount needed 29 hits to make it to 3,000. ThBrewers are scheduled to play 29 games before they reach Baltimore. They will also play the Orioles at home the next weekend, Sept. 18-21.

Now that Navy women's lacrosse coach Cindy Timchal has reached 400 career wins, you might see her sporting new shoes around the Annapolis campus -- although these might be too special to wear. After Wednesday's victory made her the first college lacrosse coach - men's or women's -- to reach 400, the Midshipmen presented Timchal with a pair of NikeiD sneakers in Navy blue and gold with 400 emblazoned on them. They were specially designed by senior team captain Kierstin King. “Anyone who knows her knows she absolutely loves her sneakers.

Scoring 22 points in a win Friday against Archbishop Curley, Gilman senior forward Ryan Ripken surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his four-year career. While the two-year captain has been putting up consistent numbers, he's also bringing plenty of valuable intangibles that have helped the Greyhounds to a 4-1 start. In wins against Severn, then-No. 14 Calvert Hall and Curley, the 6-foot-6 son of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. averaged 17.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals.

The biggest construction project on Baltimore's west side is set to reach a milestone Thursday, when a "topping off" ceremony will be held for the University of Maryland Medical Center's nine-story, $160 million Trauma/Critical Care Tower at Lombard and Penn streets. When it opens in 2013, the 140,000-square-foot building will significantly expand the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and the medical center's adult and pediatric emergency departments. Built to connect the Shock Trauma Center with the medical center's Weinberg Building, the new structure will also contain a center for training civilian and military health professionals.

EMMITSBURG -- Steve Marohl is the first 100-100 man in UMBC lacrosse history, but the countdown continues for the senior attackman.Marohl collected two goals and seven assists, helping UMBC (10-2) to a 22-8 rout of Mount St. Mary's (3-7) yesterday. His second goal raised his career total to 100. He has 130 assists, giving him a school-record 230 points."I'm relieved," said Marohl, a graduate of South River High in Edgewater. "I felt a little pressure to get the 100-100."With its 10th victory, UMBC broke its Division I record for most wins in a season, set last year.

This would have been unthinkable when I came to The Baltimore Sun twenty-seven years ago. My colleague Kevin Rector has launched a blog at Baltimoresun.com called Gay Matters , in which he and Michael Gold will present "a new home for gay news and commentary. " Mr. Rector will write on politics, policy, crime, and related matters; Mr. Gold will explore aspects of pop culture, sports, and the media. Mr. Rector's introductory post describes the Pepper Hill raid of 1955, in which Baltimore police raided the Pepper Hill Club (on North Gay Street; I am not making this up)

Development has been under way for years on the 809-acre Turf Valley property near Ellicott City, but one of the key parcels will get a high-profile addition next week when a new 48,000-square-foot Harris Teeter supermarket opens Tuesday in Turf Valley Towne Square on Resort Road. "We're very excited," said Louis Mangione of Mangione Family Enterprises, the Lutherville-based firm that owns Turf Valley. "We made a point of getting someone like Harris Teeter, who is new and exciting, and we think they're going to be a tremendous asset to the community.

When the No. 1 Northwestern women hit the road this weekend for games at North Carolina on Friday and Vanderbilt on Sunday, the Wildcats won't just be aiming to hold onto the No. 1 ranking. They could give coach Kelly Amonte Hiller her 200th career win. Amonte Hiller, in just her 12thseason, is 198-30. Her seven-time national champion Wildcats have averaged 18 wins since she took over the rejuvenated program in 2002. They were 5-10 their first season, 8-8 the following year and 15-3 in 2004.

More than three years ago, I was just a newly minted tech reporter at the Baltimore Sun when I met Bill Anderson, who demo'ed some software and hardware that blew my mind. At the time, in the spring of 2009, Anderson was still prototyping his Chameleon software but already it could work magic. He could use software to direct a computer to identify a user's eye gaze, and scramble the screen for anyone else who tried to steal a look. I wrote about Bill's efforts here , and blogged about it here . A video we produced at the Sun actually went viral on all the tech blogs, including Gizmodo, which featured it . (The video was watched nearly 100,000 times and was the most successful online video I ever produced.)

CM Punk has held the WWE championship for 339 days. On Sunday at WWE's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, where CM Punk meets Ryback for the WWE championship in the Cell, Punk will have held the gold for 343 days. While it's easy to look into the future, including a tantalizing possible matchup with The Rock and what many would hope to be a headlining bout at WrestleMania 29, CM Punk is doing anything but that, focusing primarily on his opponent Sunday. “I'm glad [I'm facing Ryback]

Orioles closer Jim Johnson has been exceptionally predictable this season: He almost always shuts the door on the opposition, and he always shuts down the questioning after a game when the attention drifts toward him. On Sunday, the Orioles' regular-season home finale, featured both as Johnson picked up his league- and personal-best 50th save in Baltimore's 6-3 win against Boston. What does Johnson think about becoming just the 10th pitcher since saves became an official statistic in 1969 to log 50 in one season?

Orioles closer Jim Johnson has been exceptionally predictable this season: He almost always shuts the door on the opposition, and he always shuts down the questioning after a game when the attention drifts toward him. On Sunday, the Orioles' regular-season home finale, featured both as Johnson picked up his league- and personal-best 50th save in Baltimore's 6-3 win against Boston. What does Johnson think about becoming just the 10th pitcher since saves became an official statistic in 1969 to log 50 in one season?

On The Weekend Watch:A SERIES MILESTONE -- Although originally dismissed as a weak spinoff from "The Cosby Show," NBC's "A Different World" reaches the 100th episode plateau tonight (at 8:30, Channel 2). In the milestone episode, Hillman College (where "Cosby" daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) matriculated before returning to the parent show) is in the path of a forecast hurricane. Dawnn Lewis, Cree Summer, Darryl Bell and Jasmine Guy star.A SERIES PREMIERE -- As the early ax falls on some low-rated series (such as NBC's "Man for the People" and "Pacific Station," both going into hiatus after Oct. 27)

In the end, these Orioles reduced the milestone to something small, almost insignificant. That's how weird, wonderful and exciting they have turned out to be in 2012. For years, any big-picture assessment of the franchise has included a reminder of its growing streak of losing seasons. The number was 14 going into this year, a run of futility stretching all the way back to 1997. It won't hit 15. The Orioles guaranteed that Thursday with a spine-tingling, 14-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that brought their season win total to 81. On Opening Day, many Orioles fans said they'd be thrilled if the club finally broke even - 81-81.

You know that question of who, dead or alive, you'd want to invite to a dinner party? I know, I hate it too. It's hard enough to plan the right mix and menu for an actual gathering, and make sure you don't invite people with the kind of romantic, professional or dietary complications that lead to stony silences or a visit to the emergency room. But this week, I got to wondering nonetheless: What would A.S. Abell and Mark Zuckerberg have to say to one another across such a time-traveling dinner table?