New Era

Bill O'Brien looks right out of Football Coach Central Casting: thick neck, hulking shoulders, receding hairline and a mug that looks like it caught a few forearms back when he played linebacker and defensive end at Brown. The new face of Penn State's storied football program was in town Tuesday, on the second leg of a nine-day, 18-stop bus tour to glad-hand alumni and assure everyone that autumn Saturdays in Happy Valley will still be special, despite the tragic events of last fall.

There is a single shot, just seconds long, in James Cameron's newly re-released movie, "Titanic," that says it all with poignant eloquence. Up to this point in the narrative, the director has emphasized the great ship's size and grandeur. She sweeps over the waves like a building that has somehow learned to fly, and you cannot help but gape at the mammoth scale of her, the largest moving object on Earth at more than 100 feet tall and four city blocks long. Then comes her collision with that iceberg she saw too late.

A new era began on tonight's Raw. With Team John Lauriniatis' victory at WrestleMania , Laurinaitis officially launched his reign of control in WWE. His first orders of business? Rewarding the men who helped land him his position of power. Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler were granted shots at Santino Marella's United States Championship; Mark Henry was awarded a chance to dethrone CM Punk as WWE Champion; and The Miz was placed in the main event against Zack Ryder. The members of Team Johnny found a mixed degree of success.

Ben Walsh doesn't have a lot of time to play games these days. As CEO and president of the Baltimore-based Pure Bang Games, Walsh spends his waking hours leading a team of nine developers aiming to release a new social game every few months.  The irony, of course, is that Walsh is a lifelong gamer who, if he ever took a vacation, "would sit down and do nothing but play" all the games he's been missing out on since starting Pure Bang in...

We've been slurping Chesapeake oysters, my Chesapeake Bay Foundation buddy Don Baugh and I, for more than 100 years between us. And while we've known the bay in better times, we never had better oysters from it than the dozens we downed - chilled and fat and bursting with taste - over the winter holidays. It was Chesapeake seafood at its finest, and all of it was farmed - some raised in floats in Virginia by Tangiermen Rudy Shores and Mark Crockett; the rest grown in cages in Maryland by Hooper Islander Johnny Shockley.

Towson sophomore Marcus Damas brought a crowd of students and alumni to their feet after dunking over three cheerleaders who playfully cowered under the basket at the Tigers' recent Black & Gold Jam. The inaugural, fan-friendly event officially ushered in a new era for Towson basketball, which is looking to create more buzz for a program that has not had a winning record since the 1995-1996 season. First-year coach Pat Skerry has taken over for Pat Kennedy and has already brought a new energy to the Towson Center.

Robert B. Reich brings new meaning to the phrase "hope springs eternal" when he writes that the "regressive right wing of American politics" might ignite a new era of liberalism ("The regressive right-wing reawakens a progressive America," Oct. 20). Lets just hope the "regressive right wing" does not usher in a new era of "progressive regression. " John Milton Wesley, Columbia

When the lights go up on Owings Mills Boulevard Saturday night, a new era will dawn for Stevenson University. A capacity crowd of 3,500 is expected to pack the school's new $9 million stadium, built on the site of the former Ravens and Colts training facility. A 75-piece marching band will take to the state-of-the-art field turf to blare out the school's newly minted fight song, with images beamed live to cable TV viewers throughout the region. And referees will break out special footballs emblazoned with the Stevenson logo and the words "Stadium Opening 2011.

Maryland's glitzy new uniforms generated national buzz, but the team said it showed its true colors with an up-tempo offense that seemed to wear down its opponent and a defense that made stops when it needed them most. It's only one game into the season, but there was a sense of excitement — almost giddiness — after the Miami game surrounding Maryland's young team, which has only a dozen seniors on the two-deep depth chart. After transitioning during the offseason to new offensive and defensive systems, players got to test their new schemes for the first time in Monday night's 32-24 victory.

Several weeks ago, Maryland kicker Nick Ferrara said he vividly imagined himself kicking the winning field goal against Miami and sending his coach, Randy Edsall, home a winner in his Terps debut. In his detailed daydream, Ferrara anticipated his kick coming from about 41 yards. The yardage in Ferrara's fantasy was a bit off, but his kick wasn't. The third-year kicker booted a 32-yarder Monday night with 1:39 left to give the Terps the lead for good. A minute later, Maryland cornerback Cameron Chism -- whose earlier defensive holding penalty had proved costly -- stepped in front of a sideline pass and returned the interception 54 yards for the clinching touchdown in Maryland's 32-24 win over the Hurricanes.