Nice Guy

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

Paul Cantabene was not entirely sure how the Stevenson players would react after dropping a 14-13 overtime decision to Roanoke on Tuesday night. But as the No. 3 Mustangs prepare to dip back into Middle Atlantic Conference play with a visit from Albright this Saturday at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills, the head coach is hoping that the team practices and plays with an undercurrent of anger. “I think we need to start playing a little more angrily,” Cantabene said Wednesday. “In my time here, this is one of our nicer teams.

Even by the standards of a latter-day Jackie Chan movie, "Mr. Nice Guy" is pretty silly stuff. Plot is never the point in these things; action is. But the action here is showing signs of tiring.The film supposedly has nine fight scenes and more stunts than the past three Jackie Chan pictures combined. But none of those scenes is a show-stopper, like the motorcycle chase and wind-tunnel battle of Chan's last effort, "Operation Condor." At first, the humor is there, as are Chan's charisma and eye-popping physical prowess.

Can basketball players be too nice? That's a question that has certainly crossed the minds of Maryland forward James Padgett and his coaches. Padgett, unfailingly polite and quiet-spoken off the court, has developed some polished post moves and enters Saturday's Georgia Tech game second (to North Carolina's Tyler Zeller) in the Atlantic Coast Conference in offensive rebounds at 3.5 per game. There is a nagging sense that the junior could perhaps do more. Coming off a big game in Tuesday night's win over Miami, Padgett averages 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds.

Q: For the past few months I've been seeing many references to a reader's letter from "Another Nice Guy Who's Given Up." What was his letter that caused such a sensation and made so many people respond?A: The letter that sparked so much interest was written by a man who didn't like what he was seeing and experiencing in the dating world. He dropped out of the race, frustrated and exhausted from competitive pressure, convinced that women were not attracted to a nice guy like himself. He felt his niceness was getting him nowhere socially because women preferred abusers and manipulators.

IT'S TOUGH to lose an election. It's been 28 years (can that be true?) since I ran for student council president and lost. Ullman High was shut down before the next school year began, so I wouldn't have gotten to serve anyway. But the defeat still irritates.My opponent was a good-looking athlete who was always nattily attired in the latest fashions that he acquired from the men's store where he worked part time. Me? I was just a bespectacled geek who could be summed up with the words "nice guy."

EXCUSE ME? Did I see a politician on TV Monday night refuse to deliver a cheap shot or a low blow? Wasn't it the guy in the middle, Martin O'Malley? Handed an unusual opportunity -- a chance to ask Carl Stokes and Lawrence Bell any questions he wished on live, local, late-breaking television -- O'Malley waltzed like a butterfly and stung like one.Weren't his questions shockingly soft and earnest, even sweet?O'Malley asked Bell to talk about "ideas that haven't gotten enough coverage" during the campaign.

There are some major questions being asked these days in Clemson, S.C., some that haven't been broached in a long, long time by those who follow the town's beloved football team.In short: What in tarnation is wrong with the Tigers?And one more thing: What about this Hatfield fella? Nice guy, but can he coach?The honeymoon officially ended for Ken Hatfield on Saturday night inCharlottesville, Va., when then-No. 9 Clemson lost to Virginia, 20-7, for the first time in school history."When you have a loss in anything, you have to do a lot of soul-searching," said Hatfield, 47, who replaced Danny Ford last winter.

SUN SCORE The Master of Disguise is, hands-down, the best James Brolin-in-an-Italian-accent movie ever. There, that should satisfy all those who believe in the old adage about not saying anything at all if you can't say anything nice. Because that's about the only nice thing that can be said about this tired, juvenile, tedious and hopelessly witless embarrassment that's really nothing more than an excuse for Dana Carvey to use a lot of makeup and try out a host of different accents.

Bob Turk is a nice guy. A very nice guy. Everybody says so. "I can't even remember what he reports -- he's just part of the fiber of the city," says Maggie Miceli, 30, a native Baltimorean who currently lives in Washington. "He's been on television as long as I've been alive." Chris Godwin, a 23-year-old security guard from Baltimore, describes Turk this way: "He's just a typical person like you or I." You don't have to take their word for it. Executives at several local stations say surveys consistently show the cheerful Turk -- WJZ's weather forecaster for the past 30 years -- among the most popular people on the city's airwaves.

I watch with interest the parade of character references that vouch for the integrity of state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie ("Lt. governor calls Currie 'a man of strong integrity,'" Oct. 25). While something can be said for being a "stand-up guy" when your friend is in trouble, to say that he is "a man of strong integrity," as Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, did dishonors Mr. Brown and his office. The court will adjudicate the charges of bribery, but the senator was employed by Shoppers Food Warehouse and did not claim it on his required disclosure forms and did not recuse himself from legislation affecting Shoppers.

The Johns Hopkins doctor who was shot on the job in the hospital Thursday by a patient's son is a well-liked and well-respected surgeon — who is known for entertaining his colleagues by performing magic tricks — according to those who work with him. Police officials said the doctor was expected to survive a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Coworkers identified him as David B. Cohen, a 45-year-old orthopedic and spinal surgeon on Hopkins' staff for more than a dozen years.

After the winning goal hit the back of the net just five seconds into overtime, Duke coach John Danowski was walking up and down the sideline hugging everybody. An NCAA Division I men's lacrosse championship has been a long time coming for Danowski. First, there were his 21 years as coach at Hofstra and then the past four at Duke. The Duke era may have been the most painful because Danowski was supposed to win here. Now that he has, Danowski, 54, has proven that nice guys can finish first.

P resident President Barack Obama's political predicament is perhaps more serious than he understands or appreciates. He appears to see opponents as rivals to be charmed. What he should see are enemies determined to destroy his presidency. To save the agenda for which he was elected, he must give up the pretense of being a post-partisan, professorial president and start acting like an Oval Office tiger. He must get tough - not because populist rage polls well but because his leadership depends on challenging those who challenge him. Republicans, big bankers and Wall Street, and the pharmaceutical and health-insurance industries see Mr. Obama as the enemy.

If you can get past several scenes that resemble Mean Joe Greene's classic Coke commercial, The Express provides a stirring and surprisingly contemplative version of the life of gridiron hero Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), who was known as "the Elmira Express" in his high school years in Elmira, N.Y., and became a legendary star at Syracuse University. Many inspirational sports movies provide only junk food for thought; this one contains some authentic reflections of sport in the civil rights era, as well as flesh-thwacking game footage that for once conveys what a coach means when he looks at a runner and declares him "a thoroughbred."

LAST WEEK, Chuck Norris, the Grade-D former action "star" - and Mike Huckabee mouthpiece - declared that he thought John McCain was "too old" to become president - he would be 72 at the time of inauguration - and "too frail" to withstand the stresses of the office. Norris actually said he assumed McCain would die in office and the vice president would have to finish his term. Two points to make here. One - Chuck Norris is an idiot. I don't mean idiot like intelligent people doing foolish things.

No more Mister Nice Guy -- Al Gore. Trust me, I'm shallow George Bush. Everybody is for peace except those who need to make it. Acela Express train service will reach Baltimore early on Dec. 11, running just a year late. The Mets-Yanks Serious does absolutely nothing for your true New York Giants fan. Cheer up. The economy is slowing down.

A 25-year-old East Baltimore man was shot to death yesterday after he asked two men to stop selling drugs in the 1700 block of Crystal Ave., city police said. Raymond Pitchford of the 1500 block of Lanhorne Ave. was shot several times in the upper body about noon, said Detective Albert Marcus of the homicide unit. Pitchford was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "He was visiting some relatives in the area," Marcus said. "He was a nice guy. He just wanted them to quit selling on the corner.

Indianola, Iowa -- An affable manner and wisecracking style helped Mike Huckabee vault to the top of the Republican presidential field. But the power of his counterpunch might determine whether he's still there after this week's Iowa caucuses. With the first voter test of the 2008 campaign just three days away, Huckabee is scrambling to stop Mitt Romney from overtaking him as a tight caucus contest grows intensely personal. He's striking back after weeks of attacks on his record as Arkansas governor from a variety of critics, led by Romney, while also confronting new questions about his lack of foreign policy experience.