O Brien

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)

Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. What do you make of former Terps quarterback Danny O'Brien leaving Wisconsin and looking for a new school? Jeff Barker: First, a global comment. The NCAA rule allowing many graduate students to play immediately after transferring has had a noteworthy effect on the game. It has generated a class of college “free agents,” of which former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson is perhaps the best known.

As a Roman Catholic, I am appalled by the draconian response from Cardinal-designateEdwin F. O'Brienas noted in your recent article "Archdiocese of Baltimore defies health rule" (Feb. 8). For Mr. O'Brien to state that he would rather leave the 3,500 employees of the archdiocese without health insurance of any sort - rather than comply with the law of the land - is a truly heartless response. Moreover, has Mr. O'Brien been isolated in his ivory tower for so long that he has forgotten about the extreme overpopulation that many parts of our world presently face?

After playing for two teams and four head coaches in four seasons, quarterback Danny O'Brien is again college football's version of a free agent, hoping to find a school where he can fulfill the promise he showed in a redshirt freshman season at Maryland that seems long ago. “Funny circumstances” is how the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year describes the unusual arc of his college career. O'Brien said in an interview Monday that he won't return to Wisconsin next season and is looking for a suitable spot to use his final year of eligibility.

On September 23, 2005, ROSE M.O'BRIEN; beloved daughter of Evelyn L. O'Brien and the late Edward M. O'Brien; devoted sister of Mary Grant, Phyllis Goodspeed and Kim Kummer. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to call at the Burgee-Henss-Seitz Funeral Home, 3631 Falls Road, on Monday and Tuesday, from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. The Eucharist of The Resurrection will be celebrated on Wednesday at 2 P.M. at the Cathedral Church of The Incarnation, East University Parkway & St. Paul St. Interment in St. Mary's Cemetery.

On Wednesday, May 5, 2004, ELIZABETH M., of Westminster, formerly of Catonsville; daughter of the late Michael J. and Mary Ring O'Brien; beloved sister of the late Marie J., M. Veronica, Catherine F. and William J. O'Brien and Eleanor O'Brien Cook; loving aunt of William O'Brien Finch, Michael C. and Lee A. Cook. Also survived by nine great-nieces and nephews and 21 great-great-nieces and nephews. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John Catholic Church, 43 Monroe Street, Westminster on Friday at 1:00 P.M. Interment will be in New Cathedral Cemetery.

CNN and Soledad O'Brien Thursday announced a new deal that will take her out of the morning weekday anchor chair and make her an independent producer of documentaries for the channel. The move by new CNN chief Jeff Zucker is a smooth one that keeps a talented journalist connected to the CNN brand while paving the way for the one-time executive producer of the "Today" show to launch a weekday morning show of his own design featuring Chris Cuomo and most likely Erin Burnett, who is now struggling in the ratings weeknights at 7 p.m. on CNN. The new deal gives O'Brien, an award-winning correspondent for her work on such CNN productions as "Black in America," a guaranteed income producing non-fiction programs for the channel through a production company she will form.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. What is the mood of Maryland's football program heading to West Virginia on Saturday as a four-touchdown underdog? Jeff Barker: I'm certain Maryland appreciates the magnitude of its task Saturday -- to try to hang with a Top 10 program boasting one of the nation's most prolific offenses. The Mountaineers are averaging 612 yards of offense through their first two games.

Navy came into Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to add to Penn State's collective misery from the past 10 months. The Midshipmen had designs on keeping the Nittany Lions and their new coach, Bill O'Brien, winless. Hours later, as Navy was leaving this scenic campus after playing a once-dominant football program transformed by scandal and tragedy, the Midshipmen had already set another goal - finding a way to win a game in what has been an unusual but not unexpectedly tough start to their 2012 season.

Randy Edsallsaid he isn't looking back on what happened last season at Maryland, so I won't either. But that doesn't mean I won't be watching what Danny O'Brien is doing at Wisconsin this season, and I'm sure a few Terps fans were checking out the internet Saturday while Maryland was struggling to beat William & Mary at Byrd Stadium behind freshman quarterback Perry Hills. For those who hadn't heard what the former Maryland quarterback had done in his debut with the Badgers, it certainly had to make you think what O'Brien might have done in Mike Locksley's new offense in College Park rather than Matt Canada's new offense in Madison.

Penn State began what it calls a "new era" of football Saturday by allowing 21 unanswered second-half points in a 24-14 loss to Ohio University. Penn State played its first game under Coach Bill O'Brien and fourth since former coach Joe Paterno was fired last November. An announced crowd of 97,186, about 9,000 below Beaver Stadium capacity, returned to pledge support for O'Brien and his football team, which went through a tumultuous offseason. On the field, however, second-half lapses led Penn State to its first opening-day loss 2001.

With Gary Tuchman in Haiti and Anderson Cooper on the ground in New Orleans, no one covered Isaac better that CNN. By Wednesday morning, the Atlanta-base news channel was the only place to be for coverage of the storm. But Tuesday night, when it was a tough editorial call between the storm and the GOP convention, Fox News also seemed to have a very good feel for the huge importance of this weather story. Give credit to the producers and managers at Fox for not only moving Shepard Smith and  other correspondents and camera teams into place on the Gulf this week, but also for understanding and journalistically responding to the fact Tuesday night that the storm was about to become a huge story -- as big or bigger than the convention.

Danny O'Brien  received some startling news last Tuesday. After finishing up practice with the Wisconsin football team, the former Maryland quarterback heard from a few of his old teammates. C.J. Brown, the man who took O'Brien's starting job 10 months ago, had torn his ACL during a noncontact drill and would miss the 2012 season. O'Brien was heartbroken. Brown is one of his close friends, someone he's talked with regularly since deciding to transfer last winter. So he did what all people do during a friend's time of need.

In the spring of 1989, an up-and-coming Division I basketball coach returned to his alma mater, leaving a prestigious job and a burgeoning national reputation behind. The coach was aware that his new program was about to be sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed by his predecessor, but when the penalties hit nearly a year later, he was surprised by their severity. There were times Gary Williams second-guessed his decision to help rebuild a Maryland program still reeling from the scandal surrounding the cocaine-induced death of All-American Len Bias three years before, and the turmoil that enveloped the Terps during Bob Wade's tenure.