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It's tempting. We rarely get so obvious a target as Phil Gramm, the Texas senator who wants to become president.Like most Republicans, Gramm is a champion of middle-class, grass-roots family values.But he's been blushing lately because it's come out that he once invested a few thousand dollars in the production of a soft-porn film.So it would be easy to needle Gramm about talking like a goody-goody after financially backing the sort of bare-bosom-and-butt movie that decent church folk condemn.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. After striking gold at Good Counsel in 2012 - the Terps received commitments from offensive lineman Mike Madaras , running back Wes Brown and wide receiver Stefon Diggs - Maryland struck out with the school's top prospects in the class of 2013. The Terps are hoping to get back to the success they had in 2012 at Good Counsel with the class of 2014, which boasts plenty of Division I recruits.

Football Vikings: Deactivated OL Eric Moss, LB Artie Ulmer, RB Robert Green and WR Tony Bland from 53-man roster. Pub Date: 12/26/97

The significance of his commitment to Maryland wasn't lost on Jared Cohen . The McDonogh offensive lineman is the first Terps pledge in the 2014 class - a group that will never play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.   “It feels really cool,” said Cohen, who committed to Maryland on Monday. “I haven't really been able to be a part of something like that in my lifetime. I really hope that it turns out to be a really good legacy of the first person to commit … [to] the first [Maryland]

Football Bears: Released RB Marlon Barnes, DL Van Tuinei, OL Jerry Wisne, CB Floyd Young, TE John Sigmund, FB Chris Floyd, former Ravens WR Billy Davis, DT Buck Gurley and DE Uhuru Hamiter. Broncos: Released WR Keith Poole, RB KaRon Coleman, WR Scottie Montgomery, TE Billy Miller, TE Matt Dominguez, OL Jay Leeuwenburg, OL John Feugill, OL Donnie Young, OL Todd Fordham, DL Ma'a Tanuvasa, DL Cyron Brown, DL Scott Pospisil, LB Ricardo McDonald, LB Lemar Marshall, DB Jason Suttle, DB DeAuntae Brown and DB Billy Gustin.

Eighteen years after NFL players first marched with their "No Freedom, No Football" picket signs, they finally get both freedom and football tomorrow."

• Rudy Johnson, McDonogh, QB, senior • Jerry Lovelocke, Edmondson, QB, senior • Antoine Goodson, Poly, ATH, senior • Demond Brown, Annapolis, RB, junior • Jason Clements, Old Mill, RB, senior • Patrick Steele, Boys' Latin, RB, senior • Willy Williams, Hereford, RB, senior • Tyrek Cheeseboro, Milford Mill, WR,...

Rudy Johnson, McDonogh, QB, senior Jerry Lovelocke, Edmondson, QB, senior Antoine Goodson, Poly, ATH, senior Demond Brown, Annapolis, RB, junior Jason Clements, Old Mill, RB, senior Patrick Steele, Boys' Latin, RB, senior Willy Williams, Hereford, RB, senior Tyrek Cheeseboro, Milford Mill, WR, senior Ben Cranston, Loyola, OL, senior Tripp Trainor, Gilman, OL, senior Jovon Watts,...

In his convention speech, Gov. Bill Clinton invited Americans to come visit his home state of Arkansas. He said they'd enjoy it. Having been there several times, I agree. Especially if they meet Ol' Bud.Ol' Bud was my host when I went to Arkansas. He operated a fishing camp at the end of a dirt road in the Ozarks. This was during a period of my life when I was enthused about catching Ol' Hog Jaw, which is how Ol' Bud referred to large-mouth bass.Ol' Bud was an expert at catching Ol' Hog Jaw, and we plucked many an Ol' Hog Jaw from the water to the frying pan, the poor things.

Dan Rooney, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Frank Deford, editor-in-chief of The National sports daily, are among the guests of honor at the 13th annual Ed Block Courage Awards a week from tonight at Martin's West.The affair annually honors recipients from all 28 NFL teams who have best exemplified the traits of courage as shown by Block, now deceased, who was a beloved trainer for the Baltimore Colts for many years.Since the inception of the banquet, the Ed Block Courage Foundation has raised nearly $1.5 million in support of abused children.

Record-breaking wide receiver Deon Long and offensive lineman Silvano Altamirano have signed letters of intent to play football at Maryland, coach Randy Edsall announced today. Long, a D.C. native and Dunbar High graduate, was the National Junior College Athletic Association's top-ranked receiver in catches (100), yards (1,625) and touchdowns (25). A first-team All-American, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore led Iowa Western Community College to the NJCAA national championship. “I am very excited about Deon joining the Terrapin family,” Edsall said in a news release.

More than a quarter-century has passed since Tom Wopat last jumped, feet first, into the General Lee and sped away for a half-hour of redneck fun on TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard. " But in a career that has included Tony and Grammy nods (thanks to his stint on Broadway in "Annie Get Your Gun") and television appearances aplenty, he's still Luke Duke to legions of fans. "It's amazing, it's crazy," says the 61-year-old Wopat, who still gets together with "Hazzard" co-star John Schneider (and sometimes even the original Daisy, Catherine Bach)

Less than a week after Friendship Collegiate (D.C.) linebacker Yannick Ngakoue reopened his recruitment, the Maryland football program lost another commitment. Tanner Hartman , a 6-foot-4, 250-pound offensive lineman from Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Va., has committed to Penn State, according to 247Sports.com . Hartman, a two-star prospect according to Rivals.com, had committed to the Terps over offers from Liberty, Richmond and Temple.  “I'm excited,” Hartman told The Sun in July.

Maryland freshman offensive lineman Nick Brigham has withdrawn from the university for personal reasons, a team spokesman said Wednesday. Brigham, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound guard from Atlanta, was a four-star prospect and the No. 28 player in Georgia, according to 247Sports.com. He never appeared in a game for Maryland. Brigham, a 3.9 student in high school, committed to the Terps in March 2011 shortly after a visit to College Park.  "And so I went there, looked at it completely, objectively," Brigham told The Sun . "Would I still love this campus even if I didn't have football?

To say that this episode was uncomfortable is an understatement. Scene after scene we were left cringing as the housewives were groped, hit on, confronted, and bossed around. Perhaps the most awkward scenarios during the episode involved Aviva's father, George.  Aviva warned everyone that he is a bit of a sex addict but no one really expected that he would be so forward and sexual with the ladies. Throughout the entire episode he is trying to convince Sonja to sleep with him. He tells her that being in bed with him would be the kinkiest night she ever experienced.

Whenever Tanner Hartman had a question about college football or the recruiting process, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound offensive lineman looked no further than his father. In the early-to-mid 1980s, Tom Hartman was a standout lineman at Virginia Tech. Tanner wasn't seriously pursued by his father's alma mater, but since the spring, he's been a top target of one of the Hokies' top rivals - the Maryland Terrapins. Hartman said his affinity for the Terps became apparent to his family soon enough.

BaseballBraves: Acquired IF Freddy Garcia from Pirates for P Greg Dukeman. Sent IF Marty Malloy outright to Triple-A Richmond.Padres: Recalled OF Mike Darr, OF Gary Matthews Jr., IF David Newhan and P Carlos Almanzar from Triple-A Las Vegas. Recalled P Domingo Guzman from Double-A Mobile.Stockton Ports (Single-A): Announced that team has changed name to Mudville Nine.BasketballClippers: Bought out remaining year of contract with G Pooh Richardson.Suns: Named Phil Weber assistant coach.Wizards: Re-signed F Randell Jackson.

Moves Baseball DEVIL RAYS: Agreed with former Orioles C Brook Fordyce on one-year contract. RANGERS: Signed Former Orioles OF David Dellucci to one-year, $750,000 contract. REDS: Agreed with P Cory Lidle on one-year, $2.75 million contract. Basketball HAWKS: Requested waivers on F Lee Nailon. Activated F Alen Henderson from injured list. HEAT: Activated C Wang Zhi-Zhi from injured list. Placed F Udonis Haslem on injured list. HORNETS: Waived C James Lang. NETS: Agreed to terms with F Eddie Griffin.

Maryland offensive tackle commitment Mike Madaras received an honorary Under Armour All-America jersey during a ceremony Tuesday at Good Counsel. Madaras, the Terps' most highly touted 2012 recruit, is one of 90 players selected to play in the fifth annual Under Armour All-America High School Football Game, which is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Fla. The game will be televised on ESPN. "This is going to give me the opportunity to play against a lot of the kids that I'll be playing against in college," Madaras said in a news release.

Vintage Civil War era "base ball" exhibition introduced fans to some new terms, but in many ways the game is the same. In base ball — as in the vintage circa 1865-style, two-word version of the all-American pastime — you not only have the exhilarating crack of the narrow bat hitting a slow, underhand-"hurled" (pitched), straw-filled ball. You also have the sharp smack — as in "ouch!" — of a sharply hit "stinger" (line drive) rocketing into a "ballist's" (fielder's)