Opening Ceremonies

About 2,600 athletes threw hats, flags and kisses to a capacity crowd at the Baltimore Arena last night during the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Jewish Community Centers' North American Maccabi Youth Games.Forty participants from Israel began the procession of athletes, ages 13-16, that have come from 50 North American cities and seven foreign countries, including Australia, Great Britain and the former Soviet Union.About 1,000 families in the Baltimore-Columbia area are serving as hosts to the athletes.

Instead of having a ceremonial first pitch to kick off the home opener, the Orioles chose to keep the baseball on the mound, to the left of the pitching rubber. It was done to honor Orioles Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who died in January at age 82. It's believed to be the first time the club has not had a ceremonial first pitch for a home opener in Camden Yards history. The Orioles always seem to do celebrations well. This one was obviously understated, and touching.There also was a video tribute to Weaver and his name was listed on the roll call of “Orioles' family,” as the final name (though the rest was listed in alphabetical order, Weaver was behind Earl Williams)

Days until opening ceremonies: 6.Christie loses: England's Linford Christie finished second to Jamaica's Michael Green in his last race before defending his 100-meter Olympic title in Atlanta. Both men clocked 10.26 seconds running into a head wind in London.Harris' last shot: Lt. Ronnie Harris, a 1987 Navy graduate, will make his final attempt to make the U.S. track and field team Monday in Montreal. Harris needs to run 5,000 meters in 13 minutes, 29 seconds. In his previous race, last Saturday in Belgium, Harris ran 13: 29.25.

Driven by gold for Michael Phelps and the women gymnastics team, NBC's prime-time coverage of the Summer Olympics Tuesday hit a new high in overnight ratings topping those earned by the record-setting opening ceremonies. And maybe it's me, but the complaints in social media didn't seem quite as loud yesterday. Or, maybe they were just drowned out by Phelps becoming the most decorated athlete in Olympics history. I know I saw both Phelps events and some of the women gymnastics on live stream in real time Tuesday afternoon, but still wound up watching the tape-delay version through prime time.

Valu Food will open its first store in Carroll County with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. tomorrow at 2320 Hanover Pike, Greenmount.The grocery store replaces Ames as an anchor in North Carroll Plaza Shopping Center.It offers seafood and deli counters, bakery and a branch office of Carrollton Bank.The 42,000-square-foot store is expected to generate 100 new jobs.Hampstead Mayor Christopher M. Nevin and Town Manager Neil Ridgely, Manchester Mayor Elmer C. Lippy and Valu Food President Louis Denrich are expected to attend the opening ceremonies.

Limousine service opening in PasadenaAn Extraordinar Limousine Service Inc. will have its opening celebration today from noon to 8 p.m. at the company's offices, 7954 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd., Pasadena.Sen. Michael J. Wagner and Councilman Ed Middlebrooks will be present.First National to open branch in Glen BurnieThe First National Bank of Maryland will open a new full-service branch office Wednesday at the Price Club Plaza, 561 E. Ordnance Road, Glen Burnie.The opening ceremonies at 10 a.m.will include a donation of $5,000 to to the Cultural Arts Foundation of Anne Arundel County.

Days until opening ceremonies: 9.Snowfall: One-third of an inch in Nagano City, no new snow on men's downhill course. That left 7 inches in Nagano City, and 6 feet, 6 1/2 inches on the downhill course.Update: Hawaiian-born sumo wrestler Akebono will perform a traditional rite of purification at the opening ceremonies. Akebono, a naturalized Japanese citizen, holds sumo's highest rank of grand champion. The other grand champion, Takanohana, had been cast for the part, but bowed out because of illness.

Editor: On behalf of the 12U Bel Air Braves travel baseball team, we would like to thank everyone who supported our fundraisers, bought raffle tickets, made donations or just wished us good luck throughout the season. The Braves have had a very successful season (29-8-1) which will culminate in playing in the Cal Ripken World Series as the host team from Harford County! Members of the team are: Camren Exter, Michael Yetter, Ryan Neuberger, Daniel Webber, Nick Robinette, Michael Koski, Kyle Bright, Brian Ballard, Zach DeLuise, Andrew Brndjar, Jordan Ly and Carter Poulsen.

In celebration of its 17th birthday, WIYY-FM (97.9) has chosen eight local rock bands to record a compact disc album, with Epic Records and Sheffield Studios.The disc is due for release at an Artist Showcase tentatively scheduled for the first week of April, fea- turing groups chosen in a competition last month. A specific date and location have not been named. Recording is currently taking place at Sheffield Studios in Phoenix.More than 200 tapes made the semifinals of the station's judging, says 98-Rock program director Russ Mottla.

Days until opening ceremonies: 34.Update: Despite having his invitation to run the 400 meters at the July 12 London grand prix meet revoked, world champion Michael Johnson said he expects to compete in the event. British athletics spokesman Tony Ward said Johnson had been denied permission to run the 400 meters because it would be "demoralizing" to British runners.Torch: The world's most famous torchbearer will be honored Tuesday when the Olympic flame stops at the Statue of Liberty on its ferry trip across the Hudson River.

The complaints about NBC not showing marquee events like swimming have not abated, but the network is claiming another night of record viewing Sunday night, based on preliminary overnights. Meanwhile WBAL, the network's Baltimore affiliate, is boasting of its Friday night audience for the opening ceremonies. The Hearst-owned station has been treating tape-delayed events as "spoilers," reporting on them only as a graphic flashed on the screen during the sports portion of its early evening newscasts -- and warning viewers to look away if they don't want to know.

NBC's Friday-night coverage of the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics drew the largest TV audience on record for a kickoff of the summer games. According to Nielsen figures provided by NBC, 40.7 million average viewers watched the four-hour-plus telecast, outpacing the Atlanta game by 900,000 viewers while topping Beijing by 6 million and Athens by 15 million. NBC's coverage was the highest-rated Friday night on any U.S. network in a decade. Read my review calling the coverage a "winner" here . Meanwhile, a mostly-media-made mini-flap flared when some in the British press criticized NBC for cutting three minutes of opening ceremonies out of the taped-delay version shown to American viewers in favor of an NBC interview with Michael Phelps.

You can take Michael Phelps out of Baltimore. You can send him to his fourth Olympics. But what does he do during his downtime? "I've just been watching 'The Wire,'" Phelps said Wednesday, referring to the HBO show that is perhaps as famous a Baltimore export as he is. "I know, I never felt the need to watch it before because it was five minutes from where I live. " He'll be watching more TV on Friday night, but it will be the opening ceremonies for his final Games. Despite being the veritable face of the Olympics after his last two Games, he's never marched with the other athletes to open the quadrennial competition because the swimming events begin the following morning.

Boating test Today , 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Test Sea-Doo's braking system for free. Hemingway's at Bay Bridge Marina in Stevensville. Trap shooting Sundays , 1 p.m.; Wednesdays , 6 p.m. Carney Rod & Gun Club, 9721 Hilltop Drive. $5 per round. Information: 410-668-1019. Mondays Critter chow-down Wednesday , 3 p.m., Eden Mill Nature Center, Pylesville. Join the staff every Wednesday at 3p.m. through August to feed the critters.

In celebration of Ballet Theatre of Maryland artistic director Dianna Cuatto's receiving this year's Performing Arts Annie, BTM dancers entertained at the start of the 12th annual Annie Awards ceremony, offering excerpts from their "1812 Ballet" and from "Aladdin," along with Spanish and Irish dances. On Oct. 19 in the Key Auditorium at St. John's College, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County awarded Annies to six people for their contributions to performing, literary and visual arts, and to arts education, patronage and lifetime achievement.

Editor: On behalf of the 12U Bel Air Braves travel baseball team, we would like to thank everyone who supported our fundraisers, bought raffle tickets, made donations or just wished us good luck throughout the season. The Braves have had a very successful season (29-8-1) which will culminate in playing in the Cal Ripken World Series as the host team from Harford County! Members of the team are: Camren Exter, Michael Yetter, Ryan Neuberger, Daniel Webber, Nick Robinette, Michael Koski, Kyle Bright, Brian Ballard, Zach DeLuise, Andrew Brndjar, Jordan Ly and Carter Poulsen.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake attended the grand opening of Lenny’s Deli in the Pratt Street Pavilion at Harborplace today. This was the happy pavilion. The announcement today that original tenant Phillip Seafood was leaving this Fall made the Light Street Pavilion made that the sad pavilion. The mayor, according to the an account in the Daily Record, learned of Phillips' closing while attending the grand opening at Lenny's. Lenny's opened in April into what used to be the bottom half of La Tasca , which still occupies the upper level.

Sunday, June 5 Home tour The Villages of Columbia present the second annual Columbia Home Tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participants, equipped with a tour guide book and map, will go on a self-guided tour of five homes in the Columbia villages. There will be a tour guide at each location who will take visitors through the home. All ticket holders are invited to visit the newly renovated Owen Brown Community Center for a reception with refreshments and displays by Columbia Archives.