Perfect Season

In the quest for kicking perfection, the Minnesota Vikings' ageless Gary Anderson is all alone this week.When Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos saw his 37-yard field-goal attempt blocked Sunday, it left Anderson as the NFL's only kicker who hasn't missed this season.The 39-year-old veteran has made all 23 field goals and 51 extra points he has attempted for the Vikings. Counting five field goals he made at the end of last season for the San Francisco 49ers, Anderson has hit 28 consecutive three-pointers and needs three to tie the NFL record.

"IS THAT your Christmas tree in the middle of the street?" my friend asked, pointing to the remnants of a Douglas fir resting on its side, a tuft of angel hair wafting in the breeze.Perhaps the tree flung into the road was symbolic of a holiday highlighted by:My sister-in-law's emotional breakdown Christmas Day when her husband failed in his shopping quest to find a copy of the video "My Best Friend's Wedding" and foolishly thought he could substitute "It's a Wonderful Life" even though the Julia Roberts tape was the only thing she had asked for and he still couldn't get it right and he knew that she could watch Jimmy Stewart on TBS anytime she wanted and the tape IS NOT THE POINT ANYHOW!

For Taylor Virden and 15 other McDonogh girls lacrosse players, their senior season came to a perfect end Saturday. The No. 1 Eagles' 17-8 win over No. 3 Notre Dame Prep in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference final capped a 20-0 season with their second straight title before nearly 1,200 fans at Gerstell Academy in Finksburg. "I'll never forget this game," Virden said."I'm glad that this was the last McDonogh game I ever played, because it was such a special one. The senior class is so close.

As Garrison Forest fans waved posters and made sure to sit in the same bleacher seats at Goucher College they've sat in for the past two championship seasons, the No. 1 Grizzlies field hockey team took care of business on the field. Garrison Forest withstood a ferocious attack by No. 2-seeded Bryn Mawr and then pushed in goals by Bayly Jarrett and Erica Marshall to beat the Mawrtians, 2-0, and win the Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship for the fifth time in six years.

It has been said many times that high school volleyball is a game of momentum. Top-ranked Mount de Sales learned all about that Thursday night - the hard way. The host Sailors (18-1) were kept off balance most of the night by a strong Good Counsel front line and saw their undefeated season end, 25-18, 14-25, 28-26, 25-23, in the Maryland/D.C. Private Schools championship. "We let our intensity down, and they took advantage of it," said Mount de Sales junior Hannah Schmidt (22 kills, 20 digs, five aces)

1 Team to repeat as Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champions since the league's first title game in 1996. Loyola is the only program to win back-to-back championships (2007 and 2008). No. 1 Calvert Hall will try to become the second this season. 8 State championships won overall by five-time defending champion Hereford, which ties the Bulls with Dulaney for the most among public schools in state history. Hereford also established a new mark for consecutive titles with its 13-8 win over Glenelg in the Class 3A-2A title game last season.

FREDERICK -- Dan Brown was easily the most valuable -- and most popular -- player for Perry Hall last night.Brown pitched the Gators to the Class 4A baseball championship, stopping Gaithersburg on two hits and striking out nine en route to a 7-1 victory that completed Perry Hall's 21-0 season.Brown then invited his teammates to a late-night party at his house, where they were to gather after the bus ride back to Perry Hall."I'm the captain, so I should give the party," said Brown. "These guys are great.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Loyola men's lacrosse team hoped a victory over Syracuse would create a new distinction for the program. A loss, nevertheless, accomplished the same result.A year after registering the worst margin of defeat for a top seed, the Greyhounds became the first No. 1 seed to exit in the quarterfinals in the 29-year history of the Division I tournament, slipping to the No. 8 Orangemen, 17-12, on the rain-soaked grass of Princeton Stadium yesterday.Loyola's perfect season collapsed with a series of uncharacteristic flaws before a crowd of 6,526, the team's largest audience of the season.

Fallston finished off its second successive undefeated season at North Harford last night, scoring twice in the first four minutes, and going on to a 7-0 victory.The latest Fallston Express, ranked No. 1 in the area and No. 6 in the nation, ran its record to 12-0 for the year, outscoring its foes 73-2.Where Fallston has used skills and speed to flatten all foes, North Harford (7-3-1), with only one senior, has appeared inconsistent the last 10 days, losing to Bel Air, 3-1, getting sky-high for a 1-0 win over C. Milton Wright, then coming back to earth in its regular-season finale.

The Connecticut women have focused intently, dominated historically and won just about every minute of each of their 38 games. And here they are again. "What's gone into coming back [to tonight's national championship] has been so incredible and so amazing," Geno Auriemma said. The Huskies have created their own system of measure by which all teams that follow will now be compared. "We force ourselves every day to do things that are against human nature," Maya Moore said.