Playoff Game

The spectacular playoff run that brings the Ravens to today's Super Bowl rightfully has the city literally and figuratively aglow in purple. Of course, some will assert that it is only a game, and there are far more pressing issues that should occupy the local headlines. It is true that it is just a game. And in many ways, game day is just another afternoon. But sometimes it is more than could have ever been imagined. Consider Christmas Eve 1977. On that Saturday, the Baltimore Colts and Oakland Raiders met at Memorial Stadium in an epic and exhausting double-overtime playoff game that featured seven consecutive lead-changing scores.

One big advantage San Diego has over the Blast in their Major Soccer League playoff series, with game No. 4 tonight at 7:05 at the Arena, is experience.The perennial champion Sockers, who lead the series, two wins to one, are loaded with players who have been in four or five championship series.Baltimore starts four players with almost no playoff experience -- Jean Harbor, Kevin Sloan, Kris Kellerman and Joe Koziol. Koziol, in two years with Cleveland, did get in one playoff game.That's why San Diego's 5-4 win in overtime here Tuesday night came as no shock to veteran MSL watchers, even after the Blast tied the game at 4 on Rod Castro's goal with 28 seconds left in regulation.

Here's the latest from TBS on when and where the Baltimore Orioles playoff game will be shown Wednesday. Forget any misinformation about the O's being on MLB channel Wednesday. The Orioles are on TBS in prime time, though the exact time could change from the scheduled 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., depending on whether or not a series ends today. Here's the release from TBS: TBS' coverage of the 2012 MLB Postseason will continue tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 9 with an exclusive doubleheader - San Francisco vs. Cincinnati (Game 3)

Less than a decade ago, Kingsville resident Charlotte Krause didn't know a thing about football. "I cheered when everyone else cheered and booed when everyone else booed," she said. Then "I went to a preseason game in 2004 and had a chance to learn about the game. I've been hooked ever since. " Now Krause, 55, serves as president of the Council of Baltimore Ravens Roosts. The organization oversees more than 50 fan clubs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. "I watch the Ravens at the stadium or [on]

Norv Turner and Gus Frerotte, who could never get to the playoffs together, will make their playoff debuts against each other today. When the Washington Redskins play host to the Detroit Lions today, the Turner-Frerotte matchup is about the only interesting feature of a game pitting two teams not likely to go very far in the playoffs. The Lions staggered into the playoffs with four straight losses and are the longest shot on the board, 75-1, to make the Super Bowl according to the oddsmakers.

PHILADELPHIA - There was no table left unturned at Veterans Stadium last night, no ghosts not exorcised. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers swept away two years of playoff debris here with a stunning 27-10 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game to advance to Super Bowl XXXVII . They will play the Oakland Raiders in San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday. The Bucs took a page from the underdog Super Bowl champions of the previous two years and stamped it with their own imprint.

Playoff fever?They haven't exactly caught it in Indianapolis.Even though the Colts can clinch a playoff berth tonight for the first time in a nonstrike year since moving to Indianapolis in 1984, the home matchup against the New England Patriots has hardly worked the team's fans into a frenzy.The game, which will be nationally televised on ESPN -- it normally would be a Sunday night telecast but was moved up a day because of Christmas Eve -- isn't sold out and will be blacked out in Indianapolis.

After enduring sub-freezing temperatures, layered in purple and clinging to cozies that were keeping their hands from sticking to the aluminum beer cans, Baltimore's football fans got their reward Sunday. The Ravens, playing their first home playoff game since 2007, won a do-or-die contest against the Houston Texans to face a Sunday showdown with the New England Patriots, and a chance to return to the Super Bowl. The 20-13 victory was in doubt until the very end, but within and around M&T Bank Stadium the home team's fortunes took on a feeling of destiny even before the first snap of the ball.

The Westminster High football team had two goals in mind when it entered Ruby Field on Friday night: beat longtime rival South Carroll for the county title, and complete the first undefeated and untied regular season in school history. With those accomplishments now in hand, the Owls can move on to their main goal of winning the school's first state football championship. Westminster effectively mixed its running and passing games and unleashed the county's best defense in a 42-7 romp over the Cavaliers on Friday night at Ruby Field.  Coach Brad Wilson's team completed the first undefeated regular season in program history, while earning its second consecutive county championship.

BALTIMORE - Midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday's Class 1A North Region playoff game, Manchester Valley's football squad came to the crossroads. A swarming Reginald Lewis defense and a couple of penalties had forced the Mavericks into a fourth down and 24 yards-to-go situation. No problem. Senior quarterback Dom Frank calmly dropped back and found wide receiver Zach Heron down the left sideline, just a step ahead of the Lewis defense. Frank threw a pinpoint pass that was hauled in by Heron for a 33-yard gain and a crucial first down.