Pressure

Hernias are a common ailment among Americans; more than 4 million people develop the painful condition. And although both men and women develop hernias, female patients may be harder to diagnose. Doctors and patients may not realize the abdominal pain a woman is feeling is because of a hernia. Dr. Hien Nguyen, assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said the pain can be mistaken for other conditions with similar symptoms, such as adhesions from prior surgery, endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts.

The beautiful weekend weather just couldn't last. While clear, sunny skies remain over New England, a low-pressure system spinning up from the Southeast has brought clouds over the mid-Atlantic. An area of high pressure that dominated from late last week through the weekend is now centered near Maine, slipping off the coast. The area had blocked clouds from moving into the region. "ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END...AND SO WE SAY FAREWELL TO THE FINE WX OF THE PAST FIVE DAYS," National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in a morning forecast discussion.

If the Ravens are playing this weekend, you can bet there is someone somewhere wondering if offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is coaching for his job. And maybe he is. Cameron has been a popular punching bag when things haven't gone well this season. He was caught for a time in the middle of a tug-of-war between quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice to determine the identity of the Ravens offense. He is an easy target for criticism when that offense stalls because, well, he's the guy with the car keys.

Reviewing national media coverage of the Black Guerrilla Family's virtual takeover of the Baltimore City Detention Center, it's impossible not to feel the pressure mounting on Gov. Martin O'Malley who is expected to return this week from a trip to the Middle East. And how he handles the scandal could go a long way in determining how well he does or doesn't do with those national aspirations we've been hearing so much about the last year. I can see the image of Black Family Guerrilla gang leader Tavon White, who is alleged to have held virtual control of the detention center, haunting O'Malley in attack ads throughout any future campaigns.

Goucher got its first NCAA tournament win in program history, edging Washington, 5-4, in a first-round contest Wednesday afternoon. And the Gophers' reward? A second-round date with South Region No. 1 seed Salisbury this Saturday. Goucher is 18-1 and riding a 15-game winning streak, but senior attackman Rory Averett said he thinks the pressure is on the nine-time reigning national champion Sea Gulls (19-0). “They are an incredible team, but I do think it's on them,” Averett said after Wednesday's victory.

Prior to Saturday, No. 10 North Carolina had yet to string together two consecutive wins in 2013 and was just one game above .500 heading into a pivotal road contest against top-ranked and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Maryland. But that didn't prevent the Tar Heels from pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season as they tagged the Terps with their first loss of the year in a 10-8 victory at Byrd Stadium in College Park. Maryland (6-1) may have been the team with all of the accolades and the momentum, but it also had all of the pressure, according to North Carolina senior attackman Marcus Holman.

It is way too early to predict how the Ravens will play defense in 2012, but they might need to bring more pressure than in previous years. They'll have to. In the first preseason game Thursday night, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed 9 of 13 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown in less than two quarters of play. Ryan had a quarterback rating of 103, and the Ravens got little pressure on the fifth-year player out of Boston College. Granted, Ryan had a quick release and ran some short timing routes, but the Ravens might have problems putting pressure on quarterbacks, especially early in the season.

Last season was considered a breakout year for John Ranagan, who established himself as one of Johns Hopkins' dangerous initiators from the midfield. The then-sophomore racked up 11 goals and nine assists in the team's first nine games. But opponents got wiser in the latter half of the season, shadowing Ranagan with long-stick midfielders who limited him to seven goals and five assists in his final seven games. Ranagan's linemates did what they could with mixed results. Then-sophomore John Greeley recorded seven goals and four assists in the team's last seven games, but then-freshman Rob Guida managed just four goals and zero assists over that same span.

Cam Cameron walked off the practice field and made a right turn into the thicket of TV cameras, digital recorders and notepads awaiting him. There have been times at these media sessions when the Ravens' offensive coordinator wore the look of a man who has just had a brick thrown through his car windshield. But on this sunny August afternoon, he seemed relaxed and confident the day before the Ravens flew to St. Louis for their final preseason game against the Rams tonight. “What'ya got?

Another night, another error.Manny Alexander is struggling to hold up his end of The Move, in which he plays the role of the person substituting for God in Sunday school."

Wednesday night's road contest against Centennial Conference foe Swarthmore is no longer an ordinary game for Washington College, which needs the victory to clinch a berth in the conference tournament. A win over the Garnet would give the No. 10 Shoremen (11-3 overall and 4-3 in the league) at least the No. 4 seed in the Centennial Conference tournament. If No. 19 Gettysburg (8-5, 4-2) was to lose to Franklin & Marshall (9-4, 5-1) and McDaniel (5-10, 2-5), Washington would move up to the No. 3 seed.

With the season for legislating over in Maryland as of last Monday, the season for raising cash for campaigns has begun. For the next nine months, until the General Assembly convenes in Annapolis Jan. 8, candidates for the legislature, governorship and other statewide offices will be making an all-out push to fill their campaign chests before next year's session puts a damper on such activity. Lawmakers and statewide officials are forbidden by law to raise money during the annual 90-day session.

The release of the NCAA's first RPI list confirmed what many had suspected of Johns Hopkins. The program - which is ranked No. 22 in RPI, which is a tool that the NCAA selection committee will use to determine the at-large teams in the 16-team field - needs a quality win and a prime opportunity will take place this Saturday when the Blue Jays, who are ranked No. 15 in The Sun, visit No. 4 Maryland (8-1) at Byrd Stadium in College Park. At this point, Johns Hopkins, which is 6-4 after losing three of its last four contests, could use any victory, but coach Dave Pietramala insisted that the team isn't feeling the heat from possibly missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

Prior to Saturday, No. 10 North Carolina had yet to string together two consecutive wins in 2013 and was just one game above .500 heading into a pivotal road contest against top-ranked and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Maryland. But that didn't prevent the Tar Heels from pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season as they tagged the Terps with their first loss of the year in a 10-8 victory at Byrd Stadium in College Park. Maryland (6-1) may have been the team with all of the accolades and the momentum, but it also had all of the pressure, according to North Carolina senior attackman Marcus Holman.

It was almost a year ago - 363 days, to be exact - but it seems like eons now. John Ranagan fired home a low, bouncing shot with 5.6 seconds left in overtime to give Johns Hopkins an exhilarating 11-10 win over then-No. 1 Virginia, extend the Blue Jays' start to 8-0 and vault them to the top of The Baltimore Sun poll. Since then, however, the goals and late-game heroics have not been as frequent for Ranagan. As the midfielder embarks on the second half of his senior year with the Blue Jays, Ranagan is acutely aware of the expectations that have dogged him since he was named a first-team All-American in 2011.

Stevenson has earned the No. 1 ranking during the regular season on several occasions, but this winter is the first time that the program has been deemed the top team in Division III in the preseason. Accompanying that lofty ranking is usually the pressure of living up to that billing, but Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene said that's not the case. “We've been No. 1 in the country before. We've been there and done all that stuff,” he said. “I think in the end, it's no different than what we've been through before.

Five months ago, Brian Kelly was tabbed to succeed Kyle Hannan at Goucher as head coach. Kelly, who had spent the previous five years as the team's top offensive assistant, now has the unenviable task of taking over a squad that won four consecutive Landmark Conference regular-season titles and two of the last three league tournament championships and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season under Hannan, who was 121-79 in...

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Portland's Buck Williams, the man who promised the Trail Blazers would return to the Forum for a Game 6, has decided to make another pledge.Williams vows that the Blazers will beat the Los Angeles Lakers tonight (9 p.m., Ch. 2 after Orioles game) -- with or without injured forward James Worthy."We're going to make a stand in the Forum and bring the series back to Portland for Game 7," Williams said. "Los Angeles has its work cut out. All the pressure is on the Lakers to end the series."

Five months ago, Brian Kelly was tabbed to succeed Kyle Hannan at Goucher as head coach. Kelly, who had spent the previous five years as the team's top offensive assistant, now has the unenviable task of taking over a squad that won four consecutive Landmark Conference regular-season titles and two of the last three league tournament championships and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament last season under Hannan, who was 121-79 in...

St. Paul's senior Jordan Surhoff has been swimming almost as long as she can remember. The daughter of Orioles Hall of Famer B.J. Surhoff and former internationally ranked swimmer Polly (Winde) Surhoff, she has three older swimming siblings - Austin, a senior at Texas; Kendall, a freshman at North Carolina; and 20-year-old Mason, who is autistic and swims in the Special Olympics. Surhoff, who turns 18 Saturday, put the perfect ending on her St. Paul's swimming career last weekend by winning two individual events in record time and anchoring two relays to victory as the Gators finished second in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference.