Rare

Flashing his charismatic smile and delivering catchy sound bites yesterday, Deion Sanders proved "Prime Time" hadn't missed a step behind the podium. Now, the 37-year-old cornerback has to convince everyone he has the same ability on the field. After passing a physical that spanned three days and signing his one-year, $1.5 million contract, Sanders said he returned to the Ravens because of "unfinished business," alluding to the fact that he wanted to end his stellar career with a memorable season and not an injury-marred one. "If this is my last go-around, I want to go out with everything I've got," he said.

WHEN I SAW my nephew Rudi dressed in uniform for his junior ROTC ball and looking for all the world as if he were leaving on the next troop carrier for Bosnia, I said what would probably be considered the wrong thing. Especially because I said it in front of his date."Oh my God! I used to change this boy's diapers."He was all shoulders and gold braid, all epaulets and brass buttons and not at all the little boy in sleepers to whom I would read stories while his parents slept in.During recent trips to the hometown where my three sisters live, I have seen with fresh eyes my nephews, who appear to have done nothing but eat and grow since I saw them at Christmas.

When his first Kentucky Derby horse, Orb, was named the favorite Wednesday, Stuart S. Janney the III was not there to raise his hands triumphantly for the cameras. He won't be in Louisville at all in the days leading to the race. A short phone call with his trainer each day is all the northern Baltimore County resident requires. The rest, he'd rather avoid. "There's a lot of silliness that happens this week," he said Monday. "And I've got paperwork to catch up on. " Janney is instead in New York, where he spends much of his time at the 5th Avenue headquarters of the Bessemer Trust, the wealth management firm of which he is the chairman.

The day after riding in the Kentucky Derby, Kevin Krigger packed his family and gear and headed for Pimlico Race Course - by way of Cincinnati. A woman there had captured his heart. She was Liliane Casey, 88, whose father, Jimmy Winkfield, was the last black jockey to win the Derby, or any Triple Crown race, in 1902. "I had to meet her," said Krigger, 29, who chatted with Casey in the living room of her apartment for nearly 2 1/2 hours. "We had a great time. She educated me as to what her father had gone through in racing.

Michael Rae is on a diet. A serious diet. Subsisting largely on "loads and loads and loads of vegetables," he consumes 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day, about 25 percent fewer than the USDA recommends for adult males. "In truth, I'm a little bit hungry most of the time," he said. "You get used to that, although it can be distracting." The regimen has lowered his libido and can also make him snappish. One other fact about Rae - unlike most other dieters, he's already thin. Very thin - 6 feet tall and 117 pounds.

In July 2010, Adarien Jackson's 6-year-old son, Kaden, began complaining of itchy bumps on his ankles. They soon turned into a rash and spread to his back, behind his ear, and on his eyelid. The child's pediatrician and dermatologists tried allergy drugs, diet changes, oils and oatmeal baths. But it wasn't until months later that Jackson discovered the cause of the problem. Kaden's twin brother, Kyler, began waking in the middle of the night, crying out, "Bugs are crawling on me!"

There must be 109 million ways to ruin your life after finding out you won Powerball. But the most critical decision comes quickly, after about the fourth or fifth time you check the numbers. To go public or not? To grip a check the size of a Charlie Sheen poster for the cameras? Or to hide your good fortune from an admiring and envious world? "We've heard from a couple" who say they own the $109 million Powerball ticket sold in Abingdon last week, says Carole Everett, spokeswoman for the Maryland Lottery.

A fellow who needed money for an operation walked into the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) convention in Anaheim, Calif., last August with a couple of old campaign buttons to see what he could get for them. The convention was called to order over the public address system and, in keeping with an APIC tradition, the buttons were auctioned, right then and there. One was an extremely rare button picturing John W. Davis and his running mate, Charles Bryan, the 1924 Democratic candidates.

The simple act of trying to keep dentures in place can trigger serious health problems, including neurological damage, a new study by University of Maryland researchers warns. Preliminary studies link the zinc in some adhesives to neurological damage and blood abnormalities, at least among patients who squeeze out too much denture cream, too often, trying to keep their teeth anchored. A review of the scientific literature by faculty members at the University of Maryland Dental School has concluded that these health risks "should be a matter of concern for all dentists caring for denture patients.

Dropkick Murphys, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Gaslight Anthem and more will perform at Carroll Park in Pigtown on Sept. 14 for the debut of The Shindig, an all-rock music festival, organizer Paul Manna announced today. Tickets go on sale Friday. Other artists scheduled to perform include Clutch, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reverend Horton Heat, The Hold Steady, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Larry and His Flask, The Glenmont Popes and Bad Seed Rising. There will be two stages but no sets will overlap.