Rhythm

He ignored the warm, steady rain that slicked his full beard to his face. He tuned out the crowd in the bleachers. He didn't glance across the stage at his foe, the ex-U.S. champ he was about to fight for a title he'd coveted 30 years. He never thought of the trip to Galway, Ireland, that hung in the balance.No, for two minutes and 19 seconds, George Hastings saw oysters and -shucked -- lancing and scooping in a Zen-like rhythm -- until his trusty Chesapeake stabber had dispatched eight, 16, and finally the two dozen oysters the judges had set before him. "I only won by seven seconds," marvels Hastings, 44, a Baltimore native, of the national oyster-shucking championship he netted last month.

Wizards @Heat Tonight, 6 TV: Comcast SportsNet The first time Washington Wizards rookie Bradley Beal attempted to embarrass an opponent with a thunderous jam, he got a painful lesson on the need to think before dunking. Beal picked the wrong target when he elevated for a throw-down on Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith, one of the NBA's best leapers and shot blockers, and crashed on his backside after Smith stuffed the ball. Forced to sit out the next two games last month with a sore left back, Beal was a little more cautious about when to showcase his surprising hops.

Oh, for Jerry Wexler's resume.It includes: long-time partner during the glory years of Atlantic Records. Angel to Aretha Franklin. Producer for Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett, the Drifters and Willie Nelson. Author of the term "rhythm and blues" as a reporter for Billboard (thus replacing the loaded chart label for black music in the '40s, "race records").At the same time, Mr. Wexler, like so many careerists, allowed his family life to deteriorate into catastrophe. He lost an adult daughter to AIDS, having long denied the extent of her drug problem.

Joe Flacco faked a handoff, spotted Anquan Boldin alone in the back of the end zone and connected with hit him for the easy touchdown. He then ran to the sidelines, pumping his fist nearly the entire way. Preseason or not and regardless of the opponent, the Ravens' starting offense needed a performance like this. The Ravens had spent the week focusing on finishing drives and they did just that Thursday, setting a team record for preseason points in a 48-17 throttling of the Jacksonville Jaguars before an announced 70,502 at M&T Bank Stadium.

"To me all words are like music. They have a sound and a rhythm and a beat. They move and breathe like the people and places they describe. They are not just flat sticks on a page. If it weren't for the rhythm in the words, I don't think I would have learned how to read. Or, as someone put it better, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.'"-- Leah Komaiko, author of "Annie Bananie" Pub Date: 01/13/99

Gary Leslie Langston Sr., whose talent as a guitarist and rhythm and blues singer took him from the street corners of Baltimore to the plush clubs and lounges of Atlantic City, N.J., died Monday of a heart attack at his Absecon, N.J., residence. He was 45.Known as "Boo," he appeared with his band Cheers on April 19 at the EastportClipper in Annapolis.Living in Towson in the 1970s and 1980s, he performed with local bands, including Both Worlds and Then and Now. He often appeared at Warfield's in the Towson Sheraton Hotel and at clubs and hotels in Ocean City.

NEW YORK -- Ethno-musicologists will recognize the cadences of Brazilian tribal drumming.Fans of Afropop will identify the shimmering, interlocking lines of the West African guitarists.And those who pay attention to lyrics will appreciate the terse phrases, the sudden shifts of perspective, the rhythmic rightness of the lines.But none of them will be able to call "The Rhythm of the Saints," Paul Simon's long-awaited new album being released today, exclusively their own.For a poet and a one-man band whose aural palette now includes pan pipes, talking drums and other elements of world music, this represents something of a victory.

Let's get one thing straight from the beginning: There's more to Pearl Jam than Eddie Vedder.Granted, the singer is the most identifiable and charismatic member of the group. It's his energy and stage presence that fans talk about after seeing the band live, his good looks and tortured sincerity that set hearts aflutter after MTV started showing the "Jeremy" video. And when people complain that Stone Temple Pilots is just a Pearl Jam rip-off, it's mainly because STP frontman Welland's singing seems such a dead cop of Vedder's vocal style.

WHILE 5 INCHES of snow blows coldly through the streets of Minneapolis, the 17-piece band on the stage of the new Target Center arena burns through polyrhythms of a more tropical clime.Amid an aggregation of musicians from Brazil and several different African countries, a Los Angeles-based gospel trio and sax man Michael Brecker, Paul Simon turns and directs the big band as its conductor and diminutive leader, swinging with the beat.Like his record-breaking "Graceland" tour, which grew from an introduction to African sounds to what Simon calls "one groove after another," the new tour, which comes to the Baltimore Arena Tuesday and the Capital Centre in Landover Wednesday, has also become "more and more rhythmical."

For the first half of the final period, when the Richmond Rhythm was held scoreless, blew what was left of a 20-point lead, and looked on the verge of going 0-6, the BayRunners seemed like they had overcome the loss of forward Rodney Elliott.But down three with 38 seconds left, Rhythm guard A. J. English made a three-pointer that tied the score at 97 and sent it into an overtime that netted the BayRunners a 117-108 loss in front of 2,002 at the Baltimore Arena last night.The Rhythm outscored Baltimore 20-11 in overtime, which highlighted the loss of Elliott, who went down with an ankle injury on the game's opening tip-off.

-- Heading into Thursday night, Orioles left-hander Brian Matuszhad strung together four quality starts and, gradually, was putting to rest concerns that he had lost the form that once made him the organization's most promising pitcher. Those worries would have faded even deeper into the past with a strong performance against a good hitting Boston Red Sox team at Fenway Park, where Matusz has struggled recently. Instead, Matusz turned in his shortest and worst start of this season, lasting just two-plus innings while allowing a career-high-tying five walks in a 7-0 loss to the Red Sox. “It was just everything [Thursday]

John Tillman knows his Maryland men's lacrosse team has limitations. It isn't the most dynamic group and it struggles with consistency. Yet after a regular season that featured four fourth-quarter collapses, the Terps seemed to be peaking at precisely the right moment. They were playing unified and composed, stealing wins against three of the tournament's top teams - No. 7 seed Lehigh, No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins and No. 3 seed Duke. On Monday afternoon, though, the magic dust was nowhere to be found.

In the aftermath of scoring the game-winning goal in Navy's 12-11 upset of then-No. 12 Colgate, sophomore attackman Sam Jones rejoiced in a showing that included three goals and two assists. The Severna Park native and graduate also admitted that he had been mired in a slump, telling the school's website, “I've been in a slump the last few games and the fact that my teammates trusted me means the world.” Coach Rick Sowell took note of Jones' struggles, but insisted that the coaches did not consider benching Jones, who tied sophomore attackman Tucker Hull for the team lead in goals (23)

When their offense lined up on 3rd down with 1:38 left Sunday, the Ravens were inches away from Foxborough, Mass. One short surge straight ahead and they were in the AFC championship game. But when fullback Vonta Leach picked up no yards in a cloud of dust, the Ravens, whose offense struggled to move the ball after a fine first quarter, needed one final defensive stand to survive. Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates heaved a Hail Mary in the final 20 seconds, but when his prayer hit the turf at M&T Bank Stadium, giving the home team a 20-13 win, the Ravens lived to play another game.

Rapid Redux started 2012 the way he finished last year — winning. The victory in the sixth race at Laurel Park Wednesday was the 22nd straight for the horse, who held off Awesome Rhythm. Rapid Redux paid $2.80 as the 2-5 betting favorite. Earlier in the day it was announced that Rapid Redux had earned a Special Eclipse Award and his owner, Robert Cole, will receive it later this month in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Being a local it is fun winning in front of the home crowd," said Cole, a 1981 graduate of Loch Raven High School.

While watching the Ravens throw the ball 53 times in last Sunday's loss to Seattle, former offensive linemen Wally Williams and Jonathan Ogden said that would have caused major problems on the sidelines. One of Ogden's trademarks was to throw down his helmet on the sidelines when frustrated by the play calling, and then immediately begin talking with coordinators Matt Cavanaugh and Jim Fassel or head coach Brian Billick. Ogden might have split his helmet in half Sunday. "If J.O. [Ogden]

When it comes to pop exoticism, few performers can match the musical acumen of Paul Simon. It isn't simply that he has taste enough to seek out Andean folk groups or South African superstars; what makes the difference is that he turns his collaborations into hits, as he has proved from the reggae-tinged "Mother And Child Reunion" to the gospel-fueled "Loves Me Like a Rock."Still, it was his Grammy-winning 1986 album, "Graceland," that proved his reputation as a taste-maker. As an act of music appreciation, it was a masterstroke, introducing millions to the pleasures of Zulu pop styles like mbaqanga and mbube.

The beat could be heard for blocks yesterday -- dozens of drums thumping, being played in a circle on Baltimore's 27th Street.The drums were part of the second Baltimore International Rhythm Festival held yesterday at St. Johns United Methodist Church at 27th and St. Paul streets. The daylong festival, sponsored by the Baltimore International Rhythm & Drumming Society, was a celebration of drums and drumming.Hundreds of people gathered along East 27th Street, playing their drums or dancing to the African, Caribbean and other rhythms.

By Gene Wang In the first half of Saturday night's game at Louisiana Tech, Navy's triple option offense was having only mixed success, and the Midshipmen were in danger of losing for the second time in three games. Complicating Navy's problems was quarterback Ricky Dobbs's bum ankle, which he had hurt in the team's opener against Maryland on Labor Day and aggravated the following game, and the absences of the starting right tackle and free safety because of concussions. Given the troubling circumstances, the first drive of the second half may prove to have been the most meaningful so far this season for the Midshipmen.

If you're an Orioles fan - and I know you're out there somewhere - you're probably thinking the same thing I'm thinking right now. Who kidnapped the conservative, methodical, one-step-at-a-time Orioles president of baseball operations and replaced him with the nonstop Andy MacPhail who is making me wonder whether they ought to implement amphetamine testing for baseball front-office employees? There have been a couple of times this month when I haven't even finished sizing up one Orioles move before Baltimore Sun baseball beat writer Jeff Zrebiec or Dan Connolly is breaking the news on another (and ESPN is rushing to take credit for it)