Ring

Seven years ago this week, I put out a plea to the drug dealers of Baltimore to stop killing each other and to give me a call (at 410-332-6166) if they'd like help finding legitimate work. The phone started ringing immediately, and it rang for months, and then years. Drug dealers were among the callers. However, the vast majority were men who had been incarcerated for a whole range of offenses but who now couldn't find work. And it wasn't for lack of trying. Too many employers, they said, refused to hire someone with a criminal record.

Who doesn't need more bling these days? And what better way to impress your friends than flashing a genuine, diamond-studded Ravens Super Bowl XXXV ring? Right now, it can be yours for a little more than $8,000. OK, maybe that's not exactly a steal. But that's the current bidding price at Lelands.com, where the ring is being auctioned. Here's the back-story, though: the ring doesn't belong to a former player. The name “Dickson” is inscribed on it. But it doesn't belong to current tight end Ed Dickson, who was still a kid when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001.

Sometimes the small things make all the difference in professional wrestling. Too often, critics -- especially those on the Internet -- nitpick every decision WWE makes and find the logical or creative flaws. Many times, this creates an unnecessary sense or allegation of failure. But on tonight's Raw, WWE (or, more specifically, general manager John Laurinaitis) made a mistake that is almost unforgivable. While I personally wasn't offended by Sunday's match between John Cena and Laurinaitis at Over the Limit , many people have lashed out against the match.

The sun and moon will put on a spectacular show Sunday, but it won't be visible from Maryland. The first annular eclipse visible in the U.S. since 1994 will be visible across a stretch of western states. The track of optimal viewing stretches from northern California to the Texas panhandle. EarthSky.org has a nice map showing where the eclipse can be seen. In annular eclipses, the new moon passes directly in front of the sun, creating what looks like a ring of fire in the sky. Such an eclipse won't occur again until Oct. 14, 2023.

A cocaine trafficking ring that for years distributed "vast amounts" of Honduran cocaine throughout the mid-Atlantic region has been busted, and three Maryland residents and 25 Virginia residents involved have been arrested, according to federal prosecutors. The drug ring, based in Northern Virginia, routinely paid couriers to fly into the United States from Honduras with cocaine stashed in shoes, decorative wooden frames and other "innocuous items" that would blend in with their luggage, according to a statement on the bust released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Part of the fun of professional wrestling is watching the development of certain wrestlers, from their debut through the peaks and valleys of their career. Many grew up watching Rocky Maivia transform into The Rock, or even John Cena develop from the "Doctor of Thuganomics" into "Super Cena. " As a result of my intermittent wrestling habits, I've never had that WWE superstar to latch onto and follow their career. Sure, I've followed guys like Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett from their beginnings, but there was a part of the connection missing.

Tiger Club board member David Nevins was in Kingston, R.I., when he watched Towson win its first Colonial Athletic Association football championship last fall. As the Tigers were battling Rhode Island on the field, Nevins and Tigers athletic director Mike Waddell were talking about the reward: championship rings. One problem: Waddell had not put the approximately $50,000 necessary for the rings into his budget. "He thought maybe that he may be criticized for not putting the money in the budget," Nevins said.

Baltimore police uncovered a large dog-fighting ring in the Howard Park neighborhood late Tuesday while investigating drug activity in the 2900 block of Silver Hill Ave. Police said Johnnie Taylor, 30, of the 2900 block of Silver Hill Ave., was charged with eight counts of animal cruelty and dog fighting as well as drug possession. Animal control officers rescued eight dogs and police seized training equipment used in dog fighting, along with medications, dog-fighting manuals and narcotics.

In mid-January, my boyfriend, Rob, and I went to a jeweler in Towson to find a watch for him. Being a particular fellow, he spent over an hour trying on watches while I struggled to maintain interest. We then took a walk around the mall so he could mull over his choices, and by the time we returned I was ready for some Me time. I pointed to a canary-ish ring in the case and asked to try it on. Rob and I had discussed engagement rings before. I knew I wanted a solitaire, preferably canary, with a thin band.

This past weekend I had a chance to soak in the WrestleMania 28 festivities from Miami - the Hall of Fame, Fan Axxess, the event itself at Sun Life Stadium and Raw the next night. Truly, for any WWEfan that came to participate in the crowd chants and invest themselves fully into the emotion of the stories being told, it would have been an absolutely draining 72 hours. Yet despite the Hell in a Cell curtain call, Sheamus pounding Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds (spawning a “YES!” chant that lasted through WrestleMania and in every segment of Raw, that will now transcend the superstar himself; also heard at the Miami Heat/Philadelphia 76ers game Tuesday)