Runner Up

During the early morning limo ride to pick up a $4.25 million check after finishing second in the World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas last month, Anne Arundel accountant Steve Dannenmann lapsed into a moment of philosophical musing. "You know, I never play the lottery," said Dannenmann, an amateur player who had outlasted more than 5,600 competitors. "Because with my luck, I'd win - and it might change my life." If Dannenmann, 39, really has such fears, he'd better be braced.

Heidi Griswold nearly returned to Perry Hall today as the "marbles queen," but lost in the girls finals of the 82nd National Marbles Tournament, held yesterday on the beachside marble rings of Wildwood, N.J. The 13-year-old was sorry to have missed out on the crown, but also a little relieved. One of the queen's duties is to kiss the newly crowned king, in this case Jamie Miller of Allegheny County, Pa. "I did not want to kiss him," Heidi said. In fact, she added, she had cheered loudly for his opponent.

Scrappy T was much more than scrappy coming out of the final turn of yesterday's 130th Preakness Stakes. A horse that started the day at 20-1 odds was in the lead with his jockey, Ramon Dominguez, thinking the only question left was how many lengths he would win by. Instead, Dominguez was left wondering exactly what happened from that point on when his horse and then himself got caught by surprise and veered into the eventual winner, Afleet Alex....

RICHMOND, Va. - Secondyear Nextel Cup driver Kasey Kahne, 25, told a television audience during the pre-race show for NASCAR's Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway that the thing that makes him most nervous is a first date. Kahne, who produced his first career Cup victory last night a 1.674-second win over Tony Stewart - might want to rethink that. Five times during his Cup rookie season, he finished second, unable to maneuver his No. 9 Ray Evernham Dodge to victory lane.

Playing without two key players, Severna Park outlasted Broadneck, 9-8, on the latter's home turf in Cape St. Claire last night to claim its fourth consecutive Anne Arundel County boys lacrosse championship. It was the fifth title overall by the No. 9 Falcons (13-1) and No. 10 Broadneck (13-2) has been the opponent in the past three. The teams traded goals the entire game with every number tied except for one and nine. It was 4-4 at the half, 7-6 Severna Park on sophomore Chris Hunt's fourth goal of the game to close the third period and 8-8 on the Bruins' fourth goal by Logan Rausse with 3:57 left.

WITH ONLY 13 days left in 2004, is it safe to hand out my annual Chutzpah Awards? That would assume no one's going to surpass the folks on this list in the next two weeks, and believe me, that would take some doing. So without further ado, here are this year's honorees. Ninth runner-up: The honchos at the TV Land network and TV Guide magazine, who saluted Tony Soprano's garroting of a snitch on the HBO show The Sopranos as one of television's "most memorable moments." While commentators on the show positively gushed about how wonderful The Sopranos is in telling a story about mobsters from the mobsters' point of view, the DVD Stop Snitching hit the streets of Baltimore.

As unusual as it sounds, Trisha Repsher was not looking for a repeat of last year's runner-up effort at the Run from the Lion's Den Invitational yesterday. That's because Repsher let first place slip from her grasp last season when she took a wrong turn on the 3.1-mile course at Liberty in Eldersburg and ended up finishing second. This time, the Westminster junior stayed on the right path and captured the individual title in a course-record time of 19 minutes, 14 seconds. Repsher's performance powered the Owls past No. 8 Winters Mill and No. 10 Mount Hebron to the team crown.

Anne Arundel Co. The closest the Chesapeake boys team has been to a county championship was a runner-up finish to Old Mill in 1988. That could change this fall as the Cougars return their entire varsity lineup from last season. Reigning county titlist Broadneck graduated its No. 1 runner, but the presence of sophomore Matthew Centrowitz could vault the Bruins to the top once again. The Severna Park girls beat Broadneck last year for their fifth county crown in the past six seasons. The Falcons graduated their No. 1 runner, but they return six from a squad that tied C. Milton Wright in points at last fall's Class 3A state meet.

"For me, 'The Apprentice' was the beginning. It's not a ceiling, it's a floor." -- Kwame Jackson, runner-up on the first season of the NBC reality show