Sense

Last year, 8.8 million viewers saw NBC's coverage of the Preakness. That's the kind of big-tent mass audience that makes the race one of Baltimore's showcase events. And that doesn't count the hundreds of thousands who will watch pre- and post-race coverage on the NBC Sports Network cable channel. But how Baltimore is seen by all those eyeballs largely depends on how NBC Sports chooses to cover the race and related events starting Saturday at 2:30 p.m on NBC Sports Network. NBC's network coverage of the race starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 6:30 p.m., with a closing half hour from 6:30 to 7 on NBC Sports Network.

Tea party advocates in Indiana are congratulating themselves on the Republican primary victory of one of their own, Richard Mourdock, over six-term Senate veteran Richard Lugar. But the rest of the country should be mourning the departure of the epitome of what Washington needs much more of: conscientious bipartisanship. The 80-year-old Mr. Lugar is being kicked out in part because of his age, his alleged failure to keep a real residence in Indiana, and his penchant for putting common sense and national security ahead of party labels.

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.

I found the editorial, "Europe's lesson for the GOP" (May 10) to be very interesting and somewhat perverted as it became a critique of the GOP for protecting rich people from paying taxes and not about fiscal management to avoid a crisis. I saw underPresident George W. Bushthe direction the United States was headed, and I felt that even he was spending too much taxpayer money. To lessen this nation's impending economic doom, I felt major belt tightening was in order. The Obama administration has not only horrified me, but also in my opinion it has prolonged the ordeal with its fiscal policy and Congress' rubber stamp.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a pig - that's what I thought after reading about state Sen. Ulysses Currie's not guilty verdict and then reviewing the actions that led to his indictment ("Currie not guilty," Nov. 9). John G. Bailey, Edgemere

Sen. Ben Cardin and Karen Hostler are right in saying we do not need ethanol as a gasoline additive, while Stephanie Dreyer is a spin artist in her response to their comments ("Ethanol makes sense," Sept. 1). While not entirely inaccurate, the omissions in her arguments are significant. For example, Ms. Dreyer expertly avoids mentioning that ethanol is produced by burning carbon fuels and that studies have shown only marginal energy savings in ethanol use over gasoline. Ethanol also results in lower gas mileage compared to traditional gasoline.

As a member of the Cardinal Gibbons School class of 1969 and a former member of the Gibbons board, I am shocked and surprised by the decision of Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien and the Archdiocese of Baltimore to close Cardinal Gibbons ("Disbelief, outrage in face of Gibbons' closing," Mar. 4). While I understand and appreciate the need to consolidate schools that are losing money, Cardinal Gibbons is not among that group. Gibbons has no debt, has a moderately increasing enrollment and is the only Catholic high school option in Southwest Baltimore.

I am beginning to think that Maryland state officials are drinking Charlie Sheen-style Kool Aid. How can anyone in their right mind justify rewarding people for illegal behavior ("Senate approves in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants, 27-20," March 15)? I understand that the children of illegal immigrants may not be to blame for being here illegally, but by giving them in-state tuition rates we are rewarding unlawful behavior. All that does is reinforce that behavior — that's Psychology 101. Why would anyone be concerned about being in this state illegally when they are getting perks that should be reserved for those who are here legally.

Maryland's legislature should take the time to develop congressional districts that make sense. Democratic officials have said that the current map was just a starting point from which to develop new districts, which sounds good on the surface. But if we continue to take that approach every 10 years, the congressional district maps will get more and more ridiculous. Surely the data and computer software are available, or can be reasonably developed, to lay out congressional districts that look reasonable on a map and that group constituents with similar interests together.

In your recent editorial ("Compromise possible on tax cuts", Sept. 13), you claim that "Democrats want to preserve the cuts for the middle class but oppose extending the tax break to the wealthy, and rightly so. What was a mistake in 2001 would be just as great a mistake today. " You fail to explain is why this is "rightly so" and why this would be a "mistake. " Is it because you believe the oft-repeated fallacy that tax cuts have to be "funded," or because you actually believe your own rhetoric about the GOP only caring about tax breaks for the rich?

In his recent column ("Student-athletes need a degree, not a paycheck," May 6),Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.makes a persuasive case for the bargain available to students who are talented enough to win an athletic scholarship to a college or university. They, as Mr. Ehrlich was, are in college primarily to prepare for a career in something other than professional sports. However, for the student-athletes with professional prospects, I believe that we can design a better system. Although some might find this approach a radical change, I believe that it is practical in they way it effectively utilizes the existing infrastructure and would actually make the jobs of coaches and athletes clearer and simpler.

In a span of a couple of hours last night, the Ravens signed a wide receiver/return specialist, reached a contract extension with a veteran safety, agreed to terms with three of their draft picks and learned that their star pass rusher had successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon. It was a lot to digest so here's a summary and an attempt at explaining what it all means: News item : Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs has his torn Achilles' tendon repaired during a surgical procedure done by noted foot/ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. What it means : While acknowledging that the surgery was a success, the Ravens revealed little else.

Baltimore MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakeis asking the City Council to grant generous property tax breaks for the developers of the long-stalled Superblock project on the west side of downtown, calling it a linchpin of her long-term strategy to grow the city's revenue base and increase its population by 10,000 families over the next decade. That may be overstating the impact of any one project, and it is bound to revive a long-simmering debate about the value and wisdom of the city's practice of providing tax incentives to big developers.

Each week The Sun's John McIntyre presents a moderately obscure but evocative word with which you may not be familiar - another brick to add to the wall of your working vocabulary. This week's word: SUBVENTION When more than 350 editors gathered in New Orleans last week for the 16th national conference of the American Copy Editors Society, many came on their own dime; they lacked subvention . In a broad sense, the word (pronounced sub-VEN-shun)

If the "stand your ground" laws are so bad for the country, as you say in your editorial, why is the homicide rate in Miami and other Florida cities so much less than in Baltimore ("A chance for justice," April 13). More than twice as many people, many of them black youths, are killed each year in Baltimore than in Miami. Where is the outrage? Letting only the bad guys have guns does not seem to work. William Vail, Glen Burnie

A day after Ray Rice broke the silence about his contract status by saying he had outplayed his rookie deal, Ravens general manger Ozzie Newsome agreed with the Pro Bowl running back and indicated that he is happy with the progress the organization has made in long-term contract talks with Todd France, the agent for Rice. But Newsome seemed resigned that Rice would sit out offseason workouts, saying that a potential holdout is something that he and other team officials always discuss before designating a player as their franchise player.

While the NFL's union and management suits prepare to tarnish another one of our favorite pastimes with a protracted labor dispute, I'd like to join in the chorus of common sense. I certainly will not be the first to caution the owners and players that they've got too much going for them to turn pro football into a collective bargaining trainwreck. The warning signs have become more and more visible over the past year. Former Ravens coach Brian Billick even devoted a large chunk of his recent book -- "More Than a Game" -- to the notion that everyone associated with the NFL has way too much to lose in this greedy game of chicken.

I don't have a problem with paying for The Sun's online version, but the way the paper is going about charging for online access does not make sense. It's going to be $49.99 for 26 weeks, or $99.98 per year. But for any level print subscriber it's just $29.99 a year. You can get a weekend print subscription for just 99 cents a week or $51.48 per year. $51.48 plus $29.99 equals $81.47. So its almost 20 bucks cheaper to get just the weekend paper and the online daily. What a waste!

Signing Pro Bowl special teams player Corey Graham from the Chicago Bears is a classic Baltimore Ravens move: He bolsters a major weakness for the Ravens, can also play nickel back and likely came at the right price. Think Haruki Nakamura and Chris Carr, but only better. "I believe it's a better situation for me and a better opportunity with a fresh start," Graham told the Chicago Tribune . "I gave the Bears every opportunity but they moved on. All around, Baltimore is just a better deal for me and my family.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses by a combined three goals, Washington has ripped off four consecutive wins, capped by Saturday's comeback 10-9 victory over Centennial Conference rival McDaniel. The Shoremen's run has gotten this far despite a spate of injuries that have depleted the team of some of its top players. Sophomore attackman Jim Cusik, who registered 16 goals and three assists last year, tore the meniscus in his knee against Catholic March 10 and is out for the remainder of the season.