Sleeper

The Sleeper, by Christopher Dickey. Simon and Schuster. 273 pages. $24. It was inevitable that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, would produce, for better or worse, a literature, and equally inevitable that one of the genres would be the thriller. Fortunately for readers, Christopher Dickey has produced in The Sleeper one that is both sophisticated and compelling. The towers of the World Trade Center are coming down as the novel opens. Kurt Kurtovic, an American of Balkan descent living peaceably in Kansas with his wife and small daughter, is compelled to action.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Is Dez Wells Maryland's next great player? Don Markus: A generation of Maryland basketball has produced only a handful of truly great college players. Len Bias and Juan Dixon remain at the top of the list, with Joe Smith, Walt Williams, Lonny Baxter and Greivis Vasquez rounding out a very select group. Johnny Rhodes, Keith Booth and Steve Blake are certainly in the discussion.

The pizza party, provided by coach Courtney Vaughn, was courtesy of sophomore Teresa Sleeper.It was Sleeper's first varsity goal eight minutes into the second half that enabled the Liberty Lions to get past county rival South Carroll, 1-0, in yesterday afternoon's Class 3A West Region opener in Eldersburg.A visit to the pizza shop followed, with North Carroll, a 1-0 winner over Linganore yesterday, up next for the Lions (8-5) on Tuesday."I had to bribe the kids with pizza," Vaughn said jokingly.

Each summer I catch up with all nine Division I basketball coaches in Maryland to talk about their incoming recruiting classes. Then comes my take, based on those interviews, of how those new additions will do in college . Here's a look at how I fared in those predictions: Maryland What I wrote - Headliner: "It's probably a safe bet that [ Nick ] Faust -- a consensus four-star prospect -- sees serious minutes on the wing for the Terps early on in his freshman year.

LONDON -- Sunday night, Tina Cuenco sold candy bars to one of her regular customers, Diarmuid O'Neill. Yesterday, at her corner convenience store, she was selling newspapers that contained pictures of the red-haired 27-year-old beneath the headline: "Face of the IRA Sleeper.""I can't believe it," Cuenco said. "Nice boy. He was quiet. He had a sweet tooth and would come in for sweets and milk. IRA? I wouldn't know. I just can't believe it."O'Neill's life as a suspected Irish Republican Army member and his violent death during a Monday morning police raid are the stuff of front-page headlines and controversy.

Sleeper actors in Hollywood are said to have three stages of fame. The first is the totally unknown stage, followed by the stage where every director can't wait to work with the actor. Then, there's the final stage, where the actor becomes unknown again.The same is becoming true for women's college basketball, and Bonnie Henrickson and Virginia Tech, who went through the first and second stages last season and hope that stage three doesn't come to Blacksburg this season.Henrickson, 36, the coach at Virginia Tech, guided the Hokies to a 28-3 record last season and the school's first berth in the Sweet 16, as well as a second straight Atlantic 10 title.

One of this year's sleeper hits - and deservedly so - is "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," Aviva Kempner's engrossing documentary about the trailblazing player who, as America's first Jewish baseball star, helped redefine sports, heroism and American culture while playing for the Detroit Tigers in the 1930s and 1940s. Kempner's film has enjoyed successful runs at the Charles and Rotunda theaters; today it opens at the Loews Valley Centre in Owings Mills. This hasn't exactly been a boffo summer, especially for grown-up filmgoers - see "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" for a pleasant respite.

It's official. "There's Something About Mary," the gross-out comedy starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, is the sleeper hit of the summer, taking on a mantle that "My Best Friend's Wedding" wore last summer and "Babe" the summer before that.Sleepers - big hits that seem to come out of nowhere, taking film studios, critics and audiences alike by surprise - now seem to be staples of the summer movie season, on a par with the biggest explosions and the most humiliating bomb. But in an age when marketing and publicity are manipulated to within a hair's breadth - when there are computer programs that predict a film's box-office performance before the cameras even start running - is such a thing as an authentic sleeper even possible?

As reported March 2, 1988, in The Howard Sun: Marian Sleeper has a special birthday party every four years. None of her friends ever forgets it. She's one of those chosen few who just happened to be born Feb. 29 - a leap year birthday baby. The 36-year-old mother of three and part owner of an outdoors supply store, Patapsco Outfitters on U.S. 40, officially celebrated her ninth birthday Monday. Actually, 25 people celebrated her birthday with a party Saturday at her Sykesville home.

Police logJessup: 7400 block of Assateague Drive: A man leaving a truck's sleeper cab Tuesday was grabbed by an assailant and cut slightly on the neck, hands and thigh. After the victim's wallet was taken, he got back into the truck and fell asleep.North Laurel: 9100 block of Blues Alley: Someone entered a unit at the Seasons Apartments, but nothing was taken.Pub Date: 10/23/96

My apologies for interruptions in this week's blog schedule. I was actually doing real reporting for a change. (I know, crazy talk.) But I still had time to stay on top of my many fantasy football leagues. I completed another draft last week, and I have three more between now and next Thursday's regular season kickoff. I've noticed some trends in the drafts I've conducted so far. Quarterbacks are flying off the board in the first few rounds. There isn't a consensus on the order of the top running backs.

The 2011 NCAA tournament officially tips off tonight with a pair of play-in games -- I'm still scratching my head at UAB and Clemson playing for a No. 12 seed -- but the bracket bonanza for most pools begins Thursday afternoon with the Round of 64. That means we have approximately 48 hours to sort through statistics, break down matchups and finalize our brackets. I did all of my homework last night for our unofficial employee pool here at The Baltimore Sun , and I'm confident that I will win a pool for the first time since Maryland was last in the Sweet 16 (that was back in 2003 if you have forgotten)

When Ravens coach John Harbaugh was criticizing his first-string defense last week for allowing too many rushing yards to the second-team offense, he was actually giving a backhanded compliment to University of Memphis running back Curtis Steele. The kid can play. And when the Ravens play the Carolina Panthers tonight in the preseason opener, there are two rookie sleepers to keep an eye on besides Steele. One is fullback Mike McLaughlin out of Boston College, and the other is Marshall outside linebacker Albert McClellan.

Everyone who predicted the Big Ten would be stronger this season was right. They just had some of the teams wrong. Four of the six Big Ten teams in last week's Associated Press Top 25 suffered staggering losses to unranked teams. Three of them let one loss add up to two. Michigan (No. 15 last week) was stunned in consecutive losses to Marquette and Alabama in the Old Spice Classic. Minnesota (No. 22) dropped games to Portland and Texas A&M in the 76 Classic. Illinois (No. 20)

As reported March 2, 1988, in The Howard Sun: Marian Sleeper has a special birthday party every four years. None of her friends ever forgets it. She's one of those chosen few who just happened to be born Feb. 29 - a leap year birthday baby. The 36-year-old mother of three and part owner of an outdoors supply store, Patapsco Outfitters on U.S. 40, officially celebrated her ninth birthday Monday. Actually, 25 people celebrated her birthday with a party Saturday at her Sykesville home.

The Ravens haven't just uncovered a sleeper talent at training camp. They've discovered a sleeping giant. Ravens training camp Through Aug. 18, McDaniel College, Westminster Today: 8:15 a.m. to 10:35 a.m.; 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Online: baltimoresun.com/ravenscentral

The Ravens haven't just uncovered a sleeper talent at training camp. They've discovered a sleeping giant. Ravens training camp Through Aug. 18, McDaniel College, Westminster Today: 8:15 a.m. to 10:35 a.m.; 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Online: baltimoresun.com/ravenscentral

Derek DiGrazia retained the lead in the third annual Fair Hill International three-day event yesterday, as 13 contestants dropped out of the competition while riding the 15-mile cross country course.A total of 28 horses and riders remain for the final stadium jumping event today. At stake is the U.S. Fall Championship.A crowd of 6,220 was on hand to watch DiGrazia hold the lead aboard Bushy with a score of 52 after the first two days of competition.Michael Plumb, the 1990 Fair Hill International champion, was forced out of the competition when he suffered a fractured collar in a fall at fence 15 (a huge cordwood pile)

Remember the revolving circular bed from which the Mike Meyers' character Austin Powers proclaimed his shag-ability? Laugh if you must, but the Lazy Susan sleeper - that semaphore of swinging bachelorhood - is no longer a joke to be found solely in Hollywood comedies and special-interest hotel suites. The latest models, available from prominent Italian furniture showrooms, come equipped with streamlined leather headboards, custom-fitted linens and optional side pieces that function as nightstands and footboards.

SLEEPER CELL: AMERICAN TERROR -- Paramount Home Entertainment / $26.99 Sleeper Cell, the saga of an African-American Muslim FBI agent who penetrates a terrorist cell in the United States, was never a great TV drama. Despite an Emmy-nominated lead performance by University of Maryland graduate Michael Ealy as federal agent Darwyn Al-Sayeed, overall, there were too many one-dimensional characters. Furthermore, writer-producers Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris were often heavy-handed in the repetition of their core message that Muslims come in all shapes and sizes.