Time To Play

Good morning -- Isiah Thomas -- Your accuser's side is done. Now, it's time to play defense.

It was all right there for the Ravens -- a chance to take a stranglehold of a playoff spot, a chance to set up a winner-take-all brouhaha for the AFC North with the rival Cincinnati Bengals next weekend, a chance to make a statement against another powerful New England Patriots team in a high-profile game. Then Justin Tucker kicked the ball off to begin the game. From the start, they looked overmatched and uninspired as the Patriots pushed them around. In the end, they were left looking for silver linings when reporters asked them whether anything went right in the 41-7 loss, the most lopsided of the John Harbaugh era. Given how the Ravens had risen to every challenge over the past month while winning four straight games in four totally different ways, I have to say that I'm stunned with how they performed.

Hammond's Kellye Townsend picked the right time to play one of the best games of her career.The Mustangs never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.

The winners of the annual Gold Glove awards, the benchmark for defensive excellence for nearly 60 years, have typically been decided by the discerning eye of those who are closest to the game. Most recently, the award has been selected by a vote of major league managers and coaches. For the first time, a defensive analytic will play a role in deciding the award this year. Rawlings Sporting Goods, which awards the Gold Gloves, collaborated with the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)

Are you taking time away from work to watch the NCAA tournament? We prefer the term "productivity enhancement breaks" to refer to our time Webcasting tournament games during business hours. Production goes up exponentially when our 14 seed selection wins on the 1 o'clock feed. Michael S. Herman Sr. Baldwin No way! It's sunny and 50, and it's time to play golf. I will watch the tournament games after golf and while I'm playing Texas Hold 'em with my buddies! Bob Mulreaney Timonium

IRVING, Texas -- Ken Norton has taken playing in pain to a new dimension. He tore a biceps in his right arm on Halloween, rejected surgery until after the season, and just kept going.He has become the Dallas Cowboys' one-armed Pro Bowl middle linebacker."For normal everyday things, the pain is not real bad. But playing football is not normal everyday, so that changes the whole aspect," Norton said yesterday. "At first, it was real painful. I had to learn how to deal with the pain, learn how to play with pain during the week going to practice."

I'm ready to get away. Aren't you? It appears that many of us deserve a little rest and relaxation. We are working too hard and don't have enough time to play. You know the cliche -- too much work makes ... So let UniSun help you plan your time for fun and relaxation. We've given you some things you might want to think about doing -- taking a trip to one of five destinations, going to local festivals or conferences or making new friends by joining a book club. If you don't want to stay around the area, then get your car in road condition or make airline reservations.

Duane Starks will relive his worst football nightmare this week in freeze-frame clarity. He will rehab a tender hamstring for the second time in the past month. And, if he's lucky, the third-year Ravens cornerback will get a shot at retribution on Sunday night in Jacksonville. Starks was victimized by Jaguars Pro Bowl receiver Jimmy Smith for two long touchdown passes at PSINet Stadium on Sept. 10, then injured a hamstring when he failed to make the saving tackle on a third touchdown.

SEATTLE -- Orioles manager Johnny Oates, during a recent conversation with third base coach Jerry Narron about the virtual impossibility of a postponement at the Kingdome, told Narron, "The only way a game could get canceled would be if the roof falls in."A day after Oates' ominous words, a piece of the ceiling did fall and the second game of the Orioles-Mariners series was postponed last night, the first postponement in the 18-year history of the building."Little did I know when I said that it would actually happen," Oates said.

LANDOVER -- The Washington Capitals couldn't have picked a worse time to play their worst game of the postseason.Down 2-0 in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series, playing on their home ice and planning to throw "everything they have" at the New York Rangers, the Capitals were desperate for victory.The desperation will be even greater tomorrow, in Game 4, because the Capitals did little to prevent the Rangers from walking off with a 3-0 victory in Game 3 behind the fine play of goalie Mike Richter.

Spring is the time of rebirth and renewal . For some, that means tee time and a chance to be outdoors, unwinding from the stresses of everyday life. If golf is your sport of choice, then you need to check out the Zero Prostate Cancer Golf Classic. This event takes place on May 13 from 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Towson Golf and Country Club, where LPGA tour players will join other golfers to help fight against prostate cancer. Founded by Chesapeake Urology Associates as the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge Baltimore Classic, this event raises funds to further research and provide free screenings in dozens of cities across the U.S. A Driving Range Clinic with the LPGA pros, plus a brunch, is from 10:30 a.m. until noon when a shotgun start begins the 18-hole adventure.

The Ravens aren't done catching breaks, not by a long shot. Now they get to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium at the perfect time, when their archrivals are beaten up and reeling from two straight losses, including that 20-14 horror show against the Cleveland Browns two days ago. Tell me they're not living right over at the Castle these days. Ben Roethlisberger is still hurting from his shoulder and rib injuries, although he says he's going to try to play against the Ravens.

Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado or an earthquake, Americans count on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be among the first responders. As the recent example of Hurricane Irene shows, only government can marshal the vast resources needed to quickly bring relief to victims of major disasters, then oversee cleanup and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath. That's why a looming partisan fight in Congress over whether to replenish FEMA's disaster relief account must not be allowed to cripple the agency's ability to carry out its life-saving mission.

Defensive end-linebacker Terrell Suggs said he is playing Thursday, which will mark his first game action of the preseason. Suggs, who injured his heel Aug. 2, returned to practice Monday. "I'm going to go a little bit," Suggs said Tuesday about the preseason finale, "and see how the heel is actually holding up." Limited action in the preseason is becoming a tradition for Suggs. Last year, he didn't report to training camp because he was the team's franchise player but returned to play in the last two preseason games.

H ow pleased have you been with the season you have put together? Obviously, I'm very pleased. It's nice to be able to play a nice, full, long season and get the time on the field that I needed to get to put together a season like this. I knew I had to step in for Kelly [Gregg] and fill some huge shoes because Kelly is the best at that position at what he does. I feel like I've held it down. I think Haloti [Ngata] and I have done a pretty good job inside as far as being consistent and have a good, strong season together.

Good morning -- Isiah Thomas -- Your accuser's side is done. Now, it's time to play defense.

MILWAUKEE -- Mike Mussina emerged from the shower and noticed the sizable circle of reporters gathered around Rick Sutclife, who hasn't pitched in weeks."

Reading Time: Two Minutes.They're gathering at the old watering spot in Katmandu this very moment to celebrate the 40th anniversary Friday of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay becoming the first to make it to the top of Mount Everest. A gent named Reinhold Messner did the entire 29,000-plus feet alone and for years climbers have been doing it without oxygen. Nepal now charges expeditions a fee of $50,000.* At press time today, hockey in Baltimore, East Coast Hockey League version, was hanging on by just a couple of fingernails.

I'm ready to get away. Aren't you? It appears that many of us deserve a little rest and relaxation. We are working too hard and don't have enough time to play. You know the cliche -- too much work makes ... So let UniSun help you plan your time for fun and relaxation. We've given you some things you might want to think about doing -- taking a trip to one of five destinations, going to local festivals or conferences or making new friends by joining a book club. If you don't want to stay around the area, then get your car in road condition or make airline reservations.

Are you taking time away from work to watch the NCAA tournament? We prefer the term "productivity enhancement breaks" to refer to our time Webcasting tournament games during business hours. Production goes up exponentially when our 14 seed selection wins on the 1 o'clock feed. Michael S. Herman Sr. Baldwin No way! It's sunny and 50, and it's time to play golf. I will watch the tournament games after golf and while I'm playing Texas Hold 'em with my buddies! Bob Mulreaney Timonium