Waves

Blast @Silver Knights Friday, 7p.m. Josh Rife scored a power-play goal 40seconds into overtime to give the Milwaukee Wave a 10-8 victory over the visiting Blast in a first-place Major Indoor Soccer League showdown Saturday. The loss was the second straight for the Blast (12-4), which lost Friday night to the Soul, 13-8, in Chicago. The Wave improved to 11-2. Baltimore took a 4-0 lead on goals by Tony Donatelli and leading scorer Machel Millwood at 7:27 and 9:02 of the first quarter, but the Wave got on the board 21:43 into the game, then tied it less than two minutes later.

The starting time for the Blast's road game against the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday, originally slated for 7 p.m., has been moved to 5 p.m. The Blast heads into Friday's game at the Chicago Soul in first place in the Major Indoor Soccer League with a 12-2 mark -- one game in front of Milwaukee (10-2). The games can be seen live on mislnation.com.

Attorneys challenging a death sentence before the state's highest court last week dug deeply into online historical documents to divine the intention behind what they think is a never-before-interpreted part of the state's constitution. Public defender Brian Saccenti and a team of lawyers rested their argument in part on a once-famous 18th-century book by a young Italian nobleman named Cesare Beccaria, who suggested that capital punishment should be reserved for treasonous criminals.

With a 9-0 mark going into Friday's game on the road against the Chicago Soul, the Blast will be looking for a piece of history with an opportunity to tie the franchise mark for best start to a season. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. The 1993-94 Spirit opened its season at 10-0, the best in the 33 years of professional indoor soccer in Baltimore. The Blast, which is 3-0 on the road and 3 1/2 games in front of second-place Milwaukee (4-2) in the Major Indoor Soccer League, has two home wins against the last-place Soul.

At the beginning of the season, NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes predicted that the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers would meet in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans in February. While his selection of the 49ers - currently 9-3-1 and the No. 2 seed in the NFC - looks strong, the 9-4 Ravens have dropped two winnable games, fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, and may be forced to play the 10-3 Denver Broncos this Sunday without their two top three inside linebackers and the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in outside linebacker Terrell Suggs.

It's the billion-dollar question for Maryland banks: Do they need at least that much in assets to survive? "Who knows what the magic number is? A billion, $1.5 billion, $750 million?" said Ronald Paul, chairman of Eagle Bancorp, parent of the second-largest Maryland-based bank, with $2.96 billion in assets. "I can tell you it is getting harder and harder for the smaller bank. " Banks of all sizes are feeling more pressure. Profits are squeezed by historically low interest rates meant to spur borrowing, yet loan demand still remains soft.

On paper, the plan for a car maintenance shop and a few stores on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia hardly seems worth fighting about. The business people opposing it, however, see it as an illegal first step toward drastic changes for the worse along some major roads, and a potential threat to businesses in Columbia's nine village centers.  "We just feel it was an illegal rezoning," says Christopher Alleva, president of the Howard County Independent...

The Blast impressed in winning its first three games of the Major Indoor Soccer League season, but the team knew Friday night's visit from the two-time defending league champion Milwaukee Wave would provide a greater assessment of where it stood in the early season. The answer was far more impressive. Sharing the ball on offense and getting a second straight sparkling performance from rookie goalkeeper William Vanzena, the Blast took charge early and never wavered in a 15-4 win before an announced 4,895 at 1st Mariner Arena . The Blast got goals from seven players, with the first five coming off assists.

Site: 1st Mariner Arena When: Friday, 7:35 p.m. Video: mislnation.com Outloook: Call it rivalry weekend for Baltimore. While the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers, the feeling is similar when the Blast plays the Wave. In a rematch of the past two Major Indoor Soccer League championships - both won by Milwaukee - the Blast will try to stay on its early-season roll and get the first jab in against the Wave. In its fast start, the Blast has shown selfless play, with a balanced offense and surprisingly poised performances from rookie goalkeepers Troy Hernandez and William Vanzela.

The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for many parts of Maryland until 8 a.m. Wednesday. The affected areas are southern Baltimore County and Harford, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties. Baltimore and Harford Counties should expect high tide levels 2 feet above normal. The other areas are expected to see levels 1 to 2 feet higher than usual. The tides will likely bring inundation of shoreline areas and large waves at high tide could make flooding worse, according to the weather service.