Wedge

On Monday, April 21, 2003, MARGARET K. (nee Knight) formerly of Catonsville, beloved wife of the late Thomas V. Wedge, dear aunt of Michael L. Knight Sr., Stephen J. Knight and Margie Knight. Funeral Mass Thursday, April 24, at 10 A. M at St. Joseph Catholic Community, 915 Liberty Road, Sykesville. No public viewing. Interment Loudon Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Golden Age Guest Home, 1442 Buckhorn Road, Sykesville, MD, 21784. Arrangements made by Burrier-Queen Funeral Directors, P.A., www.burrier-queen.

In response to The Sun editorial claiming that "Benghazi deserves a real review," (May 10), all I can say is, no, it does not! What we need to do is stop the political charade concerning this issue. The Accountability Review Board asked and answered all the questions necessary to get beyond this tragic case of typical bureaucratic bumbling and stumbling last year. Political wedge issue withstanding, right, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. John Boehner? Disgusting, both of you! Col. Joseph C. Kopacz, U.S. Army (ret.)

In his Sunday column, former Maryland Gov.Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.writes that "advocates [of same-sex marriage] have attached themselves to the civil rights movement" and that we're making parallels to a "Jim Crow brand of discrimination" ("Maryland will reject same-sex marriage," April 15). That's offensive and plain wrong. It's also part and parcel of the strategy adopted by some to pit Marylanders against each other. Mr. Ehrlich should stop echoing the anti-gay voices in his party - like the National Organization for Marriage (which funds and runs the Maryland Marriage Alliance)

After a 17-14 loss to Robert Morris on April 14, Mount St. Mary's dropped to 0-3 in the Northeast Conference and was in danger of becoming the league's first tournament champion to fail to qualify the next season. But the Mountaineers secured wins of 9-8 and 16-7 against Sacred Heart and Wagner, respectively, in back-to-back Saturdays and earned the No. 4 seed in the tourney, which begins Friday at Robert Morris. “That was the team goal,” coach Tom Gravante said Wednesday.

BOSTON -- So once more we reach into the right-wing toolbox, a political chest so spare that it holds almost nothing but a wide assortment of wedges. Who would have believed that the wedges used so successfully to divide America would end up dividing conservatives? That they would finally expose the differences between the right and the, um, loony right? The latest of these wedge issues is stem cell research. But it's not the only one. Gradually, over the past year, we've begun to see daylight emerge between common sense and nonsense.

The Sun last Sunday published an article, "Edge from a wedge," about how "wedge" issues - those that can sharply divide voters and motivate larger that expected turnout - might affect the U.S. Senate race in Maryland. The writer, Melissa Harris, attempted to send emails or phone messages to the 29 declared candidates in that race asking whether they favored or opposed possible congressional action on three wedge issues currently in the news. Harris asked the candidates to respond yes or no to these questions.

BETHESDA - Despite the one-sided final score of 7 and 6, the outcome of the 80th Maryland State Amateur championship realistically hinged on one shot by veteran Kirk Lombardi late in what became a triumphant effort over Baltimorean Billy Wingerd at Congressional Country Club yesterday. Lombardi, at 36 exactly twice as old as his rival, the tournament's youngest finalist, had lost only two holes in the first 22 in taking command of the contest. The 1988 champion had padded a 5-up morning-round lead to 8-up with a bogey-par-bogey run at Nos. 2-3-4, and a sound spanking was seemingly under way. It never materialized.

The fans who suffered through the Orioles' 7-1 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday were robbed by Indians manager Eric Wedge of seeing a little baseball history. Indians history, anyway. Scott Lewis, 24, had thrown 96 pitches in eight shutout innings when Wedge brought in reliever Masahide Kobayashi to start the ninth. If Lewis had remained in and completed a scoreless inning, he would have become the first Indian to throw a shutout in his major league debut since Luis Tiant blanked the New York Yankees on July 19, 1964 - 44 years ago. Now that would have been something special.

LOS ANGELES -- California is known for creating "wedge" issues -- measures that can divide the electorate for political effects. In the recent past they have included ending affirmative action and denying welfare to immigrants, each driving a wedge between racial minorities and whites.Another such wedge issue was supposed to be Proposition 227, which would essentially end bilingual education in the state.The expectation was that most white, English-speaking voters would approve of the proposal to immerse all students totally in English-language instruction for all their subjects, while non-English-speaking parents, particularly Spanish-speaking Latinos, would object.

In the structure of a classical play, a problem is presented in Act 1. Complications arise in Act 2, and all is resolved in Act 3. In Iraq this spring, while much of Europe was still enmeshed in Act 2, George W. Bush plunged directly into Act 3, without acknowledging the complications or fully considering the consequences of his actions. The result was the most heated year in trans-Atlantic relations since the Suez crisis of 1956. The Iraq war ignited tinder already piled high by clashes over trade, arms control, the Middle East, global warming and the International Criminal Court.

In his Sunday column, former Maryland Gov.Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.writes that "advocates [of same-sex marriage] have attached themselves to the civil rights movement" and that we're making parallels to a "Jim Crow brand of discrimination" ("Maryland will reject same-sex marriage," April 15). That's offensive and plain wrong. It's also part and parcel of the strategy adopted by some to pit Marylanders against each other. Mr. Ehrlich should stop echoing the anti-gay voices in his party - like the National Organization for Marriage (which funds and runs the Maryland Marriage Alliance)

Westminster's mayor and police chief denied accusations leveled by a union chief that they misspent money at the expense of public safety, saying the labor representative is trying to drive a wedge through the city's small police force. Joined by two City Council members and the town manager, the officials went through an hourlong, point-by-point rebuttal of allegations raised by Gary McLhinney, who was hired by the Carroll County Fraternal Order of Police to push for collective bargaining rights for Westminster officers.

News item: Orioles broadcaster and 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey interviewed for the Orioles permanent managerial position on Thursday, the same day former Indians manager Eric Wedge came in for his second interview. My take: I guess you can't rule anything out, but the fact that owner Peter Angelos did not sit in on the Dempsey interview seems like a bad sign to me. My head says it will be Wedge, but my gut is starting to growl that it's Buck Showalter. News item: The Orioles called up third base prospect Josh Bell to fill the roster spot vacated by Luke Scott, but Bell may not be in the major leagues beyond this weekend.

In their search for a new manager, the Orioles brought in two candidates Thursday, one who was previously in Cleveland and one who has been around here for a long time. Eric Wedge, the 2007 American League Manager of the Year with the Cleveland Indians, was interviewed in the morning, and Rick Dempsey, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network broadcaster who coached and played for the Orioles, interviewed in the afternoon. "We had two interviews," said Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who wouldn't reveal specifics.

One high-profile Orioles managerial candidate is out, another interviewed Wednesday and two more, including fan favorite Rick Dempsey, will talk formally with Andy MacPhail about the position in the near future. Buck Showalter, the ESPN baseball analyst who has managed three major league teams, met with MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations, and principal owner Peter Angelos for about three hours at Angelos' law offices Wednesday. Hours earlier, the Orioles learned that Bobby Valentine, the former New York Mets and Texas Rangers manager who interviewed with MacPhail and Angelos on June 11, had decided to pull his name from consideration to "direct my energies in another direction," according to an ESPN The Magazine report.

The Orioles will meet with Buck Showalter about their managerial job Wednesday and are also planning to schedule a second interview with Eric Wedge. However, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has still not requested permission to interview a candidate employed by another club. "The first group that we're talking to has experience, has had some success managing and they're not affiliated with any team," MacPhail said. "That's the first group we're talking to. We'll see how we are and how they feel, and then we'll determine from there."

Whether or not Iraq is a 21st-century America's equivalent of Vietnam, soldiers in the Mideast today face the same battle those in Indochina waged a generation ago - for the hearts and minds of the people of a foreign land which has been invaded and occupied or liberated and protected, depending on your point of view. Though President Bush emphasized military might and aggression against the terrorists in his talk to an attentive - and silent - gathering of the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina last week, the key to victory going forward might lie in a different forum - talking, not fighting.

Brendon Ayanbadejo has crashed into football's dreaded wedge formation on more kickoffs than he can count during six NFL seasons. There has been pain, pride and self-preservation in every impact. "Probably half the time I've been a wedge guy," the Ravens' Pro Bowl special-teamer says. "I'm not too fond of going against the wedge. I'm not too fond of it just because the wedge is a thing you have to honor. So I can't just run around it or run by it. I have to engage." The wedge has long been the NFL's ultimate test of courage and/or sanity.

The Orioles' search for a new manager is officially underway, with at least two intriguing names in the mix. Bobby Valentine, the ESPN analyst who took the New York Mets to the World Series in 2000 and won a Japan Series title with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2005, will be interviewed by the Orioles, according to two industry sources. The meeting will happen soon, perhaps as early as Thursday or Friday or early next week. Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has called several other candidates to gauge their interest, including former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge, two sources said.