Work Ethic

— For the time being, Tim Tebow will be less improv artist and more pocket passer. The faster the Denver Broncos rookie quarterback learns the system, though, the quicker those restraints may come off. Tebow got off on the right foot during the Broncos' rookie minicamp this weekend, impressing his new coach, Josh McDaniels, with his motivation to improve. Then again, that's never been the issue. The knock on Tebow has centered around his throwing mechanics and footwork, precisely why McDaniels is taking a keen interest in Tebow this spring, a work-in-progress McDaniels selected with the 25th pick in last week's draft.

When Orioles right-hander Freddy Garcia was left without a job just a week before the regular season began this year, there was no doubt in his mind that he would pitch in the major leagues in 2013 if he was given the chance. Garcia - a 15-year major league veteran who won the World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and is the winningest Venezuelan-born pitcher in baseball history (152 career wins) - didn't need to prove anything after the San Diego Padres released him in late March.

When he wasn't busy hitting grand slams and chowing down unsatisfactory meals at P.F. Chang's with Cameron Diaz , Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez found some time during his recent weekend getaway in Baltimore to discuss shortstop Manny Machado , the Orioles' top minor-league prospect. "If I was an Orioles fan, I would be really excited to see what this kid has to offer for the next -- at least for the next -- decade or so," Rodriguez told MLB.com. "It's going to be very exciting.

SARASOTA, Fla. - When outfielder Nate McLouth joined the Orioles from Triple-A last August, he was just another one of executive vice president Dan Duquette's attempted reclamation projects. His new teammates knew who he was, though. Heck, one even dabbled as McLouth a few years back. "I don't think I ever told Nate this, but I used to play video baseball games and I always had him as my center fielder," said Orioles first baseman Chris Davis. "Because he's all the things I am not. He is fast; he's got a six-pack [sculpted abdomen]

Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said yesterday Americans are losing "a work ethic" and no longer have a drive to "live by the sweat of their brow." Two weeks ago, another Japanese politician said U.S. workers are lazy.The Evening Sun would like to know what you think. Have Americans lost their work ethic? Have standards "loosened" too much in recent years? Will this controversy make you more or less likely to think about "Buying American?"To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County)

THE JAPANESE are not all wrong in their assessment of the work habits of Americans. They have noticed that we spend a lot of time at work but don't seem to be doing anything.I first noticed this pattern in the homes of depressed welfare women. They would "work" all day at cleaning up their houses, but nothing would get cleaned up. I noticed it again when I took my VCR to a very small shop for repairs and didn't get it back for two weeks. And although the owner complained to me that business was terrible, no one was doing anything whenever I walked by the store.

Cal Ripken got a $30.5 million contract on his 32nd birthday, but there was no celebration.No quiet dinner with his wife, Kelly. No family gathering for a toast to success and security.Instead, at 12.30 a.m., a half-hour after he had concluded a news conference, Ripken pulled off his uniform -- and put on his workout clothes. His birthday and the signing of a new contract coincided with the post-game workout schedule Ripken religiously adheres to every other day, and this wasn't an exception.

Virginia and Maryland have different perspectives on their 1992 meetings with Clemson.For the past nine months, the Terps pointed to a season-ending upset of Clemson as the type of effort possible under coach Mark Duffner. It came a week after an embarrassing blowout at Florida State that was the only game in its last seven that Maryland, which finished 3-8 after an 0-4 start, wasn't in position to take in the fourth quarter.The Cavaliers were 5-0, ranked No. 10 in the nation and at home in Charlottesville last Oct. 10, when they took a 28-7 halftime lead over Clemson.

PINEHURST, N.C. -- About two weeks ago, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen received phone calls from Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and owner Steve Bisciotti, inquiring about Jared Gaither, the Terps' 6-foot-9, 324-pound offensive tackle. "I told them what I felt," Friedgen said. "If he would just get away from some of the people he hangs around with, get his mind right, dedicate himself ... they got a steal." In his first public comments since Gaither rose from a struggling student to a supplemental draft pick for the Ravens, Friedgen tempered his high praise for the lineman by questioning Gaither's work ethic - a shortcoming that eventually cost him his starting job. "Sometimes he wouldn't work," Friedgen said.

South Carroll lacrosse coach Gene Brown likes to talk about Cavaliers midfielder Brad Blizzard. Brown quickly will praise the senior's blazing shot, his quickness and his dodging ability.But bring up the subject of Blizzard's work ethic, and Brown becomes effusive in his praise."I know I'm going to get the best effort out of [him]," said Brown. "He's the kind of guy I love to coach."Brown said that Blizzard is one of the hardest workers on the South Carroll squad. That work ethic helped make Blizzard the team's second-leading scorer through seven games with 15 goals.

When Byron Westmorland takes the floor with the rest of his Bowie State teammates Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament, he'll do so knowing he's accomplished what he set out to do. Two weeks ago he led Bowie State on an unexpected run through the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament. In the championship game, Westmorland scored a career-high 38 points to help the Bulldogs capture their first conference championship in 10 years, and earned game MVP honors in the process.

Stevenson has earned the No. 1 ranking during the regular season on several occasions, but this winter is the first time that the program has been deemed the top team in Division III in the preseason. Accompanying that lofty ranking is usually the pressure of living up to that billing, but Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene said that's not the case. “We've been No. 1 in the country before. We've been there and done all that stuff,” he said. “I think in the end, it's no different than what we've been through before.

Success can change a person, but it probably won't change Joe Flacco. Only a few hours after the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII and the quarterback was named the game's MVP, Flacco appeared at a news conference where he was presented the keys to a new 2014 Corvette Stingray. Flacco seemed bashful when he posed for pictures, almost embarrassed. "Hey, if you say there's going to be some kind of celebrity with it, I'm cool with that, but I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with it," Flacco said.

Louise Johnson popped out of her seat at the Patapsco Arena in South Baltimore - taking a break from tying decorative gold and silver sashes to the backs of hundreds of chairs - and smiled warmly at a man delivering newly pressed gleaming white tablecloths. The 75-year-old West Baltimore resident exuded enthusiasm and energy - traits that are particularly needed in times like these, when well-heeled insiders from Annapolis and Washington are dry-cleaning formal wear and confirming invitations to inaugural balls.

The world of academia - the world of ivory towers, learned scholars, and ivy-covered walls - is a fraud. And I am a living fraud. As an academic, I cannot escape the fact that I work in the fake world. What else can I conclude when people use the term "the real world" to refer to life outside academia? University faculty and support staff hear this phrase so often that we barely pause over it. Worse still, we have thoroughly imbibed it and utter it regularly. Sure (I tell myself)

SINGAPORE -- While the U.S. unemployment rate "dropped" to 7.7 percent last month -- a figure even The Washington Post acknowledged was due "in large part because the labor force fell by 350,000" -- here in this modern and prosperous city-state of slightly more than 5 million people, unemployment is practically nonexistent. A taxi driver tells me, "Everyone here works. " With unemployment at an astonishingly low 1.9 percent, he is nearly right. In part, this is due to a work ethic that seems to be in the genes here.

B. J. Surhoff didn't have to be at the Orioles' optional workout yesterday. In fact, manager Davey Johnson wanted the left fielder to take the day off and rest his aching knee.But when a group of players assembled around the batting cage at 2 p.m., there was Surhoff, sending batting-practice home runs over the right-field wall."I told him not to hit," Johnson said. "I said, 'For one time in your life, could you back off and rest a little bit?' He said all he was going to do was just a little hitting."

Mark Reynolds, who spent the past two seasons as a starting corner infielder with the Orioles, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $6 million plus incentives with the Cleveland Indians, according to an industry source. Reynolds, 29, hit .221 with 23 homers and 69 RBIs in 135 games last year after a 2011 season in which he hit a team-leading 37 homers in 155 games. The Orioles held an $11 million option on Reynolds for 2013 that the club declined this offseason, preferring instead to buy it out for $500,000.

Former disgruntled Ravens left offensive tackle Jared Gaither may have worn out his welcome in San Diego as well. During his stay in Baltimore, Gaither was often criticized for his work ethic, especially during the offseason. Apparently, the pattern for the former Maryland standout continues. A San Diego columnist gave him the much-deserved nickname of "The Big Lazy. "