World Champion

Bobby Spivey can walk through the halls of Sparrows Point High School without drawing much attention from anyone aside from his group of close friends. But put the 16-year-old in the small Southern hamlet of Stuttgart, Ark. - the self-proclaimed "Rice and Duck Capital of the World" - and Spivey is something of a celebrity. Given his age and achievements to date, Spivey might become to duck calling what a teenage prodigy named Tiger Woods became to golf. Spivey had been to Stuttgart for the International Duck Calling Championship before last year's event in late November, finishing near the bottom the first time he tried in 2009 and coming in third in 2010.

Friday evening, Lina Basquette celebrated her 84th birthday at home in Wheeling, W. Va. On Saturday, she drove alone to Baltimore --the rain dragged out the trip to seven hours --in her 1991 red Chevy Cavalier. She spent Sunday at the Baltimore County Kennel Club's 55th show, judging classes of Akitas, Great Pyrenees, Komondors, giant Schnauzers, bull mastiffs, Samoyeds and Portuguese Water Dogs -- no, she begs your pardon, she judged Portuguese Water Dogs last week at a show in Hagerstown.

Although Columbia is a self-proclaimed hotbed of youth soccer, residents don't often get to see world champions play in their own back yard.Yesterday, more than 200 youngsters, their parents and coaches got just such a treat, on a field at Harper's Choice Middle School.They stood on the sidelines as members of the United States Women's National Soccer Team played -- and lost -- a scrimmage against members of the under-15 and under-16 boys' Maryland State Olympic Development Team.The 90-minute scrimmage, which the boys won 4-1, was part of the U.S. Team's training for the Chiquita Cup, which begins Sunday at George Mason University in Virginia.

PASADENA, Calif. -- It was the World Cup '94 championship, American-style.The United States may not be on par with the rest of the world when it comes to soccer, but Americans sure can throw one grand farewell party.A crowd of 94,194 packed the Rose Bowl yesterday and watched Brazil defeat Italy in the first shootout to decide a World Cup title. After 120 minutes of scoreless soccer, Brazil made three penalty kicks to Italy's two."We had such confidence that the thought of losing the penalty shootout never crossed our mind," Brazil's Bebeto said.

She has an island fantasy camp to run this week, a fall wedding - her own - to plan, an Olympic hopeful to mentor and a televised holiday show to prep for. Yet Dorothy Hamill, the figure skater crowned "America's Sweetheart" after her gold-medal performance at the 1976 Winter Olympics, still finds time to stop for a phone call to her summer home on Nantucket to catch up. Although she wasn't a summer camper growing up, Hamill started to get the bug...

Dolph Ziggler is ready for Hell in a Cell this Sunday, for many reasons. He's ready to steal the show, despite not having an official match on the card. He's ready to dispose of his Money in the Bank briefcase. He's ready to become World Heavyweight Champion. In fact, he is so confident that his time has come, he gave me an exclusive: his first comments as World Heavyweight champion ... before actually winning the title. "I would like to say that I owe a lot of people and that hard work paid off, that nice guys eventually get their shot, but I'm not going to say any of that stuff," boasted Ziggler in a phone interview Thursday.

On Monday's Raw, Daniel Bryan earned the right to face WWE Champion CM Punk at Over the Limit. On tonight's Smackdown, Bryan lost to World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus. Bryan has now lost to Sheamus in three consecutive singles title matches -- WrestleMania, Extreme Rules and Smackdown. That doesn't seem like the way to build a challenger for the company's top prize. Bryan and Punk have proven on multiple occasions they're capable of stealing any show, and that mindset will surely carry over to Over the Limit, when they'll focus on the story they're telling in the ring rather than the one playing out outside of it. But even so, in the eyes of the general viewing public, what chance does Bryan stand against Punk?

Carroll County has its very own world champion in Manchester's Mike Johnson.But many of you probably aren't sure what the 23-year-oldis champion of, so here is a bit of background on the World Martial Mania Federation.Martial mania is a combination of Japanese-style kickboxing and judo. It is a modern version of the ancient Greek art pankration, which was the forerunner of modern-day boxing and wrestling.The WorldMartial Mania Federation was formed in June 1987 and is represented in the United States, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong and Africa (mostlySouth Africa)

ATHENS - He clipped the third and fourth hurdles and smashed the fifth one, flailing at every step of his second-round heat in the 110-meter hurdles. So it was only a matter of time until the hurdles overcame Allen Johnson, instead of his surmounting them. And after bashing into the ninth hurdle yesterday, he fell ingloriously to the track beneath the last hurdle, face-down but able to see his chance at a second gold medal passing him by. "I was a little nervous, but I felt I could get myself back together," said Johnson, 33, the 2003 world champion and 1996 Olympic champion.

PETER COOPER built the locomotive Tom Thumb and raced it against a horse on the B&O tracks to Baltimore from Ellicott's Mills in 1830. The horse won when the locomotive's blower belt broke.John Henry was a steel-driving man, smashing rock for a rail tunnel, when the steam drill came to put men out of work. He challenged it, won, and died with his hammer in his hand.Whether these legends are true is less important than their tribute to human and equine fortitude, traits of character no machine can match.