Under Armour’s sleek new global headquarters gleams on the edge of the Baltimore Peninsula, shading the crowd gathering along the building’s west facade from the warmth of the rising sun.

They have ventured out on this chilly morning in December to celebrate the grand opening of Under Armour’s Flagship Brand House, a reimagined retail experience that covers 24,000 square feet. It’s billed as the fusion of athletic innovation, passion, and storytelling—the things Under Armour is leaning into to reconstitute its brand identity.

The temperature has barely inched past 20 degrees.

“I thought it would be colder, so I wouldn’t need to talk long, but I’m wearing Under Armour, so I might take a few minutes,” says a mic-wielding Kevin Plank, who’s layered in a logoed navy blue jacket, black zip-up sweater, and pale blue collared shirt. His presumably off-brand black jeans touch the tops of company-issued purple and gray sneakers.

The throwaway line scores chuckles and cheers from the gaggle of onlookers who blow into their hands and grip paper cups filled with complimentary hot chocolate.

Plank stands next to a podium emblazoned with the crisscrossed “U” and “A” that form his company’s iconic logo and turns to acknowledge the local dignitaries who have shown up to support Baltimore’s hometown brand. Mayor Brandon Scott and Councilwoman Phylicia Porter are there. So is University of Maryland’s head football coach, Mike Locksley. WNBA superstar Kelsey Plum, who is on Under Armour’s roster of athlete ambassadors, adds an air of national celebrity to the festivities.

“Today, standing here and surrounded by all of you—I’m just damn proud,” says Plank. “I’m proud of this company, proud of our journey, proud of our resilience. We’re the underdog brand that’s defined by its lunch-pail-carrying, get-the-job done attitude that matches Baltimore’s grit and determination.”

Plank counts down to the official opening of the Brand House and pushes an oversized red button that sets off a burst of pyrotechnics and welcomes the crowd in from the cold as the Towson University marching band plays stadium fight songs.

It’s an intoxicating scene and makes you believe in Under Armour’s unmet potential.

For Plank, it’s an opportunity to turn the page on years of controversies, stagnant sales, and lack of a clear brand identity that caused him to step down as the company’s CEO before retaking the top spot a year ago. He’s back to regain the buzz Under Armour created when it burst onto the scene and reshaped the athletic apparel industry in the 1990s. He understands the challenges ahead and hears the skeptics. He also remembers the first time he beat the odds to launch a revolutionary company from scratch.

“I get reflective on a day like this,” says Plank. “When you’re an entrepreneur and you’re just getting going, you’re constantly looking for validation. Have I gotten better? Are we growing? You’re just trying to find a way.”

Under Armour’s origin story is the stuff of start-up legend. Plank grew tired of wearing sweat-soaked cotton T-shirts under his uniform as special team captain of the University of Maryland football team.

After graduating, he prototyped what would become Under Armour’s signature HeatGear T-shirt, a performance base layer that wicks away moisture to keep athletes dry during intense workouts. It was a game-changing design. HeatGear technology has since redefined the market and informed the design of sports apparel across all brands.

Plank traveled up and down the East Coast, selling the shirt out of the trunk of his car. By the end of 1996, he had earned $17,000 in literal direct-to-consumer sales and launched Under Armour while living and working in his grandmother’s Georgetown rowhome.

Under Armour’s revenue exploded to nearly $300 million by 2005, the year it went public. Annual sales cracked $1 billion in 2010 and continued to climb past $5 billion as the company strung together years of revenue growth of at least 20 percent. However, the company reported a net loss in 2017 as growth slowed to the single digits and stock prices tumbled.

Controversies also began to swirl. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Under Armour with misleading investors about its revenue growth in the second half of 2015, forcing the company to pay $9 million to settle the matter. Under Armour also paid $434 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in February 2017 that accused the company of defrauding shareholders about its revenue growth to meet Wall Street forecasts.

Under Armour was no longer an industry darling. Plank stepped down as CEO at the end of 2019 but remained onboard as executive chairman and brand chief. Industry analysts generally applauded his decision, believing the company would benefit from a fresh voice and new direction. Plank lasted on the sideline for close to five years before returning as president and CEO in April 2024.

The sudden and surprising move was met with skepticism. Yes, Plank possesses an innate understanding of Under Armour that only a founder can have and grew the company into a multi-billion-dollar business, but some industry analysts wondered if he could fix the problems that he helped create.

“Under Armour seemed to lose sight of its unique selling proposition and, at times, didn’t quite understand its consumer,” says Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, a personal investment firm. “It produced too much of what people didn’t want, particularly during a time when there was already excess inventory in the market.”

HE UNDERSTANDS THE CHALLENGES AHEAD AND HEARS THE SKEPTICS.

With that in mind, Plank immediately announced plans to streamline Under Armour’s product offerings by 25 percent and institute faster go-to-market capabilities. The idea was to spend less time and resources on producing repetitive sportswear so the company could refocus on introducing innovative products that reimagined how active apparel feels and functions.

Plank points to Under Armour’s Stealth-Form Uncrushable Hat, which was introduced a year ago and is made of proprietary cooling material, as the type of forward-thinking design consumers can expect from the company and promises similar types of products are in the pipeline for release later this year.

“Under Armour has made a lot of good products and some better products, but nowhere near enough best-level products,” he says.

During an earnings call last November, the halfway point of the company’s fiscal year 2025, Plank reported $50 million more in adjusted operating income than what the company had forecast. He said half of that found money would be spent on marketing and brand building efforts to deepen the company’s connection with consumers. Plank’s turnaround efforts were beginning to gain traction, but industry analysts warned about a long road ahead in a fragmented athletic apparel industry that makes it difficult for Under Armour to stand out.

“The level of innovation in the market has increased significantly,” says Hewson. “Consumers are interested in purchasing the latest hot product instead of remaining loyal to a brand.”

To make matters worse, Under Armour has lost shelf space at big box retailers that help drive sales. David Swartz, senior equity analyst at the investment research firm Morningstar, says the company used to generate about 40 percent of its revenue through Dick’s Sporting Goods and Sports Authority. When Sports Authority went bankrupt in 2016, Dick’s was also struggling financially. Under Armour responded by shifting most of its inventory to Kohl’s, a decision that proved costly.

Although Dick’s didn’t cut ties with Under Armour, it began to reserve prime shelf space for Nike and Adidas and rising newcomers like On and HOKA. Even Puma and New Balance, which have seen a brand resurgence in recent years, are prominently displayed. Under Armour is no longer at the top of Dick’s preferred brands list, preventing it from riding the wave of explosive sales growth the sporting goods chain has experienced in recent years.

Under Armour’s brand visibility took another hit when Kohl’s was forced to close several stores in 2024 due to slumping revenues. Swartz believes Under Armour can improve its retail presence by rebuilding its relationship with Dick’s and prioritizing other stores, particularly Foot Locker, which is diversifying its brand offerings and presents a growth opportunity.

Under Armour’s revenues currently rely heavily on selling discounted products at outlet stores. Plank wants to move away from that business model by creating a premium brand that consumers will pay full price to wear.

“For that to happen, the products need to be high quality, innovative, and deliver on their performance promises,” says Hewson. “Under Armour’s focus on innovating practical sportswear is key. If the company manages to position itself as an aspirational but affordable brand, it can persuade consumers to buy at full price. It’s a delicate balancing act. Products need to be desirable while remaining accessible.”

Under Armour has had a 12-year partnership with NBA superstar Steph Curry, one of the world’s most marketable athletes. The company launched the Curry Brand in 2020 and opened the first brand-dedicated store in China last September. Swartz believes the brand is underdeveloped, despite the enormous popularity of the Curry line of basketball sneakers.

“There hasn’t been a widespread consumer recognition of the Curry Brand as a distinct entity like Nike’s Jordan Brand,” he says.

[UA] WANTS TO MOVE PAST BEING A BRAND THAT SELLS ON PRICE TO ONE THAT SELLS ON STORY.

Rather than venturing into the casual athletic or athleisure market, which companies like Lululemon have successfully mined for significant revenue, Under Armour has remained focused on competing with Nike and Adidas for the attention of 16- to 22-year-old varsity athletes, a core demographic the company targets to maximize its reputation as an authentic team sports brand, a differentiator that Plank believes is key to driving the company’s future success.

Still, Swartz remains relatively optimistic about Under Armour’s prospects in a dynamic global market that offers opportunities for multiple winners.

“The key question is whether Plank can capitalize on those opportunities,” he says. “Shifting from being a niche brand to a serious player in global sports requires investing heavily in marketing and product innovation—and quickly. The competition isn’t standing still.”

Eric Liedtke, Under Armour’s executive vice president of brand strategy, says the company has the reputation of a performance-centric training brand for individuals, and men in particular, who are 34 and older—loyalists who grew up wearing the logo.

He acknowledges that Under Armour has been viewed as a bit too tough and intense in its efforts to connect with younger athletes in the past. Think about the company’s iconic ad campaigns and accompanying visuals. Protect This House. The Only Way Is Through. Scowling, sweat-stained athletes in shadowy portraits.

That will all change, says Liedtke, who vows to express the brand in fresh ways that appeal equally to young male and female team athletes, a demographic the company is “maniacally focused” on reaching.

“We’re going to channel the full energy of the brand into messaging that comes through as determined, passionate, fun, and yes, still a little tough and intense,” says Liedtke. “This positioning will be expressed in the most impactful marketing campaign in the company’s history that includes two chapters—reasons to love us and reasons to buy us.”

Under Armour wants to move past being a brand that sells on price to one that sells on a story, according to Kara Trent, Under Armour’s president of the Americas.

“We know the formula,” she says. “We have a portfolio of teams and athletes. We have product franchises and innovations, and we have the platform established to drive meaningful consumer experiences. But now we must execute integrated stories that drive connection to younger athletes—and do it at a level of impact and repetition like never before.”

Plank is back as Under Armour’s CEO because he wanted to be, and the company’s stock structure gave him the majority voting power he needed to retake the top spot. The power play was controversial among industry analysts, but it’s likely that no other executive would want the company to thrive more than Plank does.

“The one thing that he brings to the role is his unique understanding of what Under Armour is,” says Hewson. “A lot of founding CEOs can’t let go because they haven’t figured out a way to impart that knowledge to somebody else in a way that will make their company successful.”

Is Plank’s passion for the brand born from blood, sweat, and tears enough to drive top-line growth? Time will tell. Change won’t happen in the short term.

During the Brand House’s grand opening celebration, pictures of Plank sitting behind cluttered desks in Under Armour’s former office spaces appear behind him on a large digital screen. He tells the crowd that he came up with the “buy a new desk” mantra to gauge the company’s growth during the white-knuckle start-up days when bills were stacked higher than sales receipts. Business was good, his thinking went, if he could afford larger and more ornate work surfaces.

In 1996, the year Under Armour grossed $17,000, Plank bought a $350 IKEA desk. It wasn’t much, but it represented progress.

As revenues grew, Plank needed to expand Under Armour’s operations. He moved out of the Georgetown rowhome in 1998 and into a small space on South Sharp Street in Baltimore. Buy a new desk. Further growth necessitated moves to moderately sized offices on Bush Street and eventually to a large campus on Tide Point. Buy a new desk.

Plank is now standing outside his company’s latest home, a state-of-the-art facility that glows bright red at night, joining the Phillips and Domino Sugars signs as illuminated landmarks that define Baltimore’s skyline and identity.

Plank recounts Under Armour’s journey to remind the crowd, and perhaps even himself, that the company achieved its greatest success when the odds were stacked against it. Under Armour is once again the underdog. Maybe that’s what it needs to thrive.

“I’m approaching the brand like it’s a $5 billion start-up,” says Plank. “Watch as we show the world how great we can be and make this city proud. We’re just getting started.”

This year we celebrate our 50th Best of Baltimore issue—our biggest and boldest yet. Subscribe before 6/20 to guarantee your copy commemorating this milestone anniversary. 

Throughout his more than 30-year career, Under Armour’s current president and chief operating officer Patrik Frisk has been praised for his drive, energy, and leadership skills. In three months, he’ll need those in spades, as he is set to become the chief executive officer of the company.

“Patrik’s proven track record of industry experience, straightforward leadership style and championship of our brand and culture makes him uniquely positioned to smartly capitalize on the opportunities in front of us,” said founder Kevin Plank—who Frisk will take over for as Plank steps into a chief and executive chairman role—in a press statement announcing the change today.

In a letter to his employees, published by the Baltimore Business Journal, Plank explained that the shift in his personal role is by no means a retirement. “Under Armour is my heart and full-time job,” he said. “This is an evolution of company leadership that is reflective of how we are operating today.”

Frisk came to Under Armour after previously serving as the CEO of The Aldo Group, a footwear and accessories company. He also held various supervisory roles at VF Corporation, which counts The North Face and Timberland among its brands. Effective in January, he will report to Plank and join the company’s board of directors.

“For the past two and a half years having worked next to—as well as sweated with Patrik—in and out of the gym, board room, executive meetings, quarterly business and line reviews, and domestic and international travel, I have seen first-hand how he has sincerely earned the trust and respect of our teammates, customers, and shareholders,” Plank said in his letter. “Along the way, always present has been Patrik’s unshakable passion for our brand.”

Frisk has experience working all over the world, which is an attractive proposition for a global company like Under Armour that only hopes to expand its reach. Frisk’s experience in the clothing industry, coupled with the fact that for the past few years he has been quietly groomed for the role, makes for what Plank hopes to be a seamless transition.

“The opportunity that lies ahead of us is incredible,” Frisk said in a statement. “As our entire global team continues to lean hard into our transformation, I am honored to lead this great brand toward the realization of its full potential.”

As for Plank, his move aside marks a big step for the company he founded in 1996. He told Baltimore in 2013 that the culture and identity of the city was one of the things that attracted him to start the “hard-edged, blue-collar” brand here. Since then, Under Armour has grown into a multi-billion dollar operation that has allowed Plank to explore other local initiatives like the massive Port Covington project and revamped water taxi system.

As Under Armour, which exists in a highly competitive market, works to establish its footing after a few down years, Plank is making it clear that his involvement in the company will still be his main priority.

“What I am most excited about in this next chapter is a platform that brings these strengths together in a vision that empowers us to reach our full potential,” Plank said. “Patrik makes us better.”

One aspect of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul law was a provision designed to create “opportunity zones” in low-income areas around the country. By offering tax breaks to developers for investing in targeted, low-income areas—vetted by each state’s governor—the purpose was to spur economic and commercial activity and revitalization efforts in under-invested neighborhoods.

However, according to a just-released report from ProPublica, an independent, journalism nonprofit focused on government accountability, that new tax law will likely benefit Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Goldman Sachs, and other Port Covington investors with what could be millions in tax breaks for their ongoing South Baltimore project.

As the selection process for opportunity zone sites was underway, Gov. Larry Hogan’s deputy chief of staff, Sean Powell, noted in an email last year that Port Covington did not qualify for one of the potential 147 low-income tracts in Maryland. That was largely because of the higher household incomes in Federal Hill and Locust Point that are included in the census tract. ProPublica reports that Hogan, also a real estate developer, of course, nonetheless selected Port Covington after his aides met with Plank’s lobbyists.

“This is a classic example of a windfall benefit,” Robert Stoker, a George Washington University professor who has studied Baltimore’s economic development, told ProPublica reporters Jeff Ernsthausen and Justin Elliott. “A major investment was already planned and now is in a zone where they are going to qualify for all kinds of beneficial tax treatment.”

Port Covington, a former railroad terminal and brown field, is Plank’s ambitious effort to build an essentially new waterfront city within Baltimore’s city boundaries. The project is being overseen by Sagamore Development, a privately held company founded by Plank and real estate developer Marc Weller in 2013. Port Covington is already one of the largest development projects in the U.S.—as well as the recipient of $660 million in tax-incremental financing breaks from Baltimore City, and all told, another $1.3 billion in public infrastructure spending. The entire buildout is projected to cost $7.3 billion and take 25 years to finish.

“Port Covington being part of an Opportunity Zone will attract more investors, foster more economic growth in a neglected area of the City, and directly benefit all of the surrounding communities for decades to come,” Weller said in a statement to ProPublica.

“For parts of Port Covington and the six adjacent South Baltimore communities, the Opportunity Zone program provides an incredible opportunity to drive capital, bring outside investment and create jobs in areas that have been left behind for decades,” Weller added in a statement emailed to Baltimore magazine.

Geared toward attracting newer and younger people to Baltimore—the Sagamore Spirit distillery and Rye Street Tavern are already in place—the futuristic vision for Port Covington calls for mixed-use development that will feature high-rise offices, an upscale hotel, apartments for millennials, restaurants, walkable shopping, and Water Taxi travel.

As ProPublica reports, Port Covington is not in an impoverished census tract and nor is it a new investment. Also, according to its investigation, “the census tract only became eligible to be an opportunity zone thanks to a mapping error.”

City Councilman Ryan Dorsey decried the selection of Port Covington (over other areas in Baltimore) for additional tax breaks Wednesday on Twitter following ProPublica’s report, questioning Weller’s statement that Port Covington is a “neglected area” and Hogan’s statement that the project will go “a long way to providing benefits for the whole city.”

Baltimore fair housing lawyer Barbara Samuels asked via a tweet: “Is there a gov’t subsidy that this (misad)venture hasn’t vacuumed up?”

Pro or con, the full story on opportunity zone tax breaks and Port Covington is worth a read.

“The Port Covington tract is just 4 percent black,” the ProPublica pieces highlights in the piece. “For it to be included in the program, another community somewhere in Maryland had to be excluded. The ones that the city suggested that were excluded by the governor, for example, are 68 percent black and have a poverty rate three times higher than Port Covington’s.”

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Raised in Dundalk and the son of a retired Baltimore City police officer, award-winning photographer (and occasional Baltimore magazine contributor) Joe Giordano witnessed first hand the fall of Bethlehem Steel and its blow to the workers, families, and fabric of his hometown.

His work has been featured in The Guardian, GQ, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, and City Paper where he served as photo editor. Giordano’s “Struggle” series, his portraits of Civil Rights and Black Power-era leaders, is in the permanent collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

Giordano’s ongoing current project, Shuttered: Images from the Fall of Bethlehem Steel, opens with a preview Wednesday evening at the Baltimore Museum of Industry from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and then remains on exhibit through April 2020.

With his new show—amid renewed debates over trade and tariffs and the role of unions—we asked Giordano about the exhibition and its relevance today.

Other than growing up in the shadows of Sparrows Point, what prompted this decade and a half, continuing effort?
The pictures, I want to use as a warning. They aren’t intended as political, the idea started during the George H.W. Bush steel tariffs in 2002 when I started shooting for the paper [the Dundalk Eagle]. They are harbingers of corporate ownership.

They look like images of the post-industrial America. Why did you use the word harbingers?
General Motors and Unilever are gone. The Amazon warehouses and Wal-Mart and Under Armour will be gone someday, too, and Amazon isn’t going to worry about the impact on workers when they pick up and leave—not unless you get back to unions and have some representation. They just leave everybody behind.

The photographs convey a loneliness. The sense of abandonment is palpable.
Intentionally, there are no shots of molten steel, of the product being made. Everyone has seen those. These are photos of the hulking monsters (the weathered steel mills) that were left behind and the people left behind.

How many photographs are in the show?
About 30. I didn’t count [laughs]. But the installation looks great.

A lot of interesting faces. Faces and images of small houses, American flags, and unions hall that communicate a certain pride and dignity among the retired steelworkers.
In 2010, I was at union hall for an announcement of benefit and pension cuts. Some of the shots are the reactions from a lot of elderly people who counted on those benefits and pensions.

Growing up in Dundalk, you obviously knew guys or knew guys whose father or uncle who were steelworkers.
My grandfather didn’t work at Bethlehem Steel, but at Eastern Stainless in Colgate. They made some of the steel that went into the St. Louis arch. My 92-year-old grandmother still lives there.

At a time when so many fewer breadwinners are in union jobs, it’s almost impossible to imagine the huge role those unions and big mills and plants played in the community.
It wasn’t just working together, but working for a common good. They were not just wage employees; their lives were centered around the union. There are two union halls right next to each other on Dundalk Avenue. Obviously, they needed two. That should tell you something.

What have you learned from this project?
The importance of unions. I’m in my mid-40s and I think my generation took a lot for granted—like unions. Unions hurt themselves in the past, too, with some of their mob ties, bad investments, and poor leadership. But as the old guard fades away, I do think today that unions, like SEIU, are now are attracting younger laborers and that gives me hope and young leaders like New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defends workers’ rights.

A politician’s best bet days before an election? Make sweeping job-creation claims at a corporate gold-shovel show. Then hope nobody fact-checks you.

That’s a bit what it sounded like recently, when, two weeks before election day, local, state, and national elected officials from both parties joined economic development officials and company officials to announce “Cybertown, USA.” In essence, a cybersecurity firm and venture-capital companies that invest in tech startups are setting up shop in Port Covington, the massive mixed-use mini-city on a large waterfront tract in South Baltimore that’s the brainchild of Under Armour founder Kevin Plank.

Try on some of these claims for size: “Maryland is home to the world’s most advanced cybersecurity and data science . . .”; Baltimore is positioned to be the cyber and innovation capital of our nation”; and the jobs announcement “helps solidify Baltimore and Maryland’s reputation as the cybersecurity capital of the world.”

(That’s from Mike Janke, co-founder of DataTribe, Gov. Larry Hogan, and congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, respectively.)

Granted, it’s always good news that three companies are locating here: DataTribe, a globally known cybersecurity startup studio with offices in Maryland and Silicon Valley; AllegisCyber, a leading Silicon Valley-based early-stage cybersecurity venture-capital firm; and Evergreen Advisors, a Columbia-based investment banking and corporate advisory firm focused on assisting emerging-growth and middle-market companies.

And one of Port Covington’s draws for the tech industry in the years ahead may be that it boasts a secure, redundant, private fiber-optic loop to provide gigabit-speed internet connectivity and site-wide public Wi-Fi service. The development is also unique in that it will be built from the ground up with a cybersecurity-hardened infrastructure.

But how does the Baltimore region really stack up nationally when it comes to cybersecurity and other I.T. jobs?

We checked out sources that don’t need ballots to maintain their bank balances: The folks at Money magazine say we fall about in the middle of the pack in terms of I.T. job growth—109 percent growth annually—on a list of 20 cities outside of Silicon Valley (which is still the leading location).

When it comes to cybersecurity jobs, Tripwire says that Columbia is near the top of the list in the nation in per-capita terms, but behind Jersey City, NJ. And who wants to live there?

And metro Baltimore is nowhere on Forbes’s list of seven cities destined to be cybersecurity capitals of the world (though Washington, D.C., is, as is Silicon Valley).

That may be partly because, compared to most metro areas, the I.T. sector is a relatively small share of the overall economy in Baltimore, says economist Dr. Jacob Cosman, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School whose specialties include real estate, retail business, and spatial competition in cities.

“The share of jobs in I.T. in Baltimore looks less like Seattle or San Francisco and more like Cincinnati or Las Vegas,” he says. “Conversely, education and healthcare comprise a larger share of the workforce in Baltimore than most other metro areas.”

In fact, he says, though Tech jobs in Baltimore are relatively well-paid, and might then have outsized importance to the region’s tax base, “the concentration of I.T. jobs and I.T. firms is nowhere near the real centers of innovation and technology like Seattle and Silicon Valley,” he says. “The concentration of I.T. in Baltimore is not even near the level in smaller centers like Boulder, Madison, and Raleigh. Without that high density, it’s difficult to build the pool of specialized workers and financing that would accompany a legitimate hub of innovation.”

So why can’t Baltimore make all these dreamy geek-capital claims come true?

“The biggest obstacle is that other cities already have easy access to specialized workers and financing because they have a pre-existing hub of I.T. activity,” says Cosman. “In addition, it’s more difficult to attract highly paid, highly mobile workers to Baltimore because the city offers fewer of the amenities that high-income workers want. Some of this is geography—Baltimore will never have temperate winters, beaches, or easy access to wilderness—but some of that might change as the city develops more entertainment and cultural amenities.”

Of course, if we can curb our enthusiasm a bit, the Port Covington development is still good for the city, Cosman says.

“Even if the announcement makes some very optimistic claims, the fact that established firms want to occupy the office space in Port Covington is still overall good news,” he says. “The city government took a risk on the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars to finance development there. We can debate whether that was really the best use of the city’s scarce fiscal resources, but the city government has made that decision to commit those resources, and at least it seems like there is some demand for the development the city has financed. This is probably not Cyber Town, USA, but it is much better than empty space.”

The surprises in this year’s state elections, it turned out, were all in the races for county executive. Starting with Baltimore County.

Recap: John “Johnny O” Olszewski Jr. won one of the closest elections in state history when he slipped past a pair of more conservative Democrats, state Sen. Jim Brochin and Councilwoman Vicky Almond in a near three-way tie. Olszewski, running as a progressive, won the recount by 17 votes. Statistically, that’s less than .1 percent.

Then, versus Republican Al Redmer—enthusiastically backed by incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan, who won the county by more 24 percent Tuesday—the general election contest turned out to be no contest. Instead, the 36-year-old Olszewski (pronounced: Ol-shess-ski) posted a stunning 15-point victory, a nearly 40-point Democratic swing from the gubernatorial results.

Democrat Calvin Ball’s upset of Allan Kittleman, the moderate Republican incumbent county executive in Howard County, was significant, of course. So was Democrat Steuart Pittman’s upset of Republican incumbent county executive Steve Schuh in Anne Arundel County. But perhaps no local story was more compelling than Olszewski’s political comeback from a tough loss four years ago for an open state senate seat in the Dundalk-area district where he was born, raised, and still lives.

“I think [the loss four years ago] humbled him,” said one local Democratic Party insider of Olszewski. “I think it made him a better listener.”

Olszewski’s loss to Republican Johnny Ray Salling, by little more than 800 votes, certainly had a lot to do with southeast Baltimore County’s blue-to-red tilt in recent years. However, Olszewski deserves credit, not just for picking up the pieces and running for office again, but for spending two years laying the groundwork for his successful comeback, and in particular, reaching out to voters on the other side of county.

“He made every town hall meeting, met with every church group, and met with every organization on the west side,” said Shirley Supik, a Woodlawn-area Democrat. “He’s a service guy. He’s a man who listens.”

“He knows as many people on this side of town as the east side, I guarantee you that,” added her husband, Jeff Supik, 66, a former general contractor. “In this county, education is the most important issue and he’s made it clear it’s on the top of his list. He’s been a teacher and he has a Ph.D., which shows how important education is to him.”

Olszewski, who as he puts it “grew up in the shadow” of the once-great Bethlehem Steel mill, is young, but hardly a political newcomer. If anything, what his election has shown, is that he possesses the ability to pull off a tough balancing act—remaining viable to blue-collar, Democratic Hogan voters as well as the more progressive wing of his party. Not that it’s been easy.

While in the House of Delegates, Olszewski cast a key vote in 2012 in support of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The following year, perhaps with a state senate bid in mind in conservative District 6, he voted against the assault weapons ban—which passed—a vote he characterized as a mistake during this election season.

And, although he doesn’t push back against the progressive label, neither did he campaign with Bernie Sanders-endorsed, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous. In a recent interview with Baltimore magazine, he highlighted votes in the General Assembly against higher sales, alcohol, and gasoline taxes, and opposition to toll increases. “Some of that is being born in an industrial town where people work hard for their money and sort of, valuing that as a life lesson,” Olszewski said.

The eldest son of former County Councilman John Olszewski Sr.’s three sons, Olszewski got an early start in the family business with a student-member appointment to the Baltimore County Board of Education as a Sparrows Point High senior. Three years later, he was elected to the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, and in 2006 he was appointed to fill a House of Delegates vacancy left by the late John Arnick, where he was twice reelected. Olszewski was the youngest person elected to lead the Baltimore County delegation in the House of Delegates, and taught for seven years at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts before earning a doctorate in public policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He’s married, with one young daughter, and lives in the St. Helena neighborhood.

During his campaign, he came out in favor of a statewide $15 minimum wage, a single-payer health care system in Maryland, and an end to cash bail. He supports the Trust Act—legislation, which would protect local government resources from being used to enforce civil immigration enforcement—and a goal of 100 percent renewable energy for Baltimore County government operations by 2030. He also supports spending taxpayer dollars to build infrastructure to aid the Tradepoint Atlantic redevelopment project, already home to Amazon, Fed Ex, and Under Armour distribution facilities, at Sparrows Point.

Most notably, he enthusiastically supported the Home Act on the campaign trail—which forbids housing discrimination in Baltimore County based on the source of income. It may have been the defining issue of the 2018 electoral season in Baltimore County and, in fact, Olszewski believes it doesn’t go far enough.

Brochin, Almond, and Redmer all opposed the anti-housing discrimination law.

During a visit to the Baltimore offices after his win, we asked County Executive-elect Olszewski a few more questions about his policies. And also a few questions about some other things.

Last night, the afterschool program at UA House at Fayette, operated by Living Classrooms, hosted a Youth Talent Showcase to spotlight the talent of young Baltimore City residents. This event was one of more than 8,000 events across the country as part of Lights On Afterschool, an annual nationwide celebration of youth-based programs organized by the Afterschool Alliance.

Children ages 6-20 were invited to perform musical numbers, dances, poetry, and spoken word pieces in front of an audience of their peers, family, and friends for a chance to win the top prize at the end of the night—a $100 cash prize. Jasmine Campbell, director of programming at UA House, says that the kids were looking forward to this from the moment it was announced.

“One of the things about our afterschool program is we are striving to create opportunities for students to explore their talents,” Campbell said. “The goal of the program is to give them the confidence and the tools to learn the things they are interested in.”

The idea for this showcase stemmed from an open mic night that the music director for UA House, Christina Campbell (no relation), hosts each month called Showcase You. All of the kids that participate in the afterschool program through Living Classrooms—and youth in the surrounding community—were able to audition to be a part of this talent show.

“I think part of why we do this also is because it’s an avenue for them to perform their gifts,” Christina said. “We try to engage the community as much as possible, and building awareness around the work that we do. Seeing them all so excited, preparing for it, the confidence from it all—it’s such an amazing thing to witness.”

Lights on Afterschool created the grant that made this showcase possible to highlight the benefits of afterschool programs in a city like Baltimore. This nationwide event is meant to urge lawmakers to support to funding of this type of programming to help disrupt the cycle of violence and poverty.

In keeping with that theme, the planning committee for the event wanted to select a group of judges that were in line with those values. Making the tough decision last night were Living Classrooms CEO James Bond, Councilman Brandon Scott, Deriece PateBennett of PepsiCo, Eean Logn of Baltimore Votes, Stacey Ulrich of Under Armour, and Travis Street of Living Classrooms.

The children were judged based on their creativity, stage presence, execution, and crowd involvement. The judges had a tough decision when it came to selecting winners. Scott said that this decision was harder than approving budgets for the city council.

“This was so hard,” he said. “These kids are much more talented than I ever was at that age. Stuff like this shows that the youth in Baltimore can and will do great things in the world.”

There were a group of young girls who live near the facility in Pleasant View Gardens who called themselves the PVG Girls that took home the first place trophy. They wowed the crowd with a high-energy dance number with some pretty unique moves. Fourth grader Tylor Robinson placed second for his emotional (and adorable) rendition of Bruno Mars’ “If I Were Your Man,” and sixth grader Tony Johnson, Jr. rounded it out in third place with his powerful pipes belting out Adele’s “Someone Like You.”

Aside from the contestants, there were other featured performances by 16-year-old Baltimore rapper Prophet, Living Classrooms UA House Dancers and AMPlified music group, and even a performance by the Baltimore Hawks dance team.

UA House at Fayette, formerly the Carmelo Anthony Center, was re-imagined and reopened in 2016 after an investment from Kevin Plank, Under Armour, and the Baltimore Ravens. The center services more than 300 students daily as a response to the community’s need for intervention that supports the academic and social development of disadvantaged youth in East Baltimore.

“We just really wanted to bring in people who support the work that we do,” Campbell said. “People who have a history of supporting East Baltimore and supporting initiatives that uplift youth and community in Baltimore.”

In everyone’s eyes the event was a success—a packed house of nearly 200 people—and they are eager to plan next year’s event.

“At the end of the day, it’s about giving them the space to showcase their talents in a safe space,” Christina said. “We also want to make sure that people understand the importance of afterschool programs and the effect it has on the development of the youth in the city.”

Although Baltimore isn’t known for a professional basketball team, the city has groomed some of the best in the NBA—Mugsy Bogues, Will Barton, Reggie Lewis, and Carmelo Anthony, to name a few. Under Armour (UA) Basketball’s new YouTube series Home Court that launched on July 12 features some of Baltimore’s rising stars in basketball and focuses on the culture surrounding the sport.

“We wanted to create this series to start a conversation around the intersection between basketball and culture and how that cross-section varies between different cities,” said Justin Brown, brand manager for UA Basketball. “We chose Baltimore to launch the series not only because it’s home to UA, but also because the spirit of the city is so unique and powerful, and we are excited to spotlight it for those outside of the city.”

The first season of this inaugural series spotlights Baltimore by exploring the cultural impact that basketball, style, food, and music has on the city. The audience goes on a journey with Sarunas Jackson from HBO’s Insecure as he visits local basketball courts, goes to iconic establishments, and meets with local players.

“We looked for key players that were local or had a strong tie to the community while embodying the same tough yet charming attitude for which Baltimore is known,” said Brown. “There were so many triumphant stories of how each individual took their own experience with their resilient and resourceful nature to hustle harder than the rest and ultimately give back to the city, which was very inspiring for us to showcase.”

The first episode features local Baltimore legends Aquille Carr and Terry Hosley discussing the cross-town rivalry between East and West Baltimore ballers. The St. Frances Academy girls’ basketball team is featured, as well as NBA guard and Baltimore native Will Barton and his youth basketball squad, Team Thrill, which he founded to keep kids off the streets.

“It makes them want to do something good and it makes them feel better knowing that they are representing something other than themselves,” Barton says in the episode. “They are representing the city.”

In the episodes that follow, Jackson visits the East Baltimore hotspot Sunny’s Subs with rapper A$AP Ant from West Baltimore as they discuss the unique cuisine that is the chicken box. Jackson also meets up with Nacho Bangers owner Eric Williams in McElderry Park to talk about his love for food and giving back to the city that raised him.

“The high school kids, the athletes there, when they bring their energy to Nacho Bangers, we share our energy with them,” Williams said. “It’s to help them build. Baltimore inspired me to show you not only what we go through in our city, but how great we can be.”

In the final episode of the series, Jackson sits down with local musicians TT The Artist and Bond St. District to discuss the connections between music and sports in Baltimore.

“I think that the two worlds are so intersecting right now with hip-hop being such a big genre right now and sports being something that’s very much involved in the community,” TT said. “I think it’s just a natural intersection.”

According to UA Basketball, this series is the first of many. The ultimate goal is to show that “ball is life” for some in cities like Baltimore, and that it helps to shape the communities where the game is played.

“We wanted to explore how it specifically impacts these subcultures,” said Brown. “We know the influence of the game transcends the court.”

Light City
April 6-21. Locations & times vary. Free. 410-752-8632. Since the inaugural event in 2016, this bright and bold arts festival has become a cherished citywide tradition. Now, Light City’s organizers are taking this year’s theme of “More Love! More Lights!” to heart by expanding the festival to include as many people and installations as possible. Head to the Inner Harbor or one of 14 participating neighborhoods to see awe-inspiring illuminations that are sure to elicit ooohs, ahhhs, and about a million Instagrams.

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival
April 6-7. Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd., Timonium. Fri. 6-10 p.m., Sat. 12-6 p.m. $29-99. 410-252-0200. Picture this: two days of unlimited sampling of more than 40 bourbons, 60 beers, and all-you-can-eat barbecue with all the fixins. In between local brews from Flying Dog, Jailbreak, and Heavy Seas, or Maryland-distilled whiskey from Sagamore Spirit, enjoy live rock and bluegrass music, participate in bacon-eating or stein-holding contests, or take in a tasting seminar. If that doesn’t describe your dream weekend, then we can’t help you.

Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar
April 8-Dec. 23. Underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday & Saratoga Sts. Sun. 7 a.m.-12 p.m. Free. 410-752-8632. For more than 40 years, locals have dragged themselves out of bed on Sundays to fill their stomachs and totes with the best locally grown and handmade products that Maryland has to offer. From typical farmers’ market fare like fresh produce and flowers to made-to-order eats such as mushroom fritters and falafel, this is an event worth setting an alarm for. Reward yourself for getting up early with a breakfast sandwich from Blacksauce Kitchen.

Motown The Musical
April 13-15. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 & 8 p.m., Sun. 1 & 6:30 p.m. $49-117. 410-837-7400. For one weekend only, flashback to the groovy glory days of 1960s and ’70s Detroit with this behind-the-scenes look at the iconic record company that launched the star careers of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, and many more. From Broadway, the story of Motown Records comes alive on the Hippodrome stage in this smash-hit jukebox musical, featuring hit songs such as “ABC” and “Dancing in the Street.”

CityLit Festival
April 14. University of Baltimore, William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center, 11 W. Mount Royal Avenue. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 410-271-8793. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the CityLit Festival, the signature event from CityLit Project that celebrates reading, writing, and creativity. To tie into this year’s focus on poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, The New Yorker writer Philip Gourevitch will keynote the event with conversations about his book We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda. Make time in between editorial and speaker sessions to participate in guided discussions about motherhood, the #MeToo movement, and local funding for literary artists.

Under Armour Sole of the City 10K
April 14. Charm City Run, 1713 Whetstone Way. 9 a.m. $50-75. 410-645-8266. Spring has officially sprung, so lace up your sneakers, breathe in some fresh air, and get moving during this annual 10K. Start your Saturday early and dash through the streets with more than 4,500 other runners at this race that starts and ends in Locust Point. While the mileage might sound intimidating (10K = 6.2 miles), it’s a prime opportunity to embrace our city, especially with the route’s stellar views of the city skyline and the Inner Harbor.

Peter Max Retrospective
April 20-29. Y:ART Gallery & Fine Gifts, 3402 Gough St. Wed.-Thurs. 12-5 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. 443-928-2272. Peter Max was practically born to be an artist. He was raised in Germany, China, Tibet, Israel, and France, gaining inspiration from vibrant societies and shifting art movements along the way. As a young art student in Manhattan during the late 1950s, he worked diligently under the American painter Frank Reilly before being swept up in the counter-cultural revolution of the ’60s. The budding artist would go on to create bright, radical posters and psychedelic art—the style he’s mostly recognized for today. The abstract expressionist has been called the United States’ “Painter Laureate,” painted portraits of six presidents, and crafted posters for major events like the Grammys, the Super Bowl, and the Olympics. Despite his global fame, his art remains immediate and accessible. This month, catch his remarkable collection of major works in Highlandtown, carefully curated to include pieces that span his five-decade career. View never-before-seen celebrity portraits, iconic pop art like the above “Cosmic Runner,” and even a special tribute to Charm City.

Charm City Bluegrass Festival
April 27-28. Druid Hill Park, 3100 Swann Dr. 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Free-$55. This year’s two-day party is slated to be bigger and better than ever with three stages, 21 bands, plenty of local food, and homegrown brews from Union Craft Brewing. With national acts like The Devil Makes Three and The Travelin’ McCourys and local talent such as Caleb Stine and The Honey Dewdrops, the dynamic lineup promises to be a little slice of Americana heaven for all music lovers.

Women of the World Festival
April 28. Notre Dame of Maryland University, 4701 N. Charles St. 9 a.m. $20. 410-435-0100. The past year was defined by female voices—from speaking out against sexual harassment to becoming a tenacious political force. In April, the Women of the World Festival returns just in timeto explore women’s issues through panels, performances, and activities. Get inspired by keynote speakers Tarana Burke, the #MeToo founder who was named a Time magazine “Person of the Year,” and Roxane Gay, cultural critic and The New York Times best-selling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger.

Under Armour launches new subscription service.
Local athletic apparel behemoth Under Armour is adding a subscription service where consumers receive a box of products and keep only what they want. A la companies like Stitch Fix and Birch Box, consumers can opt into the service every 30, 60, or 90 days. To receive an ArmourBox, users complete a personal profile that asks about fitness goals, workout settings, exercise preferences, style aesthetic, and sizing. An Under Armour stylist then hand picks 4-6 pieces of gear that the user has a week to try on and decide what they want to keep before they get charged.

“ArmourBox provides yet another level of customization and convenience,” UA said on its website. “For example, subscribers who say they run a certain number of miles each week are sent gear that we know from our Connected Fitness customers and our e-commerce data is frequently purchased and positively reviewed by other people who run those distances.”

Baltimore Running Festival takes off this weekend.
Speaking of running a certain number of miles, the 17th annual Baltimore Running Festival takes place this Saturday. There will be some changes to the marathon this year, including a new finish line at the Inner Harbor along Pratt Street instead of Camden Yards. In addition, the aforementioned Under Armour is no longer a title sponsor, but is still providing t-shirts for all the participants. And this will the first year that Catherine Pugh, who first conceived of a marathon in Baltimore nearly 20 years ago, will be mayor during the event.

“Seeing the streets of Baltimore filled with runners is something I look forward to each October,” Mayor Pugh said at a press conference. “When we started out, we knew we wanted a marathon, a team marathon, half-marathon, and we wanted a 5K because we wanted families to come to Baltimore.”

Of course, be aware of all the road closures and delays that will take place Saturday morning for the full marathon, half marathon, and 5K.

Ravens have a little bit of hope going into Sunday.
We’ll be the first ones to admit that the start to the Ravens season has left us feeling underwhelmed. But going into Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, consider these positive signs of hope:

• The team has looked better on the road. London aside and, okay, by a very small margin, the Ravens have performed better away (2-1) than at home (1-2). 
• Brandon Williams is practicing again. The Ravens defensive tackle’s foot injury has prevented him from playing in the last four games. And while a lot of other factors come into play, it’s certainly no coincidence that our defense is suffering. (The team allowed 170 rushing yards in the first two games with him and 678 in four games without.) But he practiced on Wednesday and will most likely play on Sunday. However, understandably so, Williams doesn’t want all the pressure. “I’m just a guy,” he told The Sun. “I’m just a guy who is working to get back on the field. That’s all I’m doing.”
• This could be a redemption game for Mike Wallace. Going against his former team the Minnesota Vikings could prove to be good motivation for the wide receiver. While in Minnesota, Wallace had career lows (39 receptions and 473 yards) and didn’t have a single catch longer than 34 yards. “It was humbling just because I’ve never been in a situation like that where I didn’t get the ball or wasn’t put in position to make those explosive plays,” he told the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Let’s hope he makes some explosive plays this Sunday!

Carmelo Anthony came out swinging in season debut.
Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony made a good first impression with the Oklahoma City Thunder by scoring a 3-pointer to begin the game against his former team, the New York Knicks. He went on to have a strong second quarter, scoring 22 on 8-of-20 shooting in a 105-84 win over the Knicks. “Yeah, that chapter’s closed,” he told ESPN. “No more Knicks talk. We can just focus on the Thunder and moving forward and what we have to do as a team and organization.” Seems like he’s pretty comfortable in his new squad.

His lucky shirt.
A Las Vegas doctor credited an Under Armour compression T-shirt with saving the life of shooting victim Philip Aurich, who suffered major internal injuries in the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

The Minnesota-native, who was shot in the back, was moved out of intensive care this week, WCCO in Minneapolis reported. Aurich’s brother told the television station that doctors said the tight-fitting Under Armour T-shirt his sibling had worn helped compress the bleeding until he reached the hospital and helped saved his life.

“Doctors said that shirt was a big part of him not bleeding terribly, bleeding out, pretty, much,” Ben Aurich, who played high school football with his brother in St. Paul, told WCCO.

This past Sunday, Philip Aurich, who lost his spleen and part of his colon—and still has a bullet lodged in his lung—got to see his two kids for the first time since the shooting. 

Good News; bad news.
The good news first: Baltimore moved closer to becoming a host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week. The United Bid Committee, coordinating the joint effort between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to host the 2026 tournament, announced that Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium had made the narrowing list of 32 cities that could serve as a venue for the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament. (Pittsburgh notably did not make the list. Just saying.) At least a dozen cities will ultimately host games. The bad news? The U.S. men’s soccer team lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago in a qualifying round Tuesday for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, thereby getting eliminated before the tourney even began. 

Will (legal) sports betting come to Maryland?
The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act prohibited sports betting in every state—save four: Nevada, Montana, Delaware, and New Jersey. However, the law required that those states offer sports betting with a year, which the Garden State did not do—or they’d lose their privilege, giving rise to current N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s subsequent legal challenge. The U.S. Supreme is scheduled to hear New Jersey’s petition Dec. 4. Among the groups filing amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs are the European Sports Security Administration, the American Gaming Association, West Virginia and 17 other states, as well as the governors of Kentucky, North Dakota—and Maryland. Gov. Larry Hogan hasn’t said much about legalizing sports betting, but he is considered a long-time political ally of Christie. A bill last year was introduced into the General Assembly to study and implement sports betting—contingent on the overturning of the ’92 federal ban. Gambling lobbyists have already begun campaigning for state elected officials to take up measure again in 2018.

This is monumental.

Morgan State University, celebrating its 150th anniversary, unveiled its new “Legends Plaza” on campus this week, including life-size bronze statues of former Coach Edward (“Eddie”) Hurt and Coach Earl (“Papa Bear”) Banks. According to a press release from Morgan, the memorial—part of a nearly 2,000-square-foot enclosed area near Hughes Stadium and the school’s student center—will eventually add bronze plaques honoring other former Morgan athletic standouts as well. Starting in 1929, Hurt’s football, basketball, and track squads won 33 conference titles, and once posted a 54-game winning streak on the gridiron. Banks’ football teams won five CIAA conference championships, played in four bowl games, and posted three regular-season unbeaten records, including a 31-game winning streak.                                                                                                                      

“It’s okay not to be okay.” 
Greatest swimmer of all time and Towson native Michael Phelps opened up recently about his own anxiety, sharing a story about being bullied and depressed in the new documentary Angst. IndieFlix CEO and founder Scilla Andreen, which made the film, told the Associated Press that she hopes the 56-minute documentary will reach more than 3 million people around the world from 25,000 school and community screenings. Shot in the U.S. and U.K, the film is appropriate for children age 10 and older.

“Once I opened up about that [being bullied] and things that I had kept inside of me for so many years, I then found that life was a lot easier,” Phelps says in the film, describing a period when he did not want to look at himself in mirror. “I got to the point where I understood that it’s OK to not be OK.”      

ELLICOTT CITY LABOR DAY RUNNING CLASSIC 
9/2. 12290 Folly Quarter Rd., Ellicott City. 8 a.m. $10-35. Soak up the bucolic charm of Ellicott City in this 5K and 10K race.

UNDER ARMOUR CHARLES STREET 12
9/2. 800 Kenilworth Drive, Towson, 410-321-1901. 7:30 a.m. $75-90. This 12-mile course starts up at the Shops at Kenilworth and weaves its way south by Towson University before heading downtown via Charles Street. Runners finish with a post-race celebration at Under Armour headquarters.

SPARTAN RACE
9/9-9/10. 27861 Budds Creek Rd., Mechanicsville 7:30 a.m. $79-174. Journey through jagged terrain in this endurance-testing obstacle course.

NIGHT NATION RUN
9/23. Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd., Lutherville. 4:30 p.m. $30-60. DJs deliver electronic beats as you walk, run, or dance. 

CHARM CITY RUN 20 MILER
9/24. Northern Central Railroad Trail, Freeland. 8 a.m. $40-55. Embrace the great outdoors in this 20-mile run along the NCR Trail.

RUN WILD FOR AUTISM
9/24. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1 Safari Pl. 7 a.m. Free-$40. Charge or stroll through the zoo for a
worthy cause.

THE COLOR RUN
9/30. Camden Yards Sports Complex, 333 W. Camden St. Free-$35. Dash through splashes of color during this festive 5K.

The first new street in Port Covington runs 190 feet. And it is closed to traffic, technically making it a pedestrian walkway.

Still, the unveiling of Rye Street, the naming of which required legislative approval from the Baltimore City Council, marked a significant moment Monday, according to Sagamore Development Company officials and the city leaders on hand yesterday.

“A small road, but a big step for us,” Marc Weller, president of Sagamore Development, said of the privately funded walkway.

Sagamore’s 235-acre master plan for Port Covington—for the most part, a large industrial brownfield for the past few decades—envisions 14.1 million square feet of mixed-use development, 2.5 miles of restored waterfront, and 42 acres of accessible parks and green space for city residents.

Broad, pedestrian-oriented Rye Street links East Cromwell Street—the main thoroughfare in Port Covington—to the waterfront. It also passes directly between Sagamore Spirit Distillery and the new Rye Street Tavern, which is scheduled to open in the middle of September. The tavern, which includes waterfront views and outdoor seating, will have a capacity of about 400 people and emphasize American cuisine and Maryland seafood. James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini and the New York-based NoHo Hospitality Group will run the restaurant’s operation.

City officials at the unveiling included Joan Pratt, the city comptroller, Bill Cole, president and CEO of Baltimore Development Corporation, Jim Smith, Mayor Catherine Pugh’s chief of strategic alliances, Frank Murphy, acting director of the city Department of Transportation, and City Councilman Eric Costello, whose district includes Port Covington.

“It’s exciting for me to see,” Costello said of the Rye Street unveiling. “A growing Baltimore is a strong Baltimore. I look forward to visiting often.”

Rye Street, he added, “is the first of many more to come,” noting the success of City Garage, the nearby innovation hub which recently opened a second campus as part of a collaboration with Betamore, and the opening of Building 37, Under Armour’s new waterfront headquarters in Port Covington.

In fact, Sagamore officials said, Rye Street is the first of 16 planned new streets, 66 new intersections, and 47 new blocks for Port Covington. Sewage and water line construction is expected to start late next year.

A bike path that will connect Federal Hill and Locust Point to a recently completed Port Covington 1.4-mile bike lane is also in development.

Phase I of the Port Covington project, which will include 4.1 million square feet of mixed-use development, is expected to take 5-6 years. The overall effort, as currently designed, is expected to take 20-25 years.

Baltimore is one step closer to hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Back in April, when executive director for Maryland Sports Terry Hasseltine heard that the United States had entered a tri-country bid with Canada and Mexico for the 2026 World Cup, he knew that Baltimore needed to be included—so he placed a bid to host at M&T Bank Stadium.

“We obviously want to make sure that M&T Bank Stadium and the city of Baltimore are considered a part of that portfolio,” Hasseltine told Baltimore in April. “We had such a great response when we put in a bid for 2022 [FIFA World Cup], we did it again.”

In a list released on August 15 by the United Bid Committee of the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Baltimore was listed as a potential candidate to host and will have until September 5 to declare interest. Final bids will be due January 2018 pending declaration requests.

Ravens are undefeated in the pre-season.

Okay, we know it’s only two games…and it’s only pre-season but we looked good in Thursday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. 

Taking the game early, Baltimore ended the game with a final score of 31-7.

The Ravens defense controlled the tempo of the game, holding Miami to just one touchdown. Third string QB Josh Woodrum showed his chops with 2 touchdowns and some quick running. 

Speaking of the Ravens. . .
There are rumors that the former Ravens center Jeremy Zuttah may be headed back to Baltimore. The 2016 Pro-Bowler was traded to San Francisco in March. However, by August, the 49ers released him putting the big guy in a tough spot.

Considering the injuries on the offensive line and the familiarity of Zuttah, it would be a kismet reunion for both sides if he came back to Baltimore. According to The Sun, the 31-year old offensive lineman and the Ravens are close to a deal. But they better act fast because word on the street is that the Indianapolis Colts are in need of a big guy to protect QB Andrew Luck.

Under Armour’s Kevin Plank parts ways with Trump.
In a statement on Monday, August 14, Under Armour’s CEO Kevin Plank announced that he would be stepping down from President Donald J. Trump’s American Manufacturing Council after the president was openly criticized for not responding quickly to the events in Charlottesville.

“We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing,” Plank said in a statement. “However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics.”

Plank joined the 28-member panel back in January to help the White House promote job growth because he believed that “it was important for Under Armour to have an active seat at the table” representing the sports industry.  After announcing the company’s departure from the group, others on the board followed suit causing the president to disband the panel.

O’s outfielder Anthony Santander set to hit the field in today’s game.
The injury-prone outfielder was unable to play in 2016 due to a right shoulder surgery and was unable to throw during spring training because of a forearm injury. While on the disabled list for 60 days, the Venezuelan has hit .382/.453/.745 in 16 minor league rehab games. To make space for Santander on the roster, the Orioles have optioned outfielder Joey Rickard to triple-A in Norfolk. 

Carmelo Anthony’s heart is still in Baltimore. 
Though he was born, and lives, in New York, Carmelo Anthony still refers to Baltimore as home. It’s the place the 10-time NBA all-star moved to when he was 8 years old and where he spent a good chunk of his formative years on local fields and gyms, eventually growing into one of the most famous athletes to come from the city.

This week, Anthony, 33, returned as honorary chair and host of The Basketball Tournament, a three-day $2 million winner-take-all semipro championship held at Coppin State University. The current New York Knicks forward, who played at Towson Catholic (old photo alert!), sat courtside at the tournament’s ESPN-televised title game on Thursday night, and spoke about Baltimore as if he never left. “It’s a way I can bring something positive to the city,” he said of the event, which included cleanup efforts at 12 sites in the city, free health screenings at Mondawmin Mall, and a job fair at Coppin State. “Sports is a connector in life.” 

The thoughts echoed an emotional speech he gave a day earlier at Marshall Park in West Baltimore, where mayor Catharine Pugh awarded Anthony a medal of honor for service to the community. In April 2015, after Freddie Gray’s death, Anthony joined protestors and urged calm amid the outrage. “What we’re trying to create is so much bigger than the negativity that you guys hear, or see, or read about our city,” he said.

Brandon Williams keeps on dancing.
This time it was against a little girl during the Ravens’ open practice on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium

“What did you think of the dance contest? Kid or Brandon, who won?” Ravens coach John Harbaugh asked reporters afterward.
You might remember Williams’ moves (nimble for a 340-pound defensive lineman, isn’t he?) from a locker room video that impressed the Rockettes two years ago, or him doing the “Carlton”  while on promotional tour in London.

This was a nice distraction from Joe Flacco being hurt (along with seemingly a dozen other injured Ravens) before the season’s even started. And, if nothing else, the impromptu dance-off made for a great first use of the stadium’s new and massive 4K scoreboards.

O’s don’t give up the fight.
The Orioles front office apparently had higher expectations for the rest of this season than we imagined. Instead of trading closer Zach Britton or relief pitcher Brad Brach and for pieces that could help in future years—as were widely rumored as possibilities—the O’s turned into buyers at the Major League Baseball trade deadline—and aren’t giving up on the playoffs.

They got a starting pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson, from the Phillies and a former No. 1 overall draft pick, 27-year-old shortstop Tim Beckham, from the Tampa Bay Rays. Beckham’s started his O’s career with a pair of multi-hit games, and on Wednesday night Hellickson delivered what the team desperately needed, a quality start, as he led the Birds to a fifth straight win and to within 2.5 games of a playoff spot. After a loss Thursday night to Detroit, the O’s are now 3.5 games out. “I’d like this season to go to the end of the year,” GM Dan Duquette said. Thankfully, maybe October baseball isn’t as far off as we thought.

Under Armour lays off close to 300 employees.
About half the layoffs, announced Tuesday by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, were effective immediately to employees at the company’s Locust Point headquarters, a distribution center in Curtis Bay, an outlet store near that warehouse, and Under Armour’s store in Harbor East. It’s part of what the company described as a restructuring in the wake of a second straight quarterly loss ($12 million). The footwear and apparel giant is cutting 2 percent of its worldwide workforce, or roughly 280 people. “After six and a half years of more than 20 percent growth, we are clearly operating in a different environment, especially in North America,” Plank said on an earnings’ conference call. Various financial media delved deep into the details of why things aren’t going so well but, in short, this hits home.

File This Under: Trades That Will Never Happen
Look, if we had our druthers, Manny Machado would stay an Oriole for life. But if the Orioles truly can’t afford to sign him—or, if they do sign him, it’ll completely break bank—they should consider trading him for a bunch of high quality prospects. A team like the Dodgers, who have a loaded farm system, would be ideal. 

You know where the Orioles should definitely, never, under no circumstances trade him? To the freaking Boston Red Sox. And yet, that is exactly a trade that Buster Olney—who used to write for The Sun, I might add—suggested on SportsCenter. Yes, it’s true. The Red Sox are in need of a third baseman. It’s also true that the Sox are in contention and the Orioles . . . less so. (Although, after that four-game sweep of the Rangers, we are feeling ourselves.) 

But you don’t trade one of the best players in baseball to a division rival? And especially not the Red Sox, with whom Machado has a fair amount of (justifiable) bad blood. No, nope, never, nada. And don’t you get any bright ideas, either, Yankees.

Speaking of Manny . . .

You gotta love this guy. As you might know, due to what has thus far been subpar offensive season, Machado was not an All Star this season. A one-year glitch, we’re sure. But he did attend the All-Star Game to cheer on his boy Jonathan Schoop and other friends in the game. His assessment: “Yeah, it’s a little boring to watch it…I don’t know how people go out there an watch games. Now I know why sometimes people don’t come to games.” You’re not supposed to say that out loud, dude.

Phelps vs. Shark: It is On!
The moment we’ve all been waiting for—Phelpnado, you might call it—“starts” this Sunday, July 23 on the Discovery Channel. We put “starts” in quotes, because that’s their word, not ours. Not sure how long you can stretch out a race between a swimmer and a fish, but I guess we’re about to find out. Meanwhile, we’ve done a little research. The Great White Shark can go up to 35 miles per hour. Phelps, at his fastest, can go only 6 miles per hour. Umm, that seems bad for Phelps. 

From what we’ve learned, Phelps was equipped with a special shark-like fin to make his time faster. Okay, that should do the trick. Anyway, we’re not totally sure if Phelps and the shark are actually swimming side-by-side or if they’re in two separate bodies of water (which would be laaaaame). The good news? We saw Phelps on Fallon last night and he looked healthy and happy and definitely had all his limbs, so no matter what happened, Phelps emerged intact. Tune in.

We’re Loving These New Under Armour Commercials
Homegrown sports apparel behemoth Under Armour has launched a new ad campaign targeting women called “Unlike Any,” starring ballerina Misty Copeland, stuntwoman Jessie Graff, and world champion sprinter Natasha Hastings, among others, and featuring poems recited by their authors.   

The first one, “For Misty” features Copeland in a stark, concrete arena, warming up and slowly dancing, as poet Saul Williams entrancingly reads an accompanying poem. Notably, there is no music.   

The second one, “For Natasha” features poet Dominique Christina as Hastings begins running alone on a sandy stretch of land; “For Jessie” is set to a poem written by Kojey Radical, and shows Graff doing a lot of “Do Not Try This At Home” stuff like hanging from rafters and flipping through the air.
All the commercials emphasize determination, solitude, grace, and female power. We approve.

Apparently We’re Not the Only Ones Geeked About Game of Thrones.

The Ravens and the Orioles are, too. Both teams posted a Westeros-themed video to their social media accounts in anticipation of last Sunday’s Game of Thrones premiere. In the Orioles case, they offered a Game of Thrones ticket package that included a pre-game bullpen party, a photo op with the iron throne (shouldn’t that be Iron Man Throne?), and tee-shirt featuring the Watcher of the Wall. John Stark? Hell no, this is Birdland. Adam Jones!

The Ravens posted the fun video featured below.

On Tuesday, Under Armour announced that effective July 10, retail veteran Patrik Frisk would become the new president and COO for the Baltimore-based company. 

“This appointment has always been part of the growth strategy,” said director of global communications at Under Armour Erin Wendell in an email. “This role will work closely with the leadership team on our go-to-market strategy and the execution of it.”

Frisk, most recently the former CEO of the shoe and accessories company Aldo, has nearly 30 years of experience in the retail industry working with companies like The North Face, Timberland, and Jansport. He will be responsible for executing Under Armour’s long-term growth plan that focuses on digital business strategies and category management. 

“Patrik’s global experience in brand building, while enhancing profitability and efficiency, will be instrumental as we work to transform our business model to deliver long-term value for our consumers, customers and shareholders,” said CEO of Under Armour Kevin Plank in a statement.

Plank founded Under Armour in 1995 while playing football for the University of Maryland. He developed a prototype that would replace cotton shirts with a material that would keep athletes cool and dry. After landing its first major client, Georgia Tech in 1999, the company settled in a 2,400-square-foot space on Sharp Street in Baltimore.

“When I looked at the factors, the culture and identity of Baltimore is one of the things that attracted me as much as anything else,” Plank told Baltimore in 2013. “We wanted to build a hard-edged, blue-collar company, and that attitude fit with what Baltimore was. We had a chip on our shoulder. I think our city still does, and I think our company does.”

According to Wendell, Plank’s day-to-day role will remain the same and Frisk will report directly to him.

“With the goals of accelerating our innovation agenda, optimizing our product assortment and creating a merchandising center of excellence,” Plank says, “this underscores our work toward evolving from a great brand with good operation—to a great brand with great operations.”

Father’s Day is right around the corner, which means it’s time to show your favorite fella what he means to you. Ditch the standard dress shirt and tie (I mean seriously, how many ties can one person own?) and celebrate dad with a creative gift from some of our favorite local stores.

Under Armour Brand House
Whether your dad is a gym rat or a fashion fanatic who understands what the word “athleisure” means, you are sure to find something great from Baltimore’s claim to athletic wear fame. Our pick: UA Street Encounter III Shoes ($59.99) at Under Armour. 700 S President St., 410-528-5304

REI
This is THE one-stop shop for the dad whose ideal day is spent outdoors, meaning everything from trails and national parks, to hanging out in your backyard. Our pick: Eno DoubleNest Hammock ($69.95) at REI. 63 W Aylesbury Road, 410-252-5920

Capitol Mac
For the Apple product enthusiast, this is the place to go. Not only are they the only certified Apple specialists in Baltimore, but they sell phone accessories and do authorized repairs—looking at you Dad with the cracked phone screen. Our pick: 32 GB Apple TV ($149) at Capital Mac. 714 S Broadway, 410-657-8000

Earth Treks
Sometimes the best gifts are experiences. Share some climb time with your old man at this indoor climbing center with locations in Timonium, Columbia, and soon to be Hampden. Our pick: Three-month membership ($207) at Earth Treks. 1930 Greenspring Dr., 410-560-5665

Nepenthe Homebrew
For the pop who loves hops, Nepenthe Homebrew has the best gift options for you. This home-brew shop in Hampden has kits and ingredients for making beer, wine, and cheese in your very own home. Our pick: Brewers Best Equipment Kit ($83.95) at Nepenthe Homebrew. 3626 Falls Road, 443-438-4846

Atomic Books
What better way for dad to relax this Father’s Day than with a new book. This shop specializes in the newest releases, comics, graphic novels, and zines, plus has a great selection of games and art toys. Our pick: Ready Player One: A Novel ($16) at Atomic Books. 3620 Falls Road, 410-662-4444

The Sound Garden
For the cinephile or music nerd, The Sound Garden is like a mystical wonderland. Stocked wall to wall with new and used CDs, vinyl, DVDs, and Blu-rays, there are countless gift ideas to keep your dad’s collection current. Our pick: The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Box Set ($64.99) at The Sound Garden. 1616 Thames St.,410-563-9011

Williams-Sonoma
Turn your dad into the grill master with any of the great kits, rubs, or marinades from Williams-Sonoma. Not only is this a gift for dad, but it will be a gift to yourself if he shares. Our pick: Ultimate Burger Essentials ($43.95) at Williams-Sonoma. 70 Village Square, 410-435-6020

Ceremony Coffee
The selection at Ceremony is impressive even to the most devoted coffee drinker. Take advantage of their unique blends and workshops at their Mt. Vernon or Harbor Point locations. Our Pick: 12oz El Faldón ($22) at Ceremony Coffee. 1312 Point St., 410-601-3561

Gervonta “Tank” Davis Signs Deal with Under Armour
This is cool. World IBF junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, who just defended his title in convincing fashion Monday with a third-round TKO of Britain’s Liam Walsh, has inked a deal with Under Armour. To announce the partnership, Under Armour unveiled a billboard of Davis on I-95. It’s a particularly cool billboard, because Davis isn’t in the ring or even crouched with his fists up in a classic boxer’s pose. Instead, he’s standing in West Baltimore, looking contemplative but determined, row homes behind him, his elaborate neck tattoo in full view. The billboard reads: “Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis: Baltimore’s Own.”

Dennis Pitta hosts The Bachelorette viewing party.
This is the greatest thing we’ve ever seen. We’re not sure what our favorite part is, Justin Tucker admitting he’s the Whaboom guy (“I would hope that I’m not the Whaboom guy, but I think I might be the Whaboom guy”); Joe Flacco doubling over in laughter as a be-aproned Dennis Pitta brings out his freshly made cinnamon buns; or Pitta proving that real men can love reality TV dating shows when he says, “A lot of football players wants to act like they’re too cool and tough to watch shows like this. Not us.” This is pure gold.

Jones breaks Camden Yards home run record
It hasn’t been a particularly great few weeks for the Orioles (understatement alert), but there is at least one reason to celebrate: Adam Jones, team captain, center fielder, Twitter foodie, and all-around awesome dude has broken the home run record at Camden Yards. He hit his 125th Camden Yards dinger on Monday, a no-doubt-about-it blast to left field against the Twins. (The Orioles went on to lose the game in frustrating fashion, but let’s focus on the positive.) Congrats, Adam!

 Justin Jackson is back
You can exhale now, Terps fans. Forward Justin Jackson, arguably the strongest member of a trio of superb freshmen who helped lead the Terps to the NCAA tournament last season, has removed his name from draft consideration and will be returning to the team next season. Whew!

Michael Phelps teasing us again?
Is it weird that we don’t want Michael Phelps in the 2020 Olympics? It’s not that we don’t love the guy—we do. We just don’t want to mess with the perfection of what he’s already accomplished. That being said, dude keeps “joking” about a 2020 run. First, on April Fool’s he tweeted. “Some goals/dreams you just can’t get rid of…been doing a lot of thinking n I’ve decided that I’m going 2 make another comeback! #tokyo2020.” Okay, that was funny. But then, just this week he posted a photo of himself and fellow Olympiad Grant Hackett to Instagram, with the caption, “Just two old dudes getting back in the pool…2020?” Then he followed that up with a Tweet that linked to the ’Gram post and added, “A little rusty . . . nah, still got it!” One joke is funny. Two jokes are intriguing. But three jokes? We’re just saying.

Four years ago, Maryland native Brian Treacy, who was living in Arizona at the time, got a call from an unknown 410 number and correctly predicted who it might be. On the other end was longtime friend, and Under Armour CEO, Kevin Plank.

“Kevin talks fast when he’s excited,” Treacy said today. “He talked about this vision for restoring rye whiskey in Maryland and opening a distillery in Baltimore City. For two sentences, he sold it pretty well.”

Soon after, Treacy was on a plane to Baltimore and plans were underway for the Sagamore Spirit distillery, which up until now has been housed in the City Garage incubator space. But with a ribbon cutting today, the distillery opened the doors of its permanent location, along the waterfront in Port Covington. The distillery opens to the public Friday, April 21, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

“Today we celebrate the finished product,” Treacy said this morning at the ribbon-cutting, sharing a state with Sagamore Spirit co-founder Bill McDermond, Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, and Mayor Catherine Pugh. “The purpose of this distillery is to create a reason for people to come visit Baltimore, educate guests about rye whiskey production, and be a place for them to learn about our brand.”

Prior to the opening, Sagamore Spirit Rye was being distilled in Indiana, then shipped to Baltimore. Now all of the aging, production, bottling, tastings, and tours will take place inside 22,000-square-foot distillery building and the adjacent 27,000-square-foot processing building.

“This new space really allows us to own the authenticity from start to finish and scale up when the time is right,” said Treacy, joking that it will be another four years before the Maryland start-to-finish whiskey will be properly aged and ready to taste. “I’m excited for that day to come.”

For now, though, guests can tour the distillery that features the only 40-foot mirror-finished copper column still in the world, which maintains a constant state of distillation and was made in Louisville, Kentucky. 

The facility also features a 250-gallon copper pot still for experimental and seasonal releases, nine 6,500-gallon fermenting tanks, an 8,000-gallon beer wall, and a 6,000-gallon mash cooker. The other pièce de résistance is the 120-foot water tower, filled with spring-fed water from Sagamore Farm in Baltimore County.

A visitor’s center and merchandising area, as well as a few tasting rooms, make up the processing building. This weekend, guests can experience free tours of the two-story facility and taste three different expressions of Sagamore Rye. Starting on Monday, April 24, the experience will cost $15. 

“We really want to put Maryland back on the rye whiskey map,” Treacy said. “And we hope that projects like these will make Baltimore be viewed in a more positive light.”

Growing up in the public housing development Perkins Homes, Travis Street saw firsthand the importance of community centers in Baltimore City. “Once ours closed, I started to notice a lot of my peers getting into trouble, using drugs, selling drugs, going to jail,” he says. “And our communities were divided.”

As their numbers have dwindled from 150 in 1990 to a mere 42 today, the lack of community centers in Baltimore’s underserved neighborhoods has become a critical component in conversations about the city, an issue underscored by the 2015 uprising after the death of Freddie Gray.

But beside the heavy traffic of Fayette Street stands a bright blue beacon of hope for East Baltimore and the city as a whole. Here, Street now serves as the director of UA House at Fayette, a newly renovated, 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art community center—operated by Living Classrooms—which opened in November with a generous donation from Under Armour’s Kevin Plank. The cobalt-colored entrance beckons you inside where, to the left, a recording studio offers guitars, drums, and keyboards for making music and, to the right, a covered field house features a turf field and sky-high garage doors. There’s also a yoga and dance studio, a full-purpose neighborhood kitchen, and a regulation-size basketball court.

Just a few steps from where Street grew up (and near other low-income housing like Pleasant View Gardens and Douglas Homes), the 37-year-old now finds himself working to help transform the lives of those same kids he grew up with, not to mention their own children, and even grandchildren. “We’re taking a multigenerational approach,” he says. “The whole goal is to strengthen the communities and bring people together.”

As the anchor of Living Classrooms’ Target Investment Zone initiative, which aims to disrupt the cycle of poverty in 2.5 square miles of underserved communities from the JFX to Patterson Park, the UA House offers more than just fun and games. “This is the heartbeat of the community,” says James Piper Bond, president and CEO of Living Classrooms. “The programming that’s happening here is rippling out across the city.”

The space offers year-round after-school programming for elementary through high school students, and features a STEM classroom with white boards and Mac computers. The building’s lower level houses an impressive workforce development and entrepreneurship center with job and skill training for adults. “It’s about overcoming and eliminating barriers, looking at the long term, and making sure people succeed,” says Street. “When we say we are community-driven, we are. We know every household. This is my family.”

Sports Illustrated names Michael Phelps “The Greatest Olympian of All Time.”
And we’re not going to argue with that. The Baltimore aquaman has 28 career medals, including 23 gold (see above photo). Number two on all-time medal list is former Soviet Union gymnast Union Larisa Latynina, who took home 18 medals, including nine, in the 1950s and 1960s. But is he done? Phelps said he’s retired, but he has also said that before and he’s been equivocating lately, too. Here’s the what Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, a friend and golfing partner of Phelps, told SI in their Dec. 26 issue (keeping in mind UA has Phelps signed to a long-term deal):

“I know what Michael is going to say about Tokyo: ‘I’ll be 35 years old, I can’t stare at the black line anymore.’ I understand. But Tokyo is going to be a great Olympics. He said he was retiring after London, when he was 27, with the lung capacity of a Great White Shark. You can bet I’m going to be nudging him as best I can for the next four years. I think he believes he is retired now. Three years is a long time to rest.”

‘Tis the season to be jolly. ‘Tis also football season.
The Ravens travel to Heinz Field Christmas afternoon with nothing less than a division title and a playoff berth in the balance. We don’t want to go around denigrating another city’s football team this time of year, but we do expect the Ravens will deliver some well-deserved coal to all those Steeler stockings hanging in the Pittsburgh locker room.

Added to laundry list of questionable Steeler activities over the years—head coach Mike Tomlin attempting to trip Jacoby Jones on a kickoff, for example—Pittsburgh had its own hushed-up Deflate-gate scandal this season following a game with the New York Giants. Fortunately for the Steelers, however, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell quickly moved to sweep the episode away, learning from the New England episode that cheating scandals are gigantic headache and not exactly good PR for the league. The fact that the family owners of Giants, the Maras, and the family owners of the Steelers, the Rooneys, are related (note actress Rooney Mara) may have also played a role in the nothing-to-see-here-folks approach by the NFL.

Matt Wieters may not be going that far away.
We knew there was little chance the free-agent O’s catcher would stay in Baltimore. All things considered, the team’s signing of Welington Castillo to hold down the receiving duties until highly touted minor league star Chance Sisco is ready for The Show looks like a good deal. That said, Wieters, a class act on and off the field, will be missed here. Recent rumors have him headed down I-95 to Washington. As painful as it would be see the big guy in a red cap with a “W” scrawled across the front, it would give us a chance to track his career and occasionally watch him play on MASN.

The man who stole the Colts from Baltimore died this week.
William Hudnut III often gets credit for revitalizing downtown Indianapolis. In the early 1980s, one of the things then-mayor Hudnut pushed for was the construction of the city’s Hoosier Dome football stadium. As longtime Baltimoreans recall, before the stadium had even been completed, Hudnut had hooked easy mark Robert Irsay, persuading the Colts owner to steal the team away from Baltimore in the middle of the night in 1984. Hudnut, it turned out, moved to the Washington, D.C. area in the 1990s, even serving briefly as mayor of Chevy Chase in the mid-2000s. The 84-year-old Hudnut died this week of congestive heart failure while in a Rockville hospice center.

Remarkably, even Indianapolis TV stations refer to their city’s theft of the Colts as “that scandalous night” when “Indianapolis stole the Colts unannounced.”

London calling.
It’s only a seven-hour direct flight.

The NFL formally announced this week that the Ravens will be one of eight NFL teams to play a game in London next year. Overseas games are big business for the league, which has staged 17 games in the United Kingdom since 2007, most in front at least 83,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, where soccer is typically played.

Joe Flacco and friends will be there either Sept. 24 or Oct. 1, 2017 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Whatever happens, hopefully no one makes like Paul Rudd in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and leaves a bad impression across the pond.

As for this year, after losing to the Patriots on Monday night and releasing veteran returner Devin Hester, the Ravens can still make the playoffs. They just need to win their last three regular-season games (vs. Philadelphia on Sunday, at Pittsburgh on Christmas Day and at Cincinnati on New Year’s Day), or even lose one and get some help from other teams losing. That would avoid a dubious first: missing the playoffs in two straight years for the first time in coach John Harbaugh’s nine seasons.

Get your tea and crumpets ready, #RavensFlock.

Next season, we will play a road game vs. Jacksonville at London’s Wembley Stadium. pic.twitter.com/SqYDeaWk7L
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 13, 2016

Pugh, Trump meet at Army-Navy game.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh met face-to-(hair?) with President-elect Donald Trump in the bowels of M&T Bank Stadium last Saturday at the 117th Army-Navy football game.

Pugh shared details of the brief exchange with reporters on Wednesday at City Hall. She greeted Trump as he got out of his car and she hand-delivered a letter that details what she hopes are common interests: improving parts of the city’s infrastructure.

Pugh offered Baltimore as “the perfect place to target” federal money for the type of upgrades Trump has touted he will make happen during his presidency. The meat of the letter focused on transportation around a redeveloped Port Covington and a proposed expansion of the Howard Street rail tunnel, upgrading aging water and sewer systems—please, not another sinkhole!—and strengthening citywide internet capabilities.

In typical lightning-rod fashion, when he arrived inside the home of the Ravens during the first quarter, Trump drew some cheers while protesters outside voiced their opinions and officials boosted security for the visit. On air with CBS television during the game, which Army won 21-17 to snap Navy’s 14-game win streak in the series, Trump said of the play on the field: “I don’t know if it’s necessarily the best football—but it’s very good—but, boy, do they have spirit.”

So there’s that. But at least sports brought a Democrat and a Republican together for a few minutes, and gave the city an audience.

With @realDonaldTrump in Baltimore I delivered a letter noting importance of our infrastructure needs & need for investment of federal funds pic.twitter.com/61OsajKvtQ
— Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) December 10, 2016

O’s, kids have fun at holiday party.
The Oriole Bird slipped into his Santa suit and hat—where does he get these things?—and joined Orioles players Chris Davis, Darren O’Day, Caleb Joseph and Tyler Wilson, and 80 outpatients from the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, at the team’s 38th annual charity holiday party on Tuesday.

The kids and adults (well, baseball players are really kids, too) hit the arcade games and shared lunch at Dave & Buster’s at Arundel Mills Mall. Chicken nuggets, pizza and fries were on the menu. Davis even poured a few drinks at the bar: punch and lemonade. And he later joked about how fun it was to get “dominated in games by kids that are half your age.”

Davis and his wife, Jill, a former nurse who worked in a children’s hospital in Texas, have partnered this year with UMCH and they will serve as an ambassadors for the hospital. The Davis’ plan to raise awareness of the hospital’s programs (last year it cared for 40,000 children) and childhood illnesses, in addition to donations that Baltimore’s $161 million dollar man and spouse have already made to the hospital’s NICU unit.

A holiday cheers to that. Now, Santa Bird, we love you and your outfit, but how about that starting pitcher or two we’ve been waiting on the last few years?

Under Armour inks deal with MLB for uniforms in 2020.
Kevin Plank’s sports apparel empire has had tentacles in almost every major sport—and now it can add baseball to that roster. In its first major professional sports uniform deal, UA will take over for Majestic Athletic as the official on-field uniform provider for Major League Baseball starting in 2020. New Era will continue to provide hats for the league.

Based on the flashy uniforms that Under Armour has produced for University of Maryland, Northwestern, and Team USA, baseball teams in 2020 will likely get quite spruced up. We see many flag patterns in our future.

Ryan Mallett says he’ll be ready to fill in for Flacco on Sunday.
These haven’t been the best few weeks for the Ravens offense, which is why you might see the team switch things up on Sunday against the Jets. Ravens backup quarterback Ryan Mallett practiced with the team this week as Joe Flacco was nursing a right shoulder injury. Both head coach John Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg seem to think that Flacco will be ready come game day, but Mallett says he is prepared either way.

“You’ve got to be ready at a drop of a hat,” Mallett told The Baltimore Sun. “Something can happen during a game, any week of the season. So you’ve just always got to be ready.”

Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad speaks at Morgan State.
After becoming the first Muslim-American woman to compete and medal in the Olympic games wearing a hijab, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad came to Morgan State University to discuss race in sports and culture.

The symposium, titled “The Impact of Negative Images on Black Women Athletes,” also featured ESPN’s Jemele Hill, former WNBA All-Star Kara Lawson, and former Washington Post columnist Lonnae O’Neal.

“When I qualified [for the Olympics] . . . immediately, my life and my experiences in sport just kind of felt bigger than me,” Muhammad said according to The Sun. “I feel the same way when we think of firsts in swimming with Simone Manuel being the first African-American woman to medal in an Olympic swimming event. Those moments in our history are so much bigger than we are.”

But Muhammad was very candid when talking about how she is treated differently compared to some other athletes on Team USA. “As a black woman and as an African-American Muslim woman . . . everything we do is under a microscope,” she said. “We have to watch what we say. We have to watch how we act. We have to watch what we tweet. We’re being policed more than others. Michael Phelps laughs during the medal ceremony. . . Even with Ryan Lochte, it was ‘Well, boys will be boys.'”

Muhammad continued to come back to the importance of sharing her narrative with the goal of inspiring young athletes.

“I remember being a kid and being told that I didn’t belong in my sport,” she said, “For me, it has always been really important to try to reach our youth, specifically to let them know there is no limit to what you can do as long as you’re willing to work.”