Sports

The Baltimore Ravens are gearing up for the 2012 NFL season and are still trying to find all the missing pieces as free agency rolls along and the 2012 NFL draft rapidly approaches. Jason La Canfora of NFL.com reports that the Ravens have secured another piece of the puzzle on Thursday. The team has signed former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Curtis Painter to act as the backup for starting QB Joe Flacco.

The signing reunites Painter with quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, who acted as head coach for the Colts from the time Painter was drafted in 2009 until last year, when Caldwell was fired from the team after Indianapolis finished with a 2-14 record.

Last week the sports world debated whether the talent-laden Kentucky Wildcats could beat the NBA’s Washington Wizards. Apparently the hypothetical question should have been: Could the State College of Florida Manatees actually beat the Baltimore Orioles ? The answer is yes. But with slightly altered rules.

On Tuesday, the community college beat the lowly Orioles 2-1 in an exhibition game in Sarasota. To be fair, the game was somewhat rigged. The Manatees had actual Orioles pitchers and catchers playing for them – and most of the Baltimore starters were pulled by the fifth inning.

The head of IndyCar racing came to Baltimore Thursday and assured the city’s residents that this September’s grand prix race would not end up in financial ruin as last year’s did.

“There’s no room for errors. We have to be successful and the promoter has to be successful,” IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said at the Intercontinental Harbor Court Hotel before showing off the cars and new technologies that would be used in the Labor Day race. “They feel the pressure,” Bernard said.

The Korea Baseball Association (KBA), the South Korean governing body of baseball, has banned Baltimore Orioles scouts from attending all local games, according to NBC Sports.

The KBA announced Thursday it has informed the MLB commissioner’s office and the Orioles organization that Orioles scouts are no longer allowed to attend local games, after the MLB team signed 17-year-old left-handed pitcher Kim Seong-min who was about to enter his final year in high school.

Life will go on for the IZOD IndyCar Series even without Danica Patrick. Sadly, it will go on without Dan Wheldon as well. His death at Las Vegas in the final race of the 2011 season was one of the top sports stories of the year. More >

Drug testing for student athletes will continue in the North Baltimore school district. The school board voted last night to pay a little more than $10,000 to the Wood County Educational Service Center to conduct the testing. The money for the tests will come out of the general fund. More >