Football season got off to a great start yesterday, didn’t it? Loved seeing Peyton Manning, formerly of the Indianapolis professional football team, come back after sitting out a year with a neck injury and heroically lead the Denver Broncos past the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If Manning accomplishes nothing else in his career from here out, I will consider his return a success just for knocking off Ben Roethlisberger and his cronies.

So tonight… Well, the betting line among the online sports books has gone from the Ravens opening as a 5-point favorite early in the week to 7-point favorites today. The Ravens beat the Bengals twice last year, by 7 at home and 8 points away, respectively.

Could be a tight contest with the Bengals, who at 9-7 reached the playoffs last year. On the other hand, Harbaugh is 4-0 in season openers and will have the Ravens prepared. Naturally, everyone wants to see what kind of pass rush the Ravens...

After the second Grand Prix of Baltimore Sunday, Will Power, last year’s winner and the current IndyCar Series points leader, “cursed the weather and his awful luck,” according to ESPN.

Baltimore City and IndyCar officials might be cursing the weather and their awful luck as well. Although, surely they made some of that bad luck themselves, taking too long to finalize the race’s return to Charm City.

Although the expected rain Sunday afternoon amounted to just a brief drizzle, it did alter the race. The aforementioned Power dropped from the lead while pit stopping for a change to rain tires — and then back again — a costly decision that winner Ryan Hunter-Reay did not make. Still, despite a number of cautions and restarts, the race was exciting — if for no other reason than the shear amazement of watching the blur of open cockpit metal and rubber maneuvering around downtown’s normally plodding streets.

But whether it was the...

Hey, all the weekend forwards, fullbacks, midfielders, and goalkeepers out there...the Baltimore Blast is offering a chance to make your dream of playing professional soccer come true.

The Blast is holding open tryouts Sept. 15 and 16 at the DuBurns Arena, 9 a.m. to noon each day. If you’re a male soccer player, 18 or older and not a college player with remaining eligibility, here's your shot. First, submit a tryout application — with $100 — to the Blast office by 5 p.m. Sept. 4. Walk-in players will not be granted a tryout.

Players will be assessed by the Blast staff, including head coach Danny Kelly, assistant coach David Bascome, and general manager Kevin Healey, according to the Blast’s website. Players making it through the open tryouts will be invited to attend a three-day mini-camp Oct. 10-12. The Blast opens training camp the following week.

“We are looking to provide an opportunity to those players who wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to come out and take a shot at making the Blast,” Kelly said. More...

A report released over the weekend by The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks Baltimore-area and Maryland residents among the most generous in the country.

The study examined IRS records of Americans who itemized their deductions and earned $50,000 or more in 2008, providing data sets for every state, city, and ZIP code. An interactive map can be found here.

Maryland ranked 10^th overall among the 50 states, contributing 5.7 percent of its discretionary income to charity. Maryland placed 11^th in total...