We've always loved the Oriole Bird—whether he's pretending to chew your hat off or dressing up as an old man for Father's Day—though we admit we're a little biased. But, according to Forbes magazine, a new study found that our hometown mascot is among the 10 most popular in the country.

The Marketing Arm's Davie Brown Index, which is based on a survey of public perception of celebrities, measured mascots' popularity based on: awareness, likeability, attention-getting, photo-friendliness, interaction, and fun. Fans were asked if a mascot happened to be an "absolute favorite" or "one of my favorites."

The Oriole Bird was a newbie on the list and rated as both "trendy" and "traditional." The survey says "the Bird's buzz shot up last year with the Orioles ascent to the playoffs." The Bird appears among old stand-bys like the Phillie Phanatic and San Diego Chicken.

For the first time this season, the Orioles have put together a four-game winning streak, moving to 21-13 on the year with their win over Kansas City last night. More good news?

With the Minnesota Twins knocking off the Boston Red Sox, the surging O's have also moved into a tie for first place in the American League East.

J.J. Hardy homered Wednesday — for the third time in four games — and Manny Machado continued to deliver in the clutch, driving in a run, to lead the Orioles to a 5-3 win. Chris Tillman won his third game of the early season and closer Jim Johnson picked up his 13th save.

As Johnson told reporters after the game, the O's have picked right up where they left off last season when they reached the playoffs for the first time in 15 seasons.

"I feel like we really haven't lost a step from where we finished [in 2012] or how we finished last year," Johnson, who notched his 34th regular season save in a row to match Randy Myers (1997) for the club record, told MLB.com. "But I think ... guys are really starting to get a good feel for what's going on and what's expected of...

With the departure of two beloved future Hall of Famers from their defense — linebacker Ray Lewis to retirement, safety Ed Reed to the Houston Texans — the Ravens had holes to fill at both positions during the first round of last night's NFL Draft.

With the final selection of the first round, the Ravens ultimately skipped on controversial Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and instead took versatile, hard-hitting Florida safety Matt Elam. In reality, recently acquired safety Michael Huff, who the Ravens signed from Oakland, will take over Reed's spot at free safey and Elam will compete to replace Bernard Pollard (who the Ravens let go after the Super Bowl win) at strong safety, but the bottom line is the Ravens decided to shore up their secondary.

The other big Baltimore draft news last night was the selection of former Dunbar star Tavon Austin, by way of West Virginia University, by the St. Louis Rams with the eighth overall selection....

The top six public high schools in the state, according to the recently released, annual U.S. News & World Report rankings, are all from Montgomery County. However, 10 Baltimore County Public Schools also made the “Best High Schools” list of the top public high schools in Maryland.

Towson’s George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology (above photo) was top-ranked Baltimore County Public School, ranked No. 9 within Maryland and No. 242 overall in the U.S. Among other Baltimore County schools, Towson High School was ranked No. 12 in the state and No. 268 nationally, while Eastern Technical High School, in Essex, was ranked No. 13 in the state and No. 272 nationally. Dulaney High School, in Timonium, was ranked No. 17 in the state and No. 368 nationally. Hereford High School in Parkton was ranked No. 21 in Maryland and No. 268 nationally.

Winston Churchill High School in Potomac was the top ranked Maryland school and came in at...