You probably couldn’t hit a baseball and get it to land on top of the outfield fence if you were given 10 million tries — OK, you might be hard-pressed to hit a baseball that far in the first place — but in the Bronx on Friday night, Boston’s Kevin Youkilis hit a game-changing triple that will be on blooper reels for years to come. I can’t explain the play in a way that will do it justice — other than the fact that Johnny Damon got owned trying to make the catch — so you’re just going to have to watch the clip to see what happened.

Where would you like to see MMA bouts take place in the state?

What do you like about the sport? Is it too barbaric?

What do you think the appeal of MMA is?

To learn more about MMA, visit Mark Chalifoux’s blog at baltimoresun.com

Boswell was convicted on April 21 of attempted second-degree murder, second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon — charges for which he could receive up to 85 years in prison. After trial, he was sent to Baltimore City Detention Center to await sentencing.

On April 22 — one day after his conviction — Boswell was released from jail.

On June 23, the day he was scheduled to be sentenced, someone finally realized that Boswell was not where he was supposed to be, and rather had been mistakenly released from prison two months earlier.

Officials blame a ridiculous chain of events in which Boswell’s records were altered somewhere in the process — apparently an easy thing to do because instructions on prisoner’s detention and release are handwritten. Electronic records are reportedly not feasible at this time (2008, right?) because the computers at the Circuit Court and detention center “aren’t compatible” with each other.

A spokesman for Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said: “We’re investigating what happened… Given the nature of the case, it’s important that we take as much time as needed to figure out what’s happening.”

Meanwhile, Boswell (like Anderson) is nowhere to be found. Police are reportedly still searching for him, but given that lucky break, why would the man be anywhere near Baltimore?

In cases like these, words fail me. Anyone have anything to add to my head-shaking?

3. US Olympic Swimming Trials (Saturday @ 8 p.m. on NBC): With local swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff winning medals, setting world records and punching their tickets to Beijing, the US Olympic Swimming Trials have been surprisingly entertaining all week. Even NBC felt to need to bust out the big guns, sending Bob Costas to Nebraska to cover the event. With the Trials coming to a close and Phelps looking to qualify for enough events to make a run at breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven Olympic gold medals, it’s worth checking out on Saturday night.

2. Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (Friday @ noon on ESPN): Can Joey Chestnut repeat as champion? Will Takeru Kobayashi be at full strength this year? Who cares?! It’s pure entertainment watching all these crazies shove hot dogs into their mouths as quickly as possible, especially with the announcers making outlandish statements like “Kobayashi reminds me Ted Williams” and “he could be the greatest athlete practicing any sport in the world today.” Instant dynamite.

1. Wimbledon finals (Saturday and Sunday @ 9 a.m. on NBC): I know 9 a.m. might be a little bit early for some our loyal readers to crawl out of bed on the weekend, but it will be worth it. Wimbledon is already the most exciting and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, but with potential finals matchups like Serena vs. Venus and Federer vs. Nadal, we could see some instant classics. Honestly, anything can happen here, but my picks to take the trophies are Serena and Nadal… and trust me, you’ll want to tune in to find out.

Judge Charles Bernstein proceeded with Anderson’s trial for illegal possession of a firearm, even though the defendant was nowhere to be found. During the trial, corrections officers were asked to provide details surrounding Anderson’s escape. I have to say, it almost seems like they wanted him to get away. Here’s how it went down:

1. Officer Deborah Barron (with 19 years of experience) picked Anderson up at Jessup and drove him a half-block to meet the transport unit that was supposed to take Anderson to Baltimore. Barron was late; the transport unit was gone.

2. Barron called her supervisor to tell him of the situation. He responded, “Oh Lord. Ok,” and hung up the phone. Barron interpreted that as permission to transport Anderson herself.

3. Barron decided to tranport Anderson in an unmodified van without cages or handcuffs. She let Anderson, 6′3″ and 220 lbs, sit next to her — unrestrained — in the passenger seat.

4. The van had no radio and Barron had no cell phone.

5. At a red light at Baltimore and South Streets, Anderson simply opened the door, jumped out, and ran away.

6. Flustered because the light turned green and cars were honking, Barron decided not to chase Anderson and instead proceeded to the courthouse garage, I assume parked the van, and only then informed a sheriff about the situation.

7. Not surprisingly, by this time Anderson was long gone.

The judge was obviously annoyed by the story, asking whether Barron gave Anderson “bus tokens, too?” He then proceeded to say: “If I were a young enterprising criminal, I’d come to Baltimore to set up my practice. This is the place to be. This is the Promised Land.”

We can only hope that this was the first time in Barron’s 19-year career (or any other corrections officer, for that matter) that procedures were not followed. But I have a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t an isolated incident. Any thoughts on this tale of incompetence?

In my mind, the long weekend has already started. However, it’s still lunchtime on Thursday, so I guess I should post something for my fellow clockwatchers out there.

Today’s Sun has a feature on Ocean City (Maryland, of course) and its remarkable ability to sustain itself during the lagging economy. The number of weekend visitors this June was virtually identical to last June’s tally: 235,000. (Some do suspect, however, that weekday number are down, although no official estimates are available.)

For many in the region, it seems like a yearly (at minimum) trek to OC is a time-honored tradition that will continue indefinitely — no matter the economic conditions.

Said the “boardwalk fudge lady,” Robin Derrickson: “Nobody seems to be talking about the price of gas. As long as I keep cranking out the fudge, we’ll be fine.”

If only it were that easy.

I am admittedly not a native Marylander, so sometimes I don’t understand the love affair people here have with Ocean City. In fact, I haven’t been to Ocean City since I graduated from high school (wait for it)… in 1996. Now, I’d sooner go to the beaches of Delaware — or the Greek Islands.

There’s a whole coastline slightly to our east, yet people seem to gravitate to OC year after year. What is it that brings you back to Ocean City — or, if you’re like me, what keeps you away?

Gross.

It’s Fourth of July weekend, a weekend where we get together to commemorate the efforts of our forefathers, who selflessly fought for our independence. We show our appreciation and our patriotism in many ways.

We grill up a ton of heart-clogging American food. We slam down cans of the finest light beers America has to offer. We play horseshoes or cornhole — also known as beanbag toss to those who aren’t from naïve Midwestern states. We set off illegally purchased fireworks while listening to Bruce Springsteen. Can it get more American than that? Hardly.

But before we lather on the sunscreen and throw on the red, white and blue, we partake in a growing Independence Day tradition: We watch a bunch of fat guys and a freak of nature from Japan shove piles of greasy hot dogs down their throats as quickly as possible.

I’m not quite sure this is what George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had in mind.

The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has been around since 1916, when, as legend has it, four immigrants determined who was most American by seeing who could eat as many hot dogs as possible in a 12-minute span. An Irish immigrant named James Mullen ate 13 dogs to win the impromptu contest. No word on if he got his American citizenship right there on the spot.

Today, these “athletes” can inhale five times as many hot dogs as Mullen did — Joey Chestnut consumed 66 last year to set a world record — but as much as they claim to be, these men and women aren’t athletes. They couldn’t be further from it.

That doesn’t mean the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest isn’t fun to watch. An intense rivalry is brewing between Chestnut and six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan. Chestnut edged Kobayashi by three dogs last year to bring the belt back to the United States, a scene reminiscent of Rocky taking down Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV.” And yes, there actually is a belt.

The ESPN announcers on hand, who shall remain nameless to protect their reputations, proclaimed that Chestnut’s victory “could be the greatest moment in American sports history.” I wish I was making this up. They also explained that if you Google the word “hero,” “you’ll get Abe Lincoln and Joey Chestnut,” which is absolutely ridiculous. Everyone knows you’ll get Chuck Norris.

The announcers make the contest a can’t-miss, turning a disgusting, non-sport spectacle into semi-intentional humoristic dynamite with lines such as this gem a few years back: “Kobayashi might be the greatest athlete practicing any sport in the world today.”

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is a train wreck, but as much as I hate to admit it, I’ll be tuning in Friday. After all, isn’t this what our ancestors were fighting for?

Matt Vensel is a content creator for b. Contact him at matt@bthesite.com

somewhere in the middle of Nevada, by Brian Krista

This past week’s contest saw some of our best entries to date. Keep up the good work. Jenni Seltzer of Owings Mills won the patriotic theme. Next week’s theme is alone, another subject open to much interpretation. E-mail your entry to heard@bthesite.com, with your name, age, town, and the theme by 11 a.m. Thursday. Good luck, happy shooting, and have a fun and safe holiday weekend.

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