Gov. Martin O’Malley said this week that the state could help pay for a new stadum in Hagerstown where the Suns, the Washington Nationals‘ minor league baseball affiliate, would play.

But the town may be ready for some football, too.

The Herald-Mail reports that a professional football team in Chambersburg, Pa., could play in a new multipurpose stadium across the state line. The towns are only about 25 minutes apart.

The Chambersburg Cardinals play at Chambersburg Area Senior High School now, but the team’s business director told the Herald-Mail that moving to a private facility would allow the team to sell alcohol and conduct more pre- and post-game activities.

O’Malley suggested earlier this week that the state could help pay for the new stadium. State Comptroller Peter Franchot also showed support for building a new stadium this month.

Keeping the Suns in Hagerstown — and maybe attracting the Cardinals — are not the only professional sports interests of the state.

An item in the fiscal 2013 budget gives $175,000 to the Maryland Stadium Authority so it can study building a stadium for the D.C. United professional soccer team in Baltimore.

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The state slots commission could decide on the licensee for the state’s fourth slots parlor this month.

The Video Lottery Terminal Location Commission will meet April 26, and could make a decision on the license for a slots parlor at Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort at that time.

A major hurdle was cleared last week when the Allegany County commissioners came to agreement on a payment in lieu of taxes with Evitts Resort LLC, the lone bidder for the license. Because the resort is in Rocky Gap State Park, the county cannot collect property taxes from tenants. The agreement calls for Evitts to pay the county the equivalent of what property taxes for the site would be.

All that remains is the completion of a lease agreement between Evitts, the Maryland Economic Development Corp., which owns the resort and the Maryland Department of Natural Resource, which owns Rocky Gap State Park.

Donald C. Fry, chairman of the slots commission, said he expected that lease agreement to be completed in the next week.

“I’d still believe we’re in a position to make a decision on Rocky Gap by the end of this month,” Fry said. “I think the Allegany County commissioners, them moving forward, is a significant step.

“We need to make sure the lease is ready to go. But you’ve got a lot of different players. We’re down to a couple of issues.”

The award for a Baltimore facility could take a bit longer, Fry said, though he expected the commission would make a decision on that license before the end of June. The Maryland State Lottery Agency is still working on its background check of a group led by Caesars Entertainment.

“My target date is still the end of the fiscal year,” Fry said.

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Cal Ripken Jr. played in 2,632 straight games, Joe DiMaggio had a hit in 56 games in a row and the Atlanta Braves won 14 consecutive National League East division championships.

Even the greatest streaks in baseball history eventually came to an end. Today, my own baseball streak skids to a halt.

After eight years, I won’t be sitting at Oriole Park this afternoon when the Orioles celebrate Opening Day at Camden Yards in a game against the Minnesota Twins.

Opening Day has been the best baseball day in the city for more than a decade. Even as the Orioles have suffered through 14 consecutive losing seasons, the seats in the ballpark have remained filled on that April afternoon when baseball returns and honest hope for the team’s turnaround momentarily trumps sensibility.

It’s not that the stadium isn’t full of some kind of energy at other points during the season. But the first game is the only time when there are more than 40,000 fans at the park wearing orange rather than Yankee pinstripes or Red Sox caps.

Opening Day and the crowds that flock to it are the last real connection to the team’s glory days, when walking up and buying a seat at Oriole Park on game day was a laughable impossibility.

Most days, you can walk to the booth five minutes before the first pitch, buy a ticket and be in your seat before the Star-Spangled Banner ends.

Instead of being in Baltimore, I am, of course, in Annapolis today, covering the final days of the General Assembly. But at least I won’t be alone.

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The state will foot the bill for a study into the viability of  D.C. United moving up Interstate 95 to Charm City.

In his supplemental budget proposal delivered to the legislature this week, Gov. Martin O’Malley included a $175,000 appropriation to the Maryland Stadium Authority to fund a study into the feasibility of building a stadium for D.C. United.

Fiscal analysts recommended eliminating the provision, but a conference committee between House of Delegates and Senate members decided to reject that recommendation, keeping the money intact.

The team said in November it might move out of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., due to high operating costs at the former home of the Redskins and Nationals. A new, downtown Baltimore stadium, near Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium in Camden Yards, has been mentioned as a possibility.

College Park and Bowie have also been mentioned as possible homes for the team.

Editor’s Note: This post has been corrected.

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Gov. Martin O’Malley, the former mayor of Baltimore, mixed a little pigskin and politics Tuesday in advance of the Sunday’s playoff game between the Houston Texans and his hometown Ravens.

Governors and mayors from the states and cities from which playoff teams hail often make good-natured bets before games.

O’Malley said Tuesday he has reached out to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to agree on a wager.

“I had a hard time reaching him on the phone,” O’Malley joked.

Perry is also the former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, but left the post to Virginia’s Bob McDonnell when he launched his presidential bid. O’Malley heads the Democratic Governors Association.

Perry has been largely rendered a non-factor in the race after a weak showing in the Iowa caucuses.

“We’re putting out a bet to Rick Perry that the Ravens will score more points against the Texans than he gets in New Hampshire tonight,” O’Malley said, referring to the Granite State’s primary on Tuesday.

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A mostly humdrum budget hearing held at least one interesting tidbit about newly confirmed labor Secretary Alexander M. Sanchez.

His department – Labor, Licensing and Regulation – oversees everything from mortgage brokers to sports agents to barbers, and monitors the state’s financial sector and enforces workplace regulations.

If that wasn’t enough, the department was responsible for coming up with requirements for mixed martial arts referees after the sport was legalized in the state. The first MMA bout was held last year in Baltimore. Sanchez said the event drew more than 5,000 spectators, including the secretary himself.

“Sir, were you there as a participant?” asked Del. John L. Bohanan Jr., D-St. Mary’s.

“Just an interested observer,” Sanchez replied.

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The state of Maryland already spends millions to build and operate stadiums and arenas for sports teams, and now a Prince George’s County delegate and former NFL quarterback wants the state to have a say in who some of the teams play.

Del. Jay Walker‘s “Maryland Football Act” would require, in technical terms, schools in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision to play Football Championship Subdivision schools once every four years. Before you go to Google to decipher the NCAA tiers, it means the University of Maryland would have to play both Towson University and Morgan State at least once every four years.

“It would ensure that Morgan and Towson don’t just play Maryland once in a lifetime,” Walker said. “It would help those schools tremendously.

The games could be played on either team’s home field, or at a neutral site, according to the language of the bill.

“When the NCAA allowed FBS schools to play a 12th game, it was so they could play smaller schools,” Walker said. “Rather than [James Madison University] or [the University of Richmond] coming up and getting their $600,000, the games should stay in the state.”

Maryland played Madison last season and squeaked out a 38-35 win in overtime.

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