Yes, The Daily Record is devoted to covering legal and business news — but many of our readers are University of Maryland graduates, and they were no doubt shocked by the sudden retirement this week of longtime basketball coach Gary Williams. So, having a sports story atop our list of the week’s five most-read stories isn’t all that surprising.

1. Maryland basektball coach Gary Williams retiring – by Rachel Bernstein
“It’s the right time,” Williams said in a news release. “I am fiercely proud of the program we have built here. I couldn’t have asked any more from my players, my assistant coaches, the great Maryland fans and this great university.”

2. Towson U. could lease part of nearly vacant complex – by Melody Simmons
Administrators at Towson University are eyeing the nearly vacant Towson Commons to lease for possible classroom and academic office space, a conversion some say could rejuvenate the center of the communit

3. Md. casinos total $13.5 million in April slots revenue – by Rachel Bernstein
Hollywood Casino Perryville generated more than $10 million, or an average of $223.38 for each of the 1,500 machines at the Cecil County facility. That’s more than the $210 per machine the state said it would average before the casinos opened.

4. After relocation, ex-Middle East resident living in misery – by Melody Simmons
Just after she settled on the single-family house in the 3400 block of Kentucky Avenue in Belair-Edison for a purchase price of $184,900, a multitude of things went wrong.

5. Audit finds discrepancies in Maryland Transit Administration ridership numbers – by Nicholas Sohr
The Maryland Transit Administration reported to federal officials carrying 18 million more bus riders than it did when submitting ridership data to the state in fiscal 2009.

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Two big personalities on Maryland’s business landscape — William Donald Schaefer and Edwin F. Hale Sr. — dominated the news this week, and that’s reflected in the top 5 staff-written stories by The Daily Record’s business reporting team.

1. William Donald Schaefer: 1921 – 2011 – by Melody Simmons and C. Fraser Smith
William Donald Schaefer, the mercurial, demanding leader who reshaped Baltimore in four terms as mayor before serving two terms each as governor and comptroller of Maryland, died Monday at the age of 89.

2. First Mariner Chairman Hale to step down – by Rachel Bernstein
1st Mariner Bank founder Edwin F. Hale Sr., will step down as chairman and CEO as part of a New York investment company’s plan to take a stake in the struggling Baltimore banking company.

3. After 61 years, iconic Werner’s restaurant closes its doors – by Rachel Bernstein
The future tenant of the old Werner’s spot will need to appeal to downtown Baltimore’s business district without becoming another upscale restaurant out of reach for the luncheonette’s former regulars.

4. First Mariner founder Edwin Hale ready to look for new challenges – by Rachel Bernstein
First Mariner Bancorp CEO Edwin F. Hale Sr. isn’t happy that he will be leaving the company he founded, but he said Wednesday he plans to keep his hand in development and Baltimore’s business community.

5. Local group acquiring Pikesville retirement community – by Rachel Bernstein
A local group of physicians, clergy and investors is buying a continuing care retirement community to bring what it says will be a more personal and local touch than that of its out-of-state owners.

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Much has been written about William Donald Schaefer since his death Monday. Here are some stories and blog posts on Baltimore’s former mayor and Maryland’s former governor and comptroller that, if you haven’t already seen, would be worth your time.

Esquire Magazine has posted Richard Ben Cramer’s classic profile of then Mayor Schaefer, published in October 1984. The magazine’s editors say there were inspired to post the story online — “in its entirety for the first time” — after getting requests in the Twitterverse from various big-name political writers. Cramer’s story is filled with vivid set pieces and insightful analysis of what drove the man. Among them: “You don’t need a charming, wavy-haired talker for a mayor. You need the toughest, canniest, most obsessive sonofabitch in town. You need someone who’s going to make it his life.”

Josh Kurtz, a longtime chronicler of Maryland politics, offers his own unique perspective at Center Maryland on Schaefer’s legacy. Kurtz, who for years covered the State House for The Gazette newspapers in the D.C. suburbs, pays tribute to Schaefer’s career in public service. He also writes of the shifting spheres of influence in Annapolis, and how those shifts have occurred over time at Baltimore’s expense, and how Schaefer and his loyalists handled the changing balance of power.

The Baltimore Business Journal has reaction from local business leaders on Schaefer’s influence in shaping the city. H&S Bakery’s John Paterakis shares a revealing anecdote on the early machinations behind what would become Harbor East.

Anyone who’s been asked by a demanding boss to “do it now!” can appreciate the recollections of Robert L. Di Stefano, a retired Baltimore police major who writes in a letter to the Sun of his days as a commanding officer under Schaefer. Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck, meanwhile, assesses Schaefer’s impact on Baltimore as a sports town, and Jay Hancock writes of Schaefer’s ongoing dialogue with Maryland businesses, unique as it was.

Former Sun reporter and editor David Ettlin offers his own remembrance of Schaefer at his blog, The Real Muck. It includes a very funny run-in with the then mayor over an apparent City Hall leak of a story.

Doug Birch, who covered Schaefer in City Hall and Annapolis, bids him a fond farewell in the Baltimore Brew. “My tormentor, my nemesis, my exasperating tutor” the post is titled.

The New York Times obituary on Schaefer concludes with this passage:

When he lost his re-election bid [for comptroller] in 2006, Mr. Schaefer was asked how he would like to be remembered. “There are two words,” he said. “ ‘He cared.’ People mock me and make fun of it. But it’s the truth.”

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The Masters — a tradition unlike any other — started Thursday. I’m a casual golf fan at best, but have been intrigued by all the chatter surrounding Tiger Woods in the run up to the first tee time.

Not just the “will he win?” questions, which are dominating the sports talk. I’m more interested in whether he’ll win given the reportedly radical reinvention of his game in recent months.

The world’s former No. 1 golfer, a fixture of major tournament leaderboards for 15 years, is overhauling his swing. He’s retained a new coach. He’s apparently even bought a new home (dubbed the “slickest bachelor pad in human history” in this somewhat breathless account), all in the wake, of course, of the highly publicized implosion of his marriage.

Whether or not Woods is finished as a dominant golfer is an open question, and this story at Slate makes the interesting statistical case that he’s not. As I write this, he’s even par for the tournament, 10 strokes back from leader Rory McIlroy.

What really intrigues me is Woods’ willingness to radically overhaul his game by revamping his swing. It’s a huge gamble. It reminds me of Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.

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The collective mood of Baltimore’s baseball faithful is off-the-charts positive today with the Orioles off to a 3-0 start after a season-opening sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Those 162-0 tweets and Facebook updates never get old to this long-suffering fan.

The O’s host the Detroit Tigers today in its home opener, which means new life for the businesses and vendors in and around Oriole Park at Camden Yards. To that end, our old friend Daraius Irani at Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute examines what Opening Day means in terms of dollars and cents.

One finding: If a team boosts its winning percentage by 10 percent, its home attendance climbs by about 9.6 percent.

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The real estate reporting of Melody Simmons — including the latest development in her work covering the massive $1.8 billion project in East Baltimore — dominates this week’s Top 5 business stories by Daily Record staffers.

Also cracking the list is part of our two-day look back at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as it gets set to open its 20th season. Finally, consider the date when reading the entry that rounds out this list.

1. New lives in future for two former city schools – by Melody Simmons

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates is expected to vote on a proposal to create a new homeless shelter in the former Coppin Elementary School on the Westside. The board is also expected to vote on the sale of the former Columbus School, a historic red-brick building at 2000 E. North Ave. and Washington Street that is vacant and has been vandalized.

2. Little Italy restaurants join State Center suit – by Melody Simmons

Owners of Da Mimmo’s, Sabatino’s, Chiapparelli’s, Caesar’s Den and Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop filed a petition Monday to add their businesses to a list of more than a dozen downtown property owners suing the state to stop the project. The lawsuit, filed Dec. 17, 2010, says the state Department of General Services did not seek competitive bids when it lined up master developers for the project in 2005.

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And so we are left, 24 hours after he was unleashed, to ponder Kegasus.

The half-man, half-horse centaur, the manimal who rips holes in the fabric of awesomeness, has undoubtedly done what Preakness InfieldFest organizers wanted — generated buzz.

And any buzz (pardon the pun) is good buzz, I suppose, if your intent is to cut through the clutter of today’s media landscape. If Charlie Sheen has taught us anything, it’s that it helps to be outlandish when you’re screaming for attention in a multi-platform world.

And who needs tiger blood and Adonis DNA when you have four hooves, a beer gut and a nipple ring? Winning.

That said, what do we make of Kegasus — who reminds me of Gibby Haynes — strictly as a marketing vehicle, mythical or otherwise?

As this story in the Sun points out, it does speak to what most consider to be the Preakness infield’s key demographic. Think dudes in their 20s who wouldn’t know a furlong from a beer bong and no doubt long for the days of “The Running of the Urinals” at Pimlico.

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Local fans of the ABC show “Secret Millionaire” saw a familiar face Sunday night — John Ferber, who co-founded Advertising.com in the 1990s with his brother, Scott, and today lives in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Ferber spent a week posing as a documentary filmmaker in the notorious Skid Row district of Los Angeles.

The episode ended with Ferber cutting checks totaling $100,000 for three neighborhood organizations. He also purchased $20,000 in goods for the groups.

Baltimore-based Advertising.com was acquired in 2004 for $435 million in cash; Ferber pocketed about $72 million in the deal. He has several Internet ventures percolating from his Florida base, including Microgiving.com, which we blogged about a couple of weeks ago.

He says he was intrigued about going on reality TV after a producer for the show — who read a profile of Ferber in a magazine — forwarded him some YouTube clips of the British version of the program.

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Here are the five most-read stories this week written by Daily Record staffers.

1. Baltimore restaurateur is going Hollywood – by Jon Sham
In the second installment of our “Sweat Equity” multimedia series, we meet the new owner of the Hollywood Diner, who is hoping both the location and the celebrity of the place will help usher in diners looking for an inexpensive — yet delicious — meal.

2. Md. wine shipping bill is poised to pass – by Nicholas Sohr
Poised to allow Marylanders to receive wine shipments from winemakers, the General Assembly faces the prospect of grappling with the same issue next year as advocates seek an expanded shipping law.

3. Prime Rib’s Beler to receive top culinary award – by Wayne Countryman
Buzz Beler, owner of The Prime Rib in Baltimore, will receive the Silver Plate Award in the Independent Restaurants category on May 23 at the 2011 International Foodservice Manufacturers Association’s awards celebration.

4. Dew Tour coming to Ocean City this summer – by Rachel Bernstein
Members of the resort’s City Council confirmed Tuesday that Alliance of Action Sports, or Alli, which coordinates the Dew Tour, notified city officials Monday of the decision. Alli had also been considering Virginia Beach, Va., as a destination for the start of the Dew Tour this summer.

5. Ex-NBA player rep admits to income tax evasion, mortgage fraud – by Ben Mook
A Silver Spring man who has represented an NBA All-Star and is a partner in a growing urban clothing line now faces up to 10 years in prison for cheating the government out of more than $1 million in income taxes and providing false information on mortgage loans over the last nine years.

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Slate’s Emily Yoffe treks to Leisure World in Silver Spring to explore the phenomenon of “retirement entrepreneurs” and the result is a really interesting read.

Most of the 8,500 residents in the age-restricted community (you have to be 55 and older to live there) are living at Leisure World precisely because they prefer to spend their retirement years not worrying about a 40-hour work week. But as Yoffe illustrates, some have turned to self-employment — and found an avenue to a dream job, with a ready-made customer base.

This tracks with new labor reports and studies showing increasing numbers of men and women working past the age of 65.

One Leisure World resident runs an elder care business. Another is an interior designer. Another is a beautician. All have found a marketplace inside the gates of the 610-acre private community, and they see potential for their services in assisted-living neighborhoods close by.

I’ve been to Leisure World on several occasions and every time I couldn’t help but think of Del Boca Vista. The next time I’m there I’ll think of something else: a business incubator.

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