A beaming Sen. Lisa A. Gladden took her seat in the Senate chamber this morning. The source of the Baltimore Democrat’s delight became apparent about one hour into the session.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George’s, urged the lawmakers to take notice of “the vice chair” of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. Gladden revealed that under her dark-blue suit jacket she was wearing a light-blue shirt emblazoned with the name of her undergraduate alma mater: Duke University.

Yes, that Duke University — the school which defeated Butler University 61-59 last night to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. And the school dubbed “The Evil Empire” in College Park and environs for its heated rivalry with the University of Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I don’t have anything to say today because I think everybody knows,” Gladden told her colleagues. “I don’t want to gloat. It was a great game and a great victory for the ACC.”

But Sen. James N. Robey, a University of Maryland alumnus, declined to let Gladden off so easy.

“Can you name one player on the Duke team?” Robey, a Howard County Democrat, asked in an effort to put Gladden on the spot.

Gladden was silent for about, er, one shining moment before responding, “Johnny Dawkins.”

Dawkins played for Duke but not last night. He was the team’s starting point guard in the mid-1980s — when Gladden was also a student at the Durham, N.C., school.

I’ve been on a “Golden Girls” kick recently. It started when “The Daily Show” was at a commercial one night and my TV’s on-screen guide indicated Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sophia were only two channels away. I was powerless to resist!

(Incidentally, the show is still funny. The zingers still zing. The episodes are a little dated, of course, but that’s part of the charm.)

My point is, whenever I think of Florida and senior citizens and retirement, I think of either “The Golden Girls” or Del Boca Vista from “Seinfeld.”

Now I can add another image – Justice John Paul Stevens’ bridge club in South Florida. As Robert Barnes reported in a fascinating profile of Stevens and his life at his second home in Sunday’s Washington Post:

No one bothers him at the bridge club, manager Jeanni Blume said, but they notice. ‘Oh, they act like real ladies and gentlemen when he walks in,’ Blume said. Apparently, competitive spirit runs high: A large sign at the club pleads, ‘Be Polite. Be Friendly.’

She said conflicts are fairly frequent and recalled that after refereeing one dispute, she walked by Stevens’s table to say, ‘I really should let you handle this.’

Stevens laughs at the idea that the bridge players straighten up when he’s around. ‘If that’s true, it’s because of my wife. She’s far more popular at the bridge club,’ he said.

The 89-year-old Stevens told Barnes he would decide soon about possible retirement plans, and speculation about his replacement is already revving up.

South Florida bridge players, consider this your warning.