Speaking of scratch offs scratch this service off Mr. Mojo’s go to texting features…while drifting off into Mojo dreamland, Mr. M.R. was awakened by a text message at 11:56 PM on Friday night from 68255 (WNST). Now keep in mind that a couple of the talking heads over there at WNST pound their chests like 800 pound Silverback Gorillas when touting this service as one that provides breaking news while promising not to spam you.

So, the message that came through close to midnight included information that most sports fans learned about late that same afternoon – Adam Eaton had been released and the O’s recalled relief pitcher Matt Albers from Triple-A Norfolk. Gee that helped Mr. Mojo sleep better, right? A simple reply of “unsubscribe” eighty-sixed that unnecessary nuisance. You know that I know that you know that I know we won’t miss the spam – uh, excuse me, “breaking news” from those dot net shills.

Fickle Fans...It bemuses Mr. Mojo to follow the love-hate relationship between Maryland basketball fans and Top Terp and FOS, Gary Williams.  (That’s Friend Of Steve…Bisciotti…Ravens followers). 

In Garyland, it seems Gary can do no right.  Oh sure, there was the 2002 National Championship, secured on the 2,002nd game in school history (That’s right, you can look it up).  But what have you done for us lately Gary?  Forget those high school all-Americans you collected – Danny Miller, Mike Jones, Travis Garrison, Ekene Ibekwe, Nik Caner-Medley -- they underachieved.  And forget the 2008-2009 squad of overachievers – we want all-Americans.

That brings Mr. Mojo to the latest fan infatuation: Lance Stephenson, a five-star Brooklyn, NY shooting guard who changes his college decision more often than Anquan Boldin changes agents.

Lately Mr. Mojo hears Lance is leaning towards the Terps.  Or Arizona.  Or St. Johns.  The likelihood he lands at Maryland seems to hinge on the NBA draft prospects of the kooky incumbent, Greivis Vasquez.

If Greivis goes, and Stephenson comes, Gary’s critics will likely bemoan a recruit who uses Maryland as a one-year stepping-stone to the NBA. If Stephenson lands elsewhere, and Greivis comes back for his senior year, then sports talkers and typers will deride Gary’s recruiting inadequacies. If both players join the 2009-2010 Terps rotation, expectations will soar, and nothing short of another National Championship will quell the crowds in College Park.

At least in college football, six wins and a bowl trip to Boise salvages a season. In Garyland, the critics never shut up.

MOJO UP ~ "I personally saw something in him as an individual that I thought this country was all about," says the friend, John Davis, director of minority outreach for the state Republican Party. "[He] is someone I consider to be the model person. This is a man who gets it, who can connect with people and can interact with any sector, from the bourgeois to the lower class and everywhere in between."

The “he” in John Davis’ equation is Peter Boulware in a nice feature by Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post on the Ravens Ring of Honor Inductee and former multi-Pro Bowler entitled Searching for the Next Goal Line.  

MOJO DOWN ~ NFL star Jeremy Shockey was carried out of the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas Monday by stretcher and taken to an area hospital after being found unconscious at around 2:00 PM. Shockey’s agent claims his client suffered from dehydration. Now keep in mind that an unusually high consumption of alcohol can cause severe dehydration and cause someone to lose consciousness…just sayin’.

Now Mr. Mojo isn’t claiming to have first-hand experience of Hard Rock’s Sunday pool party bearing the tongue-in-cheek name of Rehab…BUT…let’s just say that ancient Egyptian excessiveness comes to mind.

Willis McGahee hit the party circuit over the holiday weekend and was seen at Ditch Fridays out there in Sin City. Let’s just say a little birdie told us. So much for the axiom, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Maybe that is part of McGahee’s “Rehab.”

They say OTA is an acronym for Organized Team Activities.  Mr. Mojo is wondering if it really means Offseason Troubleshooting Activities. Could it be that the league supports OTA’s as a grown up form of day care?

Fox Sports' Alex Marvez wrote this week that so far this offseason there have been 27 player arrests including busts on all but five of the 21 weekends in ’09. The latest perpetrator is Dolphins’ defensive tackle Randy Starks who drove around in Miami Beach with a woman on his lap and eleven other people inside his vehicle. And no it wasn’t a stretch limo. Instead Starks’ ride was a truck designed to seat four.

Starks ignored police requests to pull over then pinned the officer against another vehicle with his truck. Hey we’ll give Starks the benefit of the doubt and say the cop had a striking resemblance to Tom Brady.

Whenever LeBron James has the basketball, the Cavs have the best sixth man in basketball on the floor – the referee.  If there was a foul during the waning seconds of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference Final clearly it was on James not Mickael Pietrus. Yet The King made his way to the charity stripe with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation. While the game was close, Mr. Mojo however found it difficult to enjoy the contest because of all the whining from both the Cavs and Magic. Not sure which venue has more whining: NBA playoff games; Limited Access on AM 1570; or the Jerry Springer Show.