Welcome to the forum, gopixiego:
Where are you able to put the antenna and why at 8 ft?
Any trees or other buildings in the signal path?
Washington looks a little better than Baltimore, but they both have 2Edge signals from terrain interference with the antenna at 8 ft.
It's kind of a toss-up because the weakest channels are from Baltimore but if you aim for Washington, WFPT might overload the preamp.
You are going to need a high gain VHF/UHF combo antenna like the Winegard HD7697P or 7698 and a preamp like the Channel Master 7778.
Any particular network you favor for sports?
The coax shield should be grounded with a grounding block that is connected to the house electrical system ground with 10 gauge copper wire for electrical safety and to reject interference. For further compliance with the electrical code (NEC), the mast should also be grounded in a similar manner to drain any buildup of static charge, but the system will not survive a direct strike.
