Advantages

Maybe the Washington Redskins can blame Bill Clinton.He came to Washington promising change, but this isn't the kind of change the Redskins had in mind. They liked the status quo.Since the start of the year, they've lost two of the major advantages that helped them win three Super Bowls in the past decade.On Jan. 6, the players and owners ended years of labor strife by reaching a settlement that includes a salary cap. It is triggered when revenue hits 67 percent of the designated gross revenue.

The ends were just as important as the starts for the Stevenson men's lacrosse team in its 13-7 victory over No. 13 Lynchburg in Wednesday night's NCAA tournament quarterfinal at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills. No. 4 Stevenson's fourth appearance in the last five national semifinals was aided by the offense's ability to score goals in the final minutes of the first and second quarters. Sophomore attackman Mark Pannenton converted a bounce pass from junior attackman Chris Dashiell with 1.1 seconds left in the first period and then scored with 38.3 and 19.7 seconds remaining in the second frame.

Cheer up. Can't be more than eight more weeks of these temperatures, tops.Polls show conclusively that no one who filed in either party can be elected mayor of Baltimore this year.Benjamin Nathaniel Smith had all the advantages except humanity.Hillary Clinton is no New Yorker. Nor are all those folks bubbling over in outrage at her carpet-bagging.Pub Date: 7/07/99

Dickinson, the top seed in the South region, will make only its second appearance in a NCAA tournament quarterfinal when Salisbury visits Carlisle, Pa., on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Sea Gulls, a 10-time national champion, will play in their 16th consecutive quarterfinal. Advantage, Salisbury? Coach Jim Berkman declined to declare that, but he did agree that the tension and pressure is turned up as a team advances deeper into the postseason. “Being at this point, there is more at stake, there is more tension, there is more urgency into the game,” Berkman said Monday.

When Tom Hanks withdrew from the race for the Bill Clinton role in the film version of the satirical political novel "Primary Colors" a couple weeks ago, it was an act of singularly clearheaded thinking, for a movie star. However Hanks might have played the part, any time he affects a Southern accent, we will think of the innocent simpleton Forrest Gump. And, bubba, Bill Clinton is no Forrest Gump.With Hanks out of the running, who will fill the role of the fictional Jack Stanton, a 40-something Southern governor pressing -- and occasionally fondling -- the flesh during the 1992 Democratic primaries?

Being a crybaby is hardly becoming to Baltimore. Worse, crying over losing a contest for an NFL football franchise wastes tears on the wrong object. A 26-to-2 vote sends a message. Apparently, Baltimore can't hear it.Baltimoreans seem fixed on the notion that an undeserving Jacksonville benefited from double-dealing by evil football-team owners. The real reason to cry, if Baltimoreans must, is that its city appears as ''a finished city,'' not a ''hot market'' or a citywith ''municipal passion.

A survey published in Progressive Farmer magazine this summer showed that farmers find their family life extremely satisfying; three-quarters of those surveyed said their families consistently make them feel self-confident and good about themselves. The farmers named money and weather as their top problems; the advantages of farming included independence, freedom and the farm as a good place to bring up children. Among other traits listed in the survey as common to farm families: They are unusually optimistic and have a strong belief in God; they are very independent; and they value personal freedom.

The leaders of the NFL expansion effort in Charlotte, N.C., are attempting to make a comeback by restructuring their stadium financing plan.Acknowledging that St. Louis and Baltimore are perceived to have an advantage because they have public funding to build stadiums, Charlotte officials hope to put a new financing plan in place in six to eight weeks."

President Clinton's proposed $1.73 trillion balanced budget may have created some heat in the halls of Congress, but the real estate industry is quietly boiling over the potential loss of some of its tax benefits.Under a proposal by the president last week to generate more tax revenue, publicly traded real estate investment trusts would undergo their most significant structural changes in more than a decade.Many industry analysts and executives fear that the proposed changes could represent only the beginning of a series of setbacks for the successful REIT industry, which has grown from a fledgling handful of companies with less than $10 billion in 1990 to more than 200 companies valued at $150 billion today.

Sometimes we don't give enough thought to whether we will be happy working at a new job.One manager who was laid off accepted a position for which he was overqualified. At first the job looked like an interesting challenge, but it turned out that the company's goals were wildly unrealistic, and everyone who had ever held the job had either quit or been fired. In short order, the manager was back in the job market.To avoid a similar fate, ask yourself the questions listed below before you accept the next offer.

Maryland has piled up a 6-2 record in this series, but Colgate has won the last two meetings - both of which have occurred in the regular-season finales for both sides. The Raiders (8-6) are limping into their last game of the year, having lost four of their past five contests. Senior attackman and 2012 Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum leads the offense in assists (15) and points (48), but sophomore attackman Ryan Walsh paces the team in goals (35). The No. 11 Terps (9-3) have dropped two of their last three games, and although a lock to qualify for the NCAA tournament, they are in danger of losing out on one of the eight seeds and opening the first round on the road.

While the University of Maryland won't be able to reap most of the rewards of joining the Big Ten athletic conference until the move becomes official in July 2014, it will start benefiting from its academic counterpart — the Committee on Institutional Cooperation — this year. Officials from the university and the CIC met this week in College Park to start hammering out the details in preparation for this July, when Maryland and Rutgers University are set to join the 13-member cooperative, which includes the 12 Big Ten schools plus the University of Chicago.

Graduation depleted Goucher of four starters - three on offense - and the program eventually bid farewell to the most successful coach in its history, but that did not prevent the team from extending its success in the Landmark Conference. Saturday's 7-6 overtime decision over Scranton cemented for the Gophers (7-7 overall and 5-0 in the league) the top seed and home-field advantage in the upcoming conference tournament with just one more league game against the Merchant Marine this Saturday.

When Michael Huff arrived at team headquarters last month, it didn't mean the Ravens were suddenly set at safety. With free safety Ed Reed signing as a free agent with the Houston Texans and strong safety Bernard Pollard cut from the roster, filling the void created by their departures remains a job only halfway done. Signing Huff to a three-year, $6 million contract gives the Ravens a starting free safety to replace Reed, but the team still hopes to find a talented safety with enough versatility to potentially line up at either spot.

Reigning national champion Salisbury was rewarded for Saturday's 15-4 rout of St. Mary's with the program's 17th Capital Athletic Conference regular-season title. The Seahawks (1993-94) and Stevenson (2009 and 2011) are the only other teams that have captured league championships, and the Sea Gulls (13-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference) assured themselves of the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the tournament. But Salisbury will not know its semifinal opponent until the upcoming weekend.

By virtue of their unblemished records in the Capital Athletic Conference, reigning national champion Salisbury and St. Mary's are in the driver's seat for the top two seeds and accompanying first-round byes in the league tournament. But that hasn't diluted the significance of Saturday's tilt at Seahawk Stadium in St. Mary's City. The Sea Gulls (12-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference) have finished in first place in the league 16 times since the CAC was formed for the 1993 season, but their reign of dominance ended in 2009 and 2011 when Stevenson took home the championships.

Critics are never supposed to say they're wrong. I know that But I'm going to say it anyway. I was wrong. All those years that I steadfastly vowed, "I never want to review restaurants," I didn't know what I was missing.I used to say that having to observe, judge and write about a restaurant and its food would take the fun out of being there. And maybe they do -- a little bit. But being able to try any restaurant and anything on its menu -- at someone else's expense -- has its advantages. Advantages that make up for the fun it costs to pay close attention to what you're eating and where.

Consider it a fortunate accommodation, one of the true pleasures of life, that you have lived to actually see Tiger Woods strike a golf ball. It's an experience all unto itself. There has never been anything comparable to the length, accuracy and scoreboard results he's achieving. No need to study film clips, read dispatches from tournament sites, listen to what contemporary players, or golden heroes of the past, are saying about a young man of 24 whose ability has surpassed the intense examinations that golf offers to anyone, adult or adolescent who picks up a club and takes aim at the flagstick.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The stability of the Orioles starting rotation - in which four pitchers essentially had spots locked up  - and a Grapefruit League schedule that included a heavy dose of American League East opponents was possibly the best thing that could have happened to Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman. In Gausman's first spring camp, he's had a chance to compile innings in major league games because the Orioles didn't want to pitch their established starters against division competition.