All Star

Although Gilman teammates Henry Poggi and Micah Kiser, The Baltimore Sun's Co-Defensive Players of the Year, will play in different national all-star football games Friday night, local football fans won't need a split-screen television to watch both. Poggi, a 6-foot-4, 258-pound defensive tackle who is committed to Michigan, will play for the White team in the Under Armour All-America Game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. The 5 p.m. game will be televised live on ESPN. Across the country, Kiser, a 6-2, 227-pound linebacker who is headed for Virginia, will play for the East squad in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

United Way was named an "all-star" charity by Forbes magazine for the high percentage of its donations that go toward direct services. The magazine ranked the U.S. charities that received the most in private donations according to financial efficiency. The "Forbes Picks: All-Star Charities" was released in the magazine's Nov. 19 issue. In addition to the United Way, the top five were: Brother's Brother Foundation; JDRF, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; Boys and Girls Clubs of America; and International Rescue Committee.

Maryland football fans in this area have a chance Saturday to see several Terps commitments in action. The Chesapeake Bowl, an all-star game pitting the North ( New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware ) against the South (D.C., Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia), is set to kickoff at 2 p.m. at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover. The South roster includes these six Maryland pledges : Safety Milan Collins (Bishop McNamara), defensive end Malik Jones (Dunbar)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. Where: Marvin F. Wilson Stadium, Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex, Landover Coaches: Anthony Burgos (Franklin), Baltimore; Lance Clelland (South River), Washington Last meeting: Washington won, 14-6 Series: Washington leads, 3-1 KEY LOCAL PLAYERS TO WATCH Baltimore : Deryk Kern, QB, Westminster; Michael Anderson, ATH, Howard; Reggie Ellis, ATH, Franklin; Derrick Kittrell, ATH, New Town; Bradley Metcalf, ATH, Westminster; Keyon Pinnock, ATH, Atholton; Eric Latham, RB, Perry Hall; Isaiah Gillis, WR, Harford Tech; Donnie Knox, C, Century; Brady Orem, C, Franklin; Alec Auwaerter, OG, St. Paul's; Ned Emala, OG, Gilman; Sam Evans, OG, Loyola; Dariz Hill, OG, Dunbar; Moise Larose, OT, Wilde Lake; J.P. McManus, OT, Calvert Hall; Marvin Gross, DE, Dunbar; Nik D'Avanzo, DT, Archbishop Curley; Frank Kozlowski, DT, North Harford; Mike Jones , DB, Milford Mill; Kyle McEachern, DB, Milford Mill; DeAndre' Lane, DB, Catonsville; Wyatt Dickerson, S, Gilman; Kennedy Frazier, S, Calvert Hall; Stephan Osong, S, River Hill; Jay Patti, K, Hereford Washington : Connor Cox, QB, South River; Jack Gordon, QB, Arundel; Lavon Chaney, ATH, South River; Kevin Johnson , OL, Meade; Fiyin Makinde, OG, St. Vincent Pallotti; Michael Minter, OT, Severna Park; Malik Dorsey, DT, Meade; Mike Williams, DT, Archbishop Spalding; Elvis Dennah, LB, Annapolis Area Christian; Perez Mackell, DB, Annapolis Area...

Navy football Four seniors invited to All-Star games Navy seniors Brandon Turner , Gee Gee Greene , Tra'ves Bush and Keegan Wetzel have been invited to postseason All-Star games. Turner was invited to both the Casino Del Sol All-Star game on Jan. 11 in Tucson, Ariz., and the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Turner will play in the East-West Shrine Game. Greene was invited to the Raycom All-Star Football Classic, which will be played Jan. 19 in Montgomery, Ala., and to the inaugural South Carolina College All-Star Game, which will be played March 23 in Greenville.

Since it was established more than a decade ago, the Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference has provided a solid format that enables public high school programs in Harford and Cecil counties to compete against each other in a bi-county league. On the whole, the idea was, and remains a good one. Alone, neither Harford nor Cecil has enough high schools to make for a particularly competitive league, but together they do. Part of the reason a meaningful league can't be devised in, say, Harford County is because, though it has a dozen schools, they vary with regard to strength of program.

So, here we are. Big finale night. At the beginning of the season I was pretty sure we'd be seeing Shawn tonight, but Melissa and Kelly are somewhat of a surprise. I'm also surprised by how much I've turned around on Kelly Monaco -- I would've ranked her one of my least favorite at the beginning of the season and now she's the one I hope wins it all. I'm going to tell y'all straight out -- I'm not going to recap the replays of stuff from earlier in the season. You've seen it, I've seen it, I've written about it, you've read about it. Let's just cover the new footage here.

Double elimination tonight! Finalists! Whee! Apolo & Karina get the encore with their rumba to "Man in the Mirror. " Footage from last night: During Shawn & Derek's "Knight Rider Bangra," Len shouted, "I love it! I love it!" So, are they safe or are they out? They're going to the finals, to the surprise of absolutely nobody who knows how big Derek's fan base is. As the show returns from commercial break, the audience continues its applause and Tom tells them, "You don't have to keep clapping; this isn't that interesting.

Kylie Minogue opens the show with her 1987 remake of "The Locomotion. " Can you believe that was 25 years ago? Kylie's face can't. Also, her dress is more a shirt. LEGS ARE NOT PANTS. Kylie does come down from the stage onto the dance floor and do a little shimmying herself, because she seems like one of the most fun people on the planet. Tom interviews Kylie and says, "Now that song came out 25 years ago, back when you were 7 years old. " I love him so much. Footage from last night: Melissa and Tony were psyched about their first perfect score.