Athletes

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen says he routinely plucks about 20 players at random from the practice field each month and requires them to take drug tests. "I have the largest group of male athletes on campus," says Friedgen, whose tests come in addition to others done by the university and the NCAA. "I have 18- to 22-year-old kids. If I don't stay on top of that, then I'll have a real problem." Friedgen has been known to dispatch assistants to bars to try to keep players out of harm's way. His coaches also conduct periodic evening dormitory checks, and men's basketball coach Gary Williams began requiring his players this past season to live on campus.

It takes a special person to see the limitless potential of the human spirit. In 1962, one Marylander was such a person. "The Special Olympics movement began here in Maryland in Eunice Kennedy Shriver's backyard," says Pat Krebs, who since 1992 has been president of Special Olympics Maryland. On Friday, the group holds opening ceremonies for its Summer Games at Towson University, where more than 1,000 athletes will compete in aquatics, athletics, softball and equestrian games. Krebs, 56, has been working with the Special Olympics since 1973, including working internationally to set up games in countries like the former Soviet Union.

Not so long ago, a New Town athlete - an honor roll student, no less - nearly lost a chance at a full, four-year college athletic scholarship because his SAT scores came up six points short of admission standards. That near-calamity was enough to prod Rolanda Chambers to do something to help ensure that other bright athletes didn't get tripped up just short of the goal line because of a poor performance on a test. Chambers, the president of the Owings Mills high school's Parent Teacher Student Association, helped organize an SAT preparatory course for some of the school's athletes.

For those who are concerned with government encroachment on the civil rights of its citizens, a recent news report about the government's collaboration with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) should give pause. The article in The Washington Post noted the benefits of the "unique" partnership between the anti-doping agency and the government whereby the USADA was able to sanction amateur athletes and ban them from competition with the indispensable aid of Uncle Sam. It featured quotes from anti-doping officials explaining that with the tools of government - such as wiretaps and documents seized as part of federal investigations - the agency can achieve results it could not on its own. As Don Catlin, director of UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory, which assists the USADA, said of the government's involvement in anti-doping efforts: "It has clearly caused a revolution.

Picabo Street blew through Baltimore the same way she has competed during her 28 years: all out, don't look back, go for the gold.She was here to promote the Maryland Science Center's new IMAX film, a chronicle of the 1998 Winter Olympics. That's where Street won the super-giant slalom. She is alternately inspired and frustrated by the film, because she hasn't been on skis in 19 months.Less than a month after she won a gold medal in Nagano, Japan, Street suffered a career-threatening injury.

It happens everywhere, from high school to college to professional sports. If there is a team hierarchy -- where the older athletes exercise some form of authority or control over the newcomers -- there is likely to be some kind of initiation process.In a national survey of NCAA athletes conducted by Alfred University, of the more than 325,000 athletes who participated in intercollegiate sports last year, more than 250,000 (about 78 percent) experienced some kind of hazing to join a college athletic team.

Reginald Davis praised his son Damien's "sacrifice for team excellence" while performing against the pressure of expectations. Lee Gaines admired his daughter Betsy's "competitive fire" and "sheer dedication."So excited were the two families yesterday about their children earning The Baltimore Sun's 1998-99 Male and Female Athlete of The Year honors that the two athletes planned a get-together last night to discuss it some more.Gaines is the first honoree from Roland Park, but Davis is the sixth winner from Gilman.

ST. MARY'S CITY -- There was a run on pantyhose throughout the Southern Maryland counties earlier this week.Some 80 sailing athletes, representing six states and three foreign countries were competing in the regatta segment of the Special Olympics World Summer Games at St. Mary's College of Maryland and, well, jellyfish showed up en masse."

The thump of a ball through a hoop at 6 a.m. yesterday signaled that Amanda Walker was more than ready for her first year as an athlete in the Special Olympics Carroll County Spring Area Games.The opening parade was a good four hours away, said her mother, Michelle Walker of Westminster, but Amanda, an 8-year-old student at Robert Moton Elementary School, couldn't wait."She was up this morning at 6 a.m., shooting baskets at the hoop with a plastic bowling ball. My husband asked, `What was that?

Morgan State University has made no official response to last week's ruling by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions that gave the school's football program a one-year probation for secondary rules violations.The probation, stemming from a series of rides given Morgan State football players by an assistant coach and the failure to report them to then-athletic director Garnett Purnell, was assessed Friday. It is retroactive to June 5 and requires the school to implement an educational rules program on NCAA legislation.

The Baltimore Sun takes Athletes of the Week nominations from Friday night until Sunday at 6 p.m. Coaches may call 410-332-6801 to nominate athletes. Please provide name, school, class, sport, position, team results and the athlete's accomplishments for the week, with statistics by game, and other supporting information. Coaches also should provide a number where they can be reached Sunday night.

The Baltimore Sun takes Athletes of the Week nominations from Friday night until Sunday at 6 p.m. Coaches may call 410-332-6801 to nominate athletes. Please provide name, school, class, sport, position, team results and the athlete's accomplishments for the week, with statistics by game, and other supporting information. Coaches also should provide a number where they can be reached Sunday night.

The Baltimore sports apparel company Under Armour is introducing a line of mouth gear that it says will not only protect the jaw from hits but will reduce stress to improve athletic performance. UA Performance Mouthwear was developed by Bite Tech Inc., a Minneapolis company that has researched mouth products for athletes. The mouthpiece is for noncontact sports such as baseball, running, golf and tennis, and costs $495. The mouthguard for football, hockey, lacrosse and other contact sports costs $450.

Joseph Bobinski Jr. started competing in the Special Olympics when he was just 10 years old. He was a mildly autistic child whose parents hoped he would benefit from interaction with teammates. Six years later, the student at Reservoir High School in Howard County is a stronger, more confident athlete. The sport has helped him open up and communicate more, said his father, Joseph Bobinski Sr. "He looks forward to it and feels rewarded. He just enjoys running." On Saturday, he competed in the 200- and 400-meter runs, and his dad, who coaches and coordinates the track-and-field athletes for Howard County, hopes Joey can move on to the 800-meter race.

Tim Myers, an 18-year-old discus thrower participating in the state track meet at Morgan State University on Saturday, took a break from the heat and dashed into the university student center, where a team of doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital had set up a makeshift heart checkup program. The Elkton teen slipped off his red mesh jersey and lay down on his side as Ken Cresswell, a cardiac stenographer, placed electrodes on his chest. A mix of blues, greens, oranges and yellows pulsated as an ultrasound showed blood pumping through the aortic valve of his heart.

Harford County athletes must now take one more step before playing in any games. A new policy will require athletes to provide the school with a recent utility bill to help show proof of residence. "We've had residency issues in the past, and we just want to make sure that we don't put a school in a situation that compromises everything they've worked towards in sports," said Ken Zorbach, the county's supervisor of athletics. The policy was put into place about a week before the winter season began.

It's easy to get caught up in a knee-jerk reaction to the most recent example of a professional athlete winning the modern MVP Award - Most Visible Pea-brain. But Plaxico Burress' obvious stupidity doesn't justify eliminating a whole class of citizens from rights afforded under the Second Amendment any more than rogue reporter Jayson Blair's transgressions should be the rationale for curtailing protections under the First. The absolutely appropriate fallout includes Burress being suspended by the New York Giants and the charges he faces for illegal gun possession, which could mean serious prison time.

Over the years, Michael Phelps has mastered the art of playing coy. He has been answering reporters' questions since he was 15, and he knows exactly how much information his answers should reveal. When asked recently whether he thinks he'll be named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, an honor that is expected to be announced today, Phelps offered a half-smirk and a roll of his shoulders. In truth, Phelps knows precisely whether he's the magazine's pick this year. The interview and photo shoot are done well in advance, and all indications are that Phelps, who won eight gold medals this year in Beijing, is a virtual lock.

Like many sportswriters, I've covered the range of organized athletics, from high school through college and now, usually, the pros. And when covering student-athletes, a different sort of accountability is at work. A 16-year-old kid might wind up reading about his disappointing moment on the field in a news account, but it would be a hard-hearted sports journalist indeed who would judgmentally harp on such miscues. In contrast, the NFL or major league player who commits those same sins can expect the sting of criticism for the obvious reason: That player is getting paid to perform.

Let's start this off with the premise that you have the constitutional right to boo the 11-year-olds at a Little League game if you - like me - are that unstable, but I don't think there's any real gray area on this particular subject until you get up to the college level. Then there are all sorts of factors that might affect whether it's proper to vent your disapproval on scholastic athletes. For example, when a big-time college program pressures fans to donate big dollars in exchange for the right to buy tickets, then I believe that program has crossed over the line where the fans are required to view the athletes as wide-eyed innocents who should never be criticized for their performance on the field or the court.