Athletic Shoes

THEY CAME in cold and fresh from the shelters and the social welfare agencies. Some on foot, some by bus, many clutching shopping bags stuffed with clothing, they migrated through the big business lanes of downtown Baltimore and funnelled into the Pratt Street entrance of the Convention Center, down the grand staircase, past the water fountains and into the cavernous, concrete heart of the city's tourism complex. Where usually are found white-collar professionals with briefcases and name tags were close to 3,000 of Baltimore's poor.

Capt. John Bauer, a doctor in the Army Special Forces, had seen the bodies of the maimed and severely wounded coming in at a steady pace all day and into the night.And the alert on the incoming-patient board announced the imminent arrival of another casualty in critical condition: a young American cut down by bullets in a nasty ambush.This is what Bauer's training was all about. As a physician for the elite Green Berets, he has served extensively on missions overseas, and he could wind up in the Middle East if war breaks out with Iraq.

Under Armour plans to hire hundreds of workers at its Locust Point headquarters this year, expand facilities on its campus and bring its brand of sports apparel and footwear to new markets in the U.S. and around the world. CEO Kevin Plank outlined the goals Tuesday while promising shareholders more of the rapid growth that has defined the $1.8 billion company in recent years. During an annual meeting in which Under Armour pitchman and record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps made a surprise appearance, Plank said the company is just beginning to make inroads in areas such as athletic footwear, women's sports apparel and international markets, with room to grow.

County police arrested a Crownsville man Tuesday on charges of stealing a $139 pair of Nike Air Max shoes from the Sports Authority store in Glen Burnie.A security officer at the store in the 500 block of E. Ordnance Road saw the man walk into the store shortly before noon and head for the shoe section, police said.The security guard saw the man take the shoes from the display, remove the electronic anti-theft tag, put the shoes under his jacket and walk out of the store, police said.The guard chased the man through the parking lot but lost him and called police, who broadcast a description.

NEW YORK -- Woolworth Corp. said yesterday tha shareholder Greenway Partners LP has proposed a spinoff of the company's athletic and apparel division to stockholders.The retailer also said it expects fiscal fourth-quarter profit from operations to be lower than last year, because of lower-than-expected December same-store sales and continued slow sales in January. Woolworth was expected to earn 72 cents a share, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.The New York-based company said it is evaluating the spinoff proposal by Greenway, an investment group run by Alfred Kingsley and Gary Duberstein, former associates of financier Carl Icahn.

What's the current outlook for Nike Inc.? I'm a long-term investor in the company. -- B.S., via the Internet This brand-name firm that controls 40 percent of the $17 billion athletic footwear market features outstanding financial results and a quirky choice for a new chief executive officer. Profits were up a surprising 25 percent in the most recent quarter, pushed by its strongest U.S. orders in seven years for sneakers and athletic apparel. Behind the impressive showing were improvement in dealings with the Foot Locker retail chain and the increased visibility that the Summer Olympics gave its shoes.

Growing up poor with seven siblings and in a rough-and-tumble Coney Island, N.Y., neighborhood, NBA star Stephon Marbury has told the story about how he always wanted to be one of the kids boasting about their fresh-out-the-box pairs of Air Jordan sneakers. Today, the New York Knicks point guard is a millionaire with money to burn. But as far as he's concerned, families should not have to choose between the light bill and a pair of $150 sneakers - the kind of shoes for which kids have competed and sometimes fought and died over.

Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, who last year dueled the St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire in a summer-long race to break the single-season home run record, will soon be pitching for Sparks-based athletic apparel maker Fila USA.The company announced a two-year deal yesterday with Sosa -- who lost the contest but was named the National League's Most Valuable Player -- in which he will market his own cross-training shoe. Outfielder Sosa hit 66 homers, breaking Roger Maris' record of 61, but came in second to McGwire's 70.Fila is working on a prototype of the "Sosa Trainer" and plans to have it in stores by spring.

Fila Holding S.p.A. stock fairly jumped last week out of the muck that has dragged down growth-company stocks, staging a huge rally that began before the sneaker and clothing company reported second-quarter earnings Thursday that for the 10th quarter in a row smashed analysts' estimates.After a six-week beating that took $25 off the price of its stock, Fila bounced back $14.25 in a day and a half.The rebound was spurred by the company announcing that its profits had soared 127 percent to $25.9 million, or 98 cents per American depositary share.

A Pikesville condo owned by Raymell "Ray" Rice has been on the market since August and recently dropped in price. The four bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home is in the gated Gray Rock community. Multiple listing service photographs show one room with a sign on the door that reads "man cave. " Nearby there's a framed poster of Rice in his Rutgers uniform. There's also a photo of a closet filled with large athletic shoes. The shoes Rice likely wore while becoming a Super Bowl-winning football star.