Beach Volleyball

Baltimore's harbor isn't exactly the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece, but it did a pretty good imitation yesterday as thousands of people cheered on a men's pro beach volleyball tournament worthy of the Olympics - including the essential buff bodies, beach music and free-flowing beer. Organizers of the Toyota Pro Beach East tour hauled 200 tons of golf-course-grade sand into Rash Field to turn the south side of the Inner Harbor into a virtual beach. And the timing couldn't have been better, with the international spotlight turned on volleyball because of the wild popularity of the matches - and the physiques of the players - in Athens this month.

While the city reviews proposals to invigorate the Inner Harbor, the Greater Baltimore Committee unveiled a vision of its own, highlighted by a pedestrian bridge that would link the north and south shores, allowing visitors for the first time to walk a complete circle around the downtown waterfront. Leaders of the business group also proposed light and water shows for the harbor, and three different ideas for turning Rash Field on the south shore into a world-class park. The bridge would be built high enough above the water that most sailboats and water taxis could travel underneath.

TOWSON -- County prosecutors have dropped charges against two Montgomery County men accused of raping a Towson State University student in April.Assistant State's Attorney Robin Coffin said the cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence implicating the men.Brereton C. Poole of the 23000 block of Frederick Road in Clarksburg and Jason A. De Santolo of the 20000 block of Waterside Drive in Germantown were charged with first-degree rape for an alleged "acquaintance...

Beach volleyballTop amateur volleyball players from across the United States will battle this weekend at Delaware Seashore State Park in Dewey Beach for a qualifying spot in the $30,000 Jose Cuervo National Finals. And for anyone wishing to participate, there's still time to register.First- and second-place finishers in the men's and women's open divisions will advance to the nationals, scheduled for Oct. 5-6 in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Fla. Four wild-card teams from regional events across the country also will qualify.

For Randy Stoklos and Adam Johnson, being teammates doesn't end when the match does.On the court, their talents blend perfectly.Stoklos, a 16-year beach volleyball tour veteran, remains one of the game's most aggressive players, displaying his high-powered spiking and blocking skills at the net. Then there is Johnson, last year's top defensive player on the tour, who lurks in the back for a dig that places the ball and game pressure back on their opponents' side...

Four postcards from the beach that came to Baltimore, held the U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball Trials for a week and left us sunburned, sandblasted and star-struck by our in-town vacation to this golden state of mind:Chapter 1,684 from "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus"After the matches, the drill is the same for both men and women, up to a point. They're hustled into the press conference tent as official drug testers for the U.S. Olympic Committee hover watchfully, waiting for them to finish the interviews and drink enough beer, water or sports drink to supply a urine sample.

For the uninitiated, the high-tech, head-to-toe costumes that covered Olympic fencing contestants Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson last week made it as difficult to read their faces as it was their every move. But when Zagunis, a 19-year-old college freshman from Oregon, took the gold medal for women's saber fencing Tuesday, there was no mistaking her reaction. She took off her mask, smiled and jumped into the air and into the arms of her coach, not once but several times. After all, hers was the first medal ever for an American woman in the 80 years Olympic fencing has been open to them, and the first for a U.S. fencer in 20 years.

Kevin Cowherd Ravens 20, Chargers 13 Maybe it's the sunshine. Maybe it's the palm trees. Something comes over the Ravens on these West Coast trips. The Jekyl and Hyde Chargers have lost five of their last six, but still have a shot at the playoffs. This one will be close. And ugly. Edward Lee Chargers 28, Ravens 17 The Chargers may be reeling, but historically, they have feasted on the Ravens in San Diego. Quarterback Philip Rivers is no Byron Leftwich, and he will take advantage of the Ravens' re-tooled secondary to find tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Malcom Floyd for big plays.

TODAY STAR-SPANGLED CONCERT -- The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will perform its annual Star-Spangled Spectacular Show today and tomorrow at 8 p.m. at the Oregon Ridge Park, 13401 Beaver Dam Road, Cockeysville. Gates open at 5 p.m. Activities for children will be offered. A choreographed fireworks show will ends both nights' performances. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $7 for children 12 and younger in advance; and $17 and $8 at the gate. Free parking and shuttle service will be available at the Verizon lot on Shawan Road.

ARE THEY OVER yet? I'm talking about the Olympics, of course. Is it three weeks they've been going on now, or three months? I know I said they were entertaining, but enough is enough. We've had wars that didn't go on this long. I'm exhausted.I never knew there were so many sports. Not just track and field and swimming and basketball and cycling and boxing and wrestling and baseball and soccer, but archery, badminton, shooting guns, riding horses, fencing, tennis, beach volleyball, wind-surfing, synchronized swimming.