Berth

In the recent past, when the calendar flipped to December, fans of the Washington Redskins could look forward to the holidays but little else. The same can't be said this season as the team is in the thick of the playoff hunt. At 6-6, Washington is just one game behind the New York Giants in the NFC East and one game behind the Seattle Seahawks for the final berth in the NFC postseason and could take one step closer with a victory over the Ravens this Sunday at FedEx Field in Landover.

Baltimore will be the new home port for two massive U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command ships scheduled to arrive here today and tomorrow, a move expected to generate nearly $90 million for the local economy over the next five years.The USNS Antares and the USNS Capella are being moved to Baltimore from Jacksonville, Fla., by Keystone Ship Berthing, the Maryland subsidiary of the Sealift Companies of Houston that won the Navy contract to manage the ships with a $2.6 million bid.Keystone has contracted with the Maryland Port Administration to berth the 946-foot-long ships at the Clinton Street Marine Terminal, a finger pier that has not been used for years.

After James Carter earned a surprise berth on the U.S. Olympic track and field team, he listened to overtures from agents and made plans to cash in on his newfound celebrity. Seven weeks later, Carter hasn't been in another 400-meter hurdles race. He got in a squabble with his local club, missed out on the big-money meets in Europe and instead returned to anonymity in Hampton, Va. In other words, it has been business as usual for Carter, who overcame a decade's worth of adversity to become the first Baltimorean in a generation to earn a berth in Olympic track and field.

How will the Ravens finish the regular season? A. Earn the AFC's top seed B. Win the AFC North C. Clinch a wild-card berth D. Miss the playoffs To vote, go to baltimoresun.com/ravenspoll

At this time last season, coach Brian Billick had the Ravens close to clinching a playoff berth. Now, instead of talking about winning a Super Bowl, he has to explain why he isn't worried about losing his job. Ravens@Chargers Today, 4:15 p.m., chs. 13, 9, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Chargers by 8 1/2

With doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday, the Kazmarek Little Orioles 10-12 team won one state championship and earned a berth in the American Amateur Baseball Congress Pee Wee Reese Regional in Brooklyn, N.Y., Aug. 1-4. As of last night, they also were within one more state title and a berth in the Dizzy Dean World Series in Birmingham, Ala.The Little Orioles needed one more win at Lansdowne ElementarySchool last night to win the Dizzy Dean state title...

Imagine thousands of shipping containers sitting end to end like a great wall of steel stretching from downtown Baltimore to Laurel. Now picture all 22 miles' worth of containers loaded onto a single massive vessel. For the folks who run the port of Baltimore, it doesn't take much imagination: They've had two such ships dock at Seagirt Marine Terminal this month. Container ships are growing like NFL linemen on cheap buffet food. Around the world, ships the length of several football fields have become increasingly common.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A fifth guaranteed bowl berth might be in the Atlantic Coast Conference's future, but for at least one more year, Maryland will have to pull off several upsets to reacquaint its football fans with postseason play.John Swofford, the ACC's new commissioner, talked at length yesterday about the conference's bowl arrangements. Beyond the berth in the Bowl Alliance that goes to the ACC champion -- Florida State the past five years -- there are complaints of boredom with the conference's agreements with the Gator, Peach and Carquest bowls.

Top-ranked Arundel (13-1) closed in on one of the four baseball playoff berths in Class 4A, Region IV with a 4-2 victory at North County (9-6) yesterday.It was the fourth straight win for the Wildcats, ranked 16th nationally, after suffering their lone loss on April 27 by 6-5 to Old Mill. Arundel leads Chesapeake (11-2) in Region IV and has four games remaining."I would say we have to win one more game to clinch a berth, but we're shooting for the top berth and home-field advantage. We've made it awful hard for anyone to catch us," said Arundel coach Bernie Walter, who got another superb pitching effort from junior right-hander Brandon Agamennone.

A. Arundel County No. 8 Broadneck (7-1) @South River (6-2) When -- Tonight, 6:30 Outlook -- South River starts the weekend in fourth place in the Class 4A East Region with a comfortable lead over fifth-place Thomas Stone (5-3) of Charles County. The Seahawks received a forfeit victory from Meade - because of the use of an ineligible player - to enhance their chances of gaining a postseason berth for the first time since 1991. An upset of the Bruins, who are second in the 4A East by a point to No. 6 Arundel (7-1)