Big Event

Khalilah Williams-Webb, the 29-year-old New York City stylist responsible for dressing a number of celebrity athletes and entertainers, had her most publicized assignment to date on Saturday: the wedding of Carmelo Anthony and television personality LaLa Vasquez. The star-studded event, which is slated to be featured in the couple's coming reality television show on VH1, attracted everyone from tennis phenom Serena Williams to Kim Kardashian. Behind the scenes, Baltimore-native Williams-Webb was scrambling to make sure that Anthony's best man — his 3-year-old son Kiyan — was dressed when his suit did not arrive.

Television viewers used to know exactly what to expect during the dark and wintery nights of February: high-concept, big-budget miniseries and trashy, made-for-TV movies. In February 2000, for example, CBS' Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, a sleazy, two-night exploration of the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey, went head-to-head with Fox's showcase, Getting Away with Murder: The JonBenet Ramsey Story. Meanwhile, NBC bet the farm on The 10th Kingdom, a $24 million fantasy of trolls and elves in subterranean Central Park.

MARBURY -- All the green these days on the Potomac River isn't grass beds and lily pads. Two major bass fishing tournaments are hitting the "nation's river," this weekend and next week, with nearly $500,000 in cash and prizes at stake. Both will be staged out of Charles County's Smallwood State Park. First up is the Capitol Clash, the penultimate event on the 11-tournament Bassmaster Elite Series that will help determine who wins Angler of the Year honors and cement the field for February's Bassmaster Classic.

Rocking music in the spotlight and streamlined operations behind the scenes have set the stage for the HFStival to return to Merriweather Post Pavilion in the future. By some accounts, more than 30,000 people enjoyed 60 performers over two days this past weekend, including Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Counting Crows, Cypress Hill and Kanye West. With few traffic problems, few complaints from community members and 26 misdemeanor arrests, the operative word for organizers was "smooth." "Everything flowed very smoothly on our end," said Jean Parker, general manger for the venue.

WHEN THE 2,131st game of Cal Ripken's consecutive-games streak began 10 years ago last night at Camden Yards, the Orioles were nine games under .500 and 19 1/2 games out of first place. When the game marking the 10th anniversary of 2,131 began last night at Camden Yards, the Orioles were, well, nine games under .500 and 16 1/2 games out of first place. So they made up three games in 10 years. Which means, if my math is correct, we can expect them to win another division title in 55 years.

HELSINKI, Finland - Relax. Stay cool. Focus. Be strong. James Carter will tell himself all these things. Over and over and over. And over and over and over again. Now until 9:25 p.m. tomorrow. And then, with all his body forces in alignment, he'll step out onto the track at historic Olympic Stadium, site of the 1952 Games, fully armed for a run at the first major Games medal - maybe even a gold one - of his storied track and field career. The 27-year-old Mervo and Hampton University product and two-time U.S. Olympian heads into the men's 400-meter hurdles final at the 10th world championships with everything going for him. He overpowered the field in his semifinal race yesterday, blazing past three men - one of them reigning Olympic champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic - over the 10th and final 3-foot barrier and cruising home to victory in 47.78 seconds.

Giddy up. There are a couple of weeks left until the Preakness hooves start pounding. In anticipation of this amazing race, there will be a robust series of festivities in Baltimore -- everything from hot air balloons to racing crabs. Here is a comprehensive list of the pre-Preakness presentations: Preakness Party at the Walters Art Museum. Preakness celebrations kick off tomorrow with a high-end shindig at the Walters Art Museum's sculpture garden. In addition to an open bar, live music and munchies, those who attend can take guided tours of the museum's current exhibit, Stubbs and the Horse.

Some call it the "CNN effect." Retailers experience a drop in activity during especially large news events. They're expecting the distraction to soften sales this week as the nation's voters resolve a down-to-the-wire presidential campaign. Some predict today's election between President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry won't produce a clear winner by the end of the day. If the vote takes longer to resolve, it could prolong shoppers' anxieties. "Election Day retailing is a very soft retailing day," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, which tracks shopping habits.

St. Mary's College of Maryland is making an offer that sounds hard to refuse. Give back the college's Governor's Cup trophy and get $1,000, no questions asked. And one other thing. St. Mary's would like it back before Aug. 6, when the college's 31st annual Governor's Cup Yacht Race takes off from Annapolis, headed for St. Mary's and the finish line the next day. "The college desperately wants to find this missing piece of the Governor's Cup's history," Torre M. Meringolo, vice president for the college's office of development, said in a statement.

How does an inn turn a $59-a-night room into a $219-a-night room? Simply by booking guests during a big event in the area, such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics or the recent New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Price gouging, consumers say. Prudent business, hotels say. Whichever side you're on, the laws of supply and demand make it hard to land a bargain bed during big gatherings. As demand increases, so do room rates. You might spend more than you'd like, but you don't have to wail the budget blues to get into the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival or sprint into bankruptcy to attend the Olympics.