Bruce Hoffman

Camden Yards was swinging even before baseball season, thanks to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Spring Swing.Close to 400 partygoers packed the stadium's sixth-floor lounge to browse the buffet and hone their lindy hop on the dance floor.Among the hep cats hanging around: Kendel and Robert Ehrlich Jr., event co-chairs; Josie Schaeffer, executive director of Cystic Fibrosis, Maryland chapter; Suzanne and Bruce Hoffman (he's chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority); Dr. Craig Smith, CEO of Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Dr. Beryl Rosenstein and Dr. Pamela Zeitlin, co-directors of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital; Wanda Draper, WBAL-TV's director of public affairs; Dr. Robert Draper, orthopedic surgeon at St. Joseph Medical Center; and Gengy Vaikness, Pam Shriver's event director.

Widely considered a creation of the Pakistani government, Lashkar-e-Taiba was banned by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and declared a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S in 2001, but experts say it remains a sophisticated, well-trained and financed group. Translated to "Army of the Pure," Lashkar was formed in 1990 as the armed wing of a Pakistani-based religious organization. The fighters initially fought alongside the Afghanistan mujahadeen but their focus and operations quickly turned to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, long a flash point between India and Pakistan.

Dear Stadium Doctor:With all its exposed girders, pipes and ledges, what is being done to prevent Oriole Park at Camden Yards from becoming the world's largest and most luxurious pigeon coop? Baltimore pigeons, not Orioles, already have occupied the renovated Camden Station and have been spotted checking out the amenities of the new ballpark.Charles E. WalkerBaltimoreDear Charles E. Walker:First, let me say that this is an excellent question, one that inexplicably has received little attention while the media get all wrapped up in that Cal Ripken contract thing.

Bruce Hoffman, the man who oversaw construction of Baltimore's twin-stadium Camden Yards complex, is leaving the Maryland Stadium Authority next year to join a private company. Hoffman has been executive director of the stadium authority since 1989. He is leaving the agency to become a regional vice president with Gilbane Building Co. The firm was hired by the stadium authority to manage pre-construction matters related to the proposed, $90 million arena for the University of Maryland at College Park.

Baltimore's plan to pay $360,000 for 10 new electronic traffic signs around Oriole Park at Camden Yards ran into a roadblock yesterday: two members of the Board of Estimates, who insisted that any signs outside the new state ballpark should be paid for by the state, not the city."

Fans who deposited money for club seats and luxury suites during Baltimore's NFL expansion bid two years ago may be charged an additional fee for permanent seat licenses for Browns games."

John Brown III, a Prince George's County restaurateur and longtime University of Maryland sports booster, has been nominated as chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority.He would succeed John Moag, who will leave the volunteer post at the end of the month.Brown, 51, is a close friend of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's and a former head of the Terrapin Club, the University of Maryland athletic fund-raising group. He is a founder and the principal of R.J. Bentley's Restaurant, a landmark campus bar and eatery in College Park.

IT MAY NOT have been the wisest thing for Maryland to have scheduled 21 1/2 -point favorite Michigan, which the Terps visit Saturday, but it's hard to beat as a money maker. Maryland will take home $320,000 from Ann Arbor. The series, which ends with this game, was arranged when Carl James was Maryland's athletic director -- and he has been gone for 11 years. The Wolverines won't be back on the schedule for a while. Maryland already has some opponents signed for 2007.* New York Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick, son of longtime Navy coaching aide Steve Belichick, is still taking bows for the job his unit did last Sunday in holding Miami and dangerous Dan Marino without a touchdown, winning 20-3.

Widely considered a creation of the Pakistani government, Lashkar-e-Taiba was banned by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and declared a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S in 2001, but experts say it remains a sophisticated, well-trained and financed group. Translated to "Army of the Pure," Lashkar was formed in 1990 as the armed wing of a Pakistani-based religious organization. The fighters initially fought alongside the Afghanistan mujahadeen but their focus and operations quickly turned to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, long a flash point between India and Pakistan.

BALTIMORE'S Pam Shriver, who hasn't played a pro tour event since March 4 and underwent shoulder surgery during the summer, looked her best yet (during rehab) smashing overheads yesterday at the Bare Hills Tennis Club. She was hitting with another Baltimorean, Andrea Leand, who played No. 1 Steffi Graf a tough match in Zurich last week.Shriver will play with Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Elise Burgin in a Cystic Fibrosis benefit at the Arena Nov. 27. "I won't know about my shoulder," says Shriver, "until I've played several tournaments."

Camden Yards was swinging even before baseball season, thanks to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Spring Swing.Close to 400 partygoers packed the stadium's sixth-floor lounge to browse the buffet and hone their lindy hop on the dance floor.Among the hep cats hanging around: Kendel and Robert Ehrlich Jr., event co-chairs; Josie Schaeffer, executive director of Cystic Fibrosis, Maryland chapter; Suzanne and Bruce Hoffman (he's chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority); Dr. Craig Smith, CEO of Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Dr. Beryl Rosenstein and Dr. Pamela Zeitlin, co-directors of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital; Wanda Draper, WBAL-TV's director of public affairs; Dr. Robert Draper, orthopedic surgeon at St. Joseph Medical Center; and Gengy Vaikness, Pam Shriver's event director.

John Brown III, a Prince George's County restaurateur and longtime University of Maryland sports booster, has been nominated as chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority.He would succeed John Moag, who will leave the volunteer post at the end of the month.Brown, 51, is a close friend of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's and a former head of the Terrapin Club, the University of Maryland athletic fund-raising group. He is a founder and the principal of R.J. Bentley's Restaurant, a landmark campus bar and eatery in College Park.

Fans who deposited money for club seats and luxury suites during Baltimore's NFL expansion bid two years ago may be charged an additional fee for permanent seat licenses for Browns games."

THE MARYLAND MILLION weekend is always a busy one for its founder, Jim (McKay) McManus, and his wife, Margaret, and this weekend was no exception. Friday, they attended the Maryland Million's 10th anniversary party at the Baltimore dTC Country Club. Saturday, they were hosts at a luncheon for 24 people in the director's room in the Sky Box at Laurel Park, where this second most important race in the state was run. Today, they are scheduled to fly to Los Angeles with their daughter, Mary Fontelieu, and her son, James, to attend a black-tie Television Hall of Fame dinner.

Opening Day brought lots of excitement to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on and off the field. It seemed as if most people on the sky box level spent their time box hopping or wandering the halls to see and be seen.I heard an amusing incident happened in the box of the Orioles owner Eli Jacobs. As many people know, Mr. Jacobs considers himself a private person and prefers that guests to his box be invited. So you can imagine the excitement when a poor unsuspecting mouse was spotted creeping around Jacobs' box. Ushers were on their hands and knees trying to find it, but it seems the four-legged critter knew he wasn't welcome and took off for home.

Here's how Bruce H. Hoffman, executive director of the Maryland Stadium Authority, describes his contribution to the construction of Oriole Park at Camden Yards:"The one thing I did was assemble a great team," he said. "I got them all the answers they needed promptly, and the team did all the work."But the burden of bringing the project in successfully was his alone. Gov. William Donald Schaefer made that clear in late 1988 when Hoffman was recruited for the $125,000 job.Hoffman, 44, took over just as the first stadium designs were under way, and soon was dealing with everyone from construction workers to corporate leaders.

THE MARYLAND MILLION weekend is always a busy one for its founder, Jim (McKay) McManus, and his wife, Margaret, and this weekend was no exception. Friday, they attended the Maryland Million's 10th anniversary party at the Baltimore dTC Country Club. Saturday, they were hosts at a luncheon for 24 people in the director's room in the Sky Box at Laurel Park, where this second most important race in the state was run. Today, they are scheduled to fly to Los Angeles with their daughter, Mary Fontelieu, and her son, James, to attend a black-tie Television Hall of Fame dinner.

Bruce Hoffman, the man who oversaw construction of Baltimore's twin-stadium Camden Yards complex, is leaving the Maryland Stadium Authority next year to join a private company. Hoffman has been executive director of the stadium authority since 1989. He is leaving the agency to become a regional vice president with Gilbane Building Co. The firm was hired by the stadium authority to manage pre-construction matters related to the proposed, $90 million arena for the University of Maryland at College Park.

Dear Stadium Doctor:With all its exposed girders, pipes and ledges, what is being done to prevent Oriole Park at Camden Yards from becoming the world's largest and most luxurious pigeon coop? Baltimore pigeons, not Orioles, already have occupied the renovated Camden Station and have been spotted checking out the amenities of the new ballpark.Charles E. WalkerBaltimoreDear Charles E. Walker:First, let me say that this is an excellent question, one that inexplicably has received little attention while the media get all wrapped up in that Cal Ripken contract thing.

Baltimore's plan to pay $360,000 for 10 new electronic traffic signs around Oriole Park at Camden Yards ran into a roadblock yesterday: two members of the Board of Estimates, who insisted that any signs outside the new state ballpark should be paid for by the state, not the city."