Calf

Billy Cundiff converted a 36-yard field goal and three extra points in the Ravens' 24-10 win against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, but he was replaced on kickoffs in the second half by punter Sam Koch. But coach John Harbaugh said Cundiff did not suffer a setback with his injured left calf. “Not a major concern,” Harbaugh said of Cundiff's injury during his weekly news conference Monday. “It's good that he'll have more rest. I think he tweaked it on Thursday. So he got through the game OK, but it started tightening up on him during the game on kickoffs.

Not playing Saturday against the Cleveland Browns aided the healing process for Billy Cundiff's sore left calf, but the Ravens kicker is eager to return for Sunday's regular-season finale at the Cincinnati Bengals. “I'm definitely hoping to be back next week,” Cundiff said while changing in the locker room under M&T Bank Stadium after the team's 20-14 win against the Cleveland Browns. “But we'll kind of base that off of how things go with the trainers. We just don't want a setback.

The New York Mets have been baseball's best team. They practically wrapped up the National League East before Memorial Day and they seemingly score 15 runs a game. A month ago, they were penciled in to the World Series. Well, get the erasers out. Because Pedro Martinez has a new daddy: his calves. Dominant pitching wins titles. And, when on his game, Martinez projects dominance. He's 6-2 in the postseason with a 3.40 ERA, and that includes hiccups against his old daddy, the New York Yankees.

Sam Koch's first kickoff of the season didn't go quite as well as he had hoped. “It wasn't pretty,” the Ravens punter conceded after filling in for kicker Billy Cundiff in the team's 24-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. “It's just one of those things about trying to meet the ball. With Billy, he always has that open foot, the soccer style. But as a punter, your foot is always parallel with your body or vertical. If I could work out on those a little bit more, it would probably help out my kickoff game and maybe add another five to 10 yards.” Koch was handling kickoff duties in the second half as a left calf injury that hobbled Cundiff last week began to rob him of distance in the first half.

Less than a year removed from earning his first invite to the Pro Bowl, Billy Cundiff is having a season to forget. The Ravens kicker has missed a career-high nine field goals this season, including a 36-yarder in the team's demoralizing 34-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers Sunday night. Despite the swoon and an injured left calf, Cundiff said he still believes in himself. “This year has been a learning experience,” he said. “I've felt like unfortunately, I've learned a lot of hard lessons.

Hobbled by aching knees and an inflamed right calf, America's First Runner has been all but sidelined from his favorite exercise and says his woes serve up a good lesson to all sports-minded baby boomers. "Listen to your body. I tried to run through the pain and it didn't work," President Bush said in remarks relayed to the Los Angeles Times by White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. The president first complained to a reporter about his knees during a private party in Washington in late April, blaming it on age. Bush will be 57 on July 6. At the Times' request, Bush on Thursday supplied new details of his injuries, during a trip to Fridley, Minn.

Four days after watching Shayne Graham boot two field goals in Saturday's 20-14 win over the Cleveland Browns, Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff told reporters that he planned to attempt to practice on Wednesday. Cundiff, who has been dealing with a calf injury for three weeks, said it was disappointing that he sat out Saturday, but he believes resting a week was the right thing to do for both him and the 11-4 Ravens. “It's not very fun watching from the sidelines, I'll tell you that much,” Cundiff said.

Like any player in his position, Billy Cundiff won't say he can make every kick. But the Ravens kicker willingly accepts the chance to do so. "Yeah, I think you have to," Cundiff said Wednesday about the desire to kick a game-winning field goal. "If you don't have the attitude that you want to make the game-winning kick, then you're probably in the wrong business. " Cundiff's eagerness is a welcome sign to the Ravens, who were beginning to wonder whether last year's AFC representative in the Pro Bowl would be able to overcome a nagging left calf injury.

Editor's note: The king of birds finds his true identity after learning the way of the chicken. A farmer went out one day to search for a lost calf. He called out all the time, hoping that the calf might hear, but also because he felt so alone. He climbed up a gully in case the calf had huddled there to escape the storm. And that was where he stopped. For there, on a ledge of rock, close enough to touch, he saw the most unusual sight -- an eagle chick, very young, hatched from its egg a day or two before.

Officials at the National Aquarium in Baltimore are breathing easier, now that a bottlenose dolphin calf born there last month seems to be getting stronger.The calf, born March 26, appears to be gaining weight again after returning to a more normal nursing pattern, senior mammalogist Nedra Hecker said yesterday.Last week, officials were concerned because the calf was losing weight and didn't appear to be getting the nourishment it needed."It was scary," Mrs. Hecker said."We're still concerned about the calf.