Cap Centre

VS.MILWAUKEE BUCKS* WHEN: Tonight, 8* WHERE: Capital Centre, Landover* TV/RADIO: HTS and WBAL-AM 1090* OUTLOOK: The Bullets (1-2) hope the familiar confines of the Cap Centre will be as beneficial this week as last, when they upset the Chicago Bulls in their home opener. The Bucks (3-1) are coming off a big win at home last night against the 76ers, while the Bullets will be trying to rebound after a tough road loss to the Knicks.

Developers have signed leases with the first group of shops for the Boulevard at the Capital Centre, a "main street" style development to take the place of the old sports arena off the Capital Beltway in Landover. The retailers are Linens N' Things, Pier 1 Imports, Lane Bryant, Men's Wearhouse, Yankee Candle Co., Children's Place, Shoe Dept., Chuck E. Cheese, Oxford Street and Lucaya. The shops announced this week account for about 80,000 square feet of the 400,000 square feet slated for shops and restaurants.

VS. NEW JERSEY DEVILS* WHEN: Tonight, 7:45.* WHERE: Brendan Byrne Arena.* TV/RADIO: Ch. 20; WCAO-AM 600.* OUTLOOK: The Capitals (28-31-4) showed a lot of spark over the weekend, defeating the Rangers and coming back from two goals down to tie Pittsburgh yesterday. A win tonight would pull the Caps within one point of New Jersey (26-26-11) for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Patrick Division. Don Beaupre is out with a slight groin pull, so Jim Hrivnak is expected to start again tonight.

FEAR OF ROAD rage and general anxiety about the lack of privacy in the Information Age must be driving Maryland motorists to demand that the Motor Vehicle Administration block access to their records."

The fall concert season is shaping up to be quite dry not just in this area but throughout the country. Many bands had a difficult time selling tickets in the summer, therefore managers are leery about sending their other acts into the drought.Only two major arena shows have been announced -- one a holdover from the summer -- and many local clubs are also suffering empty dates because record companies are pulling tour money from bands.* Billy Idol and Faith No More perform on Sunday at the Capital Centre in Landover.

CAPS OUTLOOK* OPPONENTS: Pittsburgh Penguins tonight (8:05) and Detroit Red Wings tomorrow (7:35), both at the Capital Centre.* RADIO & TV: Both on HTS and WCAO-AM 600.* OUTLOOK: The Caps, who struggled miserably during the preseason, will attempt to get off to a rare good start against a pair of teams that didn't make the playoffs last season. Goalie Don Beaupre and defenseman Kevin Hatcher reported to camp yesterday, but it is uncertain whether they will see any action.The Penguins will be without Mario Lemieux, whose ailing back is expected to keep him out for two to three months.

FEAR OF ROAD rage and general anxiety about the lack of privacy in the Information Age must be driving Maryland motorists to demand that the Motor Vehicle Administration block access to their records."

LANDOVER -- This current cast is not the best hockey team among the 17 the Washington Capitals have put on the ice in their history. In fact, it might be strapped to make the top five.However, Rod Langway is one guy who hints it probably would be a bad idea to sell the sometimes rag-tag outfit short at this point.More than perhaps in any other game, hockey is a total team commitment and the defensive beacon of the club seems to have a special feel for this edition's ability to perform in the face of long odds.

LANDOVER -- Given a choice between a team with an attacking style as opposed to one that falls back and plays safety-first hockey, most players and practically all fans would opt for the former. It makes for exciting games.There comes a time, however, when the damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead routine leaves a team with generous portions of egg on the old kisser. The Washington Capitals confirmed this suspicion last night.During the first 30 minutes of the game against the Minnesota North Stars, the Caps played like something the cat dragged in. Their deficit was three goals and, for the next 20 minutes, the Cap Centre was unabashed delirium as they battled back fiercely to a 3-3 tie.Unfortunately, so honed in on Minny's jugular were the Caps, they could not handle even the mildest of counter attacks and thus fell, 5-3.Chances are coach Terry Murray never dreamed the combination of a potent offense and a stingy defense were mutually exclusive components, especially considering the Caps have always been such solid defenders.

Students at Marley Middle School, Anne Arundel County, recently received a list of "Service Learning Suggested Activities," aimed at making them good citizens, and environmentally-sensitive citizens at that. I, for one, am glad to see this kind of information being disseminated in our public schools. The list the students received had 42 eco-do's, such as: "Plant trees, flowers and shrubs. . . . Use dolphin-safe tuna. . . . Encourage parents to check a candidate's record on environmental legislation.

LANDOVER -- Next season, Michael Jordan may feel more at home when he takes to the air for a dunk against the Washington Bullets in Landover.That's because the Bullets' home will have a new name come July 1: USAir Arena.Abe Pollin, owner of the Bullets and the NHL's Washington Capitals, announced the name change at a news conference yesterday.Neither Pollin nor Seth Schofield, chairman of the board for USAir, would reveal the financial terms, but published reports have listed Pollin and his Centre Group's intake at $1 million a year over the 10-year deal.

Reading Time: Two Minutes:It was in May of 1941 that Joe Louis brought a heavyweight championship fight to Washington. It was part of his "Punch Parade" leading up to the famed battle with Billy Conn the very next month.The "Brown Bomber" fought in five different cities during the first five months of the year, explaining, "I think it's part of my job as champion to try to help America and my own people."At Joe's insistence, they almost gave tickets away in Philadelphia, charging just $5 for ringside and $1 for general admission.

LANDOVER -- The Washington Capitals apparently put a lot of pressure on themselves last night. They looked at the Patrick Division standings and felt the neckline on their jerseys tighten.They went against the Patrick Division's last-place team, the Philadelphia Flyers, and under the direction of coach Terry Murray they approached it as a "must-win game."The Capitals gave it their best shot. They appeared to put the puck in the Flyers net three times, but it was Philadelphia and goalie Tommy Soderstrom who emerged as 3-0 winners.

LANDOVER -- The Washington Capitals returned to their home ice last night after a two-week, strike-induced layoff, but many of the fans did not come back for their 1-1 overtime tie with the New York Islanders.The tie clinched the second-best record in the league for the Capitals. They have two more points than the Detroit Red Wings, and each team has one game left, but the Capitals have three more victories.The crowd, 9,164, was the smallest of the season at the Capital Centre, where Washington had been averaging 16,770 a game.

LANDOVER -- Michael Jordan cast his lot with the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team yesterday. An hour later, he broke several Capital Centre scoring records in leading the Chicago Bulls to a 106-100 victory over the Washington Bullets before a sellout crowd of 18,756.Jordan scored 51 points to set an arena record for a visiting player. And his record-breaking 35 points in the second half paved the Bulls comeback, as they rebounded from a 12-point halftime deficit.Jordan's effort broke Atlanta Hawks forward Dominique Wilkins' Capital Centre record of 46 points by a visiting player, April 14, 1986.

LANDOVER -- Given a choice between a team with an attacking style as opposed to one that falls back and plays safety-first hockey, most players and practically all fans would opt for the former. It makes for exciting games.There comes a time, however, when the damn-the-torpedoes, full-speed-ahead routine leaves a team with generous portions of egg on the old kisser. The Washington Capitals confirmed this suspicion last night.During the first 30 minutes of the game against the Minnesota North Stars, the Caps played like something the cat dragged in. Their deficit was three goals and, for the next 20 minutes, the Cap Centre was unabashed delirium as they battled back fiercely to a 3-3 tie.Unfortunately, so honed in on Minny's jugular were the Caps, they could not handle even the mildest of counter attacks and thus fell, 5-3.Chances are coach Terry Murray never dreamed the combination of a potent offense and a stingy defense were mutually exclusive components, especially considering the Caps have always been such solid defenders.

LANDOVER -- Had Washington Bullets coach Wes Unseld been Knute Rockne, he would have delivered his "Win One For The Gipper" speech before last night's game with the San Antonio Spurs at the Capital Centre.Instead, Unseld improvised, asking his injury-plagued Bullets to rally in behalf of starting center Pervis Ellison, who was involved in a car accident on the way to the game. Ellison was kept under observation at Southeast Washington Hospital, where tests TC revealed no major injuries.Unseld's pre-game speech may not have been inspirational, but the play of his Bullets certainly was, as they beat the Spurs in every phase of the game to record a 94-84 victory -- their fifth in the past six contests and their first win at the Capital Centre since Nov. 23."