Cap Centre

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.

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 -- Gilman and Park squared off in a non-league game yesterday at the Capital Centre but time ran out on the two teams before a winner could be determined.The game ended in a 64-64 tie after 32 minutes. Capital Centre officials would not allow an overtime period because of last night's National Basketball Association game between the Washington Bullets and the Miami Heat.Gilman coach Tim Holley said the game would not be resumed because it has no bearing on the league standings.Gilman (11-8-1)

Rob Halford, lead singer of Judas Priest, doesn't mince words when explaining why his band went back to its heavy metal-roots with its latest effort, "Painkiller.""We wanted to make the toughest, hardest rocking, in-your-face music of our career, and I know we've done it," Halford said.Indeed, the true grandfathers of heavy metal, in their 14th attempt at metal Valhalla, have succeeded in quelling any notion that they've gone soft."About three albums ago there was a question as to which direction this band was going to take," Halford said.

IF ALL HAD gone according to the grand plan, tomorrow's INXS show at the Capital Centre would have been the hottest ticket in town.In fact, when the band's seventh album "X" was being prepared for release last fall, many music industry folks were predicting that the group would be entrenched in stadiums by the spring.But instead of causing a groundswell of publicity and tour fervor from the beginning -- like U2's "The Joshua Tree" did four years ago -- "X" has basically maintained INXS' already-strong arena following, producing just one major hit with "Suicide Blonde" and a pair of minor hits in "Disappear" and "Bitter Tears."

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.

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 -- 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 -- 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.

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."