Cap Centre

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 -- Gee, let's put on a tennis tournament to help stop world hunger.We'll get some top professionals. Hold a pro-am tournament for Congressmen. And then top it off by playing in the Capital Centre, rent-free.If that sounds like some sort of Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney movie come to sporting life, so be it. Jonathan Clark will tell you that a little naivete can go a long way.Last year, with nothing more than an idea and boundless energy, Clark managed to lure John McEnroe and Andre Agassi to an exhibition and pull off the inaugural 2000/LOVE tennis event, which raised $250,000 for projects to end world hunger.

LANDOVER -- The ghosts of Muggsy Bogues and Kenny Green were resurrected at the Capital Centre last night, when Washington Bullets supporters greeted the team's selection of Louisville guard LaBradford Smith with loud disapproval.The crowd, following the NBA draft on the Capital Centre TelScreen, shouted, "Rodney Monroe" -- the ACC's Player of the Year -- as the Bullets prepared to make the 19th pick in the first round.But the cheers for Monroe, a native of Hagerstown who starred at North Carolina State, quickly turned to jeers for Smith.

What makes Michael Jordan tick? What is the one thing that separates him from all others in the National Basketball Association?Ask those questions around the league and chances are you'll get a stare, a shrug and a long pause. The reason is simple -- there is so much to Jordan's makeup, it is impossible to settle on one aspect of his game.He shoots. He jumps. He passes. He plays defense. And he'll be doing it tomorrow night at the Capital Centre when the Chicago Bulls play the Washington Bullets (7:30, Home Team Sports)

VS. QUEBEC NORDIQUES* WHEN: Tonight, 7:35.* WHERE: Capital Centre.* RADIO: WCAO-AM 600.* OUTLOOK: The Capitals (31-33-6) failed to take advantage of a chance to move within a point of second-place Philadelphia (31-31-9) by losing to Hartford Tuesday night. Since then, New Jersey (29-30-12) has defeated Toronto, pushing the Caps back into fifth place in the crammed Patrick Division race. Tonight the Caps draw the worst team in the NHL in Quebec (14-45-12), which appears to have a lock on the Eric Lindros stakes.

VS. TRAIL BLAZERS* WHEN: Tonight, 10:35.* WHERE: Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Ore.* RADIO: WTOP-AM 1500.VS. SUPERSONICS* WHEN: Tomorrow, 10 p.m.* WHERE: Seattle Coliseum.* RADIO: WTOP-AM 1500.* OUTLOOK: The Bullets (16-19) conclude a four-game West Coast trip this weekend, then start a four-game home stand Monday afternoon. With nine wins in their last 13 games, the Bullets have moved past the New York Knicks into third place in the Atlantic Division. Portland (32-7) has the best record in the NBA and a six-game lead in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.

VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS* WHEN: Tonight, 7:35.* WHERE: Pittsburgh Civic Arena.* TV/RADIO: Ch. 20; WCAO-AM 600.* OUTLOOK: The Capitals (8-3) started the season winning eight of nine, but have dropped their past two games in Vancouver and Winnipeg. Tonight's game is the last of five in a row on the road as the Caps return to the Cap Centre Friday against Toronto. Goalie Don Beaupre, who was a training camp holdout, will start his first game of the season for the Caps tonight after playing three games for the Skipjacks the past two weeks (1-1-1, 3.26 GAA)

LANDOVER - The Capital Centre was state-of-the-art when it opened almost 30 years ago with skyboxes and a giant screen that showed instant replays. But in later years, the arena where the Washington Bullets won their only National Basketball Association championship was outdated and unwanted by its big-league tenants. The sports and concert venue abutting the Capital Beltway was used in the past year only for indoor men's lacrosse, and yesterday, as the saying from the Bullets championship season went, the fat lady finally sang.

Note to Larry Young: What was that about John the Baptist? "I am just, if you will, biblically speaking, I'm John the Baptist on a bigger agenda." That's what you said at the news conference Wednesday. Would the senator care to elaborate?Meanwhile, would the senator care to leave office? I know that probably strikes you as white-boy racism, but hear me out. Consider the benefits. You could become a full-time (rather than practically full-time) lobbyist-consultant for the medical industry and make some big paper, not this nickel-and-dime stuff.