Cheers

The cheering at the Baltimore Arena reached levels yesterday that probably haven't been heard since the place was called the Civic Center and Earl Monroe was playing for the Bullets.Though this was allegedly a more sedate occasion than a professional basketball game -- the commencement of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County -- the friends and families of the 900 graduates apparently didn't get the word.In fact, they got some encouragement to express their enthusiasm."Unlike some, we are not going to ask you to hold your applause," UMBC president Freeman A. Hrabowski III told the assembled gathering when it came time to hand out the diplomas.

For Washington Bullets center Kevin Duckworth, the abuse from vocal fans at the Baltimore Arena began to get personal after rookie backup center Gheorghe Muresan scored his first NBA field goal early in the second quarter Saturday against the Miami Heat."

Now the "Big Wheel," with size and voice to match, will be booming his own form of vocal thunder from the precipice of Memorial Stadium in a salute to the future of Baltimore football. He'll be spelling out the letters in body language, C-O-L-T-S, almost as if the team had never gone away, and stimulating a crowd to join him in generating an energy that's intended to carry a message.Leonard Burrier, 47, 6 feet 6, 240 pounds, is an automobile dealer, married, father of two children and friend to all. As the "Big Wheel," he will no doubt make an impression on the National Football League.

Megan Roland walked to a spot about eight feet from the basket and waited.When the whistle blew, she shot the ball, which went right in.Her next shot hit the back of the rim and rolled out.The moment the ball fell away from the basket, the enthusiastic voice of her father, Mike, boomed throughout the gym."Get the ball and do it again," he said, clapping. Megan looked over at her father, who nodded. She shot and missed again, but made two more before her 30-second competition was up.This was not an ordinary competition.

Severn River Yacht Club's annual fun race event, the pursuit-start format Bacardi Cup was a smashing success.More than 80 boats turned up on Saturday for a merry seven-mile chase from Hacketts Point to Tolley Point, to the north end of the measured mile, and back to Hacketts in excellent breeze under sunny skies.After registration, a list of start times, based on each boat's PHRF handicap, was issued to the participants, who ranged from seasoned racers with speed machines to family cruisers with little or no racing experience, sporting awnings and dodgers.

A profile of former Colts cheerleader Leonard Burrier in Sunday's Today section gave an incorrect location for the Baltimore Ravens training camp. The camp is located in Westminster.The Sun regrets the error.At a rear booth at Della Rose's in Overlea, Leonard "Big Wheel" Burrier has a fist the size of a large ham wrapped around a Diet Coke, which immediately makes you think of the kids' game "What's Wrong With This Picture?"The Wheel, 51 now, used to be a big deal in this town. Twenty years ago, he spent his Sundays in the fall lumbering around the upper deck at Memorial Stadium like a deranged giant, screaming himself hoarse and contorting his 6-foot-5, 250-pound body to spell out the letters C-O-L-T-S as Bert Jones went deep to Roger Carr and 45,000 true believers roared into the afternoon sunshine.

MOSCOW -- Finally Americans have started to forget about Mikhail S. Gorbachev and have been swept off their feet by Boris N. Yeltsin.The affection lavished on Mr. Yeltsin on his visit to the United States last week is likely to have a deep psychological effect on his people back home.The televised pictures of the U.S. Congress lustily cheering Mr. Yeltsin fill a far deeper need than the predictable political sniping produced by an agreement to substantially weaken Russia's nuclear arsenal.

Gus Glava, who owned several Baltimore-area restaurants and bars with his wife, Marlene, died Monday of a stomach aneurysm. He was 73. Mr. Glava, who had lived in Perry Hall for 28 years, was born in San Francisco and moved to Baltimore in the mid-1940s. He served in the Navy from 1946 to 1949, stationed aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mr. Glava met his wife, the former Marlene Siebert, when she became a waitress at the Highland Lunch, a restaurant owned by his parents. He managed the restaurant, said his sister, Jessie Glava.

On January 5, 2006, LILLIAN ELAINE GREMPLER; beloved wife of the late Walter E. Grempler. She is survived by Donna Cheers and Carol Grempler. Also surviving granddaughter Danielle Cheers-Remesch and her husband Frank; great-grandson Ryan Cheers and a host of other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by grandson Todd M. Cheers. Family will receive friends on Sunday, January 8, from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 at STERLING-ASHTON-SCHWAB WITZKE of CATONSVILLE INC., 1630 Edmondson Ave, (1 mile west exit 14)

There's an old Yiddish expression, Mann tracht, Gott lacht : Man plans, God laughs. Here's the updated version: Man cheers early success of Orioles, God laughs. Never mind, I will root for God and the O's forever! Steve Shobin, Scottsdale, Ariz.