Club Officials

Women may be American heroes in soccer, but Joseph B. Adamiak's wife, Myong, got different treatment when the couple recently tried to play golf together as guests at the Turf Valley Resort and Country Club in Ellicott City.Waiting to tee off at their scheduled 9 a.m. Saturday start time, they were told a male member had complained and women are not allowed on the club's "A" course before noon on weekends. She was hurt and embarrassed; he was furious."I got hot. This is 1999," said Adamiak, an Air Force retiree who urged a boycott of the club in a letter to the editor published July 25 by The Sun. "I just thought it was archaic and chauvinistic."

State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes has asked that a prosecutor from Howard County be assigned to handle a disturbing-the-peace complaint against a 50-year-old gun club in northern Carroll County.According to court records, Jessica DeTello, who lives adjacent to the Deep Run Rifle & Revolver Club Inc. on West Deep Run Road north of Westminster, filed the complaint Aug. 12, alleging that the gun club "has and continues to disturb the peace and quality of life on our property and on our neighbors' properties' homes."

Whether intended as a prank or a protest, Orioles right fielder Albert Belle created an organizational swirl last night by posting a petition at his locker to boycott next Monday's exhibition in Rochester.Belle's handmade sign said simply: Petition to Boycott Exhibition Game in Rochester on Monday, 6/28/99. Below were spaces for players to register their support. Belle was the first to sign, and later on Scott Erickson's signature appeared underneath. Club officials apparently were not amused.

State's Attorney Jerry F. Barnes has asked that a prosecutor from Howard County be assigned to handle a disturbing-the-peace complaint against a 50-year-old gun club in northern Carroll County.According to court records, Jessica DeTello, who lives adjacent to the Deep Run Rifle & Revolver Club Inc. on West Deep Run Road north of Westminster, filed the complaint Aug. 12, alleging that the gun club "has and continues to disturb the peace and quality of life on our property and on our neighbors' properties' homes."

Women may be American heroes in soccer, but Joseph B. Adamiak's wife, Myong, got different treatment when the couple recently tried to play golf together as guests at the Turf Valley Resort and Country Club in Ellicott City.Waiting to tee off at their scheduled 9 a.m. Saturday start time, they were told a male member had complained and women are not allowed on the club's "A" course before noon on weekends. She was hurt; he was furious."I got hot. This is 1999," said Joseph Adamiak, an Air Force retiree who urged a boycott of the club in a letter to the editor published July 25 by The Sun. "I just thought it was archaic and chauvinistic."

MIAMI -- Convinced that Mike Fetters will miss significant time because of a sore elbow, the Orioles placed the veteran reliever on the disabled list yesterday and activated pitcher Scott Kamieniecki.Fetters will be examined in Baltimore today by team orthopedic doctor Michael Jacobs. Club officials initially have termed the ailment a right elbow strain, but manager Ray Miller said he was told by Jacobs on Sunday that Fetters could be out anywhere from one to six weeks, "depending on what's wrong with him."

One day after an Annapolis man was fatally shot in the parking lot of Club Hollywood, an officer of the company that operates the Parole nightclub defended the size and effectiveness of his security force."

A private party held at the Columbia Athletic Club -- and attended by about 300 people -- turned into brawl early Sunday,leading to four arrests and drawing nearly every officer on duty, Howard County police said.Police received the first call at 12: 20 a.m. reporting a fight at the athletic club.When two officers arrived, they found mostly teen-agers and young adults at the club, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, a county police spokesman.Carroll said several people, "many of whom were intoxicated," were involved in a "very hostile fight."

JUPITER, Fla. -- Why did Roberto Alomar appear in such a funk last season?In the opinion of Eric Davis, it wasn't that Alomar disliked manager Ray Miller. It wasn't that he was in the final year of his Orioles contract. It wasn't that he was frequently booed on the road.No, Davis said yesterday that the source of Alomar's discontent was his difficulties with American League umpires, who continue to seek retribution for his spitting on umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996.The umpires face renewed scrutiny entering the last year of their contract -- a top baseball official sent a memo to the clubs last week saying the strike zone would be "more strictly enforced."

The agent for Orioles first baseman Jeff Conine met with club officials for about an hour yesterday in a preliminary round of discussions aimed at keeping the seven-year veteran in Baltimore.Michael Watkins said the meeting, which included executive vice president John Angelos and director of player personnel Syd Thrift, was both cordial and encouraging."My perception was it went pretty good. We got along well. We had a good conversation," said Watkins, who had expressed frustration on Wednesday after failing to hear from Thrift during the general managers meetings in Dana Point, Calif.

Maryland Jockey Club officials hope a post-Derby bump after a stunning upset Saturday in Kentucky by Mine That Bird will boost sluggish Preakness Stakes ticket sales, but they are bracing for a more subdued scene at Baltimore's famously raucous horse race. The recession has dampened spending habits of ordinary spectators and corporate party hosts at the middle leg of racing's Triple Crown, with advance infield ticket sales down about 17 percent compared with this time last year. Mobile device BlackBerry is the race's first "title sponsor" in recent memory, but corporate underwriting revenue overall is down about 10 percent, or $75,000, because of the loss of such sponsors as UPS, Heineken and the Maryland State Lottery, jockey club officials said.

It is a traditionalist's nightmare, the nine-game Orioles homestand that began last night against the Colorado Rockies, and that's not the half of it. The three teams that will visit Camden Yards didn't exist in their present form the last time the Orioles were in a World Series, and none of them is even in the American League. But through the commingled miracles of expansion, relocation and marketing gimmickry, the Rockies, Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks will visit Baltimore at what could be a watershed juncture in the recent history of the Orioles franchise.

Not long after receiving the best news of his young professional career, Adam Loewen sat alone on a bus. Leaving his Bowie Baysox uniform behind, the 22-year-old pitcher boarded a bus in Altoona, Pa., to catch a flight in Pittsburgh the next morning. He was headed to Seattle, where he would make his major league debut for the Orioles the next night against the Mariners. The two-hour ride would give Loewen time to notify family and friends that he had finally gotten the call. But the driver got lost trying to navigate through the Pennsylvania night, leaving Loewen four hours to wrestle with his emotions.

Launching an effort to raise the profile of the Boys and Girls Club in Baltimore, club officials held a lunch yesterday at a swanky downtown restaurant to garner support to open a center in Park Heights this year. More than 50 of the city's movers and shakers attended the Capital Grille luncheon hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Harford County and Neil Katz, CEO of Corridor Reznick LLC, a commercial real estate firm. Katz and the Harford County group split the $2,500 cost of the lunch.

There really are only two ways to go with the Miguel Tejada saga. Either the Orioles are in denial about their superstar shortstop, or the rest of us should never again believe our eyes. Tejada is leading the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs, so there's certainly no reason to panic, but the change in his demeanor over the past year has been so obvious that it's difficult to understand why club officials don't think it's anything to worry about. "He's doing what he's supposed to be doing," manager Sam Perlozzo said yesterday.

Saying that he regretted asking for a trade and was embarrassed by all the attention his request drew, Orioles All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada told team vice president Jim Duquette yesterday afternoon that he wants to remain with the club and help it become a winner. "He told me that this has been bothering him since he said it and he felt bad about this," said Duquette, who spoke to Tejada in a three-way cell phone call that was organized by third baseman Melvin Mora, one of Tejada's closest friends.

The Orioles' standoff with Miguel Tejada reached a third day, as the All-Star shortstop spoke publicly for the first time since suggesting he would benefit from a change of scenery. In an interview with Comcast SportsNet, Tejada said he never asked for a trade, but he wants to win immediately. "I never said I wanted to be traded; I said I want to see a better team," said Tejada, who spoke via phone from the Dominican Republic. "I don't want to keep losing like we have the past two years.

A Baltimore County councilman said yesterday he is drafting legislation designed to prevent houses from being built at the Country Club of Maryland's golf course in Towson - at least temporarily. The proposed moratorium on development on 170 acres that includes the golf course would stop the private country club from building 56 duplex houses on 16 acres of its land. The councilman, Vincent J. Gardina, said he would use the time to help find money to preserve the property as open space through the purchase of the club's development rights.

I DON'T KNOW why, but every time I hear another troubling revelation about Sidney Ponson, I'm reminded of the way Steve Martin used to handle unruly fans when he was doing stand-up many years ago in Southern California. If somebody in the audience got too mouthy, Martin would drop a line that was - all at the same time - funny, condescending and razor sharp. "That's OK, son," he would say, "I remember when I had my first beer." It always got big laughs, and it usually had the desired effect, because the joke and the reaction of the crowd gently reminded the rowdy lout that he had reached the point where he was embarrassing himself and his friends.

For the past week, young soccer players by the hundreds, with their parents in tow, have found their way to Northrop Fields at Covenant Park. The parade each evening continues this week, as the Soccer Association of Columbia-Howard County exposes its full membership to the new 55-acre, $5 million complex. Children can't wait to run on one of the three synthetic-turf soccer fields - a first outdoors in Central Maryland - at the eight-field complex off Centennial Lane, near Centennial Park.