Coach To Win

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- In sports, every second counts. The University of Maryland field hockey team proved that yesterday, winning its third NCAA championship, thanks in large part to a goal as time expired in the first half.Freshman Carissa Messimer tipped in a long free hit by Dina Rizzo to give Maryland a two-goal lead. It was the margin of victory in a 2-1 win over Michigan (20-7) before 3,350, the largest field hockey crowd ever at Northeastern University's Parsons Field."It feels great.

After the 1995-96 season, North County's Sally Entsminger had 287 career wins and was perched to become only the third Anne Arundel County girls basketball coach to win 300 games.A lot of people around the county have been pulling for the dean of girls coaches to reach the milestone, but it's been a struggle.Going into tonight's 5: 15 home game against 16th-ranked Severna Park (8-5), the Knights are 2-10, leaving Entsminger at 295-259 with at least 10 games left.Entsminger is the only coach the Ferndale school has had in nine seasons.

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The owner doesn't get it. Owners rarely get it when blessed with a coach whose talent and ego rival their own.Oh, New England's Bob Kraft conceded yesterday that Bill Parcells is "one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game."Still, this is a one-shot deal for the Patriots. They had better win the Super Bowl because they're probably going to lose Parcells.Can New England beat Green Bay? Don't count on it. But Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.

John Spinnenweber of Chesapeake and Paul Pellicani of Severna Park have a lot more in common than just being their schools' fourth-year boys basketball coaches.Each has been fighting to gain respectability for his program, and quite a rivalry has developed between the two schools in what could be break-through seasons.On Tuesday, Ray Wagner's three-pointer with five seconds left gave Chesapeake a 70-69 victory over the Falcons. Severna Park had taken the earlier meeting in the Bob Pascal holiday tournament by 47-46 on Todd Poorman's lay-up at the buzzer.

There will be a void in the NFL next year.For the first time since John F. Kennedy was president, Don Shula won't be roaming an NFL sideline.When Shula, who resigned as Miami Dolphins coach Friday, became the Baltimore Colts' coach in 1963, the NFL was a 14-team league with a 14-game schedule and a $1 million-per-year-per-team TV contract.There was no cable TV, much less ESPN, no talk radio. Man hadn't yet walked on the moon. Newspaper stories were written on typewriters and filed by Western Union operators.

COLLEGE PARK -- Syracuse lacrosse coach Roy Simmons Jr. will consider retirement after today's championship game with Maryland at Byrd Stadium.Simmons, 58, said yesterday he will decide this summer if he will leave. Simmons is the leader among active coaches in wins with a record of 256-86 in 25 years at Syracuse.He is second on the all-time wins list behind the late Dick Garber of Massachusetts, who had 300 wins."My decision is going to be made later this summer," said Simmons, the only coach to win five NCAA titles.

The streets of the nation's capital erupted into a sea of burgundy and gold last night as thousands of football fans sang, screamed and honked their horns to celebrate the Washington Redskins' 37-24 Super Bowl win over the Buffalo Bills.Protected by his "Hogs" offensive line, quarterback Mark Rypien shredded the Bills' defense for 18 completions, 292 yards and two touchdowns -- earning Most Valuable Player honors -- while a tenacious Redskins defense frustrated Jim Kelly and the Bills' no-huddle offense.

Like father, like daughter.No, that's not a slip, but rather a reference to Teresa Ross, the Annapolis High girls basketball coach.Ross, the 27-year-old daughter of well-known football coach BobbyRoss, is making her own mark as a successful coach, and one who has the ability to transform a loser into a winner.Bobby turned around the fortunes at The Citadel, the University of Maryland and GeorgiaTech before recently taking the headcoaching position with the San Diego Chargers. Again, he's expected to bring a program back from the dead.

'Tis not the season to be jolly for several NFL coaches.They know they're going to be seeing pink slips for Christmas, which tends to make the holiday season a downer.John Robinson of the Los Angeles Rams joined Jerry Burns of the Minnesota Vikings in the resigned category last week. They quit before they were fired.Richard Williamson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dan Henning of the San Diego Chargers figure to get the bad news this week.Waiting to find out their fate will be Chuck Knox of the Seattle Seahawks, Rick Venturi of the Indianapolis Colts, Sam Wyche of the Cincinnati Bengals and Lindy Infante of the Green Bay Packers.

HERNDON, Va. -- Joe Gibbs and Buddy Ryan have different outlooks on football and life.Gibbs, the Washington Redskins' coach, is cautious, always acts is if he's the underdog and seldom says anything controversial.Ryan, the Philadelphia Eagles coach, is bombastic, publicly confident and never met a controversial statement he didn't mind making.That's why it's not surprising that the two coaches have different views on the importance of home-field advantage in the playoffs if they meet in the National Football Conference wild-card game the weekend of Jan. 5-6.If the season ended today, the 9-5 Redskins would be host to the 8-6 Eagles because they have the two best wild-card records.

Tony Dungy has retired after seven years as coach of the Indianapolis Colts, saying this was right moment. "These seven years have been better than I could ever have imagined," Dungy, the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, said at a news conference yesterday. "I just have to thank everyone." He will be replaced by associate coach Jim Caldwell. Dungy has spent the past five years debating whether to leave football to spend more time with his family. Dungy, 53, is the Colts' franchise leader in victories.

John Brady of Annapolis last night became the first state public school boys or girls basketball coach to win his 600th career game. His 600 wins are the most wins by any Anne Arundel County coach, all sports included. Brady's No. 12 Panthers presented him with the milestone with their 72-42 victory over visiting Northeast in an Anne Arundel County boys basketball game. "I remember when I got my 500th win [75-59 at Meade, Jan. 31, 2001] and the next game at Annapolis, Fred [Stauffer, retired Annapolis athletic director]

A is for attackmen, the most accomplished in the nation being Syracuse junior Michael Powell. B is for "Big Man," aka Dick Edell, the Maryland coach from 1984 to 2001, who recruited most of the current Terps. C is for Dave Cottle, the Baltimorean who put Loyola College on the lacrosse map, then replaced Edell in College Park. D is for John Desko, the Syracuse coach who has an .867 (13-2) winning percentage in the tournament. E is for Eamon McEneaney, who helped Cornell win it all in 1976 and '77. He perished Sept.

During a coaching career that has spanned nearly four decades, Navy's Don DeVoe has seen college basketball grow and change in ways he never could have imagined. In 1964, when he got his first taste of coaching as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, there was no billion-dollar television contract for the NCAA tournament, no rules or restrictions for recruiting and no high school phenoms dreaming of jumping straight to the NBA after attending the prom. All that, for better or worse, is part of the college game now. Things have changed, and DeVoe, like any good coach, has changed with the times.

COLLEGE PARK - Another honor has gone to Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen, who, as expected, was unanimously named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coach of the Year yesterday. More awards are expected to come to the Terrapins today as the league announces its offensive, defensive and overall players of the year. The university's athletics department has tentatively scheduled a reception this afternoon for honored players, likely including league rushing leader Bruce Perry for offense and tackling leader E.J. Henderson for defense and the overall award.

Tommy Amaker was about to shake hands with Eddie Sutton before their teams were to play in last season's NCAA tournament when the young Seton Hall coach was asked a question by his grizzled counterpart from Oklahoma State. "Did you know I've been coaching longer than you've been alive?" Sutton asked Amaker. Amaker, then three months shy of his 35th birthday, figured that Sutton, 64, was attempting to employ a little gamesmanship that he had learned during his nearly three-decade career.

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- In sports, every second counts. The University of Maryland field hockey team proved that yesterday, winning its third NCAA championship, thanks in large part to a goal as time expired in the first half.Freshman Carissa Messimer tipped in a long free hit by Dina Rizzo to give Maryland a two-goal lead. It was the margin of victory in a 2-1 win over Michigan (20-7) before 3,350, the largest field hockey crowd ever at Northeastern University's Parsons Field."It feels great.

After the 1995-96 season, North County's Sally Entsminger had 287 career wins and was perched to become only the third Anne Arundel County girls basketball coach to win 300 games.A lot of people around the county have been pulling for the dean of girls coaches to reach the milestone, but it's been a struggle.Going into tonight's 5: 15 home game against 16th-ranked Severna Park (8-5), the Knights are 2-10, leaving Entsminger at 295-259 with at least 10 games left.Entsminger is the only coach the Ferndale school has had in nine seasons.

John Spinnenweber of Chesapeake and Paul Pellicani of Severna Park have a lot more in common than just being their schools' fourth-year boys basketball coaches.Each has been fighting to gain respectability for his program, and quite a rivalry has developed between the two schools in what could be break-through seasons.On Tuesday, Ray Wagner's three-pointer with five seconds left gave Chesapeake a 70-69 victory over the Falcons. Severna Park had taken the earlier meeting in the Bob Pascal holiday tournament by 47-46 on Todd Poorman's lay-up at the buzzer.

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The owner doesn't get it. Owners rarely get it when blessed with a coach whose talent and ego rival their own.Oh, New England's Bob Kraft conceded yesterday that Bill Parcells is "one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game."Still, this is a one-shot deal for the Patriots. They had better win the Super Bowl because they're probably going to lose Parcells.Can New England beat Green Bay? Don't count on it. But Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.