Coin Flip

This one was over before it began. Mount Hebron won seven of the 13 matches by forfeit en route to a 52-12 victory over Howard yesterday.And to make the victory complete, Mount Hebron heavyweight Karl Gryczynski handed Howard's Joey Tortella his first loss of the season in a 3-2 double-overtime decision.Tortella (4-1), who intends to play football in college and is trying to keep his weight up, normally wrestles at 189 pounds.Tortella weighed in at 191 and surprised a lot of people by taking on the 257-pound Gryczynski, who was second in the county last season.

The Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves have been on both sides of the quest for the top quarterback in a draft.That's why it's almost fitting that at the quarter-pole, the Bears, Colts and Falcons have the best field position in the Peyton Manning derby with 0-4 records.The Bears tied the Pittsburgh Steelers for the worst record in 1969 at 1-13 and then lost the coin flip for Terry Bradshaw, who was quarterback for four Super Bowl winners in the 1970s for the Steelers.

County boys and girls basketball teams start playing for keeps on Tuesday in terms of advancing to the county championship game between North and South Division winners on Feb. 25.While the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association persists in not seeding teams (against coaches' wishes) for its open competition, Anne Arundel County has added an important step to its tie-breaker criteria.Ever since there were tie-breakers, "head-to-head play" has been an imperative step in the process.

Howard had three reasons to be happy after a 26-26 tie yesterday that featured three technical falls, two pins, one major decision, one overtime decision and three one-point decisions.The tie was against defending county champion Hammond (5-3-1 overall, 1-1-1 league).The Lions (3-2-1, 3-0-1) rallied from a 26-16 deficit with two matches remaining.And the Lions tied despite the fact that Chris Poling, ranked fifth in the state, was upset by Hammond's Hansel Henry at 152 pounds."The 152 match was the key to why we didn't win," Howard co-coach Dan Ricker said.

For sheer chaos, which would you rather attend, a White House staff meeting or a major-league owners' meeting?The White House rated the edge, until the owners rolled out their new expanded playoff format, then retreated faster than you can say, "gays in the military."Maybe you missed Plan A, a typical owners' creation, which is to say, a total disaster.For one ridiculous day, it appeared the first-place team in each division would play the second-place team in a best-of-five series starting in 1994.

Who's got a two-headed coin, Old Mill or Severna Park? And should county resident Al Frank do the honors of tossing it in the air?Those are some tidbits for baseball fans to discuss on the way to postseason play.At least the Kentucky Derby had a favorite, even though it didn't come through, but in the Class 4A Region IV baseball playoff race suddenly no favorite exists. Severna Park and Old Mill have clinched berths and Arundel is just one win away, but where they are seeded is anyone's guess.

A long-shot letter asking Gov. William Donald Schaefer for his tickets to Monday's Opening Day game at the new Camden Yards stadium paid off for a 10-year-old Annapolis boy."I feel like I've won the lottery," Ben Harrington said as he clutched a folder containing two coveted Orioles tickets at a news conference with the governor yesterday.Ben wrote a letter to the governor last Friday after he heard that Mr. Schaefer was feeling blue and might not go to Opening Day. Mr. Schaefer decided to attend, but he got such a kick out of Ben's letter that he managed to procure a couple of extra tickets for the youngster.

A long-shot letter asking Gov. William Donald Schaefer for his tickets to Monday's Opening Day game at the new Camden Yards stadium paid off for a 10-year-old Annapolis boy."I feel like I've won the lottery," Ben Harrington said as he clutched a folder containing two coveted Oriole tickets at a news conference with the governor yesterday.Ben wrote a letter to the governor last Friday after he heard that Mr. Schaefer was feeling blue and might not go to Opening Day. Mr. Schaefer decided to attend, but he got such a kick out of Ben's letter that he managed to procure a couple of extra tickets for the youngster.

CHICAGO -- "And now playing point guard for the Chicago Bulls . . . Magic Johnson."No, it's not as crazy as it sounds. But for a wrong call on a coin flip in the 1979 NBA draft, Johnson might be performing for the Bulls in the 1991 championships, and who knows where Michael Jordan would be walking on air?Rod Thorn, now the NBA chief of operations, was Bulls general manager in 1979, when the teams with the two worst records engaged in a coin flip to determine who got the first draft choice.

With the beginning of our high school hoops preview today, it's onlyappropriate that we set the stage with a truckload of "Q's and A's."If you have any answers and want to get us off to a flying start,please give me a call on the 24-Hour Sportsline, 647-2499. Your answers, comments or big "Q's" of your own are always welcome on the Sportsline.Today, here's a load of "Q's" on boys basketball; on Friday, it'll be the girls turn.* No. 1 this hoop season, have you met anybody in basketball who likes the idea of a coin toss to start a game rather than the traditional jump ball?

Goosen prevails in PGA Transitions GOLF Retief Goosen took an important step toward rejoining the elite in golf yesterday by closing with a 1-under-par 70 in Palm Harbor, Fla., for a one-shot victory in the Transitions Championship, his first PGA Tour win in nearly four years. Goosen had a two-shot lead with three holes to play on the demanding Copperhead Course at Innisbrook when, just like everyone else, he struggled to hang on. The two-time U.S. Open champion, 40, from South Africa barely made it. His 5-foot putt for par on the final hole curled in the side of the cup, giving him a one-stroke victory over Charles Howell III (68)

Baltimore native and Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony brought the gold medal he won as part of the victorious U.S. men's basketball team to M&T Bank Stadium. He said taking part in yesterday's game festivities ranked higher than appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "It's a big deal to be at the Ravens' first game," said Anthony, who wore a No. 15 Ravens jersey and took part in the coin flip. "I never thought I would be here for the coin toss. ... You can't ask for nothing better than that."

The NFL's vehement objection to wagering on its games is well known. And in practice, the league has demonstrated a serious antipathy for gambling in general. For instance, you don't see advertising for casinos - even ones that don't have sports wagering - in NFL stadiums the way you do at baseball parks. But when it comes to something as significant as draft position, the league uses one of the most rudimentary gambling practices - the coin flip. Yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons won a coin flip to draft third overall, beating out the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs.

I saw something yesterday on Deadspin.com, the popular sports blog, that touched a nerve. One of the writers there was opining about the NFL sudden-death overtime system and argued that he preferred the college version, in which teams get equal opportunities to score. Well, NFL OT always has been a pet peeve of mine, too, and I agree it needs to be revamped. However, I'm not fond of the college version, either, where teams blast away starting from just outside the opposing red zone. Too much like Arena Football.

For much of the first half of yesterday's 28-21 loss to North Carolina A&T, Morgan State resembled the bad news Bears of old, as a series of miscues - beginning with the coin flip - led to a quick 20-0 deficit. But for about 15 minutes midway through the contest, Morgan looked more like the revived program that upset nationally ranked Bethune-Cookman last week. In the end, though, the Bears (2-4, 1-4 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) couldn't overcome six turnovers in the loss to the improved Aggies (5-1, 2-0)

History dictates that, despite a healthy dose of supporters, it may not yet be time to pass the top two proposals to be voted on at the annual NFL owners meeting that runs today through Wednesday in Phoenix. Owners of the 32 NFL teams are expected to vote on a proposal submitted jointly by the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots to expand the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams, essentially creating a third wild card in each conference. If that plan were to pass, only the top seed in each conference would receive a first-round bye. Team owners also are expected to vote on a proposal submitted by the Chiefs to alter the overtime format, allowing each team to have at least one possession before the game becomes sudden death.

The Ravens were informed by league officials that they will pick either 10th or 11th in April's NFL draft. A coin flip - which usually takes place in March - will determine whether the Ravens or the Seattle Seahawks select 10th. The Ravens are one of five teams that finished with a 7-9 mark. Their strength of schedule (opposing teams had a .506 winning percentage) was identical to that of the Seahawks, so the coin flip will serve as the tiebreaker. There is a history with the Ravens and the 10th pick.

Bennie Anderson has come a long way since his days with the Chicago Enforcers, one of the eight teams in the now-defunct XFL. Anderson, an offensive guard from Tennessee State, joined the Ravens yesterday, becoming the third former XFL player to sign with Baltimore since the league folded. Along with safety Pete Destefano and punter Noel Prefontaine (whose father is a cousin of Steve Prefontaine, the late track star) the three will attempt to fulfill their dreams of playing in the NFL. "I just want to contribute in whatever role the team needs me in," Anderson said.

Last night's lottery draw without seedings for the state open tournaments was apparently the last by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association . The MPSSAA has recommended that the top four teams by overall records, not including holiday tournament games, will be seeded in all sports, excluding football, with the remainder of the teams in each 16-team region bracket seeded by the blind draw. The change would go into effect next fall. In football, there is not enough playoff time to include all teams, so qualifying by playoff points will continue.

This one was over before it began. Mount Hebron won seven of the 13 matches by forfeit en route to a 52-12 victory over Howard yesterday.And to make the victory complete, Mount Hebron heavyweight Karl Gryczynski handed Howard's Joey Tortella his first loss of the season in a 3-2 double-overtime decision.Tortella (4-1), who intends to play football in college and is trying to keep his weight up, normally wrestles at 189 pounds.Tortella weighed in at 191 and surprised a lot of people by taking on the 257-pound Gryczynski, who was second in the county last season.