Coors

The best duckpin bowlers in the country will be in Baltimore County next week, competing in the annual National Finals of the Coors Cutter Duckpin Classic.A total of 298 duckpin bowlers will compete for $25,000 in prize money.John Braitsch Jr., 53, a truck driver from Sykesville, was first last year. He bowls at Fair Lanes Owings Mills, Pikesville and Westview and carries a 128 average."I'd like to win it again," he said. "But first I have to qualify."The men and women bowlers will roll six games on Saturday.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. Shares climbed $4.30, closing at $49.66. Despite higher competition and a soft U.S. economy, a $60.4 million tax benefit and a weak dollar lifted quarterly profit 75 percent.

Claude Sier, who bowls at Mount Airy Lanes in the Monday Industrial League, the Wednesday Major men's and the Friday ** Mixed, is averaging 132 in the Wednesday league. That's the average he entered for the Coors Cutter $25,000 Duckpin Classic qualifying squad at Mount Airy Lanes last weekend.Last year, Sier threw an all-mark game at Mount Airy Lanes, good for a 201. He did it again but this time he picked the right spot for it -- the Coors Cutter qualifier.Sier had games of 141, 201, 137, 145 and 142 for a scratch score of 766 and then added 152 handicap pins for a 918 score.

A weekly look at a fun place to catch a Ravens game: Champps Where: 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia Viewing pleasure: Seven 42-inch plasmas, 100-inch HD projection screen and two 42-inch video walls (one with nine screens, the other with six). Best seat: Anywhere in the main dining room. Crowd: They support the Ravens first, but the Redskins are second. Pre-game meal: $8.79 wings. During Ravens games, they sell four 16-ounce Coors Light for $12. The cans are in purple, black and silver camouflage.

Anne Arundel County was represented by nine of the 265 finalists whocompeted in the first Coors Light $25,000 Duckpin Classic at Turner's Long Meadow Bowl in Hagerstown.Henry Humm, Michael Firitz and Terry Edmondson qualified at Fair Lanes Southwest, and Louis Grudziecki and Spike Ferguson qualified at Greenway Bowl Glen Burnie.Of the women who reached the finals, Jessie Shears, Kathy Evans, Blanche Billello and Lola Taylor all qualified at Southwest.The finalists advanced from January qualifiers in 61 Duckpin Bowling Proprietors of America member bowling centers.

DENVER -- On a tough night for Democrats nationwide, some small hope could be found in Colorado, where Democrat and former rancher Ken Salazar narrowly defeated beer baron and Republican Pete Coors to win an open seat in the U.S. Senate. Coors delivered his concession speech at 11:30 p.m. MST. With 80 percent of the precincts reporting, Salazar held a 50 percent to 48 percent lead. The win was a significant pickup for Democrats because the seat is held by Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who is retiring.

Rockies: Todd Helton's steal of home was the first for the team since pitcher Kevin Ritz did it last June 5. In his two previous career starts against the Astros, John Thomson had an 0-2 record and 11.45 ERA. Colorado is 7-16 at Coors Field this season -- the worst home record in the NL.Pub date: 5/31/98

DENVER -- Jason Jennings (6-6) and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for Colorado. Jennings overcame six walks in seven innings for his third straight win. Coupled with a 7-0 win on Monday night, it was the second time there were back-to-back shutouts in Coors Field's 11-year history. It was also the seventh shutout - fourth by the Rockies - at Coors Field this year, breaking the single-season record set in 1997 with 47 games still left at the hitter-friendly park.

Joseph Coors, 85, who used his brewing fortune to support President Ronald Reagan and help create the conservative Heritage Foundation, died Saturday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., of lymphatic cancer. Mr. Coors, whose grandfather founded Golden, Colo.-based Adolph Coors Co. in 1873, provided money and his famous name to start the Heritage Foundation, the influential Washington think tank. Earlier, he was one of President Reagan's advisers and backers in the "Kitchen Cabinet," which financed President Reagan's political career from the governorship of California to the White House.

Who's hot Coors Field fans endured Den ver's hottest June 7 - 98 degrees - in 130 years. Who's not The Pirates have lost eight of their past nine games and have scored just 18 runs in that span. Line of the day Scott Hatteberg, A's 1B AB R H RBI HR 3 2 2 5 1

POWER RANKINGS Where the Ravens fall in the latest power rankings: ESPN.com No. 7: The bad news? Baltimore committed six turnovers and suffered multiple injuries against the Bengals. The good news? They still had a chance at the end. This team is gritty, but health will be the key now. CBSSports.com No. 13: That wasn't pretty against the Bengals. And now Ray Lewis has a strained triceps and Steve McNair has a pulled groin. Foxsports.com No. 10: Steve McNair had arguably his worst game in two years as a Raven, turning the ball over four times and missing open targets throughout the evening.

Erin Elizabeth Coors is so busy rehearsing for her big role in The Wedding Singer that she doesn't have time to arrange her own trip to the altar. "Being on the road during a national tour doesn't lend itself to planning a big wedding," she says. "My fiance and I have been dating for three years, and engaged for the past 18 months. My agent keeps saying: `Just get married on the set. We'll all fly out for it.' "But that wouldn't be the wedding of my dreams. I don't want to get married in the wedding gown from the 1980s that I wear in the show.

Coors executive pleads innocent to DWI charges GOLDEN, Colo. -- Beer company executive Pete Coors has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence and failing to stop at a stop sign. His attorney entered the pleas for him and Coors did not appear in court, said Jefferson County district attorney's spokeswoman Pam Russell. Coors, 59, vice chairman and a director of Molson Coors Brewing Co., was pulled over by the state patrol May 28 after he left a friend's wedding celebration.

Beverages can be a refreshing antidote for the summertime stock market blues. Shares of Anheuser-Busch Cos., the world's largest brewer, are up 5 percent this year. Steven Ralston, senior analyst with Zacks Investment Research, said it is an attractive purchase because it has about half the U.S. beer market. Aside from Budweiser, it also owns 50 percent of Mexico's Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona beer, and recently purchased the Rolling Rock brand. These are reasons why Warren E. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns 44 million Anheuser-Busch shares.

Every so often in this world of consensual illusion, you draft a team that you end up just hating. I'm having that precise experience with Childs Play, the squad I crowed about in this very space during the run-up to the season. I thought I had a contender but instead, just about every major decision I've made has gone awry. My biggest draft-day buys have ranked among the game's bigger busts. My bedrock starting pitchers have cracked like so much peanut brittle. My putative closer may never regain his form.

DENVER -- Jason Jennings (6-6) and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for Colorado. Jennings overcame six walks in seven innings for his third straight win. Coupled with a 7-0 win on Monday night, it was the second time there were back-to-back shutouts in Coors Field's 11-year history. It was also the seventh shutout - fourth by the Rockies - at Coors Field this year, breaking the single-season record set in 1997 with 47 games still left at the hitter-friendly park.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. Shares climbed $4.30, closing at $49.66. Despite higher competition and a soft U.S. economy, a $60.4 million tax benefit and a weak dollar lifted quarterly profit 75 percent.

Nothing can top what happened at Camden Yards this season, but it's nice to know the Orioles haven't cornered the market on dysfunctional families. Here's a brief rundown of an ugly month in Miami: The Florida Marlins were leading the wild-card race Sept. 12 and then dropped 12 of 15 to fall into last place in the National League East. Pitcher A.J. Burnett blew up in the clubhouse last Sunday, criticizing the coaching staff for its contagious negativity. The next day, Burnett, who helped carry the Marlins after the All-Star break but slumped down the stretch, was booted from the team by manager Jack McKeon.

What: Summertime Blues Festival When: 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Saturday Where: Steppingstone Museum, 461 Quaker Bottom Road, Havre de Grace. Why: Because this event promises an afternoon of live music from acts like the Elliott James Band, Mid-Life Crisis Blues Band and Night Street. Visitors of legal drinking age can also enjoy Coors and Yuengling beer and Boordy wines. And everyone can enjoy the outdoor atmosphere of the Susquehanna State Park. Admission: $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Children 12 and under free.