Crimson

SUN SCORE **1/2 This is really a city of lunatics," one of the minor characters in Jafar Panahi's Crimson Gold repeats over and over, referring to a Tehran where nothing is as it once was, where morality is more concerned with appearances than realities and a sense of proportion seems nowhere to be found. Crimson Gold, banned in its country of origin, Iran, is about a society that has lost its bearings, as witnessed in the character of Hussein, a pizza-delivery man destined never to sample the good life, except by osmosis through the well-to-do customers to whom he caters.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon said he talked to his players at halftime of their National Invitation Tournament quarterfinal against Alabama about Frazier-Ali, Michael Jackson and other great performances at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Now, Maryland will get a chance to end its season with one of its own. The No. 2-seeded Terps weathered a late surge from the No. 1-seeded Crimson Tide on Tuesday night, winning 58-57 in Coleman Coliseum and earning a trip to Madison Square Garden for next week's NIT semifinals.

"Crimson Tide" and "The Hunt for Red October": Separated at birth?There are similarities, to be sure. Let's call them inspirations -- like the mood lighting on the submarines and the swelling choral music in both movies. But, hey, if a formula works, let's confirm the missile launch and go go go!"Crimson Tide" has a different plot, and after that deja vu feeling leaves you it's gripping in a more intense way. While "The Hunt for Red October" felt like a breathless video game, "Crimson Tide" has a more claustrophobic and desperate sense of what's at stake: nuclear war. Even a routine missile drill aboard the sub has an eerie sense of foreboding.

Think seeding is important? It sure is in the National Invitation Tournament, where top-seeded Alabama will get to host second-seeded Maryland on Tuesday night for the right to advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden on April 2. The better seed gets the home game in the NIT.   Alabama defeated fourth-seeded Stanford, 66-54, on Saturday to advance. If the Cardinal had won, the Terps would have hosted the quarterfinal game at Comcast Center. Maryland has won four of five games since the regular season ended -- two in the ACC tournament and two in the NIT. Alabama and Maryland last played in Puerto Rico early last season -- a 20-point Alabama win. The Crimson Tide hasn't lost at home since Dec. 30 -- a 53-50 loss to Tulane.

All daysun pours on leaves,lichen, orange lilies,rain trees, dusky crimsonDavid Austin roses.Nets, veils, canopies of goldcross, criss cross air and earth.At twilightfirefliesswallow bits of the last brightness,fill their bellies with it,hiccup light.Moon sails out,white boat afloatin blue west water,trailing constellationsin its wake.

Founded: 1890. Location: Norman, Okla. Enrollment: 18,308 undergraduates. Tuition and fees: $2,713 in-state, $7,437 out-of-state. Famous alumni: Astronaut Shannon Lucid; actor Dennis Weaver; congressman J.C. Watts. Academic ranking: Ranked in top 100 among public national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report (September 2001). School colors: Crimson and cream. Nickname: Sooners. Last trip to Final Four: 1988. NCAA basketball titles: None.

The game What -- NCAA women's tournament Dayton Regional first-round game Where -- Hartford (Conn.) Civic Center When -- Today, 2:30 p.m. (approximate) TV -- ESPN The teams No. 2 seed Maryland -- 27-5; Atlantic Coast Conference third place (10-4); 16th NCAA tournament appearance. No. 15 seed Harvard -- 15-12; Ivy League champions (13-1), sixth NCAA tournament appearance. The frontcourts At 6 feet 3, sophomore forward Katie Rollins is the only Crimson starter above 6-2, but she is also the only starter to average fewer than 20 minutes a game.

He said it "Of course, we would've liked to be stormin' into the tourna ment. But we're here now and it's 0-0." Al Skinner, coach of Boston College (20-11), which enters as the lowest-seeded Big East team in the tournament. Who's hot Alabama: The Crimson Tide hit 27 of 30 free throws (90 per cent) in outlasting 15th seed Florida Atlantic. Who's not Dan Dickau: The All-America guard shot 7-for-24, including 4-for-14 from three-point range, in Gonzaga's loss to Wyoming.

At the Kentucky Derby, Nick Zito was an interested - but impartial - observer who could assess the race without prejudice. On the morning of the Derby, he encountered fellow trainer Bob Baffert and told him: "You're going to steal this race. You'll be the only speed." At the time, Baffert looked at Zito askance, as if he'd lost a few marbles, but in the post-race analyses, there was the trainer of War Emblem explaining how Zito had called the shot. But when the 127th Preakness arrives on May 18, Zito will be back as a participant, probably with two horses, Straight Gin and Crimson Hero, both of whom had insufficient earnings to qualify for the Derby.

TOP PERFORMERS J.P. Batista, Gonzaga -- The senior led the third-seeded Bulldogs with 20 points and nine rebounds in a 90-80 win over No. 6 seed Indiana. Sean Mallon, Gonzaga -- The junior had a career game with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Farmar, UCLA -- The sophomore led the second-seeded Bruins with 18 points, including five three-pointers, in a 62-59 win over No. 10 seed Alabama. SURPRISES Adam Morrison, Gonzaga -- The Bulldogs' star player was held to 14 points. He shot 5-for-17, marking only the sixth time this season he has been held under 20. Alabama -- Twice in the final minute the seven-man Crimson Tide came within one point.

When former Gilman star Cyrus Jones Jr. finished sorting through his 40-plus football scholarships following his senior season, he concluded Alabama was the right place for him. This time of year, the big game in front of him, is why. "One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Alabama was to have a chance to play at the highest level and compete for a national championship every year," said Jones, who has made an impact in his freshman season...

Cyrus Jones Jr. always strives to test his football skills against the best, from playing up an age group in Pop Warner to playing for No. 1 Gilman. It will be no different in college. Jones is headed to No. 2 Alabama, which has appeared in and won more bowl games than any other program. Jones announced his commitment to a national television audience at Thursday night's Under Armour All-America game in St. Petersburg, Fla., during which he returned an interception for a touchdown.

It's hard to argue with being in balmy Puerto Rico on a November day, but here is what Maryland encountered after busing from its beachfront hotel and casino to the coliseum: a loaded, hungry Alabama team that dominated the boards in a 62-42 rout of the inexperienced, poor-shooting Terps. It may have been 85 degrees in San Juan, but Maryland guards -- pressed full court early by the 16th-ranked Crimson Tide -- were icy cold in the first of three Terps game at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Defending national champion Alabama is still at the top of the college football world as the top- ranked team in the preseason Associated Press poll, which was released Saturday. Alabama received 54 of 60 first-place votes and a total of 1,491 points, while Ohio State checked in at No. 2 with three first-place votes and 1,400 points. Boise State received its highest ranking ever in the polls in the third slot and garnered a single first-place vote. Also receiving a single first-place vote was fifth-ranked Texas, which lost to the Tide in last year's national championship game, and seventh-ranked Oklahoma.

Uproarious, moving and thrilling, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, the account of an epochal football game played amid the turbulence of 1968, is an unexpected feat of documentary storytelling. Without grabbing you by the face mask, it rivets your attention within minutes, and maybe even before - the title alone, from a Harvard Crimson headline, sums up the tale's unique and paradoxical glory. The movie builds with an inexorable, pleasurable pull to the game's final two minutes. They become a cinematic as well as an athletic miracle.

Boston College coach Al Skinner had been warning his players all along. It showed they didn't listen. Jeremy Lin scored 27 points to lead visiting Harvard to an 82-70 upset of No. 17 Boston College last night, three days after the Eagles upset previously top-ranked North Carolina. "I tried to pre-warn them," Skinner said. "We were capable of being this team and capable of being another team." Corey Raji paced BC (13-3) with 16 points, Tyrese Rice had 14 and Joe Trapani had 12. Oliver McNally had 17 points and Andrew Pusar 13 for the Crimson (8-6)

Michael Heary is Navy's biggest offensive threat, and when he missed the Midshipmen's game against Rice with an illness on Monday, they immediately fell behind by 16 points and lost by 17.Last night at Alumni Hall, Heary returned to equal his career high of 31 points and Navy ended a four-game losing streak by beating Harvard, 66-63."

Sixth-ranked City could point to a couple of factors that contributed to its 56-46 loss to Dunbar of Washington at the Mayor's Basketball Academy at the Coppin Center last night.First, there was Crimson Tide shooting guard Troyce Haynesworth, who burned the Knights for a game-high 33 points, including five three-pointers.Then, there was City's inability to solve the Crimson Tide's matchup zone defense. The Knights shot only 17-for-51 from the perimeter.The Knights were hoping to put the finishing touch on a good week that began with a home victory over No. 11 Southern of Baltimore with a triumph over the Crimson Tide, which is ranked 19th in the Washington area.

On a warm, sun-drenched morning this week, Stefan Schwarzkopf stood in a clearing near the historic pagoda in Southeast Baltimore's Patterson Park, gazed across the emerald-colored slope on which he had been working and gave a satisfied sigh. "It's awesome to be able to get out of the normal routine ... and just be out of doors for a while," he said.

The game What -- NCAA women's tournament Dayton Regional first-round game Where -- Hartford (Conn.) Civic Center When -- Today, 2:30 p.m. (approximate) TV -- ESPN The teams No. 2 seed Maryland -- 27-5; Atlantic Coast Conference third place (10-4); 16th NCAA tournament appearance. No. 15 seed Harvard -- 15-12; Ivy League champions (13-1), sixth NCAA tournament appearance. The frontcourts At 6 feet 3, sophomore forward Katie Rollins is the only Crimson starter above 6-2, but she is also the only starter to average fewer than 20 minutes a game.