Eckman

Being confined to the house weighs heavily on Charley Eckman, who, to use one of his most inimitable phrases, would rather be "romping and stomping." Cancer is a difficult foe, as he knew it would be, but he keeps dealing with the problem and won't back down."

Charley Eckman, having endured five cancer operations in the past month, including two in one day, and being weak and (as everybody knows) naturally shy and soft-spoken to begin with, is sitting in his room at North Arundel Hospital with his voice turned all the way up."This ain't what I asked for, is it, hon?" he says, in tones like the tuba section of a marching band. Charley's the only one who ever spent a few decades in broadcasting and never particularly needed a microphone to be heard.

When the mourners left Charley Eckman's funeral service last week and stepped into the muggy sunlight outside the Harundale Presbyterian Church, they found a Dixieland band at the front door, merrily tootling to the heavens. Charley would have loved it. It was his version of Beethoven's Fifth.That's it, everybody said. End of an era. They broke the mold with Charley. And maybe they're right, and we can talk about such things in a minute, but I tell you the truth, I never laughed so much at a funeral.

The one-two punch of ice and snow has knocked out high school sports events and a volleyball exhibition featuring Baltimore Colts of yesteryear, but it hasn't KO'd local boxing and ice hockey.Before I get to what's happening and what's not, let me give you some great news. Word travels fast in sports circles, and I know a lot of you have heard recently that Glen Burnie's Charlie Eckman had another bout with cancer and was back in the hospital.His wife, Wilma, told me that "he's sick and miserable, but he will bounce back."

How about a Sunday brunch, sports fans?Well, that's what we've got today, and as usual I'm looking for input from you on the 24-hour Sportsline, 647-2499.Please call with your remarks, positive or negative, as I unload a bunch of notes and a sampling of questions without answers.* Ifyou heard that Glen Burnie's most famous personality, Charley Eckman, had taken one of those commissioner jobs with the Maryland State Athletic Commission, disregard that.It seems Charley, never one to be impressed by titles that don't pay a dime, told the commission to in his words, "call a cab; make that two cabs."

Did you know that Glen Burnie mayor Charley Eckman, the ex-NBA ref and coach, doesn't mince words when asked what he thinks of the NFL's awarding Charlotte an expansion franchise and putting four other cities, including Baltimore, on hold until later this month?"

As Charley would say, "you can call a cab, or make that two cabs," for this Tuesday at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie.It turns out that it was not a good night for the Four Rivers District Boys Scouts to honor Glen Burnie's Charley Eckman as Good Scout of the Year.Eckman has not been feeling well lately, and conflicts with other events that evening have necessitated a rescheduling of the Eckman Night for Jan. 10 at Michael's.The longtime broadcaster and former NBA coach and referee is to be honored for his community service and humanitarian deeds over the past 50 years.

Battling cancer and trying to shake the aftereffects of chemotherapy, Charley Eckman is still Charley Eckman. The guy forever will be fighting to save horse racing in Maryland and contributing to great ideas to make the state as good as it can be in sports.Eckman, the longtime Glen Burnie resident who was one of the five inaugural inductees into the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame in October, stillis pushing hard for simulcast betting on the ponies to become a reality in Maryland.

It was a day for blasts from the past.On the same day the Baltimore Spirit announced it was signing former Blast star Tim Wittman, the National Professional Soccer League team introduced Charlie Eckman as the commentator on its eight-game Home Team Sports package yesterday.The Spirit also released its 40-game regular-season schedule, which opens in Milwaukee, Nov. 6. The team will play 18 of its 20 home games on Saturdays and Sundays, including the home opener Saturday, Nov. 7, against Chicago.

Each morning, long before sunrise, Eleanor Eckman sits in her kitchen and stitches through layers of fabric with careful precision, creating colorful blocks that will eventually be pieced together into a bed-sized quilt.Working by the light of dawn with her faithful companion, a yellow lab named Sandy, napping nearby, gives her a feeling of serenity."Being able to sit in the quiet, creating something that is going to last even after I'm gone, is soothing," says Eckman. "All of life's problems seem to fall into place when I'm working with my needles."