Eric Roberts

John Carroll senior Eric Roberts is pulling double duty this fall, playing football and soccer. Roberts said he was "baited into it" by a couple of friends after playing soccer as a freshman and sophomore and football as a junior. He is a kicker on the football team and has converted 12 straight extra-point attempts. Roberts is a defender on the soccer team and has scored two game-winning goals this season, one against Archbishop Curley to hand the Friars their only loss and the other against C. Milton Wright.

John Carroll senior Eric Roberts is pulling double duty this fall, playing football and soccer. Roberts said he was "baited into it" by a couple of friends after playing soccer as a freshman and sophomore and football as a junior. He is a kicker on the football team and has converted 12 straight extra-point attempts. Roberts is a defender on the soccer team and has scored two game-winning goals this season, one against Archbishop Curley to hand the Friars their only loss and the other against C. Milton Wright.

Eric Roberts knew that kicking was in his genes, and last winter he began the conversion from soccer player to place-kicker. He wanted to take over as John Carroll's kicker, a position previously held by both of his older brothers. He started kicking regularly and then spent the summer trying to learn the intricacies of the job that many try, but at which few succeed. His brother Dean was the Patriots' kicker last year while playing soccer, and his other brother Chris worked as the kicker before that.

Eric Roberts knew that kicking was in his genes, and last winter he began the conversion from soccer player to place-kicker. He wanted to take over as John Carroll's kicker, a position previously held by both of his older brothers. He started kicking regularly and then spent the summer trying to learn the intricacies of the job that many try, but at which few succeed. His brother Dean was the Patriots' kicker last year while playing soccer, and his other brother Chris worked as the kicker before that.

Navy quarterback Craig Candeto looks into his offensive backfield and sees a changed man in Eric Roberts. Roberts always has been blessed with eye-catching ability. At 5 feet 10, 193 pounds with a vertical leap of 34.6 inches and the speed to cover the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds, Roberts is plenty equipped to play slotback in coach Paul Johnson's spread offense. As a sophomore in his first varsity season in Annapolis last fall, Roberts flashed enticing glimpses of his skills by averaging 8.1 yards on 58 carries.

The one daring joke in the action comedy National Security comes near the beginning. A black man, Martin Lawrence, gets a white cop, Steve Zahn, tossed into prison when a videocam captures the officer clubbing him without mercy. But the audience knows that the tape lies: Zahn was trying to beat away a bumblebee because Lawrence is allergic to the insect. This gleefully unfair reversal gets viewers hoping for the freewheeling racial vaudeville of an Undercover Brother. What ensues, unfortunately, is yet another odd-couple car-chase movie in which the cocky, gabby African-American and the righteous, taciturn Caucasian trade punches and bond before they bag the bad guys.

ABC brings together three dramas -- two new, one returning -- it hopes may actually convince people to watch TV on Saturday nights.First comes former Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (brother of Julia) as the leader of an elite FBI unit in "C-16" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2). Its missions tonight: find a kidnapped child (who may have been abducted by one of his "grieving" parents) and rescue a colleague who's ventured a little too deep undercover.A pair of Jameses, Remar and Belushi, play partners in a security agency in "Total Security" (9 p.m.-10 p.m.)

Let's invent a new disease. Let's call it "dementia hitchcox" and define it as a brain inflammation primarily afflicting young movie directors who've seen too much Alfred Hitchcock. In its grip they come to believe the delusion that it is possible to make an Alfred Hitchcock film if they are not Alfred Hitchcock."Final Analysis" is a case of "dementia Hitchcox" that ought to go into the textbooks.The movie is "Vertigo" freeze-dried, calorie-leached, flavor-drained, frozen in a little plastic sack and then fired up in the old Hollywood radar range for a mere $20 million or so. The silky Richard Gere is cast in the Jimmy Stewart part as a naif who falls in love with a blond goddess, which in turn makes him vulnerable to a dastardly plot involving murder.

LET'S INVENT a new disease. Let's call it "dementia Hitchcox" and define it as a brain inflammation primarily afflicting young movie directors who've seen too much Alfred Hitchcock. In its grip they come to believe the delusion that it is possible to make an Alfred Hitchcock film if they are not Alfred Hitchcock."Final Analysis" is a case of "dementia Hitchcox" that ought to go into the textbooks.The movie is "Vertigo" freeze-dried, calorie-leached, flavor-drained, frozen in a little plastic sack and then fired up in the old Hollywood radar range for a mere $20 million or so. The silky Richard Gere is cast in the Jimmy Stewart part as a naif who falls in love with a blond goddess, which in turn makes him vulnerable to a dastardly plot involving murder.

Through Navy's first three games, one thing has been obvious: Sophomore running back Eric Roberts can take your breath away every time he touches the ball. Most of the time that's a good thing. But not all the time. "Eric Roberts makes a bunch of plays, and he makes a bunch of big yards, but he needs to learn to play for 60 minutes, too," said a visibly irritated coach Paul Johnson after the Mids' 49-40 loss to Northwestern on Saturday. Roberts' brilliance and his wavering focus can be summed on one play from that game.

Frank Divis is considered the best blocker among Navy's corps of slotbacks. Eric Roberts is a proven commodity as the most dangerous slotback on the team, a player who entered this season with an 8.6-yard rushing average and a school-record 24.9-yard average on pass receptions. So, how come Divis has outgained Roberts by better than a 4-to-1 margin in the first two games? In a notable role reversal, Divis has carried for 102 yards, a team-best 12.8 average and a touchdown; Roberts has run for a paltry 23 yards, only the third-highest total by a slotback (Trey Hines is also ahead of him)

HOUSTON - Only minutes after yesterday's game against Rice, the jubilant Navy locker room was rocking. And for good reason. Behind a tremendous performance from quarterback Craig Candeto, the Midshipmen improved to 5-2 by routing the Owls, 38-6, before 27,832 at Rice Stadium for Navy's first three-game winning streak since 1997. Candeto rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries as the nation's top-ranked rushing attack amassed 366 yards on 69 carries. Navy held the overmatched Owls to a season-low 223 yards of total offense and no touchdowns.

LANDOVER - Navy coach Paul Johnson has talked so much about dragging this football program out of its doldrums and taking a huge leap forward. Yesterday, after he watched the Midshipmen drop heavily favored rival Air Force at FedEx Field with a grinding performance, after he watched junior fullback Kyle Eckel bowl over the Falcons with the game of his life, after he watched his team make so many crucial plays, Johnson stuck out his chest while he talked...

While winning two of its first three games and creating some buzz about a turnaround after years of futility, Navy had done so many things right. Then came Saturday's 48-27 loss at Rutgers, where the Midshipmen brought back a host of bad memories befitting a program aiming for only its third winning season since 1982. Navy (2-2) entered the contest leading the NCAA in turnover margin, then committed a season-high three miscues, each of them a lost fumble. Its defense came into New Jersey ranked eighth in the nation in average points allowed, and against a bigger, faster Rutgers offense, missed too many tackles, yielded too many long running plays and stopped the Scarlet Knights only three times on 13 third-down attempts.

Navy quarterback Craig Candeto looks into his offensive backfield and sees a changed man in Eric Roberts. Roberts always has been blessed with eye-catching ability. At 5 feet 10, 193 pounds with a vertical leap of 34.6 inches and the speed to cover the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds, Roberts is plenty equipped to play slotback in coach Paul Johnson's spread offense. As a sophomore in his first varsity season in Annapolis last fall, Roberts flashed enticing glimpses of his skills by averaging 8.1 yards on 58 carries.

The one daring joke in the action comedy National Security comes near the beginning. A black man, Martin Lawrence, gets a white cop, Steve Zahn, tossed into prison when a videocam captures the officer clubbing him without mercy. But the audience knows that the tape lies: Zahn was trying to beat away a bumblebee because Lawrence is allergic to the insect. This gleefully unfair reversal gets viewers hoping for the freewheeling racial vaudeville of an Undercover Brother. What ensues, unfortunately, is yet another odd-couple car-chase movie in which the cocky, gabby African-American and the righteous, taciturn Caucasian trade punches and bond before they bag the bad guys.

While winning two of its first three games and creating some buzz about a turnaround after years of futility, Navy had done so many things right. Then came Saturday's 48-27 loss at Rutgers, where the Midshipmen brought back a host of bad memories befitting a program aiming for only its third winning season since 1982. Navy (2-2) entered the contest leading the NCAA in turnover margin, then committed a season-high three miscues, each of them a lost fumble. Its defense came into New Jersey ranked eighth in the nation in average points allowed, and against a bigger, faster Rutgers offense, missed too many tackles, yielded too many long running plays and stopped the Scarlet Knights only three times on 13 third-down attempts.

Frank Divis is considered the best blocker among Navy's corps of slotbacks. Eric Roberts is a proven commodity as the most dangerous slotback on the team, a player who entered this season with an 8.6-yard rushing average and a school-record 24.9-yard average on pass receptions. So, how come Divis has outgained Roberts by better than a 4-to-1 margin in the first two games? In a notable role reversal, Divis has carried for 102 yards, a team-best 12.8 average and a touchdown; Roberts has run for a paltry 23 yards, only the third-highest total by a slotback (Trey Hines is also ahead of him)

Through Navy's first three games, one thing has been obvious: Sophomore running back Eric Roberts can take your breath away every time he touches the ball. Most of the time that's a good thing. But not all the time. "Eric Roberts makes a bunch of plays, and he makes a bunch of big yards, but he needs to learn to play for 60 minutes, too," said a visibly irritated coach Paul Johnson after the Mids' 49-40 loss to Northwestern on Saturday. Roberts' brilliance and his wavering focus can be summed on one play from that game.

ABC brings together three dramas -- two new, one returning -- it hopes may actually convince people to watch TV on Saturday nights.First comes former Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (brother of Julia) as the leader of an elite FBI unit in "C-16" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2). Its missions tonight: find a kidnapped child (who may have been abducted by one of his "grieving" parents) and rescue a colleague who's ventured a little too deep undercover.A pair of Jameses, Remar and Belushi, play partners in a security agency in "Total Security" (9 p.m.-10 p.m.)