Fall Series

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6606. Running There were 53 runners on hand for the second Howard County Striders fall weekly series race, held at Northfield Elementary School. Confusing paint markings on the course caused several participants to miss the turn on Dunloggin Road, leaving racers running various lengths ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 miles.

The deadline for submitting sports copy is 9 a.m. on Mondays. We prefer email (howardcountysports@patuxent.com). We do not accept results by phone. When two Howard County teams play, players from both teams (first and last names) must be mentioned in the write-up. Questions? Call 410-332-6606. Running There were 53 runners on hand for the second Howard County Striders fall weekly series race, held at Northfield Elementary School. Confusing paint markings on the course caused several participants to miss the turn on Dunloggin Road, leaving racers running various lengths ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 miles.

The popular Annapolis Yacht Club Fall Series came to a disappointingconclusion for many in the fleet of approximately 120 IMS, PHRF A and B and J/35 teams competing in the Saturday races last weekend.The wind failed to arrive in time for a start, and that fleet's series-- which also was canceled because of a lack of sailable air the first week of the three-week schedule -- ended with the previous week's race as its only contest.On Sunday, however, the fleet of 117 starters of the 134 MORC, PHRF C and cruising one-design entrants once again made out better thantheir Saturday counterparts.

NFL fines Jets' Ellis for throwing snow at fans nfl New York Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis was fined $10,000 by the NFL for throwing snow at fans after the team's loss at Seattle on Sunday. Several fans threw snowballs at New York players and staff as they walked off the field after the Seahawks' 13-3 victory. As he approached the walkway leading to the locker room, Ellis reached into a pile of snow, picked up a large chunk and tossed it into the stands at Qwest Field, appearing to hit at least a few fans.

Annapolis Yacht Club's annual Fall Series, three weekends of racing, began last weekend off Annapolis.The series was created more than a generation ago to take advantage of generally brisk fall breezes and big-boat participation from sailors heading south from New England for wintering in Florida or the islands.This year, 93 entrants are in the Saturday fleet, made up of smaller cruising one-design, MORC and PHRF C sailors, while the Sunday fleet boasts 102 entries in three IMS splits, four PHRF divisions and the J/35 class, with 66 of those vying for top PHRF fleet honors.

Upsets were the order of the day at the Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series last weekend.In one upset, Chuck O'Malley and his team on Rude Awakening took first in the MORC race -- and the series -- with a two-second win over Bob Muller and crew on Stingray.With previous class leader Mirage, sailed by the Lewis/Salvesen Syndicate, falling to ninth in the final race after aces in the first two, if Muller had saved his time and beaten O'Malley, Muller would have won the series with a score of 7.75 to O'Malley's 8. Instead, O'Malley took the race and the series by 2.25 points.

Pleasant fall breezes got the Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series off to a good start last weekend, when both Saturday and Sunday fleets were able to complete close, exciting races."

This year's Annapolis Yacht Club Fall Series, staged over the past three weekends, drew plenty of local and regional interest.Some 100 IMS, J/35, and PHRF A and B sailors were on the course on Saturdays, with similar numbers of PHRF C, MORC, and cruising one-design sailors competing on Sundays.IMS numbers continue to be light locally, but PHRF A-1 and A- 2 hit 31 and 41 entries, respectively, bringing the PHRF overall fleet numbers for the Saturday racing to 89 entries.AYC traditionally has scored both PHRF and IMS not only in individual class splits, but also as total fleets for Fall Series.

Three Saturdays of round-the-buoy racing was the season-ending offering from the Rhode River Boat Club, with its annual Fall Series during the first three weekends of November.The series, which drew 13 starters in three J/boat meter classes, J/80, J/92, and J/105 using spinnakers, joined a PHRF nonspinnaker fleet of 14 starters and two three-boat one-design classes for Tritons and Alberg 30s.Two races were started each of the first two weeks, while only a single contest was the rule for the last week, bringing the series to five races for the PHRF'ers and the one-designs.

Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series came to a close last weekend after three weeks of racing for two substantial fleets.Competing on Saturdays in a fleet of 99 were the smaller cruising one designs along with the MORC and PHRF C sailors. On Sundays, IMS I reappeared, joining two other racing/cruising IMS splits and the four PHRF A and B divisions that took to the course in a 112-boat group.Courses were windward-leeward in all cases, except the second Sunday when an Olympic course was used for the big boats.

With the television networks' new season announced in New York last week, and the great American ritual of the buying and selling of airtime for next fall beginning, most of the talk at the press conferences and parties involved ratings, audience shares and demographics. But one of the most important assessments of the situation was made here in Baltimore, and it had more to do with the sociology of the schedules than their money-making potential. "I think some progress has been made," John C. White, spokesman for the NAACP, said in an interview after all six schedules had been announced.

In better times, Morgan State coach Chris Fuller might be able to laugh at his team's 6-for-26 shooting from three-point range, or at Norfolk State's 14 steals, 37 trips to the free-throw line and 63 percent second-half shooting. For now, however, the foibles constitute the price of progress for the youthful Bears team, which dropped to 2-13 and 2-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference yesterday with a 78-70 loss to the Spartans at Hill Field House. "We are playing a lot of people who didn't play a lot last year," Fuller said.

This year's Annapolis Yacht Club Fall Series, staged over the past three weekends, drew plenty of local and regional interest.Some 100 IMS, J/35, and PHRF A and B sailors were on the course on Saturdays, with similar numbers of PHRF C, MORC, and cruising one-design sailors competing on Sundays.IMS numbers continue to be light locally, but PHRF A-1 and A- 2 hit 31 and 41 entries, respectively, bringing the PHRF overall fleet numbers for the Saturday racing to 89 entries.AYC traditionally has scored both PHRF and IMS not only in individual class splits, but also as total fleets for Fall Series.

Three Saturdays of round-the-buoy racing was the season-ending offering from the Rhode River Boat Club, with its annual Fall Series during the first three weekends of November.The series, which drew 13 starters in three J/boat meter classes, J/80, J/92, and J/105 using spinnakers, joined a PHRF nonspinnaker fleet of 14 starters and two three-boat one-design classes for Tritons and Alberg 30s.Two races were started each of the first two weeks, while only a single contest was the rule for the last week, bringing the series to five races for the PHRF'ers and the one-designs.

Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series came to a close last weekend after three weeks of racing for two substantial fleets.Competing on Saturdays in a fleet of 99 were the smaller cruising one designs along with the MORC and PHRF C sailors. On Sundays, IMS I reappeared, joining two other racing/cruising IMS splits and the four PHRF A and B divisions that took to the course in a 112-boat group.Courses were windward-leeward in all cases, except the second Sunday when an Olympic course was used for the big boats.

The second round in Annapolis Yacht Club's three-week Fall Series regatta went off under sunny skies last weekend.The 85 smaller boats of the five cruising one-design divisions, PHRF C and MORC, completed a 7.7-mile windward-leeward course after a morning postponement on Saturday.On Sunday the six grand-prix IMS 1 contestants completed a 16.85-mile course while the remaining 82 big boats of the three IMS splits, the three PHRF A divisions, PHRF B and the J/35s sailed 12.35 miles.So far, the only perfect record was turned in by the weekend's biggest corrected time winner, John White of Severna Park and the crew on his unnamed DB-2, sailing in PHRF B on Sundays.

Last weekend's Region II Fall Series, co-sponsored by the Magothy River Sailing Association and Cape St. Claire Yacht Club, may have been light on breeze and participation, but it was heavy on competition.After a long postponement waiting for wind that never materialized, Saturday's race was abandoned, but the seven teams that ventured out on Sunday for the day's two PHRF classes found breeze and challenges aplenty despite a light-air start."It was a fun day and a pretty good race," said PHRF C winner Craig Decker, who sailed his Elite 32 Sure Cure to victory in his five-boat class.

The Annapolis Yacht Club's annual three-week Fall Series has a special mystique and holds a unique place in the racing schedules of East Coast sailors.In the old days, Annapolis was a way station on the annual big-boat racing circuit, when the likes of Ondine, Running Tide, Congere and other ocean-racing legends were found on Spa Creek for a couple of weeks at a time, in comfortable quarters up at Arnie Gay's or over at AYC, or at one of the bustling service yards in town.Back then the Fall Series was a kind of old home week, a central focus for skippers and crews of the great boats to meet around on their way south from a summer's racing on Long Island Sound and in New England to winter havens -- and more racing -- along the sunny Florida coast.

Annapolis Yacht Club's annual Fall Series, three weekends of racing, began last weekend off Annapolis.The series was created more than a generation ago to take advantage of generally brisk fall breezes and big-boat participation from sailors heading south from New England for wintering in Florida or the islands.This year, 93 entrants are in the Saturday fleet, made up of smaller cruising one-design, MORC and PHRF C sailors, while the Sunday fleet boasts 102 entries in three IMS splits, four PHRF divisions and the J/35 class, with 66 of those vying for top PHRF fleet honors.

The official sailing season of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association came to a close last weekend with the finale of the Rhode River Boat Club Fall Series.The three-Saturday, five-race affair drew 21 participants in five classes.Although RRBC's Fall Series does not count for the annual High Point standings, it is a traditional way to close the season for those who don't plan on sailing in one of the many frostbite series that continue through until March. It also offers a last chance to celebrate the racing spirit before packing up the boat for a long winter's nap.As usual, the club offered two races each of the first two weeks and a single final race last weekend.