Fame Game

CANTON, Ohio - Joe Gibbs knew it would be tough. The returning Washington Redskins coach told anyone willing to listen not to quickly expect anything evoking the team's glory days, of which he was an integral part. For the first time since 1993, Gibbs coached a real game last night - if preseason can be considered real - and watched his offense sputter as neither of his leading quarterback contenders distinguished themselves. Worst of all, the Redskins lost starting right offensive tackle Jon Jansen for most if not all of the season with a ruptured left Achilles'.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Fox Sports Net have agreed to a 10-year-deal for the cable outlet to carry regular-season men's basketball games in a newly created Sunday night window, beginning with the 2001-02 season. The deal, of which financial terms were not disclosed, gives the network of regional sports channels the rights to 19 games per season. That will include 14 league games from December to March and five non-conference games in November and December. They will likely air in the 7 p.m. time slot.

Boy, that football off-season really flew by, didn't it?Actually, football, or for that matter, any sport, never really goes away long enough for anyone to miss it these days. With free-agent signings, minicamps, hot stove talk and the rest, all the major sports have pretty much settled into 12-month-per-year operations.Of course, it's certainly in the leagues' best interests to have you thinking about them all the time, and not just during the season and on game days. After all, those Cal Ripken T-shirts are just as attractive at Christmastime as they are in late July.

The thumping sounds coming from Camden Yards yesterday were caused by a few more people jumping off the Orioles' bandwagon. Two straight losses may not touch off a panic, but they'll bring some leaps of lost faith.The Seattle Mariners scored five unearned runs off Scott Erickson in the third inning and piled on from there, taking a 10-4 victory before 48,199 that denied the Orioles their sixth consecutive series win.A two-out error by Jeff Reboulet in the third opened the gates and the Orioles (52-53)

The sweat is flyin', pads are makin' contact and monosyllabic grunts are in the air. That can only mean that it's time again for another season of that curious American spectacle, football.From now until early February (may the saints preserve us), we'll be treated to hourly updates on this team's quarterback situation or that team's use of the 3-4 defense.Between now and the merciful end of the Stupor Bowl, the weekly pre-game shows and the daily "SportsCenter" will feature some disaffected running back who declares that neither the front office nor the fans truly understands what he's all about, as well as a teed-off defensive back who will tell any microphone that will spread the word that no one respects him because opponents constantly throw to his side.

Maybe Bucky Lasek should thank whoever stole his bike 12 years ago. If not for the theft, Lasek wouldn't have gotten a different set of wheels -- a skateboard -- for Christmas.And then he never would have ridden those wheels around the world.His skateboard will take him to San Diego this weekend for the third X Games, but it all started when at the age of 12, Lasek began using his Christmas present in Baltimore.He learned a trick here, another there. He hit the street. He hit the ramp. He hit the air, and he never came down.

SEATTLE -- Bob Wolcott, 22 going on 36, knew he was going to pitch the first game of the American League Championship Series at 11 a.m. Monday, and wasn't nervous.He came to the park Tuesday afternoon about 1 p.m., and he wasn't nervous.He sat in the clubhouse watching TV while his teammates were taking batting practice, and even at the normal time a starting pitcher would begin his warm-ups, he wasn't nervous.Then he started the game, walked three Cleveland Indians in a row on 13 pitches, and was staring at Albert Belle, the biggest, baddest, home-run-hittingest dude in these major leagues.

Frank Reich, who spent most of his NFL career looking over Jim Kelly's shoulder, now finds himself looking over his own shoulder.Reich, who started just eight games for the Buffalo Bills while backing up Kelly for the past decade, starts a new phase of his career today when the two expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, make their debuts against each other in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.At the age of 33, the former Maryland quarterback only has to beat out Jack Trudeau, the former Colts and Jets quarterback, to win the Panthers' starting job.But Carolina coach Dom Capers says the job is wide-open.

The waiting and wondering are over. Monica Seles is returning to competitive tennis, as of tomorrow's ballyhooed exhibition against Martina Navratilova (Ch. 13, 2 p.m.) at the Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention Center.But CBS analyst Mary Carillo, who will call the match alongside Tim Ryan, cautions against quick assessments of Seles' physical and mental condition from the match."It [the match] is meaningful only in that it will be her first time. I don't think the outcome or even her performance is all that important.

MELISSA BRISTOW, Roland Park, senior, attackTransition spark plug for AIS champion Reds. . . . Scored 33 goals, 14 assists. . . . AIS All-Star. . . . Strong defensive midfielder. . . . Had 100 ground balls in season. . . . Scored three goals in Lacrosse for Leukemia all-star benefit game. . . . Smart shooter, powerful eight-meter shot. . . . 6-footer who uses height as great advantage. . . . Second team All-Metro field hockey player. . . . Selected for the Maryland State team to play at Hall of Fame Classic in June.