Game Plan

The Ravens made a decision on one of their injured defensive stars, but they will likely wait until game time tomorrow to make the call on another one. The latter player, linebacker Ray Lewis, has been out since partially dislocating his left shoulder five weeks ago. He was upgraded from doubtful to questionable yesterday. Both coach Brian Billick and Lewis said his playing status won't likely be known until game time. On the former, Billick said the sprained right ankle of cornerback Chris McAlister is "not ready to go."

Joe Flacco made his first start for the Ravens on Sunday and delivered a victory. For Flacco to have a bigger role in future victories, here are some suggestions for him: Three areas in which Flacco needs to continue to produce: 1. Limit costly mistakes. If the Ravens want to succeed against tougher defenses than the Bengals', their rookie quarterback has to keep managing the game like a veteran. Unlike many quarterbacks making their NFL debuts, Flacco never put the Ravens in a position to lose the game, finishing with no turnovers and no sacks.

Boiling pointEven after a 34-point victory, Bills running back Thurman Thomas found a reason to get mad.Thomas ran for 77 yards and a touchdown yesterday as the Bills bounced back from a loss to Indianapolis with a 44-10 victory over Kansas City. After the game, Thomas reluctantly faced the media and quickly grew tired of questions about the team's past troubles.When asked whether the players ever wondered about their stalled offense, Thomas said:"I never saw the point . . . yeah, we're scoring less points, but we still have a winning record," Thomas said.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- The Skipjacks' playoff series against the Binghamton Rangers quickly reverted to form.After swiping the opener of the American Hockey League's best-of-seven, first-round series from the top-seeded Rangers, the No. 4 Skipjacks bowed, 6-2, last night before 4,003 fans at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.The series, tied at 1-1, switches to Baltimore for the next three games, starting Friday.The second period was only 3:25 old when Binghamton had a 5-0 lead. That was in keeping with the way the Rangers had handled Baltimore all season.

Coach Chris Hasbrouck was pleased to see St. Mary's play with the emotion he had hoped the team would play with as it raced out to an 8-1 advantage in the first quarter en route to a 22-5 demolition of Wesley in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday. And the No. 3 Seahawks' reward is a return matchup with York, which edged St. Mary's, 9-8, last Saturday to gain the No. 2 seed, a first-round bye, and a semifinal contest at home. “We're glad we got there to have a chance,” Hasbrouck said Thursday morning.

The top-ranked River Hill girls soccer team should not be lacking in confidence at this point. Nevertheless, yesterday afternoon's result should help the Hawks' collective psyche considerably. Junior forward Kara Lewis had a goal and an assist, and junior Jackie Stromberg scored to give River Hill its 19th straight victory, 2-0, over previously unbeaten Urbana in a Class 3A nonleague game in Clarksville. With the victory, River Hill (13-0) clinched the top seed in the Class 3A East region tournament.

TAMPA, Fla. - If defense rules Super Bowl XXXV, the pressure will be on the quarterbacks tonight. The first one who blinks could be in for a long game. Will it be Trent Dilfer or Kerry Collins? The Ravens will try to chase down their impossible dream against the New York Giants with their improbable quarterback in a stadium where Dilfer endured some of his greatest heartache. A free agent in the off-season, a backup until Week 9, Dilfer has a chance to write a new legacy at Raymond James Stadium.

PHILADELPHIA -- Flat and at times confused, the Philadelphia Eagles were overwhelmed yesterday by a 26-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns and the loss of middle linebacker Byron Evans for the rest of the year with a broken right leg."We lost a great player -- the quarterback of our defense," said linebacker William Thomas. "We've all got to step it up, pick it up."Against the Browns, the Eagles spent all game looking for something to pick them up -- but even when they found it, they threw it away.

His skates still on, Peter Bondra clomps into the dressing room, takes a seat at his locker and lays out the game plan for the Washington Capitals' opening-round playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins."

The curse of having this job is that it's hard to go through any joyful occasion and not think about how it relates back to mutual funds. And so, on a gorgeous sunny Thursday as the Boston Celtics' drive-by rally was cruising the streets here, it was hard not to be inspired by the Celtics' worst-to-first championship turnaround and think that investors who have been feeling pinched can figure out a similar way to bring their portfolio to victory....