Games In Baltimore

Wrapping up another week's sports media notes while wondering why I don't hear Allan Sherman's "God Bless You, Jerry Mendelbaum" along with other seasonal favorites on the radio: Didn't it seem a bit odd Wednesday while ESPN was reporting the twists and turns of Bill Parcells' apparent return to the NFL that we didn't actually see Parcells himself? After all, he does work for ESPN. It speaks to the way some sports figures end up moving between being part of the media and the subject of media reports.

I keep getting messages from a tipster who claims to know about the existence of daily high-stakes poker games in Baltimore. My informant, wishing to remain anonymous, says he keeps getting text-message invitations to the games, one of which has a $500 buy-in. "There are at least four games being played in various locations around the city every day," he says, adding that he knows all the places and all the game times, and that he has shared this with vice squad police - and yet, the games go on. "I must be the only person who thinks this is an issue in this town," the informant says.

Opponent: Philadelphia KixxSite: Spectrum, PhiladelphiaTime: 7: 35TV/Radio: Comcast Channel 69 in Baltimore and Harford counties and Channel 54 in Howard County)/WJFK (1300 AM)Outlook: This weekend will offer an excellent opportunity for the Blast to see how far it has come this season, as it confronts two of the three teams it currently trails in the American Conference, the Kixx (18-14) and Cleveland (21-12). The Blast (17-16), which has won its last four games, should benefit from the return of goalie Brett Phillips and midfielder Danny Kelly off the injured list.

Taking a cue from the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, every Team Canada player bleached his hair before yesterday's game.Trying to convey team unity, the players followed the lead of star midfielder Paul Gait, who came to the World Games with a new platinum blond hairdo. Their efforts brought mixed results, however, as a few players were left with reddish and bright brown-colored coifs."I was trying to be a little different and give the kids something to talk about," Gait said. "I guess it turned into a fad for the team."

Barring a work stoppage, the NBA will return to Baltimore in October, when the Washington Wizards are scheduled to open their 1998 preseason at the Baltimore Arena.The Wizards are scheduled to play here Oct. 16 against the Boston Celtics. The Wizards' other preseason home game will be Oct. 17 against the Philadelphia 76ers at the MCI Center in Washington.Since leaving Baltimore in 1973, the Bullets had played selected games here. But after changing its name to Wizards last year and moving into the MCI Center, the club decided not to play regular-season games in Baltimore.

The toughest stretch of the season stands just ahead, and the Orioles are in a slump.Not a major slump. They have lost four of their past six games and have struggled to create any offensive excitement. But it is a definite change in direction for the team with the best record in baseball.The New York Mets cuffed left-hander Jimmy Key around in the early innings and took the deciding game of the three-game interleague series, 4-1, yesterday on an overcast afternoon at Camden Yards.Bernard Gilkey hit a bases-empty homer in the first inning and Butch Huskey hit a two-run shot in the third to lend a helping hand to the crosstown rival New York Yankees, who pulled to within 6 1/2 games of first place in the American League East with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Expos at Yankee Stadium.

All season, the Orioles won with their fabulous bullpen.Last night was different.Last night was crushing.The Orioles were four outs away from victory, four outs away from moving within two games of their first World Series appearance since 1983.And then Armando Benitez, perhaps the most dominant setup man in the game, allowed a three-run homer to Marquis Grissom.Indians 5, Orioles 4.Suddenly, we've got a series.The Indians got what they wanted, a split of the first two games in Baltimore.

If it's any consolation, the Bullets love it here, from team president Susan O'Malley to general manager Wes Unseld to star forward Chris Webber.O'Malley says the crowd at Baltimore Arena is louder than the one at USAir Arena, adding, "there are never visiting fans up here -- ever."Unseld remembers his glory days with the team, the games that were "just blood baths but honest blood baths."And Webber prefers the inner-city atmosphere, something he'll get 41 times next season when the Bullets move to Washington, D.C., permanently.

SCENE FROM Oriole Park, Game One of the ''wild card'' playoffs. Section 372, the nose-bleed seats in left field. A cute family of four is decked out in Cleveland Indians' attire. A little boy holds up a handmade sign of Chief Wahoo, his team's politically incorrect mascot, with the words, ''Go, Indians!''Ten rows below them, a twentysomething guy with stringy hair, overdue for its 3,000-mile check-up at Jiffy Lube, stands up, turns toward the family and screams something to the effect that Cleveland does what a vacuum cleaner does.

Dwayne Norris, captain and inspirational leader of the Bandits since joining the team last Nov. 3, has won American Hockey League second-team honors.In 62 games for Baltimore, Norris scored 31 goals and registered 55 assists for a team-leading 86 points.A first-team selection last season for Cornwall, Norris was signed by the parent Mighty Ducks of Anaheim out of the International Hockey League, where he had seven goals and 16 assists in 14 games for the Los Angeles Ice Dogs.Among Norris' 20 multiple-point games this season were three five-point and three four-point games.

M&T Bank Stadium will play host in 2014 and 2016 to the Army-Navy football game, a rivalry long associated with Philadelphia that is expected to generate as much as $22 million per game for the Baltimore-area economy. The annual, tradition-rich game will also come for the first time in 2011 to FedEx Field in Landover, home of the Washington Redskins. It was last played in Baltimore in 2007. Baltimore, which has been host four times since the series began in 1890, had particularly sought the 2014 game, which will coincide with the bicentennial celebration of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Wrapping up another week's sports media notes while wondering why I don't hear Allan Sherman's "God Bless You, Jerry Mendelbaum" along with other seasonal favorites on the radio: Didn't it seem a bit odd Wednesday while ESPN was reporting the twists and turns of Bill Parcells' apparent return to the NFL that we didn't actually see Parcells himself? After all, he does work for ESPN. It speaks to the way some sports figures end up moving between being part of the media and the subject of media reports.

I keep getting messages from a tipster who claims to know about the existence of daily high-stakes poker games in Baltimore. My informant, wishing to remain anonymous, says he keeps getting text-message invitations to the games, one of which has a $500 buy-in. "There are at least four games being played in various locations around the city every day," he says, adding that he knows all the places and all the game times, and that he has shared this with vice squad police - and yet, the games go on. "I must be the only person who thinks this is an issue in this town," the informant says.

Aberdeen annexation rejected Growth-wary Aberdeen voters rejected the annexation of more than 500 acres, a proposal city officials had aggressively promoted amid opponents' complaints that the plan had been hastily arranged and would strain municipal services. Scientist pleads guilty A senior government scientist originally from Baltimore pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed fees from the same drug manufacturer whose public-private research collaboration he oversaw.

The Andorsky family faced a tough but interesting choice this week. The Ellicott City family has two boys, Dan and Nathan, heading to the Jewish Community Center Maccabi Games that start today in Columbus, Ohio. But the games also are taking place in Rockville this week, and daughter Lilly is taking part there. Parents Claudia and Richard Andorsky had little trouble choosing where to go. "We are going with Lilly, because Lilly has schlepped all over the place to watch her brothers," Richard said.

The frenetic, jumping-up-and-down joy of Ravens fans gave way to Super Bowl fantasies yesterday - and that's when reality set in. Just try getting tickets to The Game, seats on a flight to Tampa, Fla., and a hotel room at this late hour. Oh, yes, they can still be had, but only for a hefty price. Towson Travel was selling packages yesterday with three nights' hotel stay, airfare and game tickets for $3,449 a person, said travel agent Sharon Prajzner. Tickets from Baltimore to Tampa alone were going for $559.

THE FORMER Soviet Union used to celebrate its armed forces with a massive parade of troops in Red Square every November. We do it differently in this country -- in a far less threatening manner -- by parading the best and brightest of our future military leaders from West Point and Annapolis on the day of the Army-Navy football game. It's Baltimore's turn to play host to this event, after a 56-year lapse. The city is trying to make the most of it, too. Baltimore is an ideal setting for this sporting rivalry between the nation's oldest service academies.

Seeking to use a storied football rivalry as a springboard to a major downtown celebration, Baltimore will play host to a "fan fest," a parade and a 609-foot destroyer when Army plays Navy on Dec. 2 at PSINet Stadium. "We're going to pull out all the stops," Mayor Martin O'Malley said yesterday at a news conference to announce four days of events surrounding the nationally televised game that is regarded as one of the greatest rivalries in college sports. "Hosting the game allows Baltimore to show itself off as a city that can host national and international events."

Seeking to use a storied football rivalry as a springboard to a major downtown celebration, Baltimore will play host to a "fan fest," parade and a 609-foot destroyer when Army plays Navy on Dec. 2 at PSINet Stadium. "We're going to pull out all the stops," Mayor Martin O'Malley said yesterday at a news conference to announce four days of events surrounding the nationally televised game that is regarded as one of the greatest rivalries in college sports. Hosting the game allows Baltimore to show itself off as a city that can host national and international events.

Dan Knise walked briskly into the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel in Towson, scarcely breaking his stride as he warmly shook hands, then made a beeline for the hotel directory to check the meeting roster -- all in one fluid motion. Not yet 8 a.m., and the president and chief executive officer of the Washington-Baltimore Regional 2012 Coalition was running 10 minutes early. But that could never last on a day that would take him from his home in McLean, Va., to Towson, to downtown Washington, back out to Columbia, and finally home again.