Grant Hill

Hampstead Town Council's approval of a controversial agreement that allows developer Martin K. P. Hill to proceed with his North Carroll Farms IV subdivision has created a deep rift among council members who until now had displayed unanimity in their actions.After hours of heated debate spanning three public meetings, the council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to grant 49 building permits to Hill, in exchange for infrastructure improvements in the development and a donation of land for open space.

LANDOVER -- Judging by the crowd response last night at the USAir Arena, the Washington Bullets' honeymoon is over. The team was booed as it fell behind by 26 points in the first half to the Detroit Pistons, booed as it missed one easy shot after another, and booed as it left the court in the latest of a line of embarrassing losses."

As hot-stocks maven Dan Dorfman's recent problems run, it (( wasn't much. But his May 1 prediction that Fila Holding S.p.A. stock could drop to $45 by fall is shaping up as a $500 million mistake.People laugh at Dorfman now, but underestimating Fila has practically been a Wall Street art form. And this month, the few remaining Fila skeptics have paid more dearly than ever.Analysts' profit estimates have proven too low for nine straight quarters -- often way too low. Two years ago, even Fila's own investment bankers recommended the shares only tepidly at $15. They're at $86.50 now. Oops.

Opponent: Detroit PistonsSite: Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich.Time: 7:30Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WTEM (570 AM)Outlook: Both teams enter the game with two-game losing streaks. The Pistons (3-5) have five players scoring in double figures, led by F Grant Hill (20.0 ppg), G Joe Dumars (16.7 ppg) and F Otis Thorpe (15.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg). Going into last night's games, Bullets G Robert Pack was second in the league in both assists (10.0) and steals (3.0). F Juwan Howard was 19th in the league in scoring (21.0)

Here it is, less than a week left in the regular season. And here I am with a stack of ballots for postseason awards, not knowing whom to vote for.There are difficult decisions in every major category: Is it David Robinson or Shaquille O'Neal for Most Valuable Player? Did Jason Kidd's late surge during his team's run for the playoffs give him Rookie of the Year, or was Grant Hill's early-season popularity too much to overcome?My choices have been changing daily, and chances are that I won't complete my ballots until the deadline Friday.

The April GQ is a special issue on "The Future of Sports." Gracing its cover is Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill, whose unrelentingly good press raises the question whether he's actually Eddie Haskell with a jump shot: "May I pass you the ball, Mrs. Cleaver?"Profiling Rupert Murdoch's increasingly successful efforts to make professional sports another annex of his empire, Charles P. Pierce offers a winningly bilious antidote to the good-conduct-medal gush about Mr. Hill.As a former laborer in one of the darker of the great man's `D satanic mills (Mr. Pierce was a columnist for the Boston Herald when that publication was among the lesser trophies on Mr. Murdoch's mantel)

It opens with the theme music of "The McLaughlin Group," but the topic of discussion is not politics -- it's basketball. Specifically, the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, with members of the group raving about the skills of Washington Bullets forward Juwan Howard."

Washington Bullets forward Juwan Howard put a positive spin on what's been a dismal season by winning the Rookie of the Month Award for February, the NBA announced yesterday.In 14 games during February, Howard averaged 20.1 points, which included two games of 30 or more points -- a career-high 31 points (and 10 rebounds) against the Miami Heat on Feb. 8 and a 30-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist game against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 21. Howard also averaged 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in February.

In an in-your-face world of backboard-breakers and locker-room screamers, Fila USA thinks it's found a celebrity shoe salesman to top them all: a nice guy.Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill, who will go into Sunday's NBA All-Star Game as the first rookie to receive the most All-Star votes, is at the center of the Hunt Valley company's $8 million campaign to bring its shoes out of the inner cities and into the suburbs.In making the wholesome, soft-spoken Mr. Hill its representative in the multibillion-dollar U.S. athletic shoe market, Fila may be leading the way in lowering the volume in sports marketing.