Holdout

For the second time in a week, a prominent member of the Denver Broncos' offense said the defending Super Bowl champions are in need of an attitude adjustment.In the wake of a 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Brian Griese reiterated Sunday what tailback Terrell Davis said after a Week 1 loss to Miami."We need a change in attitude," Griese said after getting benched in his second NFL start. "We need to come out and play like we come to dominate the other team."Instead, the Broncos, off to an unthinkable 0-2 start, are being dominated.

Ravens top draft pick Duane Starks is close to ending a 16-day holdout after his agent reached an agreement in principle with the team that will pay the former University of Miami cornerback $7 million, including a $3.1 million signing bonus, over the next four years.Starks and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were trying to complete the deal last night, but the agreement cannot be finalized until today. Rosenhaus and Starks flew from Miami to Baltimore last night.Starks is expected to make $615,000 in base salary his first year, $418,000 in the second, $922,000 in the third and $1.76 million in fourth.

As video shelves around the country make room for boxes and boxes of "Titanic" this week, two things are certain: One, it will do well; two, it will do well with the same people it did well with at the box office.In other words, the only people renting the 2 1/2 -hour epic will be the same people who've seen it already. That's because anyone who hasn't seen it by now is a Titanic Holdout -- someone who is purposely avoiding it on principle.There are a few categories of Titanic Holdouts: those people who prefer not to help the living capitalize off an international tragedy; those who don't like a story in which the majority of the characters' fates end in death; and those for whom the persistent sight of Leonardo DiCaprio would ruin any real moment the picture had to offer.

CHICAGO -- Does he really know what he is risking? That seems to be the key question because Curtis Enis isn't acting like he much cares.His behavior is, if nothing else, age appropriate. At 22, there are no what-if's, only why-not's. Life is full of possibilities, particularly when you are the fifth draft pick in the National Football League and an almost-millionaire. But almost is the operative word here.Will he get hit by a bus tomorrow? Probably not. Might he trip up the stairs and blow out a knee?

Ravens starting center Wally Williams said last night that he plans to join the team at training camp this morning and has no problems with coach Ted Marchibroda possibly moving him to left guard.Williams, in his sixth year, had planned to join the team yesterday morning at Western Maryland College but said he altered those plans because he needed to take care of certain family matters. His absence yesterday seemed to annoy members of the Ravens' front office as well as the coaching staff.

Ravens No. 1 draft pick Duane Starks was the only one of seven picks not to report with 39 other rookies and free agents at the team's training headquarters on the campus of Western Maryland College in Westminster last night.Owner Art Modell said he felt the Ravens were close to a deal with Starks and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and didn't expect a prolonged holdout like a year ago, when top pick Peter Boulware held out for nearly the entire six weeks of training camp.The Ravens have offered Starks, a cornerback from the University of Miami, a five-year, $8.42 million contract that includes a $3.7 million signing bonus and would pay Starks $630,000 this season in base salary.

He's going to sign in time.Barely.Had Duane Starks' pointless holdout lasted any longer, his value to the Ravens this season would have begun to diminish. A rookie cornerback needs training camp.Now that he is going to sign, he has four exhibition games and month of practices to prepare for the regular season -- enough time to make up most of what he missed.It's all up to Starks now, in other words.If he proves to be the quality defensive back the Ravens say he is, he won't suffer for having held out of training camp for 16 days.

Ravens top draft pick Peter Boulware said he is prepared to face boos and unfavorable public opinion from Baltimore fans once he ends his holdout with the team.Boulware, the No. 4 overall pick, from Florida State, was expected to start at outside linebacker, but is in the 27th day of a training-camp holdout. The Ravens' latest offer to Boulware was a six-year contract that includes a $6 million signing bonus.Boulware said his parents have also entered the negotiations, but have advised him to hold out as well.

Of all the holdouts in all the sports that have come down over the years, Peter Boulware's holdout from the Ravens must rank among the more absurd.We know it's not about money, because the Ravens are locked into an offer by the salary cap and both sides know it; they have $1.81 million left in their 1997 rookie salary pool, of which Boulware, as the club's last unsigned rookie, will get every penny.We know it's not about the length of the deal, because the length will be five or six years and both sides know it's not that important, anyway, because they'll probably rework the thing in a few years.

LANDOVER -- Peter Bondra, dressed all in black, entered the Washington Capitals' locker room last night to backslaps, broad smiles and welcome-home wishes.After a 39-day holdout, Bondra and the Capitals reached an agreement on a five-year, $9 million deal yesterday in time for 1995's leading NHL goal-scorer to climb into a uniform and onto the ice for last night's 7-4 loss to Los Angeles."I'm excited, relieved and very happy to have Peter under contract for the next five years," said Capitals general manager David Poile.

News item: Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs will end his contract holdout today and report to the team's Owings Mills training complex, where he'll sign his $8.5 million franchise tender. My take: Does anyone think it was a coincidence that he informed the team of his plans to report on Friday, the day the Ravens broke camp in Westminster? News item: The 10-year, $20 million promotional deal the Green Bay Packers offered Brett Favre included a line of Favre clothing, merchandise and autographed collectibles.

With defensive end-linebacker Terrell Suggs beginning what could be a lengthy holdout, the Ravens defense won't have the same time to jell. But defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said Suggs' absence might not be hurting just the Ravens. "Does it hurt him? That's what you're always worrying about," Ryan said. "I know he's working out, but there's nothing like football shape." Suggs skipped the start of training camp to protest the franchise tag, which kept him from becoming a free agent this offseason.

Some of the photos are fresh from the school photographer, some have faded over time -- but not in Kyung Kim's memory. "This one, she's got two kids now," the shopkeeper said fondly, pointing to one pigtailed little girl and then another, "and this one, she's got three." The photos fill one wall of Sun Grocery and have rounded the corner and started spilling onto the adjacent one. School pictures, graduation pictures, wedding pictures and baby pictures track the lives of the store's customers, and they're the first sign that this isn't your typical small, inner-city store where the customer-shopkeeper relationship is transacted between a thick wall of Plexiglas and mistrust.

After a week of tough words on Mark Clayton's holdout, head coach Brian Billick was a little more diplomatic when discussing the issue Monday morning after practice. "We're going to wear his scrawny little butt out," Billick jokingly said Clayton was on the field for his first training camp practice since ending a five-day holdout and agreeing to a five-year, $8.2 million deal on Friday night. But Billick will take a cautious approach in easing the first-round pick back into the full practice routine, hoping to avoid aggravating the hamstring Clayton originally injured during minicamp.

Coach Brian Billick said the Ravens have delivered their best offer to first-round draft pick Mark Clayton, one that won't change no matter how long the rookie receiver's holdout lasts. "It never has, it never will," Billick said. "It didn't with Kyle Boller. It didn't with Peter Boulware. It hasn't with anyone else. So, you either want to be here or you don't." Two team officials estimated that the sides are between $50,000 and $60,000 apart. That small margin has caused Clayton to miss his fourth day of training camp and remain one of nine unsigned first-round picks.

NEW YORK - In touching her thumb to her forefinger and appearing to flash the "OK" sign to defense lawyers on Friday, a juror in the trial of two former Tyco International executives may have made the most expensive hand gesture in the history of criminal law. Legal experts said such an extraordinary communication would represent a tipping point in the already troubled deliberations in the case, the moment at which the six-month trial might have gone...

With the final holdout over, the competition is finally on. After agreeing to a five-year deal with the Ravens last night, quarterback Kyle Boller jumped on a cross-country flight and will scramble to get to practice at McDaniel College this morning. Terms of the contract were not immediately available. Although Boller missed the first three days of training camp, coach Brian Billick said the first-round pick will be allowed to compete against Chris Redman and Anthony Wright for the starting job. "This has changed the equation a little bit, and it's going to be tougher for him," Billick said.

The Ravens know how quick Terrell Suggs can blitz the quarterback. Now, they'll find out how fast the Arizona State pass rusher can cover 2,300 miles. Suggs, the 10th player selected in the NFL draft, agreed to terms on a five-year, $10.09 million contract last night and was trying to catch a red-eye flight out of Phoenix to make this afternoon's practice. His plane is scheduled to arrive at Baltimore-Washington International Airport at 7 a.m., which would give him enough time to drive to McDaniel College in Westminster, sign his contract and suit up. "He's going to get a little sleep before we put him on the field," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.

Ed Reed's belated entrance into training camp yesterday started with a couple of songs and ended on a sour note. After missing the first week of camp, the rookie free safety had to go through the initiation ritual of singing before a team meeting, belting a tune from the movie, The Five Heartbeats and another from Eric B. & Rakim. But greater humiliation came near the end of his first practice: Reed got beat deep by receiver Brandon Stokley on a 43-yard scoring pass. "You would have got that if you had been here last week!"

Baseball Padres: Recalled P Buddy Carlyle from Triple-A Las Vegas. Phillies: Announced four-year working agreement with Lakewood of Single-A South Atlantic League. Basketball Heat: Re-signed C Duane Causwell. Agreed to terms with F Ron Hale. Suns: Agreed to terms with G Mario Elie, who had been with Spurs. Trail Blazers: Signed G Erick Barkley, first-round draft pick, to multi-year deal. Football 49ers: Waived G Dwayne Ledford. Hockey Capitals: Signed C Jan Bulis to three-year contract.