Jack Kent Cooke

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said yesterday that the Washington Redskins were not a significant factor in the NFL's decision to bypass Baltimore when it awarded expansion teams to Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla."Baltimore was not eliminated on geography grounds," Tagliabue said in a national conference call. "The committee we had was broadly representative of the whole country, and the consensus was on the Southeast as the focal point. I think that's what drove the committee's thinking.

If negotiations between Jack Kent Cooke and Washington, D.C., officials are truly terminated, if it comes to the point that there's no chance of preserving a football franchise for our nation's capital, we have to consider what ought to come next. Here's a suggestion.There's a simple way to end all this silliness over building one -- or two -- football stadiums in the Baltimore-Washington megalopolis. Merge our efforts and construct a domed, multi-purpose stadium at Camden Yards. In the end, this ought to make both Gov. William Donald Schaefer and Redskins owner Cooke happy.

Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, downgrading Laurel from a certainty to a "possibility" as a location for his proposed stadium, yesterday said he is looking forward to talking to Gov. Parris N. Glendening about alternative sites in the state but also is considering Virginia.Glendening this week dashed Cooke's hopes for building in Laurel when he vowed to block changes in state roads necessary for the project, even if the team paid for them.But, in contrast with his predecessor, William Donald Schaefer, who urged the Redskins to stay in Washington, Glendening said he would like to help the team build in Maryland if an appropriate site can be found.

Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke is serious about a proposal to build a 78,600-seat football stadium on 55 acres of land adjacent to Laurel Race Course and the only impediment would be if he does not get a green light from state officials, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations said yesterday.But that green light might never come.Page W. Boinest, spokeswoman for Gov. William Donald Schaefer, said yesterday that Schaefer does not now support a Redskins stadium in Laurel, which would create a "Meadowlands South."

CRYSTAL CITY, Va. -- The Americans worked out and then were to watch some foreign films together -- of German women playing soccer.The Germans took yesterday off, some sleeping into the afternoon. They had a date for dinner across the Potomac River and exploring Georgetown.Thus two teams prepared for tonight's 7 o'clock Women's World Cup quarterfinal at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover between the favored, 3-0-0 U.S. team and Germany, generally considered Europe's second best despite its hardly fearsome 1-0-2 group-play finish.

The other night, as he watched a television news report on the Arizona presidential primary, Nicholas, the 5-year-old who lives in my house, asked an important and, I think, trenchant question: "Dad, is Bob Dole still alive?"The rich get richerStadium supporters don't understand why stadium opponents don't appreciate the economic and spiritual riches about to rain on Maryland through the magic hands of Art Modell and Jack Kent Cooke.I'll try to explain. But before I do, please note: What I'm writing here is an end paper because this battle is over.

Who Stephen Bounds IsOn Sept. 19, a Sun editorial posed the question, "who is Stephen Bounds?," regarding my candidacy for the Howard County Board of Education. I would like to answer it for your readers.I am the parent of three children who attend first, third and fifth grades in the Howard County public schools, unlike several of my opponents who have no such personal stake. My agenda is not a hidden one. It is for a return to traditional academic basics so that each child in this county receives an education that is marked by excellence.

Greater Laurel has one question for Jack Kent Cooke: what's in it for us?News that the owner of the Redskins is negotiating to build a $160 million stadium next to the Laurel Race Course has locals weighing the dream of a financial windfall against the traffic nightmare a 78,600-seat stadium would create.Some, like Laurel Mayor Joseph Robison, promptly donned Redskins caps and embraced the proposal with enthusiasm, even though the city of 20,000 residents in Prince George's County would reap few tax benefits.

RALJON -- The debut of the Washington Redskins' new stadium near Landover is still a month away, but comparisons with the Ravens' field under construction downtown have begun.Those involved in the Redskins' project consider it "state of the art" and pointedly note that it is being built with a minimum of public money and with a maximum of private-sector efficiency. To Baltimore partisans, the Redskins' stadium is a stripped-down rush job.The two stadiums, set to open a year apart, have little in common other than 100-yard fields.

It's hard to tell if there really is a cease fire between the forces trying to land a football franchise for Baltimore and the forces favoring a new football stadium in Laurel for the Washington Redskins. The two sides agreed to a 60-day cooling-off period Tuesday, but since then combatants have continued to lob grenades back and forth.Yesterday was no exception. Gov. William Donald Schaefer released a letter he sent to Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke that does little to calm things. The governor said he will not meet with the Redskins owner until Mr. Cooke: a)