Left Knee

Cristi Samaras has always relied on her explosive moves to goal. Even as an All-Metro and All-America high school lacrosse player at Annapolis High, the Princeton senior left baffled defenders in her wake.A blistering first step and deceptive change of direction helped Samaras set scoring records at Princeton and earn 1998 Ivy League Player of the Year honors.In a split second last Halloween, however, Samaras feared that trademark burst of power had disappeared forever. Her left knee gave way in an exhibition game with the U.S. national team at Virginia.

MIAMI -- You can second-guess his judgment and ponder his long-term health, but you can't question Mark Schlereth's heart.After 22 surgeries on six different body parts, he will line up at left guard for the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII without regret."

COLLEGE PARK -- Tony Jackson doesn't smile much these days.No wonder.A third injury in three years at Maryland has jolted his football career again and could result in a medical hardship season in what was supposed to be a breakthrough year for the promising junior strong safety from Wilde Lake."

Astros: Craig Biggio scored his 1,000th career run. Ricky Gutierrez left in the sixth after straining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He is day-to-day.Brewers: Milwaukee has stolen only one base this season while opponents have been successful stealing 11 times. Jeff Cirillo had a double and has a .393 career average against Houston (22-for-56).Cardinals: Rookie J.D. Drew was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is 2-for-18. Eric Davis is 3-for-23.Cubs: Chicago finished 2-4 on the first road trip of the season and went winless in a three-game series in Pittsburgh for the first time since 1990.

Quote: "We got our butts kicked. I don't like it. The team doesn't like it." -- Manager Bobby Valentine after the Mets' 12-1 loss to the Braves.It's a fact: Philadelphia's Curt Schilling has pitched through the seventh inning in 20 of his 21 starts.Who's hot: Cincinnati has won 15 of 16 games, its best stretch since an identical run in 1975 as the Big Red Machine.Who's not: The Cubs' Sammy Sosa didn't homer in the three-game series vs. Pittsburgh and is homerless in his past five games. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Braves: Infielder Keith Lockhart remains day-to-day with a partially torn left rotator cuff.Marlins: Outfielder Cliff Floyd needed nine stitches to close a gash he suffered in his left knee after colliding with the left-field wall Tuesday night. Floyd didn't start, but was available for pinch-hitting duties.Phillies: Rico Brogna had a stolen base in the second and fourth innings to set up Philadelphia's first two runs. Left-hander Billy Brewer has a torn ligament in his elbow. He will have reconstructive surgery next week and is expected to be out for the rest of the season.

BaseballAngels: Agreed to terms on minor-league contract with P Rich Robertson.Braves: Agreed to $700,000, one-year contract with 2B Keith Lockhart.Cardinals: Agreed to $3.5 million, one-year contract with SS Royce Clayton.Cubs: Re-signed P Mark Clark to $5.05 million, one-year contract and P Kevin Foster to $1.45 million, one-year contract.Expos: Re-signed IF Shane Andrews, IF Trace Coquillette and OF Darond Stovall. Signed P Mike Maddux and OF Lee Tinsley to minor-league contracts and invited them to spring training.

The Ravens' wounded secondary took another major hit yesterday when veteran strong safety Stevon Moore learned he would miss the remainder of the season with a left knee fracture.Moore, a nine-year veteran who has made a team-high 77 consecutive starts dating to his days as a Cleveland Brown, will have surgery to repair an osteochondral fracture in the knee next week by team doctor Claude T. Moorman.Moore, who had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee on Aug. 1 and has played in pain to some degree for the entire season, had the knee drained the day before and the day after Sunday's 29-27 loss in Jacksonville.

The smell of a steaming plate of Kailua pig still can make Leo Goeas long for his native land of Oahu, Hawaii. But, eight years into an NFL career that has included three teams and two coasts, the transplanting of Goeas is complete.Goeas has purchased a spread of land in Colorado, where he plans to build his final home after his football career ends. He, his wife and three children have settled into their two-acre Fallston spread. And the Ravens are banking on Goeas becoming a fixture on their offensive line at left guard.

BaseballMets: Named Kevin Blankenship scouting supervisor for Southern California.Padres: Named Tom House international baseball consultant.1% White Sox: Signed P Kevin Tapani.BasketballBullets: Signed F Bob McCann for the rest of the season.FTC Magic: Activated C Jon Koncak. Placed F Jeff Turner (effusion in left knee) on injured list.CollegeGeorgia Southern: F Jeff Cliett left basketball team.Iowa: Extended contract of football coach Hayden Fry, 66, through June 30, 2000. His current contract would have expired on June 30, 1998.

Woods says he'll be back - and better than before golf At Tiger Woods' first news conference in 184 days, the most powerful statement about the golfer's health and future required no words at all. Does he have any doubts he will be better than before? Woods turned up the bottom of his lip, shook his head three times and mumbled, "Uh-uh," as if that had never entered his mind. Six months after reconstructive surgery on his left knee to repair a ruptured ligament - his third surgery in six years - Woods said yesterday that he was right on schedule to return, already hitting short irons and excited about playing on a leg that has never been more stable.

Le'Ron McClain didn't get the start last night, but his performance was no less noteworthy in the Ravens' 24-10 win against the Washington Redskins at M&T Bank Stadium. Injuries to Willis McGahee and rookie Ray Rice made McClain the Ravens' only healthy tailback, but the second-year fullback did not disappoint. On the offense's game-cementing 12-play drive in the fourth quarter, McClain carried the football 10 times for 43 yards. He opened the series with five consecutive rushes for 28 yards and ran five straight times for 15 more.

Running back Clinton Portis was again absent from the Washington Redskins' practice field yesterday, making his chances of playing in Sunday's NFC East game against the Dallas Cowboys appear more and more remote. If the words uttered by his backups are any indication, Redskins fans need not worry. Shaun Alexander, Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright and Mike Sellers all touted their credentials as quality fill-ins should Portis' sprained left knee keep the NFL's second-leading rusher out of a game that will be pivotal for Washington's playoff chances.

Ravens strong safety Dawan Landry sustained what the team is calling a spinal cord concussion near the end of the first half of yesterday's game against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium, but initial reports seem to suggest he did not suffer any serious, permanent injury. According to team spokesman Kevin Byrne, Landry, who was carted off the field, had regained full movement by last night but was staying overnight at Maryland Shock Trauma Center as a precaution. "We're thankful for Dawan's situation," coach John Harbaugh said.

Tom Brady went from the disappointment of a Super Bowl loss to the devastation of an injury that likely will keep him out the rest of the season, according to media reports. The injury to his left knee is serious, and Brady isn't expected to play again this season, according to NFL.com and Yahoo.com. He left yesterday's season-opening win against visiting Kansas City in the first quarter after being hit on the left leg by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Coach Bill Belichick provided no information on the injury, but Pollard had a diagnosis of his own. "He was in a lot of pain," he said.

QUARTERBACK DERBY Troy Smith and rookie Joe Flacco split most of the repetitions during full-team drills yesterday, and both faltered badly. Smith was intercepted three times (by linebacker Ray Lewis, free safety Ed Reed and strong safety Dawan Landry) in his first eight pass attempts, and cornerback Samari Rolle nearly squeezed in one more. The defense sniffed out a flea-flicker by Flacco, and he would have been sacked by linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo and defensive tackle Salomon Solano.

QUARTERBACK DERBY Quarterbacks Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and rookie Joe Flacco - and the offense in general - put on their best display of training camp. Their timing with the receivers was much improved, and none of them tossed an interception. If one had an edge, it was Flacco, the only quarterback to throw for a touchdown during a red-zone drill. He connected with wide receiver Derrick Mason, who corralled the ball over cornerback Derrick Martin in the rear-left portion of the end zone.

QUARTERBACK DERBY Breaking sharply from what had been the norm over the past several days, all three Ravens quarterbacks had good outings during yesterday morning's practice at McDaniel College in Westminster. Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and rookie Joe Flacco all had zip on their passes. Boller's best pass was during a seven-on-seven drill with wide receivers Matt Willis and Marcus Smith, a rookie, running similar post patterns, with Willis a few yards deeper. Boller slung the ball over Smith and cornerback Corey Ivy to a wide-open Willis, who would have added substantial yardage downfield.

Less than 18 hours after getting his room card key and playbook, Chad Slaughter was lining up at left offensive tackle with the first offense yesterday morning. That's how Slaughter was welcomed to his first day with the Ravens after the team signed him Wednesday afternoon. Slaughter's whirlwind journey from laying concrete to laying the wood caught even the six-year veteran by surprise. "My head is still spinning 100 mph," said Slaughter, who played 43 games for the Oakland Raiders (2002-2006)

Marlene Freed knows what's coming. For 10 relaxing minutes, she has been lying on her back, with ice chilling the swollen tissue around a seven-inch scar on her right leg -- the spot where doctors inserted her new titanium knee. The 68-year-old Olney resident is laughing and chatting. But when physical therapist Chris Gnip climbs onto the table and starts to bend her knee, pushing it carefully but relentlessly toward her chest, Freed clams up. She closes her eyes and starts to breathe deeply.