Main Event

WASHINGTON -- Two months after being accused of using steroids, Roger Clemens faces off against his accuser at a hearing today with his reputation at stake and law enforcement authorities ready to pounce if either is found to be lying. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform could recommend sometime after today's highly anticipated hearing that the Justice Department open a perjury investigation focused on Clemens or trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee says he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with steroids and human growth hormone, a charge Clemens has vehemently denied.

It has been 30 years since the original Young Columbians performed their musical salute to America on stages across the country, but alumni who are planning to revive the show this weekend at Merriweather Post Pavilion believe it will all come back to them. "E-mails are flying around about it being a little scary," said Ric Ryder, a New York actor and one of the returning members. "The thing I know from experience is there is a muscle memory that lasts forever." He said the bonds between the performers will surely return, as well.

Earning a few bucks between semesters is what a lot of college kids hope to do during the summer. And Jeff Madsen, a senior at Cal State-Santa Barbara, is no different. Except in Madsen's case, the haul this summer has been a little more than $1.4 million - and counting. The 21-year-old film student not only became the youngest person ever to win a World Series of Poker championship, but he has done it twice. About a week ago, he set the age record when he took down a no-limit hold 'em $2,000 buy-in tournament at the Rio All-Suites Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

The debate over whether winning poker is more a result of skill or luck will probably never be completely settled. But for those who subscribe to the philosophy that being good really is better than being lucky, the current World Series of Poker being held at the Rio All-Suites casino in Las Vegas is providing convincing evidence. Even with record-setting numbers of players competing for the 45 gold bracelets that are up for grabs through the seven weeks of competition, famous names - some already with championship bracelets on their wrists - continue to hack their way through the massive fields to final tables and even win some tournaments outright.

Results from the recent poker Tournament of Champions had a familiar ring - local whiz Steve Dannenmann finished right behind Australian pro Joseph Hachem - but the payoff wasn't nearly as lucrative as it was a year ago. When those two finished one-two at the World Series of Poker main event last summer, Hachem pocketed $7.5 million and Dannenmann won $4.25 million. But when both were bounced Sunday in the early stages of the 27-person field of the Tournament of Champions at the Rio casino in Las Vegas, neither got a penny of the $2 million pot. The final table, with Ireland's Andrew Black as the chip leader, began play late yesterday.

If you play poker and sometimes wonder if you'll ever figure out the game, you have plenty of company. And not just among fellow card players. Television is still trying to get a handle on how to best present a game that has been a short-term small-screen phenomenon but whose very nature - long periods when little happens - makes it a challenge for producers. Examples of contrasting TV styles are ESPN's World Series of Poker broadcasts, which are produced more like documentaries focusing on personalties across the breadth of an entire tournament, and the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour that zeros in on the hand-by-hand action at a single six-person final table.

Baseball Dodgers@Nationals Where -- RFK Stadium, Washington When -- Tonight, 7:05; tomorrow, 1:20 p.m.; Sunday, 1:05 p.m. What now? -- If fans from Baltimore didn't take the drive last weekend to see the Orioles play at RFK, the odds aren't good for a big crowd for the Los Angeles series. Tickets are available for all three games on Washington's Web site. Online -- nationals.com Running Run for the Nations Where -- Ma & Pa Heritage Trail, 702 North Tollgate Road, Bel Air When -- Tomorrow, registration at 8 a.m., youth race at 9 a.m., adult race at 10 a.m. What now?

Donald Trump has his apprentices, and now poker pro Daniel Negreanu has his protege. A 27-year-old Connecticut accountant won an unusual poker tournament prize yesterday when he outlasted nine other players in Toronto and earned the opportunity to be tutored by Negreanu in the art and science of holdin' 'em and foldin' 'em, plus a bankroll to enter four $10,000 buy-in tournaments. Brian Fidler, the winner, plans to attend the World Poker Tour event at the Mirage in Las Vegas this month and the World Series of Poker main event at the Rio in Vegas this summer, as well as two yet-to-be-decided big-time tournaments.

Within the past couple of years, a slew of chic stores and restaurants have opened in Mount Airy, turning a small-town Main Street into a popular shopping destination. The shift started about five years ago, when several store owners got together to form the Downtown Business Association. Together, they staged such events as a Second Saturday Stroll. On the second Saturday of the month, stores stay open later. Sometimes, musicians are hired to serenade shoppers. The association also organizes festivals in the spring and fall, nonprofit events featuring artists, music, food and other entertainment.

At last year's World Series of Poker main event final table, a bewhiskered older gentleman in a straw hat took center stage at the game he loved for one final time. Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson, who had won the main event in 1973, commandeered a microphone and sang his trademark tune, "Roving Gambler," and I'm sure there were quite a few folks watching who wondered: Just who is this guy? It was this quirky old fellow's contribution to poker that probably led to more than 5,600 people gathering to play in last year's championship and millions more developing an infatuation with the game over the past few years.