Main Thing

"I'm having fun and I love it. We have a nice bunch of girls here. The main thing is it gets you out of the house." Phyllis Huxford Athlete (above) who plays basketball at 78 for the Hot Pink Grannies in the Iowa Granny Basketball League

When a player collects 1,000 hits in his career, it can mean only two things. That is, when you're Orioles outfielder Jay Payton and you're doing the math. "It either means you're old or you're young and really, really good," Payton said, one day after reaching the milestone. "And since I'm not young and really, really good, I guess that just means I'm old. But I've been able to stick around long enough to get it, so I'm doing something right, I guess." Manager Sam Perlozzo was a little more generous in his praise.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Tayshaun Prince led Kentucky in scoring last night, but he didn't inflict the kind of damage upon Maryland that he did on Tulsa in the Wildcats' second-round victory. The willowy, 6-foot-10 senior wing nearly reached his average with 17 points at the Carrier Dome in an NCAA tournament East Regional semifinal, but he worked for every one and didn't come close to breaking loose for another 41-point outburst. Thank you, Byron Mouton. Given the similarities between Prince and Mike Dunleavy, there was speculation that Maryland coach Gary Williams might mark the Kentucky star with Chris Wilcox, who shut down the Duke junior at Cole Field House last month.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- The only tolerable part was watching his Venezuelan countrymen, guys whom Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora refers to as his brothers. For that reason only, Mora picked up the remote in his Fallston home and turned on the playoffs, no matter how painful it was. The New York Mets' Endy Chavez and the Detroit Tigers' Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez took their turns as October playoff heroes, while Mora relived the sting of another disappointing season. It wasn't considering his statistics that hurt so much - even though they dropped significantly in just about every category - it was the Orioles' familiar place in the standings and that he'd have to wait another long offseason to do anything about it. It has been seven seasons since Mora was on a playoff team, but it hasn't gotten any easier to accept.

HOUSTON - Rather than enjoy a game in which he again teased the NFL by showcasing the potential to become a big-play receiver, Travis Taylor chose to concern himself with the future. Specifically, Taylor is eager to find out if he can follow up yesterday's five-catch, 96-yard show that also included a leaping touchdown in a 23-19 Ravens win over the Houston Texans. "This is just one game," Taylor said. "My main thing is being consistent game in and out, every week. That's my main thing, being consistent with it. "It's not just one game and then you fall off. I want to go week in and week out and be one of those dominant receivers where teams can depend on me to make plays.

Wally Joyner had stepped on Cal Ripken's fielder's glove scrambling to get back to the second base bag. Ripken's exposed right index finger also was in the way.The day after that July 13 game this season, Ripken showed off the 2 1/2 -inch tear in the back of the glove. His finger was unscathed.The finger, not the glove, is an indicator of how Ripken has been able to play in 2,131 consecutive games. Like many other major-leaguers, he's a big, strong, mentally tough and well-conditioned athlete.

LOS ANGELES -- Magic Johnson has met the press in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Detroit in the past three weeks, and has kept reporters on their toes with something new at every stop.The feeling here is that people can't read enough about him -- particularly in Los Angeles where he played for the Lakers since 1979. Here are some excerpts from last Saturday's 30-minute session before the Lakers-Pistons game in Auburn Hills, Mich., that did not make it into most news reports or sound bites on television:* ON HIS HEALTH: "I feel good, I feel great.

When a player collects 1,000 hits in his career, it can mean only two things. That is, when you're Orioles outfielder Jay Payton and you're doing the math. "It either means you're old or you're young and really, really good," Payton said, one day after reaching the milestone. "And since I'm not young and really, really good, I guess that just means I'm old. But I've been able to stick around long enough to get it, so I'm doing something right, I guess." Manager Sam Perlozzo was a little more generous in his praise.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- The only tolerable part was watching his Venezuelan countrymen, guys whom Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora refers to as his brothers. For that reason only, Mora picked up the remote in his Fallston home and turned on the playoffs, no matter how painful it was. The New York Mets' Endy Chavez and the Detroit Tigers' Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez took their turns as October playoff heroes, while Mora relived the sting of another disappointing season. It wasn't considering his statistics that hurt so much - even though they dropped significantly in just about every category - it was the Orioles' familiar place in the standings and that he'd have to wait another long offseason to do anything about it. It has been seven seasons since Mora was on a playoff team, but it hasn't gotten any easier to accept.

While watching Robert E. Smith III play pitcher or catcher for the Presstman Cardinals under-14 baseball team, Robert II, often wonders if his son knows the history of the uniform he wears.Or if he knows how 26 years ago his grandfather and former Negro League baseball player, Robert E. Smith I, dreamed up the concept of a team for city youngsters -- many of whom were the sons of former Negro League players.Or how grandfather picked the team mascot because of the manycardinals that perched daily on his car in front of the same house -- 3307 Presstman Street -- where the league's 66-year-old patriarch is convalescing from prostate cancer treatment.

"I'm having fun and I love it. We have a nice bunch of girls here. The main thing is it gets you out of the house." Phyllis Huxford Athlete (above) who plays basketball at 78 for the Hot Pink Grannies in the Iowa Granny Basketball League

HOUSTON - Rather than enjoy a game in which he again teased the NFL by showcasing the potential to become a big-play receiver, Travis Taylor chose to concern himself with the future. Specifically, Taylor is eager to find out if he can follow up yesterday's five-catch, 96-yard show that also included a leaping touchdown in a 23-19 Ravens win over the Houston Texans. "This is just one game," Taylor said. "My main thing is being consistent game in and out, every week. That's my main thing, being consistent with it. "It's not just one game and then you fall off. I want to go week in and week out and be one of those dominant receivers where teams can depend on me to make plays.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Tayshaun Prince led Kentucky in scoring last night, but he didn't inflict the kind of damage upon Maryland that he did on Tulsa in the Wildcats' second-round victory. The willowy, 6-foot-10 senior wing nearly reached his average with 17 points at the Carrier Dome in an NCAA tournament East Regional semifinal, but he worked for every one and didn't come close to breaking loose for another 41-point outburst. Thank you, Byron Mouton. Given the similarities between Prince and Mike Dunleavy, there was speculation that Maryland coach Gary Williams might mark the Kentucky star with Chris Wilcox, who shut down the Duke junior at Cole Field House last month.

Wally Joyner had stepped on Cal Ripken's fielder's glove scrambling to get back to the second base bag. Ripken's exposed right index finger also was in the way.The day after that July 13 game this season, Ripken showed off the 2 1/2 -inch tear in the back of the glove. His finger was unscathed.The finger, not the glove, is an indicator of how Ripken has been able to play in 2,131 consecutive games. Like many other major-leaguers, he's a big, strong, mentally tough and well-conditioned athlete.

While watching Robert E. Smith III play pitcher or catcher for the Presstman Cardinals under-14 baseball team, Robert II, often wonders if his son knows the history of the uniform he wears.Or if he knows how 26 years ago his grandfather and former Negro League baseball player, Robert E. Smith I, dreamed up the concept of a team for city youngsters -- many of whom were the sons of former Negro League players.Or how grandfather picked the team mascot because of the manycardinals that perched daily on his car in front of the same house -- 3307 Presstman Street -- where the league's 66-year-old patriarch is convalescing from prostate cancer treatment.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- His batting average was sinking, his home run torrent had slowed to a trickle, and he was struggling to right a relationship going inexorably wrong. With everything falling apart around him last season, Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire considered becoming a recluse to hide from the critics who were compounding his miseries."I said, 'Do I stay in my house and not go out?' I went out," he said."It's being able to look at yourself in the mirror. You have to face it. Sure, it's tough and people look at you differently.

MOST PRESIDENTS run into unavoidable trouble by the time they reach midterm, but George Bush is different.Many of his troubles were not only avoidable but predictable, and this has hurt him because they raise questions about his judgment.In a way, the criticism of his budget difficulties has been extreme if not unfair. Fights between repulicans and Democrats over how to raise and spend money are unavoidable.Put a few hundred billion on the table and they usually pounce on it like pit bulls.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- His batting average was sinking, his home run torrent had slowed to a trickle, and he was struggling to right a relationship going inexorably wrong. With everything falling apart around him last season, Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire considered becoming a recluse to hide from the critics who were compounding his miseries."I said, 'Do I stay in my house and not go out?' I went out," he said."It's being able to look at yourself in the mirror. You have to face it. Sure, it's tough and people look at you differently.

LOS ANGELES -- Magic Johnson has met the press in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Detroit in the past three weeks, and has kept reporters on their toes with something new at every stop.The feeling here is that people can't read enough about him -- particularly in Los Angeles where he played for the Lakers since 1979. Here are some excerpts from last Saturday's 30-minute session before the Lakers-Pistons game in Auburn Hills, Mich., that did not make it into most news reports or sound bites on television:* ON HIS HEALTH: "I feel good, I feel great.

The writer E. B. White, who spent nearly half a century on a saltwater farm on the Maine coast, once observed that if you didn't learn anything else driving into the Pine Tree State along U.S. 1, you'd certainly learn how to spell the word "moccasin."Maine's main drag, U.S. Route 1, or just Route 1, as the natives call it, is the major artery for the state's torrent of summer tourists, the road to Vacationland, the state's official nickname.From near the old sardine cannery town of Eastport, the first place in the nation to see the sunrise, to southernmost Kittery, where Maine gets mixed up with the rest of the country, Route 1 winds drunkenly along 300 miles of crenulated coastline.