Make The Team

QUONSET POINT, R.I. -- Like a billowing cloud of steam, the spinnaker undulates and hovers over the bow as the boat cuts through the waves of Rhode Island Sound.Suddenly, the ghost-like form plunges onto the deck. A crewman is standing in a hatch, furiously hauling the sail into a storage compartment below deck, his arms pumping violently and his head and shoulders engulfed by the white mass.In about five seconds, Ryan McCrillis has packed 4,500 square feet of silky cloth into a bag the size of a bale of cotton.

Give the Ravens a breakThe writers at The Sun will not give the Ravens a kind word. And what they print is one-sided opinion that is always slanted to make the team and the franchise look as bad as possible. Why is this?Is there an editorial edict that The Sun sports department take on an air of devil advocacy at every turn with this team? Why is it that we get an analysis of Art Modell's debt service situation rather than how the team is doing in practice this week or how the team stacks up against its next opponent?

The Blast will have a team-record and league-high seven representatives in the Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star Game Feb. 29 in St. Louis, the league announced yesterday. Goalkeeper Scott Hileman, defender Danny Kelly and forward Giuliano Celenza will play for the side representing the United States, while forwards Denison Cabral, Carlos "Chile" Farias and David Bascome and defender Wendell Regis will play for the International squad. "I think having seven players chosen is a reflection of our championship season and our continuing strong performance this year," Blast general manager Kevin Healey said.

The Ravens' receiving corps took another hit Tuesday when veteran Derrick Mason dislocated the middle finger on his right hand trying to scoop up a low throw from quarterback Joe Flacco. Mason suffered the injury during the team's morning practice, went to the locker room for treatment and returned later in street clothes with a wrap on the finger. Coach John Harbaugh said Mason jammed the finger but that "we don't anticipate any problems." Whether Mason, 35 and in his 13th season, will play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Washington Redskins is uncertain, but the shortage of wide-outs could be problematic.

It seemed the money would last forever.At 32, former Orioles right-handed reliever Don Stanhouse still had two years to go on a five-year, $2.2 million contract. He was out of baseball, playing golf and dabbling in real estate in Dallas, but not especially concerned about his future.That contract, signed in the early years of the free-agent market, "seemed like the world," says Stanhouse, 43. "I assumed with the money I made through free agency I'd live forever."Reality dawned sometime around 1985, a year after the contract expired.

The longest preseason is coming to a close. Four years, three continents and dozens of tournaments later, the U.S. Olympic women's volleyball team is in its final countdown for the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.Tonight at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., the United States takes on China in an exhibition. In four months, the matches will be for real and for gold."It's getting close, and it's getting exciting," said U.S. setter Lori Endicott. "We were in Barcelona last October, and you could see the city getting ready.

It's been nine months since the Middletown disaster and everybody around the North Carroll girls basketball team is trying to forget it.But it's not easy.Teams just don't get blown away, 71-33, in regional championship games very often. Especially teams that have two accomplished senior players like Michele Jeffery and Ashlee Douglas.That loss was so devastating for North Carroll coach Greg Knill that he has completely revamped his philosophy for this season."I learned a lesson as a coach last season," said Knill.

It was four years ago when Ashlee Douglas was a senior at North Carroll considering what college to attend and which sport to play."I only looked at Towson State and Western Maryland College, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to play," she said last fall. "Then I just thought, 'Why not go for it all?' At Towson, I could play Division I ball with a new program, and figured I had a chance to make an impact from the start."The "Division I ball" she was referring to was soccer and she indeed made an impact, leading the Tigers to a 10-7-2 mark this past fall and finishing her four-year career as the program's all-time scoring leader with 18 goals and another school record 26 assists.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Jeffrey Hammonds was given a clean bill of health during the winter, but the proof has been in the preseason.Hammonds, who missed much of last season with a herniated disk in his neck, had two run-scoring triples yesterday, as the Orioles hammered the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-5, for their first victory of the exhibition season.The 23-year-old outfielder, who was selected yesterday as Baseball America's preseason favorite as top rookie for 1994, is off to a terrific start at the plate.

Running back Willie Latta said this is his last chance to prove he can play the game at a professional level. Offensive lineman John James is entering his third pro tryout, yet still sees himself as a rookie. For quarterback Dan Crowley, it's an opportunity to begin a new career at the same place where he made his mark as a collegiate star.They are three of the 43 rookies who reported to the Baltimore Football Club's first day of training camp yesterday at Towson State.Besides bringing their hopes and dreams, the rookies brought a sense of realism, recognizing the math that will make their tasks that much tougher.