Make The Team

Dawani Fladger Position: Offensive tackle College: South Carolina State Who he is: Fladger was a rookie free agent who joined the Ravens during the off-season. He started 21 of South Carolina State's last 22 games and played all 11 games as a senior, helping the Bulldogs' offense to more than 350 yards a game. He also blocked two extra-point attempts. How he feels about being away from home: "Of course you miss your family, but right now it's about business. I'm just coming up here trying to do what I can to make this team."

Ripken Stadium will celebrate another "first" tonight when the USA Baseball national team and the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars clash at 7 p.m. in the series opener of their 31st annual series. The five-game, five-site tour against Japan is the first step for the American team en route to the FISU World Championships in Messina, Italy, beginning on Aug. 3. Currently composed of collegiate freshmen and sophomores, the USA squad served as the nation's representative in the Olympic Games until 2000 when manager Tom Lasorda added minor-league pros to a roster that won the gold medal in Sydney, Australia.

The U.S. women's hockey team has a record this season as unblemished as the surface at the E Center, where the gold medal will be decided at the Winter Games. The squad beat Canada, 3-2, on Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia, before a partisan crowd of 6,354, completing an eight-game sweep of its chief rival that began in October. By dominating Canada, the United States has taken some of the drama out of an anticipated rematch of the gold-medal opponents in 1998 in Nagano, where Canada lost, 3-1. Not only have the U.S. women beaten their toughest challenger, they also have bested every collegiate, amateur and foreign team on their barnstorming national tour, posting a 20-0 record.

Cutdown day resembled the unofficial motto of the Washington Redskins this season - go with experience. That is what led the team to sign veterans Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Mark Carrier during the off-season. It continued yesterday when the Redskins cut 13 players. The best case study comes with the punters. The Redskins kept 15-year veteran Tommy Barnhardt and released first-year player Rodney Williams. Williams had the stronger leg and was impressive during camp, but Barnhardt provided more stability and consistency with his punts.

Running backs: Errict Rhett and Jay Graham are competing for the No. 2 position behind Priest Holmes. Coach Brian Billick will probably keep only one, but there is an outside chance he might keep both because Rhett plays well on special teams. Steve Broussard and Eric Metcalf are challenging for the role as the third-down back, and only one will likely make the team.Offensive line: Everett Lindsay is making his second straight start at left guard for the often-injured James Atkins. Keep an eye on center Jeff Mitchell, who was responsible for two sacks last week, according to the coaching staff.

HAGERSTOWN -- The skies were crystal blue, just a couple of cottony clouds snoozing above the mountains, sunshine dripping everywhere, temperatures cruising to 80, a perfect evening to watch the Hagerstown Suns baseball club, in first place with religion on their side.One problem: Almost nobody showed up for the game.The pretzel man resigned himself to serving a dozen pretzels. The pizza woman rang up 15 customers. The souvenir girl sold one hat, one ball, a couple of 50-cent score cards -- that's it.Never has the future looked so bleak for the future of professional baseball in Hagerstown.

This article appeared in an earlier edition of The Sun.As a youngster, Bryan McDermott played on travel teams in baseball, basketball and lacrosse. So his father, Patrick, never expected Bryan to wrestle when he entered Mount St. Joseph four years ago."One day, he comes home and says, `Dad, I just want to wrestle,' " said the elder McDermott."I'll take credit for that," said Gaels athletic director Tony Brockmeyer, who spotted "this tough kid" in a freshman phys-ed wrestling class. Three years later, McDermott's wrestling skill has earned him a partial scholarship to Duquesne University.

It's routine for players to complain about not making the Pro Bowl.It's much more unusual for a player to make the team and admit he didn't think he would.That's what Miami defensive tackle Tim Bowens did last week after he was named to the team even though he has made just 37 tackles, tied for 11th on the team and nine fewer than the team's other tackle, Daryl Gardener."I don't think I'm having a good year," Bowens said. "I couldn't believe [the announcement]. I didn't think I had a shot.

Todd Haskins, a high school soccer standout during the late 1980s who most recently has been playing pro beach soccer, is the first signee of the new Maryland Mania, which begins A-League play in April.The signing of Haskins, 26, who grew up in Columbia, to a one-year deal for undisclosed terms was announced last night.He seems likely to be a midfielder for the Columbia-based entry in pro soccer's top minor league.The Mania, negotiating with others as well, is expected to sign as many as eight or nine players with Maryland ties.

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?