Nighthawks

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The anxiety attack continued for the Skipjacks last night.In need of a few lucky breaks to break out of their three-week tailspin, all the Skipjacks got was another excuse to feel sorry for themselves. This time, Baltimore outshot the New Haven Nighthawks 41-19 but lost, 5-3, before 4,682 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum."Right now, we're a team that has to overcome everything," said Baltimore coach Rob Laird. "We have to fight off bad calls, bad bounces and hot goaltenders."

Johnny Castle , a 12-year resident of Hickory Ridge Village, in Columbia, was honored with his band mates, the Nighthawks , with the 2011 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album of the Year. Their release, "Last Train From Bluesville" was recorded live at XM/Sirius studios, in Washington. The Nighthawks will perform at the Second Chance Saloon Sept. 9.

The anger in the locker room after last night's Skipjacks game wasn't so much about losing it to New Haven as much as how it was lost.Down 3-2 with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Jacks poured into the Nighthawks' zone with an extra attacker, looking for the equalizer.With 11 seconds left, a Ken Lovsin shot made its way behind goalie Robb Stauber, but clearly inches from being over the line. The crease was quickly flooded with players and after the net was jolted off of its moorings and the pile was removed, it appeared the puck was in for a goal.

Bethesda -- The Maryland Nighthawks of the newly formed Premier Basketball League are banking that former Towson University guard Tamir Goodman still has enough cachet to help the fledgling league get off the ground. At a news conference held at Georgetown Prep yesterday, Nighthawks owner and league chief executive officer Tom Doyle introduced the player dubbed the "Jewish Jordan" by talking about his skills on and off the court. "This is somebody who epitomizes everything not only this team but this league should be about," Doyle said.

The New Haven Nighthawks are one of the teams that the Skipjacks are supposed to beat.New Haven, an independent club, has been struggling most of the season and has been begging and borrowing players from anywhere it can get them. The Nighthawks have two Washington Capitals' draft choices, goalie Byron Dafoe and right wing Andrei Kovalev.However, New Haven dealt Baltimore its fifth loss in a row, 6-5 in overtime at the Baltimore Arena last night.This stretched the Skipjacks' winless streak to seven (0-6-1)

What a difference a day makes.Friday night, the Baltimore Skipjacks trounced the New Haven Nighthawks, 8-3, scoring almost at will in the third period.Yesterday, less than 24 hours later, the Nighthawks edged the Skipjacks, 3-2, before 3,617 at the Baltimore Arena, as the Skipjacks couldn't buy a goal in the third period.The loss ended the Skipjacks' three-game winning streak and was Baltimore's third loss in 11 home games."We didn't have a very good first period," said Skipjacks coacRob Laird.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- At this point in their season, the Baltimore Skipjacks would be the first to admit that one point is better than none -- especially on the road.But the Skipjacks couldn't be blamed for wondering what would have been last night had the New Haven Nighthawks not scored twice within 31 seconds of the third period to tie Baltimore, 3-3, before 5,549 at the Coliseum.The point extended to three Baltimore's lead over the Adirondack Red Wings for third place in the Southern Division; the Skipjacks are 36-32-7 this season.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The weekend wasn't a complete loss for the Baltimore Skipjacks.After losing successive home games to Maine, Baltimore capitalized on a controversial call and beat the New Haven Nighthawks, 3-2, before 1,838 at the New Haven Coliseum.With the game tied 1-1, Nighthawks defenseman Jerry Tarrant checked right wing John Purves into the boards behind the New Haven net. Under a new rule -- Rule 45, to be precise -- the referee can assess a five-minute major penalty if bodily harm is deemed intentional.

The New Haven Nighthawks are one of the teams that the Skipjacks are supposed to beat.New Haven, an independent club, has been struggling most of the season and has been begging and borrowing players from anywhere it can get them. The Nighthawks have two Washington Capitals draft choices, goalie Byron Dafoe and right wing Andrei Kovalev.However, New Haven dealt Baltimore its fifth loss in a row, 6-5 in overtime at the Baltimore Arena last night.This stretched the Skipjacks' winless streak to seven (0-6-1)

CHEVY CHASE -- As Maryland Nighthawks owner Tom Doyle spoke glowingly of the player he hopes can create buzz for his minor league team and the struggling American Basketball Association, the object of his admiration stood close by, looking down at the assembled media - from way up high. At 7 feet 9, Sun Ming Ming had no choice in that matter. The Nighthawks have declared Sun, 23, a native of Bayan, China, the tallest player in professional basketball history. And they plan to unveil their latest project and largest threat Saturday night against the Strong Island Sound at their Montgomery College home court in Rockville.

Bethesda-- --Tamir Goodman's new team has pulled publicity stunts before. Within the past two years, the Maryland Nighthawks minor league basketball team has put then-Raven Adalius Thomas, past-his-NBA-prime Gheorghe Muresan and a 7-foot-9 Chinese player in uniform and trumpeted the hiring of "a Boeheim" to coach. It was Barbara Boeheim, sister of the Hall of Fame Syracuse coach. For anyone who has had to filter through announcements like this, word that the team has now signed "the Jewish Jordan" - with apologies to Goodman, who has never been fond of that nickname - has to be greeted with skepticism.

Tamir Goodman is coming home. And this time, he'll gladly leave his old nickname behind him, stashed with all the hype and unmet expectations that became such a burden. Goodman, dubbed the "Jewish Jordan" by Sports Illustrated during his junior year at Talmudical Academy in Baltimore, will join the Maryland Nighthawks of the new Premier Basketball League after playing professionally in Israel. He'll be introduced to the media Wednesday at a news conference at Georgetown Prep, and his first game will be in January.

Edward Hopper was the greatest American realist painter of the 20th century. Yet to label Hopper a realist also risks misstating the peculiar quality of his genius. The world of Hopper's paintings feels deeply familiar, but it is also deeply strange - preternaturally silent, austere and inward looking, peopled by isolated, disconnected individuals trapped in moods of reverie, anticipation or despair in unprepossessing spaces that only emphasize the emotional distance between them. Hopper's most famous images - lonely city storefronts and apartment buildings, lamp-lit hotel rooms and offices, gingerbread seaside homes and rocky beaches splashed by slanting shafts of sunlight - are the stuff of realistic depiction, but he also made them uncanny, as if they were clues to a riddle that we can never quite unravel.

Debra Miller doesn't hesitate to correct people when they make assumptions about her new Baltimore women's football team. "They always say, `Oh, flag football? Two-hand touch? That's nice,'" said Miller, 47, who teaches middle school in Bel Air and has played tackle football for seven years. "They just can't picture women playing tackle. They don't believe that women can hit." But hit they do. Yesterday, about 20 women came to Forge Field off York Road north of the city line to try out for the Baltimore Nighthawks, the area's newest tackle football team.

CHEVY CHASE -- As Maryland Nighthawks owner Tom Doyle spoke glowingly of the player he hopes can create buzz for his minor league team and the struggling American Basketball Association, the object of his admiration stood close by, looking down at the assembled media - from way up high. At 7 feet 9, Sun Ming Ming had no choice in that matter. The Nighthawks have declared Sun, 23, a native of Bayan, China, the tallest player in professional basketball history. And they plan to unveil their latest project and largest threat Saturday night against the Strong Island Sound at their Montgomery College home court in Rockville.

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As anyone who knows cliches knows, it's awfully tough to beat a team three times during a season.The abbreviated National Lacrosse League playoffs begin this weekend -- Philadelphia plays in Toronto tonight and the Thunder plays host to the Rochester Nighthawks tomorrow (7: 30 p.m.) -- and that's the situation the home forces face.The Thunder slugged Rochester, 20-13, to open the season at the Baltimore Arena on Jan. 2 and repeated over the Hawks, 14-11, a couple of weeks ago on the shores of Lake Ontario.

ROCKVILLE -- As he stepped onto the hard court early in the second quarter, and with his team up just a point, Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas wore a look on his face that left no doubt as to where his mind-set was. It may not have been the sport Thomas makes his money in, but a stone face was in order nonetheless. "This is these guys' livelihood," Thomas said of his Maryland Nighthawks teammates. "The last thing I wanted to do was come in here and take it lightly. I took it serious."

Moves Baseball INDIANS: Signed P Bob Howry to one-year contract. TIGERS: Agreed to terms with P Justin Verlander on five-year contract. Basketball HAWKS: Signed F Donnell Harvey. Waived G Jeff Myers, G Saddi Washington and C Reggie Butler. JAZZ: Waived F Peter Cornell and F Cedric Henderson. RAPTORS: Released G Norm Richardson and F Ousmane Cisse. MARYLAND NIGHTHAWKS (ABA): Signed Jamal Shivers. Colleges MASSACHUSETTS: Suspended football player Michael Torres. OHIO STATE: Suspended RB Lydell Ross for one game.