Opinion

Fact: (excerpted from the 1994 baseball season): ". . . needing just two more wins to lock up that wild-card spot . . ."Opinion: You could have gotten some pretty terrific odds on the Orioles' making this run with three starters (Rick Sutcliffe, Jamie Moyer, Fernando Valenzuela) who were discarded by their former employers.Fact: Seven major-league teams are experiencing drops in attendance this year, as opposed to 16 last year. Oakland is the biggest loser so far.Opinion: This year's top four NBA picks (Chris Webber, Shawn Bradley, Anfernee Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn)

Opinion: The people of Tampa will never build a new stadium for Malcolm Glazer. He'll be shopping the team in three years.Fact: The Bucs traded Steve Young to the 49ers in 1987 for second-round and fourth-round draft picks that turned into players named Bruce Hill and Winston Moss.Opinion: A 48-game hockey season? Hmm. Let's do it every year.Fact: The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't throw into the end zone until fourth down of their final, goal-line series against the Chargers last Sunday.Opinion: Memo to Andre Agassi: Give us a break.

I have been following the controversy regarding the signs for Gregg Bernstein on Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld's yard. I am aware of the discussions and the push backs. However, I was appalled that Justin Fenton and/or Julie Scharper deemed in necessary to ask and print former Mayor Sheila Dixon's reaction and opinion ("Bealefeld removes his political signs," Aug. 12). Ms. Dixon embarrassed our city, her office and herself, and I don't believe her opinion should be requested for any city issue, even if she had prior involvement with appointments and previous support of personnel.

Fact: When a recent ESPN study asked teen-agers to name their favorite pro team and athlete, just 6 percent named a baseball team and just 4 percent named a baseball player.Opinion: The Cowboys will whip the Redskins if they play in January.Fact (Part I): AL East rotations (top three only): Orioles: Mike Mussina, Ben McDonald, Rick Sutcliffe; Jays: Jack Morris, Juan Guzman, Dave Stewart; Brewers: Cal Eldred, Jaime Navarro, Bill Wegman.Opinion: In the Sugar Bowl: Miami 17, Alabama 6.Fact (Part II)

Fact: Let's see, Bill Clinton did nine states in 29 hours this week and the Astros did six states in 27 days last season, and the Astros complained.Opinion: It's a shame to see Magic Johnson basically hounded out of a league that he all but saved from ruin -- by uninformed people, no less.Fact: Prairie View has not won a football or basketball game in 20 months.Opinion: You know there is no respect for age in this country when Jim Phelan has to fight for his job when he's getting ready to win his 700th game.

Fact: Prairie View A&M pulled off the big one, going 0-28 in basketball after 0-11 in football. (Bonus fact: Only other winless Division I basketball team since 1948 were the 0-17 Citadel Bulldogs in 1955.)Opinion: It must be discouraging to be traded to the Sacramento Surge for future considerations. (It's the WLAF, which is a football league, not a radio station.)Fact: The National League West was the only division without a managerial change in 1991.Opinion: As a three-time conference champ and two-time NCAA qualifier, Towson State deserves an NIT bid.Fact: The East Regional has produced the national champion only three times since the NCAA tournament was split into four regionals in 1957.

Fact: Among major-leaguers who have played at least 500 games, the highest career batting average belongs to -- ta-da -- ++ pitcher Terry Forster, who hit .397 in 78 at-bats.Opinion: I'm sticking with the same prediction expressed in this space last October: Bulls and Blazers in the NBA Finals.Fact: There are six active NBA coaches who have won the league championship -- Chuck Daly, Dick Motta, Lenny Wilkens, K. C. Jones, Bill Fitch, Paul Westhead -- but only one still coaches the team with which he won.Opinion: Miami is a shoo-in for one of the National League expansion teams.

Fact: The nine hitters earning at least $3 million a year (Jose Canseco, Kirby Puckett, Don Mattingly, Robin Yount, Kevin Mitchell, Will Clark, Eric Davis, Joe Carter, Rickey Henderson) are hitting a combined average of .270 this year with an average of 21 home runs and 75 RBI.Opinion: If Gregg Olson's arm isn't 100 percent, he shouldn't pitch the rest of the year.Fact: Since the beginning of the 1988 season, the Redskins have won five of 17 games against teams with winning records.Opinion: If the 49ers slip, the Giants will be the team that catches them.

Fact: NFL rookie coaches Bobby Ross, Dennis Green and Bill Cowher combined for a 33-15 record and three division titles, then got outscored, 79-27, in the playoffs.Opinion: The Jays can easily replace closer Tom Henke with Duane Ward, but they don't have anyone to replace Ward as baseball's best setup man.Fact: A steady rain soaked Candlestick Park for hours after the Niners-Redskins game last weekend -- and no one bothered to put on the tarp.Opinion: The Eric Lindros trade is working out significantly better for Quebec, which has surpassed last year's point total in TC roughly half a season.

Fact: Five of the 12 teams in the CFL are having financial problems or contemplating moving (Ottawa, Hamilton, Las Vegas, Shreveport, Sacramento).Opinion: Baltimore and the NFL: a league without a team. Baltimore and the CFL: a team without a league.Fact: The past five Heisman Trophy winners -- Andre Ware, Ty Detmer, Desmond Howard, Gino Torretta and Charlie Ward -- have barely registered a blip in the NFL.Opinion: Upset special on Saturday: Auburn 23, Florida 20. (And Michigan 21, Penn State 16.)