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Enough of this business about the Colts' name. It's time to clear up this nonsense.Here we have the Baltimore Canadian Football League team, in Toronto for tonight's league opener against the Argonauts in Skydome, and our team still has no nickname.Get real.A judge in Indianapolis rules that the name Colts cannot be used by a CFL team in Baltimore because it belongs to the Indianapolis NFL team.Anybody surprised?If the matter had been heard by a Baltimore judge, is there any doubt what the ruling would have been?

NEW YORK -- Sen. Joe Lieberman created a bit of a stir at the Democratic Leadership Council meeting this week by taking issue with the language used in the 2000 election by ticket-mate Al Gore, who criticized Republican coziness with corporate America. Mr. Gore had said in his nomination acceptance speech and during the campaign that "we're for the people, they're for the powerful," words that Mr. Lieberman said didn't square with the DLC philosophy of making an ally of big business, not an enemy.

SINGER TONY BENNETT took some time off from performing with the BSO last weekend to renew old friendships and take in the sights.After Friday night's performance, Bennett dropped by the Harvey House to chat with owner Lou Baumel about his days as a young crooner.Seems the singer, then virtually unknown, worked here for Baumel 40 years ago when Baumel owned the old Club Charles at Charles and Preston.Bennett needed a couple of days off from his two-week, $250-per stint to make a record. The rest, they say, is history.

CLEVELAND -- So far, he has tolerated the chemotherapy; the second cycle began Monday. But now Curt Flood is to undergo radiation for throat cancer tomorrow morning, and the doctors say he cannot skip the treatment.So Curt Flood hopes his friend of 50 years, Vada Pinson, will understand if he is unable to make it to Oakland for Pinson's funeral that day."Vada would say, 'You did what? Get out of here,' " Flood said yesterday from his home in Los Angeles, where he looks up from the phone and every day sees the same picture on the wall: Vada Pinson, Curt Flood and Lou Brock on a framed cover of the Sporting News.

Two renowned pianists, Ceilito Elliott and Reynaldo Reyes, will be performing at St. Paul's Schools' Ward Center for the Arts this evening. Mrs. Elliott and Mr. Reyes have been friends since their teen-age years, when they attended the Manila Conservatory in the Philippines.Mr. Reyes, an award-winning musician, is professor of music and piano at Towson State University. Mrs. Elliott came to Garrison Forest School in 1966 as the head of the music department and a piano teacher. She's had little time for concerts in the last decade because of her duties at the school.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The friends O. J. Simpson left behind in a scarred housing project in Potrero Hill haven't fared as well, financially, as the multimillionaire ex-football star now charged with double murder. The guys from the old neighborhood are not wealthy. Many of them say they are lucky to be alive.So when television satellite trucks began lumbering down the steep streets of the Hill to record scenes from Mr. Simpson's early life, three of Mr. Simpson's childhood friends saw an opportunity.

Otters love the water ... but are equally at home on land. Some species of otter, like the Sea otter, rarely come on land. Otters' long hair is water-repellent, and their long, thin bodies and webbed paws make them excellent swimmers. Since their ears and nostrils close under water, otters hunt for food using their paws and whiskers. what's for DINNER? Otters eat frogs, crayfish, crabs and fish. DO YOU KNOW How do otters talk to each other? Answer: Otters use different sounds and scents to mark their territory.

When celebrity couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were wed in a secret ceremony this year, the actors skipped the splashy Hollywood venue. Instead, their reported 17th-century location in South Carolina boasted an onsite mansion, gardens and a working farm, a setting described as "rustic" and "romantic. " These days, you don't have to be a celebrity or VIP to hold your wedding, party or special event someplace that's fabulous or out of the ordinary. Thanks to a wave of specialty companies, websites and other experts, renting private properties — such as mansions and upscale homes — has become easier and increasingly popular.

Michael Phelps surprised his best friend and roommate earlier this week by dropping into his poker match in Montreal. "Pumped for the kid today!!" Phelps Tweeted when he arrived at the World Poker Tour competition to support Jeff Gross. "Just surprised him for the final 6 of the #wptmontreal. " Phelps later said in an interview with WPT.com that he had to be there for his buddy. "Gotta support the kid," he told WPT. "Jeff has been my best friend for a long time. I know how excited he is about tonight.

It's been four months since city cops stopped running Police Athletic League Centers and locked the doors to the building that once served the children of Rosemont. Residents of this West Baltimore neighborhood have been protesting that their kids have nowhere to play and hundreds signed petitions to reopen the building and its basketball courts. This month, an ally appeared out of nowhere - Gary D. Maynard, who runs the state's prisons, wants to partner with the people of Rosemont to keep the center open.