Pam Shriver

The Tremont Grand ballroom was bursting with people and bustling with energy as several hundred guests wined, dined and perused all sorts of silent auction items at Pam Shriver's 23rd annual Charity Tennis Classic Grand Kickoff Reception. Not bad for an event that's been around a lot longer than those it helps support through Greater Baltimore Tennis Patrons and other youth organizations. "We support all groups for kids," said Gail Brodsky, the No. 1 junior tennis player in the U.S. "Every kid has to have a chance to do what we do," added Ajla Tomljanovic, the No. 1 junior tennis player in Europe.

We have countless awesome sports photos in the archives here at The Baltimore Sun , and I have decided to share one with you each week in a regular feature called "Throwback Thursday. " I stumbled across this one last week when I was looking for old photos of the Ripken brothers for my Bundy-brother-inspired Five for Friday . You can see why I was drawn to this one. Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr., playing in the annual Pam Shriver tennis event back in 1993 at what is now called 1st Mariner Arena, got serious air jumping over the net after a point.

Union Mills Homestead chose one of its own to open its bicentennial celebration yesterday.Pam Shriver, six generations from the original founders of the mill and an international tennis star, is serving as the honorary chairwoman of the 200th birthday party.As Shriver gave the audience a brief history of the site, a restored water wheel whirred softly through the stream running along the brick building."As a direct descendant of the brothers who originally cranked the mill, Pam connects history to today," said Barbara Beverungen, director of the county office of tourism.

Baltimore native Pam Shriver has been a Hall of Fame professional tennis player and an advocate for her hometown for more than half her 48 years. But Wednesday night at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, she will celebrate the 25th anniversary of her Tennis Challenge, which has raised millions for children's charities, and then close the door on that chapter of her successful life. What does her future hold? Can everyone say "Mommy"? When you talk to her now, she is usually sitting in a carpool line, helping with homework, making plans for participating at her kids' classroom activities or signing up for parent education courses -- how to interest your kids in reading, how to deal with children when they are angry.

TENNIS GREAT BILLY Jean King served as honorary chair of Pam Shriver's 12th annual tennis challenge, but she was not the only notable involved in the charity event. The honorary executive committee included Orioles owner Peter Angelos, tennis great Elise Burgin, U.S. Reps. Bob Ehrlich and Ben Cardin, Gov. Parris N. Glendening, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, former O's star pitcher Jim Palmer and his wife, Joni, and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke.Again this year, Pam put together a great night of tennis. Players were Brady Anderson and B.J. Surhoff of the Orioles; Legends Tennis players Cliff Drysdale and Fred Stolle; tennis stars Zina Garrison, Chanda Rubin and Pam Shriver, and two of the top women tennis players in the world, Monica Seles and Amanda Coetzer.

HAVANA -- There were no agents dressed to kill, no Ray-Ban sunglasses fashionably dangling against $30 T-shirts, no screaming parents, no $10 hamburgers, no patches on the sleeves of the players and no coaches named Nick Bollettieri.This was tennis played in a very simple yet elegant setting within yards of buses that belched smoke and overlooking a glistening blue sea.When Pam Shriver stepped on to a court at the 19th of November Tennis Stadium yesterday, she was wearing a white shirt and white skirt with matching American flags on the pockets.

Around Pam Shriver's Brooklandville home, serious clothing decisions are being made.A pile is stacked in one corner: black skirts, print shirts and shorts destined for Goodwill. Then there's the good stuff: the Escada dress, Donna Karan bodysuit and silk suit about to be packed for a multi-city trip she starts tomorrow.But there's still one question that haunts the 32-year-old tennis star: What to wear to the benefit she founded -- the Signet Bank Tennis Challenge tonight at 7 p.m. at the Baltimore Arena.

That the Baltimore Orioles have Pam Shriver and other interested parties paying their way into a vast ownership participation presents an enormous problem of identification, but not with Shriver. Her well-known face is easy to recognize in any crowd.The Orioles, with Shriver, have an individual ready to exert a positive influence. She's a vibrant personality, endowed with charm, refinement, an engaging presence and superb athletic ability. The same can't be said about some of her fellow investors.

Pam Shriver, who brings the ninth annual Tennis Challenge to the Arena Thursday night, winced when she saw the headline last spring.The cover of Sports Illustrated showed a big, yellow tennis ball and asked the question: "Is Tennis Dying?"Throughout the sport, people took note.They realized their sport had been diminished by the lack of a charismatic men's star and the disappearance from the women's tour of No. 1 Monica Seles and rising teen Jennifer Capriati.What's more, tennis has been off in sales -- of equipment, at the box office, in sponsorships.

It was a celebrity wedding. Brady Anderson was there, and Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, along with Hollywood directors and producers. But behind the big names and glitter was a story of love and loss, second chances and taking chances.In a ceremony held at La Quinta resort in Palm Springs, Baltimore's own Pam Shriver -- a former professional tennis player once ranked as high as No. 3 in the world -- married Los Angeles law professor Joseph Shapiro.Wearing a hand-beaded and embroidered silk sheath with a sweep train, the bride recited her vows in a simple 20-minute ceremony presided over by Jane Mykrantz, a Presbyterian minister and an old family friend.

For several hundred local folks, it wouldn't be the holidays without a special visitor flying in to deliver gifts and good cheer. As they mingled in a ballroom at the Tremont Grand, enjoying cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, many of those people marveled at that visitor's dedication. "Isn't it nice that Pam Shriver flies in from her home in Los Angeles just to do this event?" asked Ed Kiernan, general manager of WBAL and WIYY radio. "She really is a special person," added Edie Brown, owner of Edie Brown & Associates, there with her husband, retired dentist Stan Brown.

Melanie Oudin is 18 with sparkling green eyes, a long, blond ponytail and the youthful enthusiasm that goes with a quarterfinal performance at September's U.S. Open. Her mixed doubles partner Wednesday night at Pam Shriver's 24th annual Baltimore Community Foundation Tennis Challenge was a gray-haired, 50-year-old, curmudgeonly veteran Tennis Hall of Famer named John McEnroe. "She's younger than four of my six kids," McEnroe said. "But she plays with a lot of energy, and I think that's why she did so well at the Open.

1 It's a Blast,: Blast, Blast: The first-place Blast hosts second-place Monterrey at 7:35 p.m. at 1st Mariner Arena. The league is the NISL, by the way. 2 Off the bench: The Pistons have just turned Rip Hamilton into a sixth man. See how it's working (Mavericks at Pistons, 7 p.m., ESPN). 3 Our Pammy: Regardless of who is playing at the Australian Open (7 p.m., 11:30 p.m., ESPN2), Baltimore's own Pam Shriver (left) will be analyzing. 4 Gael warning: No. 5 Mount St. Joseph hosts No. 3 Calvert Hall at 7 p.m. in a matchup of boys basketball powers.

The Tremont Grand ballroom was bursting with people and bustling with energy as several hundred guests wined, dined and perused all sorts of silent auction items at Pam Shriver's 23rd annual Charity Tennis Classic Grand Kickoff Reception. Not bad for an event that's been around a lot longer than those it helps support through Greater Baltimore Tennis Patrons and other youth organizations. "We support all groups for kids," said Gail Brodsky, the No. 1 junior tennis player in the U.S. "Every kid has to have a chance to do what we do," added Ajla Tomljanovic, the No. 1 junior tennis player in Europe.

Usually, broadcaster and Hall-of-Fame tennis player Pam Shriver is running around like crazy during the U.S. Open in New York, trying to nail down participants for her annual charity match in Baltimore later in the year. But not this year. Shriver has already completed her guest list, which features world No. 5 singles player Andy Roddick and the world No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan. "It's fun the way it has all fallen into place," Shriver said from Los Angeles International Airport as she prepared to head east to Connecticut for this weekend's final tournament before next week's U.S. Open.

The Camden Club inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards was hoppin' last week, as Pam Shriver hosted the annual Kickoff Reception and Auction the night before her big Mercantile Tennis Challenge. Folks loaded up on food and drink and laid down a few bucks at the auction. Among the celebs in attendance: Tom McMillen, Jim Beattie, Mike Flanagan, Geoff Grant, Elise Burgin, Scoville Jenkins and Phillip Simmonds. Of course, we had the hostess herself - and new mom - Pam Shriver. Pam had left 5-month-old Georgie at home.

Open Pam Shriver's front door and meet her housemate, a black Labrador retriever who sits patiently in the foyer, a relentless look on his face and a jaunty red kerchief around his neck."

The first time a 14-year-old Jana Novotna traveled to the European tennis championships, she looked at the list of women's competitors and the only name she recognized was that of Steffi Graf.Then she looked at the draw. Novotna vs. Graf -- the beginning of a long, frustrating relationship."From the beginning, it was always Steffi who seemed to be the one who stopped me," Novotna says. "She was my first-round opponent in my first traveling tournament, and, of course, she beat me -- in three sets."

The Mercantile Charity Challenge, Pam Shriver's 19th tennis event held here in support of children's charities, will come later than ever this December, but the star attraction will be hot. Shriver will announce today at a Baltimore news conference that tennis phenom Maria Sharapova, 17, will play in the main match Dec. 17 at 1st Mariner Arena. Shriver and her group are also working to confirm an opponent, who will be announced in a few weeks. Only a year ago, Sharapova was here playing Ashley Harkleroad in the tournament's Futures match.