Parity

The 26 best lacrosse players in the world casually walked into their first U.S. national team meeting, only to receive a startling introduction to coach Bill Tierney.He told them to sit down and explained in detail how to do line drills. Tierney then charged over to the blackboard and distinctly des- cribed how many players he wanted in each stretching line.Welcome to Lacrosse 101 by Tierney, a strict philosophy that has guided Princeton to five NCAA championships in seven years -- during what many refer to as an age of parity -- and landed him as coach of the U.S. national team.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will get no sympathy from the rest of the National League East, but they are in danger of ending the month of May in second place.Why is this so significant?Because the Bucs have closed out each of the previous 13 months of regular-season play at the top of the standings, a streak that hasn't been matched since the New York Yankees finished 18 consecutive months in first place from 1926 to 1928.The Pirates aren't in the same class as the Murderers' Row Yanks, of course.

A Linthicum firm is among several orthotics and prosthetics companies that will offer victims of the Boston Marathon bombing artificial limbs at no charge if their insurance doesn't cover all or some of the costs of the devices. Dankmeyer Inc., founded by an amputee who lost a leg in a childhood skating accident, joined with other firms Tuesday in announcing the Coalition to Walk and Run Again. The companies have agreed not to charge victims who provide a doctor's note proving they don't have insurance to cover the devices, which cost $8,000 to $60,000.

There has been talk about parity in college lacrosse for years, but finally there is evidence in the NCAA Division I tournament, a place where some thought it might not be on display for another decade. As the tournament moves into the quarterfinal round there will be no representative from the state of Maryland for the first time. UMBC, Johns Hopkins and Mount St. Mary's didn't make the initial 16 team-field and Maryland, Loyola and Towson each got bumped over the weekend in the first round.

Maryland is attempting to renege on its obligation to provide sufficient funding to make its historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) comparable and competitive with other public universities in Maryland in terms of mission, academic program offerings, library services, information technology infrastructure, and other facets of their operations. For five years, the state has vigorously opposed a lawsuit by HBCU students and alumni that seeks to dismantle remnants of the formerly segregated higher education system.

ANNAPOLIS -- As the Gershwin song goes, they all laughed -- at Christopher Columbus, Hershey and his chocolate bar, and the dogged female legislators who wanted to make "potty parity" the law of the land.But with the unanimous approval yesterday of Senate Bill No. 437, known officially as "Public Restrooms -- Number of Sanitary Fixtures," the women might have the last laugh."It was a joke. Everybody laughed and thought it was funny," Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman said of the legislation's history in the General Assembly.

In terms of wins and losses, they were the NBA's best in the regular season, amassing 63 victories and recording the best finish -- 26-5 -- of any team. Yet, aside from the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle SuperSonics say, they haven't gotten their due this season."I really don't think we're the favorites because for most of the year nobody's given us any credit," Seattle forward Detlef Schrempf said. "Especially back East."Back East is where the NBA championship trophy has settled the past five years, but during the regular season, one could argue that some of the best basketball in the NBA was played west of the Mississippi.

For the third time in the last four seasons, Stevenson and Salisbury will meet in the NCAA Division III tournament semifinals and at stake is a spot in the championship final at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on May 26. Both sides took different paths to the same destination. The No. 4 Mustangs (20-2) have been ranked in top five for pretty much the entire year and collected a program-record 20th victory with Wednesday night's 13-7 victory over No. 13 Lynchburg. The No. 12 Sea Gulls (17-5)

Jets-Falcons Dan Pompei Chicago Tribune This isn't one of those years when there are clear favorites to make it to the Super Bowl. Instead there is a pack of strong teams in each conference. In the AFC, it's the Patriots, Jets, Steelers, Chiefs and Ravens, and you have to throw in the Chargers too because of the way they have been playing lately. In the NFC, it's the Falcons, Saints, Bears, Eagles, Giants and Packers. The closest thing the league has to a runaway train is the Falcons, so they should be the NFC favorite at this point.

ANNAPOLIS -- In 13 months, Maryland will join the 10 other states with "potty parity" -- requiring equal numbers of women's and men's toilet facilities in public meeting places.The Senate yesterday voted unanimously to agree to the House of Delegates bill on restrooms, sponsored by Del. Sheila E. Hixson, a Montgomery County Democrat.Under the bill, a public meeting place that holds more than 100 people will be required to have an equal number of fixtures for men and women. The law will be tied to construction permits issued after May 1, 1993.