Practice Field

Urbana coach Kevin McMullen was impressed with the quality of River Hill's players after the Hawks easily defeated his Frederick County team, 6-0, yesterday for their 17th straight victory.The Hawks (8-0 overall, 5-0league) are ranked No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll."I want to find out who the No. 1 through 8 teams are," McMullen said in disbelief that any team could be better than River Hill.River Hill, ranked No. 1 by The Sun in the Baltimore area, was almost as dangerous with its second team on the field as with its first team.

Emmitt Smith won't be running on the practice field when the Dallas Cowboys go back to work today to start drills for their NFC title match Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.Meanwhile, the entire 49ers team won't be running on their practice field.While Smith can't practice at the Cowboys' complex in Irving, Texas, because of a sore hamstring, the 49ers decided not to work on their practice field in Santa Clara, Calif., because it has been inundated with rain.The 49ers flew to Phoenix, Ariz.

IRVING, Texas -- Troy Aikman, one of the Dallas Cowboys' most valuable players, was their most vulnerable player at practice yesterday.That was apparent after an incident in which police arrested a distraught woman at the Cowboys' training facility and charged her with criminal trespass. The woman scaled a black chain-link fence surrounding the team's practice field, slipped past security personnel and confronted the Cowboys quarterback.Police arrested Linda Oxley of Fort Worth and charged her with criminal trespass after she approached Aikman on the practice field.

The four state football championships. The 174-41 career record. The still youthful face. The warm grin. The thick yellow hair that glistens when the sun hits it.It's no wonder that some people call Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall "The Golden Boy."He looks the part. And almost every team he coaches produces to its maximum.He needs that golden touch now more than ever. He faces one of his greatest challenges in 21 seasons.Doubt about Wilde Lake's invincibility is the first hurdle; graduation of key players is another; and practice conditions that no coaching staff should have to endure is the third hurdle.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- At 3:09 p.m. yesterday, a few minutes after the New York Jets began their afternoon workout, Bruce Coslet blew his whistle and yelled, "Everybody up," the signal for players to rally around him in the middle of the field.One player took it literally. And that could easily provide the emotional jump-start to this Jets season that holds so much promise.Dennis Byrd, eight months and five days after he was partially paralyzed, was back for a camp visit. He was standing Commentaryup and waiting next to Coslet for his ex-teammates, who streamed toward him, nearly overwhelming him with hollering and hugs.

Maryland junior slot receiver Frank Wycheck had just finished stretching when he looked up and saw an Indian on horseback riding across the Terps' practice field toward the team."

Reading Time: Two Minutes. The Washington Bullets, it would seem, have to go after Tom Gugliotta of N.C. State with the sixth pick in tonight's NBA draft. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound All-ACC selection grew into his size naturally, led the conference in rebounding and three-point field goals while averaging 22.5 points, is a fine passer and pro teams figure he can play three positions. That yelp you're hearing is coming from Walt Williams fans.* If and when the Iron Shortstop Cal Ripken passes Iron Horse Lou Gehrig in consecutive games played in a few years, he can get to work on a streak put together by an English gent, Dan lTC Maskell.

He's taking over a football program that hasn't had a winning season in 11 years, but new Morgan State coach Ricky Diggs -- ever the optimist -- looks at the upcoming season without apprehension."

SHREVEPORT, La. -- They dressed for practice in a hotel. The field is at a high school, two miles from a school called Green Acres Junior High. The practice surface is all brown grass, "AstroDirt" as one player called it, and as the University of Maryland conducted its first practice yesterday, members of the media conducted interviews.Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 1990 Poulan-Weed Eater Independence Bowl, in which Maryland (6-5) will meet Louisiana Tech (8-3) Saturday (8:12 p.m.) at Independence Stadium.

Coach Joe Gibbs gave the Washington Redskins a message yesterday: He's angry, and he doesn't want to take any more losses.The players had been on the practice field only five minutes yesterday when he yanked them off the field and lectured them for 15 minutes in the locker room on the importance of the team's upcoming games.Gibbs then brought the team back out on the field, and they went through a two-hour, 15-minute practice. After the practice, Gibbs waited until all of the players had left the field before he walked off to talk to reporters.

In the beginning, the Maryland Christian Saints were woeful. They had no field, hardly any equipment and barely enough players. They won one game and lost 10, and most of the games were blowouts, in which the Saints were overrun by more powerful teams. What a difference four years makes. Last year, the Saints - a high school football team made up of home-schooled boys, most of them from Harford County - won six games and lost five, and won their league championship. On Aug. 30, they played their first game on their new home field, beating Elkton Christian Academy 29 to 26. The Saints now have enough players to form a junior varsity team, and last year they introduced their own squad of cheerleaders (21 home-schooled girls)

PHILADELPHIA -- It was like any other Thursday, in so many ways. The Philadelphia Eagles were on the practice field, doing whatever it is they do to get ready to play the Dallas Cowboys. It was a warm day, a little breezy, pleasant. Airplanes took off in the distance. A truck driver on Broad Street shouted some encouragement as he peered out of his elevated cab over the screen of arbor vitae. He blew his horn, once, twice, as he waited for the traffic light at Pattison Avenue. Team owner Jeffrey Lurie and president Joe Banner watched much of practice, as they often do. The team worked in small groups and then in bigger groups.

The confidence that the Ravens' secondary will bounce back today against the dangerous Arizona Cardinals comes from the meeting room, the practice field and, perhaps most importantly, a couple of houses in the Owings Mills area. Whether it's watching film in Ed Reed's spacious living room or watching Monday Night Football in Samari Rolle's decked-out basement, the Ravens' defensive backs believe their chemistry on the field was formed by their bond off of it. Cardinals @Ravens Today, 1 p.m., chs. 45, 5, 1090 AM, 97.9 FM Line: Ravens by 8

Dunbar High School's football team marched with cleats tapping in unison on the sun-soaked sidewalk of Central Avenue, turning the corner onto Monument Street to make its way to the practice field. It was four days before the season opener, and practice began with the usual after-school chatter and horseplay before the players formed a broad circle around their four captains to stretch. But this wasn't a normal practice. Ben Eaton wasn't there teaching, motivating and giving out hugs.

From the hill above their practice field at Western Maryland College, the Baltimore Ravens look inhumanly gifted. Quarterback Elvis Grbac, impossibly straight of bearing, flicks passes that cut the air neatly and nestle in the hands of his receivers. Linebacker Ray Lewis seems a pure manifestation of energy, his ever-gyrating torso crouched low over one knee before launching at whichever poor fellow has the ball. These specimens of eye-popping football talent demand attention and receive it from a meandering line of people who wait on the hill, hoping to catch a word, a handshake or an autograph.

I REMEMBER when I was in the ninth grade I collapsed after running about 220 yards because of pulled muscles in my chest. As I laid on the ground, the clouds seemed to be moving at a high rate of speed. And then the head football coach's face appeared. "Son," he said standing over top of me, "if you're hurt, go home." End of conversation. I played. Four years later as a freshman at Towson State, my knee got mangled on the bottom of a pile during a tackling drill. I left for one play, and then put myself back into the game.

Urbana coach Kevin McMullen was impressed with the quality of River Hill's players after the Hawks easily defeated his Frederick County team, 6-0, yesterday for their 17th straight victory.The Hawks (8-0 overall, 5-0league) are ranked No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll."I want to find out who the No. 1 through 8 teams are," McMullen said in disbelief that any team could be better than River Hill.River Hill, ranked No. 1 by The Sun in the Baltimore area, was almost as dangerous with its second team on the field as with its first team.

IRVING, Texas -- Troy Aikman, one of the Dallas Cowboys' most valuable players, was their most vulnerable player at practice yesterday.That was apparent after an incident in which police arrested a distraught woman at the Cowboys' training facility and charged her with criminal trespass. The woman scaled a black chain-link fence surrounding the team's practice field, slipped past security personnel and confronted the Cowboys quarterback.Police arrested Linda Oxley of Fort Worth and charged her with criminal trespass after she approached Aikman on the practice field.

Emmitt Smith won't be running on the practice field when the Dallas Cowboys go back to work today to start drills for their NFC title match Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.Meanwhile, the entire 49ers team won't be running on their practice field.While Smith can't practice at the Cowboys' complex in Irving, Texas, because of a sore hamstring, the 49ers decided not to work on their practice field in Santa Clara, Calif., because it has been inundated with rain.The 49ers flew to Phoenix, Ariz.

The four state football championships. The 174-41 career record. The still youthful face. The warm grin. The thick yellow hair that glistens when the sun hits it.It's no wonder that some people call Wilde Lake football coach Doug DuVall "The Golden Boy."He looks the part. And almost every team he coaches produces to its maximum.He needs that golden touch now more than ever. He faces one of his greatest challenges in 21 seasons.Doubt about Wilde Lake's invincibility is the first hurdle; graduation of key players is another; and practice conditions that no coaching staff should have to endure is the third hurdle.