Rebuilding

So are the Terps rebuilding? Randy Edsall made this comment after the 38-7 loss to Temple: “This is a process we're in. It's a process. It wasn't going to get changed overnight.” Let's consider that remark for a moment. I don't think Edsall meant that Maryland was rebuilding in the manner of a professional team that has been made over  -- say the Washington Nationals after arriving from Montreal. There are typically low expectations for teams in the early years of those sorts of reclamation projects.

For Domonic "Nicko" Robinson, running isn't just a form of exercise, but a way to rehabilitate his life and regain the confidence he sorely missed. Through a group called Back On My Feet, a non-profit in Baltimore that works with people in homeless shelters and residential treatment centers, Robinson has become an avid runner. Friday, the 41-year-old and 11 others will run an overnight relay challenge of 200 miles called the Ragnar Relay. The event, which includes 284 teams, will start in Cumberland, travel through the Appalachian Mountains and finish in Washington D.C. Saturday afternoon.

It wasn't a total renovation, but the Ravens began to rebuild on the fly as soon as the NFL lockout ended in July. One of three teams that have made at least three straight playoff appearances (the Colts and Eagles are the others), the Ravens quickly cut ties with veterans such as Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, Kelly Gregg and Willis McGahee, leaving some fans looking for explanations and others looking for new jerseys to buy. In an attempt to get younger, more explosive and, well, better than the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens then turned to draft picks from April's NFL draft and young players who have been waiting in the wings.

From talk radio to Internet message boards, all the talk has been how Lee Evans is the deep threat that the Ravens desperately needed. But Evans wants something in return - a chance to play deep into January. A member of the hapless Bills for seven seasons, Evans has endured six starting quarterbacks, five offensive coordinators and no playoff appearances. It's tough to think about the postseason when your head coach is getting canned like he was another order of wings and your quarterback is either an aging Drew Bledsoe or a busted project like J.P. Losman.

I applaud Sun writers Erica L. Green and Julie Scharper for their article exploring the poor physical condition of most Baltimore City public school facilities ("Candidates would spend more on schools," Aug. 7). I was, however, disappointed to note that the article failed to mention the Baltimore City Council's recent passage of legislation I authored, along with Councilman James Kraft (District 1), that will appear as a referendum on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. A report from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland found that bringing Baltimore's stock of public school facilities up to code would cost roughly $2.8 billion.

Earlier this week, Ocean City's town council selected Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Co. of Baltimore to provide more than 56,000 pieces of yellow pine to rebuild the boardwalk, a contract worth about $600,000. The town also approved plans to purchase and test an alternative wood to be used on just one block of the initial project. The cost of the TimberSIL , a green product that fuses glass with wood and claims to last longer than yellow pine, was about $40,000. Plans for the boardwalk renovation call for two phases, beginning this fall.

Earlier this month I drove through Chicago after a year's absence. The city's skyline awed me, as always. It captures America's former industrial might and still present drive and ingenuity in its stone, steel and glass skyscrapers. Each time I fly over New York City, with its lithe towers reaching toward infinity and apartment buildings packed with Lego-like precision row upon row on the 13-mile island, it makes me proud to be an American. Who else could have built this place? I loved living in both cities for many reasons, not least of which was that the physical environment demanded a harder-working, smarter version of myself.

A Baltimore-based company is one of the leading contenders to help Ocean City rebuild its famous but deteriorating boardwalk. The Louis J. Grasmick Lumber Co. of Baltimore submitted the "apparent low bid" to supply lumber for the first phase of the two-year project, said Terry McGean, city engineer of the resort town. Grasmick was one of 18 companies competing to supply the yellow pine decking needed for the work, and its base offer of $602,250 for 56,040 pieces of lumber was below the city's estimate of nearly $621,000, McGean said.

Ever so slowly, the unemployed are getting hired. And if you're one of them, the next task will be to get your finances back on track. The latest government figures show that the median length of unemployment is 51/2 months — enough time without a paycheck to do a lot of damage. By then, you might have wiped out savings, dipped into retirement accounts or racked up credit card debt. Your credit record could be tarnished if you were late paying bills or defaulted. Getting back on sound financial footing will take some time — and a switch in mind-set.

It is time to recycle this once proud and true Baltimore landmark, Harborplace ("Phillips leaving Harborplace," June11). It has served its purpose well, and with Jim Rouse's and Mayor Schaefer' vision took a once languishing passing through town and made it a destination city, attracting in some years even more people than Disney World. Now our great city is again on the decline, it is aging, and but for the Grand Prix, it is boring. So it is time once again to leverage our unique harbor assets to bring Baltimore out of the desert to soar once again.