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WASHINGTON -- The recent naming of the Justice Department building in Washington after the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy came about so suddenly that there was no time to debate the wisdom of such a proclamation. Although the media have been quick to point out the contradictions inherent in a conservative Republican president honoring a liberal Democratic icon, the swiftness of President Bush's executive order has all but negated a serious discussion about the aptness of such a memorial.

The chairman of the committee seeking to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the Washington area said Thursday that he is intrigued by the possibility that an Olympic stadium could be built on the RFK Stadium site, perhaps becoming the future home of the NFL's Redskins. "When the ownership of the Washington NFL team talked about looking, that's probably one of the places they'd like to look, so that's something we'd like to understand better," said Russ Ramsey, who has been visiting other potential Olympic venues in Maryland and around the region.

The reordering of American history, our history, our shared memory -- that's what really matters about RFK, the made-for-television movie about the life and death of Robert Kennedy premiering tonight on the FX cable channel. There is, of course, added regional interest and discussion about the film because Robert F. Kennedy's eldest daughter, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, is involved in what is shaping up as a close race for governor in Maryland. Given the state of talk radio these days, there are sure to be those on the airwaves who will question the timing, if not see some sort of conspiracy afoot between Hollywood and the Kennedys with the film airing now. Let me be frank: Such thinking is crackpot.

For Spain's national soccer team, the road to Brazil included a brief stop in Baltimore. The European powerhouse, among the favorites to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Monday night to a water-cannon salute from the BWI Fire and Rescue Department and to hundreds of fans who crowded the terminal to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. Ranked the world's No. 1 team by FIFA, soccer's governing body, Spain will play against El Salvador on Saturday at FedEx Field as part of the Road to Brazil, a series of matches hosted on American soil.

WASHINGTON -- Luis Sharpe, a 12-year veteran of the Phoenix Cardinals' annual visits to RFK Stadium, remembers past trips darkly."We've had some very disappointing, cruel losses here," said Sharpe, a three-time Pro Bowl left tackle. "And we've been blown out in a lot of games by a very good team."Cruel losses and angry blowouts have come to represent the lopsided rivalry between the Cardinals and the Washington Redskins at RFK. For years, it seems, the Redskins have been plucking the Big Red with surprising ease.

BOBBY -- The Weinstein Company Home Entertainment / $28.95 Writer-director Emilio Estevez's Bobby focuses not on the life of Bobby Kennedy, or on his legacy, but on his example. In an era when the idea of celebrity has become meaningless and role models are a dime a dozen, that alone makes it one of the most important pictures of 2006. Set at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, the day of the California primary, Bobby focuses on a handful of guests and workers. Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt portray a well-to-do couple celebrating their 10th anniversary, while Lindsay Lohan and Elijah Wood depict newlyweds, married solely to keep the husband from being drafted and sent overseas to Vietnam.

BOSTON -- As old Robert F. Kennedy relatives, friends and supporters gathered here at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to observe the 25th anniversary of his death this weekend, the inevitable what-might-have-beens were heard.Some were obvious. Had he lived and been elected president in 1968, as one panelist put it, "there would have been no burglar tools in the White House" in the Watergate scandal four years later. Richard Nixon as president and his vice president, Spiro Agnew, would not have been forced to resign in disgrace in the country's most corrupt period.

Few politicians in modern memory have been mourned as steadfastly as Robert Kennedy, whose death 30 years ago todayconstituted one of the greatest wastes of the 20th century. "Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir" (8 p.m.-11 p.m. tomorrow, repeats midnight-3 a.m., Discovery) lets his associates,campaign workers and family members explain why. The result is extraordinarily moving, especially his eldest daughter, Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who reads a letter her father wrote to her upon her uncle John's assassination.

"Robert Kennedy: Brother Protector," by James Hilty.Temple University Press. 576 pages. $34.95Before there was Janet Reno, before Richard Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre and before the special prosecutor law itself, there was Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who saw not just his job but his mission in life as protecting his brother, who happened to be president of the United States.A thousand and one Kennedy books are out there, one for every day of John F. Kennedy's mythical reign. But this one, written by a historian, actually provides a useful service.

Ron Turner not only isn't his brother's keeper, he could become his brother's nemesis today.That's the odd situation the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears finds himself in when his team plays the Washington Redskins at RFK Stadium.Ron Turner, 42, has been coaching football for 20 years, four in the NFL, and is being mentioned as a possible future head coach."I'd like that opportunity," he said.His problem today is that he could make it more difficult for his brother, Norv, to keep his head coaching job.Norv, 44, has been coaching 22 years, 12 in the NFL, and is in his third year as the head coach of the Redskins.

After five years in the nation's capital, the Military Bowl is staking out a future in Annapolis, and city leaders are hoping to cash in on the cachet of hosting a nationally televised college football bowl game. With events including a flyover by a B-25 bomber and the landing of a parachute team at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, bowl organizers hope Friday's game between the University of Maryland and Marshall University (W.Va.) taps the military pride of Annapolis - home of the Naval Academy and plenty of Navy retirees.

With the sequester now beginning, I find myself thinking about Robert F. Kennedy -- and 46 years ago, when I was an intern in his Senate office. The nation was going through a difficult time in 1967. America was deeply split over civil rights and the Vietnam War. Many of our cities were burning. The war was escalating. But RFK was upbeat. He was also busy and intense -- drafting legislation, lining up votes, speaking to the poor, inspiring the young. I was awed by his energy and optimism, and by his overriding passion for social justice and the public good.

College football San Jose St. to play in Military Bowl at RFK San Jose State, fresh off its first 10-win season since 1987, has agreed to play in the Military Bowl on Dec. 27 at RFK Stadium, bowl organizers announced Friday. The Spartans, who received the 26th-most votes in the most recent Associated Press poll, will play a team to be determined after this weekend's games are completed. It will be San Jose State's second trip to the Washington area this season. On Sept. 29, the Spartans defeated Navy, 12-0, in Annapolis.

Major League Soccer United signs two-year lease to stay at RFK D.C. Unitedwill play its home games for the 2012 and 2013 Major League Soccer seasons at RFK Stadium, which has been its field since the team's inception in 1996. In addition to the lease agreement, Events DC also announced Thursday a multimillion-dollar capital improvement project that will include improved concourse lighting and renovated restrooms at the stadium and new bleachers, upgraded sound system and renovated restrooms at the DC Armory.

Colleges Terps baseball off to 2nd-best start since '24 Second baseman Kyle Convissar (Severna Park) went 2-for-4 with two RBIs Tomo Delp as No.20 Maryland beat Navy, 4-2, on Wednesday to capture its 10th straight baseball victory and improve to 11-1 overall, its second-best start since 1924. In the past 88 years the school has had a better start just once — 12-1 in 1967. The Terps can match that record Friday when they open Atlantic Coast Conference play at Wake Forest.

Pro soccer U.S. hero Donovan returns to MLS today with game at RFK Nearly a month after his rebound volley propelled the United States into the round of 16, Landon Donovan returns to the pitch today with the hope of carrying some momentum from a dramatic World Cup run into Major League Soccer. "I've always prided myself on the fact that I could stay here and help grow this sport here," he said Saturday as his Los Angeles Galaxy prepared to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium.

The Maryland Bays will meet Catuense of Brazil, a first-division team, in an exhibition game at 4 p.m. June 9 at RFK Stadium, giving the team a total of five games at RFK this season.Unlike the June 16 game at RFK against Millonarios of Colombia, this game will not count in the American Professional Soccer League standings. It will give the Bays two games in two days, following the team's June 8 game against the Miami Freedom at 7 p.m. at Cedar Lane Park in Columbia.Bays coach Gary Hindley said the added exhibition game luckily fit into the team's schedule.

Three-time World Cup champion Brazil and 1990 World Cup semifinalist England will play in RFK Stadium in Washington June 12.The competition is part of U.S. Cup '93, featuring a superior field in a four-team round robin to be played between June 6-19. Defending World Cup champion Germany and the steadily-improving U.S. National Team round out the foursome.Tickets for the Brazil-England game go on sale at all Washington-Baltimore area TicketMaster outlets beginning Monday. Ticket prices are $45, $36, $25, $20 and $15.Additional ticket information can be obtained by calling the World Cup Washington Operations Office at (301)

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is still moved by the strangers who approach her to describe how her father inspired them. Former U.S. Sen. Joseph Tydings, a Maryland Democrat, says that his dear friend Robert F. Kennedy's murder transformed him into a gun control activist, a move that cost him his political career. And civil rights advocate Kweisi Mfume remembers 1968 as a pivotal year of his life, with Kennedy's death as one in a series of events prompting him to pursue a political career that led him to the halls of Congress.

WASHINGTON -- The media got a peek yesterday at Washington's nearly completed baseball stadium. The steel, glass and concrete home of the Washington Nationals is more bland than Camden Yards but more intimate, with an open-air feel and views of the U.S. Capitol dome from portions of the upper deck. Nationals Park, which debuts with a March 29 exhibition against the Orioles, is among a new generation of stadiums built smaller than its predecessors. Camden Yards seats about 48,000, but the stadium in Southeast Washington - about 36 miles from Baltimore - will seat about 41,000.