Road Trip

It will be homecoming week for several members of the Washington Bullets during the six-game preseason road trip that begins tonight in Evansville, Ind. But it appears Mark Price won't be playing after all.Coach Jim Lynam said Thursday that perhaps the ailing point guard could play in the two games in Mexico City on Oct. 28 and 29, but yesterday he backed off."I said he'd play off the top of my head, but my guess is, no, he won't play," Lynam said. "He's going to go on the trip, but just to be familiar with what we're doing.

Western Maryland's football players and coaches have an unusual road trip this week. They're going to Russia.Yes, little Western College in Westminster, Md., is going to be the first American college team to play football in Russia.Coach Dale Sprague's Green Terrors will leave Friday, hold practices and clinics in Moscow for a couple days and play an all-star team from a 20-team Russian league next Tuesday, March 17. They're due back on the Hill at WMC March 20."This is an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime," says Sprague, the raspy-voiced coach who has revived the Western Maryland football program.

When the Washington Capitals were reeling under six straight losses, finding anyone who thought they would wind up with a decent record by the end of October was like looking for a sliver of ice in a hot drink.But today, as the Capitals enjoy a day off after their longest road trip of the season, Washington is 6-7. That may not sound like much, but it is the sixth-best October in the Capitals' 20-year history.And it was produced the hard way. An 0-6 start gave way to two three-game win streaks and a 4-1 record on the five-game, seven-day western trip that ended Saturday night with a 4-2 win at San Jose.

CLEVELAND -- The Orioles are coming home in triumph from a road trip in which they won four of nine games, which pretty much sums up the current state of affairs at the top of the AL East standings.With baseball's best record and an eight-game lead over the Yankees, the Orioles would seem to be swaggering toward a division title.The reality of their situation is a little more modest.Yes, they're on their way to a title -- but they're hardly swaggering.They have won just six of their past 15 games after beating the Indians, 9-3, last night at Jacobs Field.

As tempting as it might be to put the top down and rock out as Virginia Beach comes into view, make sure to lower the music volume in the car and keep your language in check. That's right -- Virginia Beach is a family-friendly destination, enforced by Courtesy Rules. Should visitors get carried away and feel the urge to curse, they'll be quickly reminded of the rules, which are posted on light posts up and down Atlantic Avenue. The first rule states that cursing, vulgar language and gestures are prohibited.

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Washington Bullets dropped a 101-74 decision to the Utah Jazz last night to finish a four-game western road trip with three straight losses.Harvey Grant led the Bullets with 22 points and five rebounds, and teammate Larry Stewart scored 16. Starters Greg Foster and Stewart each added 10 rebounds.The Bullets, bothered by injuries -- center Pervis Ellison sat the game out with a sore knee -- were outplayed by the Jazz, which was led by 22 points by Jeff Malone and another 20 by Karl Malone.

Washington Capitals coach Terry Murray needed only an instant to state the problem."We're not scoring," he said while waiting for the team's flight to Calgary, Alberta, for tonight's game against the Flames. "We're not finishing anywhere near the way we did last year. We've shown that loud and clear."The Capitals are in the middle of a four-game western road trip that Murray had hoped would relax his team, relieve some pressure and get his scorers going. So far, with a 6-2 loss in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Monday and a 4-3 loss in Vancouver on Wednesday, none of those hopes is being fulfilled.

If there was any doubt the four-game Western road trip didn't go the way Washington Capitals coach Terry Murray wanted, it was put to rest last night when the Caps traded center Kevin Miller to the St. Louis Blues.In return, the Caps get defenseman Paul Cavallini, who has one goal and four assists in 11 games this season and leads the Blues in plus/minus with a plus-three."Things were not working out well with Kevin Miller and the Washington Capitals," said Caps general manager David Poile.

When I received this assignment - following thoroughbred racehorses and their trainers through an arduous road trip - the editor warned, "It's going to be a long day." "Where am I headed?" I asked. He replied, "We'll start at Pimlico, stop at Laurel and then down to Virginia, Colonial Downs." My next question was, "Do I have to ride with the horses?" The editor chuckled, confidently declared "no" and explained that I'd be riding in the van with trainers. And then he cautioned again, "It'll be a really long day."

ATLANTA - It almost seemed like a cruel joke. This rudderless ship of a baseball franchise finally gets relocated to a city that cares after playing multi-country home games for two years, and its renaissance season kicks off with a three-city, nine-game tour against some of the league's best teams. But the penance is now over and the Washington Nationals return home today with an early and unexpected share of first place in the tough National League East. The last laugh is 150-plus games out of reach, but by hammering the Atlanta Braves, 11-4, yesterday to take two of three games at Turner Field, the Nationals (5-4)