Ryder

STRAFFAN, Ireland -- They landed in water, behind trees, in slimy mud and ankle-high grass, on cart paths and under flags. Sometimes, the golf balls even traveled where they were supposed to go, on the K Club's fairways and greens. When the second day of the Ryder Cup gets under way today, the U.S. has got to believe that a lot more of those balls are going to reach the hole a lot quicker than they did on a wet and wild Friday. Look at it this way: The U.S. won the first match of the day - and didn't win another.

Mark Ryder, a retired University of Maryland dance department chairman who performed alongside Martha Graham in the 1940s, died of Alzheimer's disease Thursday at an extended-care facility near his Columbia home. He was 85. Born Sasha Liebich in Chicago, he moved to New York with his mother. Family members said that at age 12, Mr. Ryder began his dance training in the children's program at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where he was singled out by faculty member Martha Graham.

Michael Caylor Diesel truck technician Ryder System Inc., Aberdeen Age: 41 Years in business: 18 Salary: $48,000 a year, plus overtime. The hourly pay for a technician of Caylor's level at Ryder is between $20.53 and $25.67 per hour. How he got started: Caylor said he always liked working with his hands and began working on cars out of high school. A friend told him diesel mechanics made good money, so he attended the Diesel Institute of America (then in Baltimore) and went to work for Ryder.

Gainesville, Va. -- The Presidents Cup, like the winning U.S. team, is finally getting its props. It took 11 years and more than a few tweaks to the format for an event that has often been referred to as the Ryder Cup Lite to register with a larger audience than just golf's cognoscenti. It took two scintillating competitions, the first two years ago in South Africa that ended in a tie and the one that concluded with Sunday's 18 1/2 -15 1/2 victory for the Americans at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, for the Presidents Cup to get recognition and respect for what it has become - an international event with more talent and less gamesmanship than the Ryder Cup. "I like that there's a genuine respect for both teams and it's more about the game of golf and not necessarily somebody being ugly and somebody not being ugly," said American Chris DiMarco.

RALPHIE'S QUEST for a Red Ryder BB gun in A Christmas Story strikes a chord for anyone who was ever a 9-year-old. Despite the warnings of adults that he could shoot his eye out, Ralphie cannot be deterred. What happens when he gets his gun? He nearly shoots his eye out, spared only by his now-broken glasses. We laugh at his obsession, the irony of the moment, his quickly concocted cover-up (as an icicle injury), and the cluelessness of his parents. But the problem with this charming Jean Shepherd tale is, unfortunately, some children do get seriously hurt with BB guns - and pellet guns, air rifles, carbon dioxide-powered paintball guns and their ilk. A recent report in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Pediatric Association, notes that between 1990 and 2000, these compressed-air guns were involved in the deaths of 32 children under age 15. In 2000 alone, an estimated 21,840 people suffered injury - nearly 900 of whom had to be hospitalized.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - The shift in power had been gradual, taking place over the course of two decades. Now it is complete, evidenced by Europe's dominating performance in the 35th Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills. The United States is no longer the lead actor on golf's world stage. Just as Vijay Singh pushed aside Tiger Woods as the game's No. 1 player, Woods and his 11 teammates who lost to Europe by the largest score ever since the competition was expanded a quarter century ago suddenly find themselves thrust into a new role.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - The European team has come a long way since winning its first Ryder Cup in 1985. Not only did the team that arrived last week as underdog leave again with the gleaming gold trophy, but it also found a place in the record books. With an 18 1/2 -9 1/2 victory yesterday in the 35th Ryder Cup over an American team that was as uninspired as it was overrated, the Europeans equaled the mark for the largest point differential since the competition expanded beyond Great Britain and Ireland in 1979.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - The roars that reverberated across Oakland Hills yesterday morning fell silent by late afternoon. The comeback the U.S. team seemed to be making on the second day of the 35th Ryder Cup fell apart. By last night, the chance of the Americans winning back the Cup had fallen into two categories: slim and none. After cutting its five-point deficit to three with victories in the first two best-ball matches yesterday, an embarrassed and embattled U.S. team quickly ran out of steam.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - As Hal Sutton stood on the first tee at Oakland Hills yesterday morning, the black cowboy hat he was wearing seemed to accentuate all the bravado the U.S. captain and his team had exhibited in the days leading up to the start of the 35th Ryder Cup. Less than an hour later, Sutton didn't have either the accouterment given him by the team's caddies or the confidence that he and his players had shown. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were already down in their best-ball match to Colin Montgomerie of Scotland and Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - The 35th Ryder Cup matches will feature some of the best players in the world, but not the No. 1-ranked player in the world. While Tiger Woods won't regain that distinction this week here at Oakland Hills, he could remove one unsightly blemish on his still remarkable record. Long before he began what has become a 27-month, 10-tournament winless drought in major championships, Woods had to deal with questions about his performance in this biennial team event.