San Diego

SAN DIEGO-- --There are few sights and sounds in sports more refreshing than those of a man who spent a lifetime paying harsh dues, finally getting his chance, and then taking aim at big leaguers who appear to take that kind of dues-paying for granted. If Dave Trembley could only stick around for a while. He was still some three hours away from leaning on a dugout rail as a major league manager for the first time - but in his first chance to talk publicly as Sam Perlozzo's replacement yesterday, he said everything that a team like this needed to have said about it. Much of it was what a man stuck with the "interim" tag has to say about a clubhouse in crisis, and at some point (maybe before the six-game road trip that began last night is over)

OFFENSE QUARTERBACK 1. Tom Brady, New England 2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis 3. Steve McNair, Ravens 4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Ask any Ravens defensive player and he'll say Brady is the best in the league. When Manning wins two more rings, then there will be an argument. RUNNING BACK 1. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego 2. Joseph Addai, Indianapolis 3. Laurence Maroney, New England 4. Willis McGahee, Ravens Tomlinson scored 31 touchdowns last season, 10 more than Addai, Maroney and McGahee combined.

SAN DIEGO -- A day before taking his quest for the career home run record back home to San Francisco, Barry Bonds sat back and took a deep breath to enjoy his 755th home run. "There's no pressure on me to do this right away. If I keep my mechanics right, you guys won't be around long," said Bonds, who sat out yesterday's game a day after tying Hank Aaron's all-time mark. Manager Bruce Bochy said Bonds will be back in the lineup when the Giants open a seven-game homestand tonight at AT&T Park, where Bonds has hit most of his milestone homers and where he has long said he wants to pass Aaron.

The playoffs went as expected, but if I played for the San Diego Chargers, I would be a little concerned. The New England Patriots have played well lately, and Tom Brady looked good Sunday - because he was given the time. New England might be a little light on talent, especially at wide receiver, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick schemes well. As for the Colts game, I've lost more respect for Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards. I'll give the Colts credit because they did play great run defense, and safety Bob Sanders makes a difference.

SAN DIEGO -- A series win shouldn't be this complicated, especially when it comes on the road against the team with the best record in the National League. But when does anything go according to plan for the Orioles? They lost a managerial candidate yesterday when Joe Girardi turned down their offer. They lost their starting shortstop after one at-bat. They lost their starting pitcher after six innings and perhaps for much longer. A 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park might have seemed misplaced on such a day, but the Orioles needed to know that the world wasn't ganging up on them, that at least one aspect of their baseball lives could go right for a change.

SAN DIEGO -- You know you're in for something a little different when you pay $5 for the red casket-shaped ticket to the Museum of Death and spot the handsome, long-haired Afghan hound lying peacefully inside the entrance.A little too peacefully.You eye Cathee Shultz quizzically. "She won't bite!" says Shultz, 37, a cheery woman who runs this place with her artist husband, J. D. Healy, 38.She points out the card on the wall, which explains that Lady belonged to a wealthy woman who couldn't bear to be parted from her beloved pet, not even after its 1971 death.

Southwest Airlines is investigating how a 13-year-old Baltimore boy managed to sneak onto a plane -- apparently without a ticket -- and fly from Baltimore to San Diego with three stops in between.Tay'mond Allen of the 3200 block of Shannon Drive in Northeast Baltimore managed to obtain a boarding pass for a Jan. 25 flight from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to San Diego, a Southwest spokeswoman said last night from the discount carrier's headquarters in Dallas.Kristin M. Nelson, the Southwest official, said no one is allowed to board without a pass and that most of what the airline knows about the incident has come from media reports.

We could smell the ocean long before we could see it or hear it.After a "Whoop!" of triumph as we entered the city, we pedaled in silence, concentrating on the complexities of St. Augustine's urban traffic. Above noisy Interstate 95, across the six busy lanes of U.S. 1, and finally left on A1A and straight into the parking lot of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument on the Atlantic shore. The odometer read 2,781 miles.We had done it!As if awakening from a long dream, we clambered stiffly off our bikes and hugged each other.

San Diego's Zuzana Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova had a lot of fun in their straight-sets win yesterday at the Intercollegiate Clay Court Tennis Championships, but that's nothing unusual.Lesenarova, the top seed and defending champion of this event in singles, and Valkyova happily breezed through a first-round match at Pikesville's Suburban Club, 6-1, 6-1, sending Rice's Charlotte Feasby and Erin Waters out of the main draw.When the pair was asked about the most difficult part of playing them, the answer had little or nothing to do with when the ball was in play.

SAN DIEGO -- A spate of bad news involving U.S. citizens visiting Baja California in recent months has roiled passions along the international border and has some Baja officials worried about possible harm to the all-important tourism industry.It was bad enough, say tourism officials, that Mexico's federal government abruptly unveiled a fee of 150 pesos -- about $16 -- for visitors who stay more than three days or venture south of Ensenada. (Within Baja California, the fee was changed so it now applies only to visits longer than three days, regardless of the destination.

No cover-2 patterns or zone coverage? That suited the Ravens' secondary just fine. After giving up 436 yards nine days ago against the San Diego Chargers, the Ravens' defensive coaches could have called for more zone or safer coverage against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. But the coaches never backed down from their desire to be aggressive, which the defensive backs appreciated. "The coaching staff, they have faith in us, and they know that we can play," cornerback Domonique Foxworth said after the Ravens' 34-3 demolition of the Browns.

SAN DIEGO -- Nine days ago, it was considered an aberration because it was unimaginable: the Kansas City Chiefs, with a second-string quarterback, mounting two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. And then there was game No. 2. The Ravens managed a 31-26 win against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, but one of the greatest concerns of the preseason seems to be valid. The once-feared Ravens defense is now vulnerable, and until it is proved otherwise, a secondary that has quantity, has very little quality, especially at the cornerback positions.

In a game in which the Ravens' secondary took a giant step back, much-maligned cornerback Frank Walker took a huge step forward with his goal-line strip of a potential touchdown Sunday in San Diego. The Ravens might need an even bigger effort from Walker this week if starting left cornerback Fabian Washington is sidelined with a concussion he suffered in the last two minutes of a 31-26 victory over the Chargers. Coach John Harbaugh hedged on Washington's availability for the Week 3 game against the Cleveland Browns, saying, "He'll have a chance to play this week."

SAN DIEGO - - The win was satisfying, but the number of big plays allowed by the Ravens was disturbing. The Ravens (2-0) celebrated a hard-fought 31-26 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, but there will not be a lot of joy this morning on the defensive side when the coaches break out the videotape. Stellar defense has been the trademark of this franchise since the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000, but that wasn't the case against the Chargers. The Ravens allowed Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to pass for 436 yards.

SAN DIEGO -- The drought is over for Dawan Landry. The fourth-year strong safety intercepted a pass from Philip Rivers in the third quarter of the Ravens' 31-26 victory over the host San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday, marking his first interception since 2006, when he picked off five passes as a rookie. "It's been a while," Landry said. "I was thinking about that a couple days ago and thinking, 'Man, it's been about two years since I got one.' Today was just my lucky day, I guess."

SAN DIEGO -- All Willis McGahee seems to do for the Ravens is score touchdowns. Although he's listed second on the depth chart at running back behind starter Ray Rice, it's McGahee who has been finding the end zone for the Ravens. He posted his second consecutive two-touchdown game, providing the Ravens with their first two touchdowns in a 31-26 victory over the host San Diego Chargers on Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium. McGahee powered his way into the end zone from 5 and 3 yards out as the offense converted three of four trips into San Diego's red zone.

When the Kansas City Chiefs went 80 yards in six plays in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Ravens to tie the score at 24, the announced 71,099 at M&T Bank Stadium were silenced. Since 2000, few teams had done this to the Ravens, and the Chiefs did it in six plays, all of them passes. So you knew at whom fingers were going to be pointed Monday morning. As the Ravens (1-0) prepare to face the Chargers (1-0) on Sunday in San Diego, there is still concern about the secondary, but those players aren't worried.

1 Antonio Gates runs wild again. The Ravens couldn't cover the athletic San Diego tight end in the last meeting (2007). He caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. 2 The Chargers win the field-position battle. San Diego's Darren Sproles is one of the NFL's most dangerous returners. Ravens returner Chris Carr had a disappointing debut for his new team. 3 San Diego's Shawne Merriman isn't contained. The former University of Maryland star has two tackles in two meetings with the Ravens.

McKinney spent two seasons with the San Diego Chargers before being released Oct. 4. Four days later, he was signed by the Ravens. McKinney is still dealing with that and going undrafted, as well as a certain phobia. Question: How did you feel about being waived by the Chargers? Answer: Still have a chip on my shoulder for getting released by San Diego and everything. I don't want to say I should have been drafted. Everybody always says that. That's a played-out excuse. But I feel ... I'm better than they thought I was. Q: Did you have a childhood fear?

The moment of horror that hit Baltimore this year, when officials realized the depth of the city's pension problems, came a full seven years ago for San Diego. During a 2002 City Council meeting in that Southern California city, a pension board member announced that the city's plan needed more than $1 billion in taxpayer money to stay afloat. "My heart went down to my toes," recalled April Boling, a certified public accountant in the audience who immediately understood that the retirement system was poised to bankrupt the city.