Saturday S Game

VS. WICHITA WINGS* WHEN: Tonight, 8:05.* WHERE: The Arena.* RADIO: WCAO-AM 600.VS. SAN DIEGO SOCKERS* WHEN: Tomorrow, 2:35 p.m.* WHERE: The Arena.* TV/RADIO: Channel 45; WCAO-AM 600.* OUTLOOK: Blast defender Mike Stankovic will not play tonight because the team's appeal of a one-game suspension was denied. Stankovic was initially suspended last week and fined $1,000 for punching Tacoma's Steve Kinsey, Feb. 24. The fine was reduced to $500.Dale Mitchell has 11 goals and 14 assists in his last 11 games and leads the team in scoring with 35 goals, 33 assists.

DURHAM, N.C. - Maryland, which has suffered a rash of injuries, lost safety Antwine Perez after a tackle at the end of the first quarter. He did not return to the game. Perez lay on the field after making a hit with his head and shoulders on a pass play. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen walked out to midfield as Perez was being immobilized and taken out on a stretcher. The team announced at halftime Perez was alert and not seriously hurt. The Terps were already playing without starters Nolan Carroll (cornerback)

You want really bad finishes? I will give you some really bad finishes. Romeo and Juliet. Very bad. No one makes it to the end in that one. The woman who answers her front door in the first five minutes of "The Terminator" -- extremely unfortunate finish for her. The Jets putting it in the Colts' faces in Super Bowl III. Ai-yi-yi. The '69 World Series? Butch and Sundance? Bambi's mother?Now those are resoundingly, remarkably bad finishes. Two excruciating one-run losses in early July, as the baseball season is reaching its halfway point -- sorry to disappoint any Chicken Littles out there -- just doesn't compare.

Stevenson men's lacrosse coach Paul Cantabene thinks his team's Capital Athletic Conference series with Salisbury is becoming a rivalry. Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman doesn't quite feel the same way. "With the intensity of the last couple of games that we've played with them, I would say that it's one of the biggest rivalries out there," Cantabene said. "I don't think they like a new person in their conference. This has been their conference for years, and they've won it. I don't think they like getting someone new in there and trying to take their role.

QUEBEC -- The Washington Capitals have come to this picturesque, snow-covered city to find out if they can play three terrific games in a row by beating the Quebec Nordiques tonight.The Capitals have knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2, and the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3, on a three-game Eastern Conference road trip that concludes here.They've done it with solid defense and a simple but surprisingly potent offense. And a big part of that offensive burst has been generated by second-year player Keith Jones, who has three goals in two games and nearly knocked in the game-winner Saturday on a breakaway against Montreal's Patrick Roy."

For most teams, it's a stretch on a schedule that's considered a breather -- consecutive games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks. But for the Washington Bullets, the next seven days could establish a record the team would rather not have.The Bullets' losing streak is 10 after Saturday's 102-96 loss to the Utah Jazz in which Washington wasted a 15-point second-half lead. It's the team's longest losing streak since the Bullets moved to Landover in 1973 and is approaching the franchise record of 13 established by the Baltimore Bullets during the 1966-67 season.

A parade of Orioles passed through the video room after yesterday's 3-2 loss to Milwaukee. Brady Anderson, Bobby Bonilla, Curtis Goodwin, looking for answers to why the Orioles aren't hitting, and what they saw on replay was yet another young pitcher shutting them down.Brewers left-hander Brian Givens, making his ninth major-league start, allowed the Orioles no hits for 5 1/3 innings. This would be noteworthy if losing to unknowns hadn't become such a regular occurrence for the Orioles, who finished 6-7 on this disappointing homestand and dropped eight games out of first, the farthest since July 5.They begin a one-week swing through New York and Boston tonight, with little clue as to why hits and runs have become so elusive.

As it will for most American households, today's holiday meal at the home of ABC college football analyst Bob Griese will be a chance for the family to give thanks for all the good things that have happened since this time last year.But the elder Griese, a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, claims to be a little less thankful for the conduct of his son Brian, a Michigan quarterback who came off the bench Saturday to lead the Wolverines to an upset road win over Ohio State.The Michigan victory spoiled the prospect of having two unbeaten teams, the Buckeyes and Arizona State, meet in the Rose Bowl, which -- surprise, surprise -- will be seen on ABC on New Year's Day."

Opponent: San Antonio SpursSite: Alamodome, San AntonioTime: 8: 30TV/Radio: HTS/WWRC (980 AM)Outlook: The Bullets, who blew an 11-point halftime lead in Saturday's 100-93 loss to Utah, begin a three game trip to Texas tonight. They are tied with Indiana for ninth in the Eastern Conference, 4 1/2 games behind Cleveland, which holds the last playoff spot in the East. Chris Webber, Washington's leading scorer (19.6 ppg) and rebounder (9.8 rpg), was ejected from Saturday's game in the second quarter, and the Suns overtook the Bullets in the third quarter.

Around the hornEsteban Yan was in the Orioles' clubhouse yesterday and will be activated to start the first game of today's doubleheader. The Orioles last night had two pickoffs for the second time this season. Johnson said he resisted the temptation to bring back Scott Erickson on shortened rest to start one game of the doubleheaders. Erickson lasted only 2 1/3 innings Friday night, but threw 83 pitches. The time of Saturday's game against the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards has been changed from 1: 35 p.m. to 1: 15 p.m. to accommodate Fox TV.Pub Date: 9/15/97

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said yesterday that the hamstring injury suffered by senior quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada in last week's 24-17 win at Wake Forest isn't as serious as the one that kept him out of the first two games this season. It is still not known whether Kaheaku-Enhada will play in Saturday's game at Air Force. "We're going to continue to have him get as much treatment as he can and see what happens," Niumatalolo said before practice. "It's going to be day-to-day.

The gathering of civic leaders was meant to celebrate the coming Dew Tour event at Camden Yards. But all anyone could talk about, Mike Gibbons noticed, was the Orioles. Afterward, Gibbons, executive director of the Sports Legends Museum, walked over to watch that night's game. "You could feel the excitement of 32,000, and it was tangible beyond anything I've felt there since we were in the playoffs against Cleveland in 1997," he said. More recently, his son was out of town for a baseball tournament and phoned home several times to get updates on Orioles games.

It has been widely reported that Duke has lost four straight games for the first time since 1996, but should the Blue Devils drop another one at 9 tonight against league-leading Boston College, the history gets a little hairy. Technically, Duke has never lost five consecutive games under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke suffered an even worse slide in 1994-95, though, when Krzyzewski coached the first 12 games before leaving the team after "back surgery and exhaustion." Pete Gaudet coached the final 19 games and went 4-15.

During the previous two seasons, Morgan State's football team gave up more than 36 points a game and the team's fortunes sank as a result. This fall, that number is down to 18.2 and in the past three games, the Bears have blanked high-scoring Bethune-Cookman for more than three quarters, shut out North Carolina A&T and held Howard to 12 points (two on a safety). Over that span, the opposition is averaging slightly more than eight points and Morgan has won three straight after a 1-3 start.

The starting time for Saturday's game between the Orioles and Washington Nationals at Camden Yards has been moved to 4:35 p.m. and will be shown on Ch. 54. Fox Sports was supposed to air the game at 1:20 p.m. Also, for those of you wondering about Dave Cash, I'm told the Orioles are still waiting for him to decide what he wants to do. He was reassigned within the organization, not fired, and was told to take a few weeks off. There's a chance he could...

Win or lose, Baltimore Blast fans -- more than 900 of them hold season tickets to the games at 1st Mariner Arena -- show pride in their hometown indoor soccer team by screaming, dancing and jumping. Others display spirit through clothing, masks and even tattoos. Such enthusiasm was on display at Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Wave. Despite scoring three quick goals in the first quarter, the Blast lost 7-6 in overtime.

Ryan Collins and John Jones each had a vision of filling the second spot in the Ravens' two-tight-end set - along with Shannon Sharpe - dancing in their heads as training camp approached. But when the team signed 10-year veteran Ben Coates three days before camp started on July 20, Sharpe had his right-hand man. And Collins and Jones had their bubbles burst. Now, the two have been relegated to fighting it out for the third spot behind the pair of All-Decade performers. "I'm a competitor, so naturally I was competing to back up Shannon," Jones said, "but when Ben came in - once again another All-Decade tight end. "You've just got to kind of play your role, so that's what I've been doing so far is just playing my role, learning the offense as much as I can and staying out of the way when I'm supposed to and hopping in when I get my chance.

First came the unfamiliar version of soccer, soon followed by a new team in a new country with a new coach that prompted a new position. Got all that? Since Jeff Clarke first started playing indoor soccer in the middle of October, joining the now-defunct Edmonton Drillers, it's been one adjustment after another for the 23-year-old Vancouver native. He's just now catching his breath, finding himself in Baltimore, where he comes to the Blast with an impressive outdoor resume, an eagerness to learn the indoor game and a quiet confidence.

The Orioles seemed a little more confident in their rotation yesterday after Sidney Ponson threw in the bullpen and Daniel Cabrera vowed to make his next start, which will come sooner than expected. They needed good news on both fronts. Ponson was hit on the right thumb during Thursday's start, and Cabrera took a line drive off the back of his right hand two days later. But they expect to take their turns as if nothing happened. Pitching coach Ray Miller observed Ponson's bullpen session and gave reporters a thumbs-up.

DETROIT -- The Orioles began yesterday's game with two healthy players on their bench and a lineup they never envisioned back in March. Napoleon Calzado in left field. Ramon Nivar in center. Chris Gomez at second base. Sal Fasano behind the plate. Too bad Hayden Penn wasn't pitching. That won't happen until tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. Second baseman Brian Roberts was available to pinch run in an emergency. The club still isn't sure whether he'll play tonight against the Pirates. "It's going to be a tough call," Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said.