Short Game

All is quiet now, but let's fast-forward to Week 4 of the regular season, and check in on Michael Jackson and the Ravens' new two-back offense.Tight end Eric Green leads the team in receptions. Jermaine Lewis is emerging as the principal deep threat. And MJ is in a mood."Evidently, I am no longer part of this team," Jackson will sniff. "When will they start calling my number? You can't score if you don't have the ball."Off he'll go, critiquing the offense, predicting that the team won't pick up his $3 million option, wondering what he ever did to deserve such a wretched fate.

After weeks of trying, the Ravens seem to have discovered their offensive formula for winning football games again. It's not pretty, and it certainly isn't what you would expect from a franchise-caliber quarterback like Joe Flacco. But for now, it's the ideal game plan. Instead of Flacco throwing the ball all over the stadium as he did in the opening weeks, the Ravens now come out trying to establish the run. They nickel-and-dime teams down the field with their passing attack, using running back Ray Rice and wide receiver Derrick Mason.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Any time the United States Golf Association runs up its flag for a major championship, the players' comments are almost predictable.That's the way it was on the eve of the 13th annual U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club yesterday, although the veterans of this event and the U.S. Open admit comparing conditions for the two is similar to matching apples and oranges.The beautiful, tree-lined layout, designed by Herbert Strong and opened in 1922, is perfectly straightforward, with no hidden problems.

Golfer Cristie Kerr has captured 12 LPGA championships since turning pro in 1996, including eight titles in a three-year stretch that began in 2004. But it wasn't until last year that the 31-year-old veteran found a key facet to her game that has elevated her to the top of the LPGA money list this season. Kerr could always putt well, drive the ball far and bring a fine short game. But these days, she has a greater appreciation for the mental aspect of the game. While many golfers are reluctant to discuss the head games that come into play late on a given Sunday, Kerr was open about that important aspect of the sport as she prepared for Thursday's opening round of the McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace.

Mike O'Neil of St. Paul's used his strong short game to shoot an even-par 71 yesterday and lock up his first victory in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual tournament at the Elkridge Club. The St. Paul's senior finished with a three-round total of 216. That set a tournament record, beating the 219 that former teammate Greg Rodgers shot while winning last year's title in sudden death over Tyler Bare (St. Paul's), who also had a 219. Rodgers won three titles, and the Crusaders now have captured four of the past five individual crowns.

By his own admission Frank J. Laber, 57, is on the back nine of his successful golf career. Although Laber is not competing or serving a golf club, he now offers a practical coaching approach - stressing the short game, from 30 yards in - at his own course, the Black Horse Golf learning center on Troyer Road in White Hall, which opened in 1999. "This is essential to those looking for lower scores, since shots at these short distances represent about 70 percent of the shots in a normal round of golf," Laber says.

North Carroll field hockey coach Denean Koontz crossed up previously unbeaten and second-ranked Westminster last night with a short passing game to prevent the Owls from clinching the Carroll County championship.Koontz employed the short game instead of the long drives the seventh-ranked Panthers had been noted for this season and the strategy paid off with a 2-0 victory at Westminster.The upset not only halted an Owls' victory party but it pushed North Carroll (6-1-2 overall, 4-1-1 in the county)

Did anyone see Bengals receiver Chad Johnson uproot a pylon and putt the football after his touchdown against the Ravens? If you were watching the game on television, you couldn't miss it. And that's exactly what the NFL wants. Don't believe for a second that commissioner Paul Tagliabue is upset over the excessive celebrating that takes place each weekend throughout the league. As Bill Wentworth, the former North County High School principal, pointed out while we watched the Ravens-Steelers game the previous weekend, the networks would have been instructed to steer their cameras away from such theatrics a long time ago if Tagliabue didn't want them broadcast over the airwaves for all to see. A fan runs on the field and interrupts a game, and you don't see it unless you're there in person, because the NFL and Major League Baseball don't want to encourage this kind of behavior.

Nancy Abiecunas, considered one of the top players in the field, breezed through two matches, and Naree Wongluekiet, one of the youngest, was forced to default from the U.S. Girls' Junior championship yesterday due to the recurrence of a chronic foot injury.In this morning's semifinals (8: 30) at the Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, Lorena Ochoa of Guadalajara, Mexico, will meet Abiecunas of Fort Collins, Colo., and unheralded Lindsay Morgan of Walla Walla, Wash., will play Aree Wongluekiet, Naree's twin sister, of Bradenton, Fla.The 51st championship match, over a scheduled 18 holes, is set for 9 a.m. tomorrow.

The summer months are the best for Westminster senior Chris Long because that's when he can spend the most time on the golf course.A typical Monday: He wakes up around 10 o'clock, plays a round of 18 at Wakefield Valley and then sticks around for work, washing carts along with some other chores at the club.As for most summer Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and sometimes Fridays: See Monday's schedule."It's fun -- never gets old. Summertime at the golf course -- I practically live there," he said.

No one is attaching the oft-cited "Thunder and Lightning" label for Ravens running backs Le'Ron McClain and Ray Rice. Not yet at least. That backfield duo injected the offense with a jolt of adrenaline, contributing mightily to the Ravens' 17-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday at M&T Bank Stadium. Despite the unavailability of featured tailback Willis McGahee, McClain churned out career highs in carries (19) and yards (86), and Rice - a second-round pick in the draft in April - gained 64 yards on 22 attempts in his first career start in the NFL. The offense converted all six of its third-and-one situations on the ground, and McClain and Rice helped the Ravens compile 229 rushing yards against a Bengals defense that ranked 21st (a 118.3-yard average)

The last time the Ravens encountered an offense as formidable as the Indianapolis Colts' was Nov. 30, against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. The Bengals often went with three receivers, and there were lots of short- and mid-range passes. But the key was the play of quarterback Carson Palmer, who was extremely patient in the Bengals' 13-7 victory. These elements have become the standard formula for beating the Ravens, and slowing down their top-ranked defense. Only a few teams have accomplished it. The San Diego Chargers first unveiled it Oct. 1 for a half, then got too conservative in a 16-13 loss.

Did anyone see Bengals receiver Chad Johnson uproot a pylon and putt the football after his touchdown against the Ravens? If you were watching the game on television, you couldn't miss it. And that's exactly what the NFL wants. Don't believe for a second that commissioner Paul Tagliabue is upset over the excessive celebrating that takes place each weekend throughout the league. As Bill Wentworth, the former North County High School principal, pointed out while we watched the Ravens-Steelers game the previous weekend, the networks would have been instructed to steer their cameras away from such theatrics a long time ago if Tagliabue didn't want them broadcast over the airwaves for all to see. A fan runs on the field and interrupts a game, and you don't see it unless you're there in person, because the NFL and Major League Baseball don't want to encourage this kind of behavior.

The summer seemed so iconic. Huge men hit balls to places kids had heard about only in tall tales spun by Grandpa. Every day it seemed, Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa did something those kids would be able to tell their own grandchildren about. And it was all wrapped in that blessed nugget of Nike attitude: "Chicks dig the long ball." Barry Bonds only upped the ante three years later, in 2001, when he hit 73 homers and began mounting the first serious challenge to Hank Aaron's 755. The popularity of the game seemed indistinguishable from the popularity of the home run. But four years later, memories of those heady days are shrouded in ambivalence.

Mike O'Neil of St. Paul's used his strong short game to shoot an even-par 71 yesterday and lock up his first victory in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association individual tournament at the Elkridge Club. The St. Paul's senior finished with a three-round total of 216. That set a tournament record, beating the 219 that former teammate Greg Rodgers shot while winning last year's title in sudden death over Tyler Bare (St. Paul's), who also had a 219. Rodgers won three titles, and the Crusaders now have captured four of the past five individual crowns.

BOSTON - It was as if Red Sox Nation had been liberated from Yankees oppression, and last night was the beginning of a new independence. Game 1 of the World Series started as a celebration for the Boston Red Sox. It ended as an edge-of-your-seat thriller. The St. Louis Cardinals made two impressive comebacks, and the Red Sox needed a two-run, eighth-inning homer from No. 9 hitter Mark Bellhorn to pull out an 11-9 victory before 35,035 at Fenway Park. Boston will send Curt Schilling and his mended right ankle to the mound tonight for Game 2, and St. Louis will counter with Matt Morris.

Golfer Cristie Kerr has captured 12 LPGA championships since turning pro in 1996, including eight titles in a three-year stretch that began in 2004. But it wasn't until last year that the 31-year-old veteran found a key facet to her game that has elevated her to the top of the LPGA money list this season. Kerr could always putt well, drive the ball far and bring a fine short game. But these days, she has a greater appreciation for the mental aspect of the game. While many golfers are reluctant to discuss the head games that come into play late on a given Sunday, Kerr was open about that important aspect of the sport as she prepared for Thursday's opening round of the McDonald's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace.

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. -- Fred Couples was in the interview room answering yet another painful question, when a booming voice from the rear ended the 30-minute session."

By his own admission Frank J. Laber, 57, is on the back nine of his successful golf career. Although Laber is not competing or serving a golf club, he now offers a practical coaching approach - stressing the short game, from 30 yards in - at his own course, the Black Horse Golf learning center on Troyer Road in White Hall, which opened in 1999. "This is essential to those looking for lower scores, since shots at these short distances represent about 70 percent of the shots in a normal round of golf," Laber says.

Matt Hasselbeck's comments after yesterday's 44-41 overtime loss to the Ravens began with I don't knows, I can't recalls and I guess sos. But who could blame the Seattle Seahawks quarterback for his purple haze? In one day, he had endured a miserable beginning to dominate one of the NFL's best defenses, only to lose a game of inches. "The game was so long," said Hasselbeck, a fifth-year veteran from Boston College whose team fell to 1-4 in road games this year. "With everything that went on, it's hard to remember it all."