Stay Tuned

Coming soon, baltimoresun.com's fantasy feature is making the move to blog format, where you'll be able to get your fantasy football fix with positional rankings, draft advice and semi-regular spin on all the happenings around the NFL, as well as tips to help you finish the baseball season in style. Stay tuned. Originally published August 21, 2005, 8:35 PM EDT

At 6:15 p.m. on a recent Friday, Fred Voll- merhausen blasts Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' 1960 hit "Stay" over the Brooklyn Park Shopping Center parking lot. As president of Street Survivors of Maryland, he's the master of ceremonies and deejay for cruise night, a gathering of vintage automobile owners from Anne Arundel County and southern Baltimore. The group gathers every Friday night throughout the summer behind the KFC on Ritchie Highway, typically drawing dozens of cars and the gaze of passing shoppers.

It was a night of memories for those who had yearned for baseball in Washington - Livan Hernandez's stalwart pitching, Vinny Castilla's double-triple-homer bonanza, a win in the first home game in 34 years. Or wait ... it was a night of memories for anyone lucky enough to have tickets to the Nationals' home opener at RFK Stadium or to live in the immediate vicinity of the District. For would-be Nationals fans living in nearby Anne Arundel and Howard counties, Thursday was a night of frustration, one on which a radio and a good imagination had to stand in for actually watching Washington's new baseball team defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3. In fact, Nationals fans in the suburbs shared by Baltimore and Washington have hardly been able to see an inning this year.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jason Varitek is making a point. The Boston Red Sox catcher and team captain wants reporters to know that, despite the defending World Series champions' reputation as a group of mad-partying, fun-loving idiots, renegades and rock stars, the essence of this team is dedication and work ethic. Standing in the middle of the spring training clubhouse, Varitek implores the media to look beyond the appearances and quirks of a few characters and instead concentrate on the bond of hard-nosed baseball that unites an eclectic clubhouse.

Be advised: the Annals of Internal Medicine has issued what may be considered a "Code Brown." Do not be alarmed. Continue normal activities. Not to worry about suspicious persons, mad cows, unattended packages, canceled flights or anything, really. This alert says: Don't worry, be happy. Drinking caffeinated coffee, you see, may significantly reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. The "Code Brown" remains in effect unless and until it is contradicted by further studies of coffee and health, and then studies of the studies of the studies.

LOST AMONG THE eight Pro Bowl selections and three alternates, and the league's defensive and offensive players of the year, are two other deserving Ravens. One is a nearly perfect physical specimen; the other doesn't fit the prototype for his position. One loves to talk and has his own radio show; drawing words out of the other is like getting Rush Limbaugh to admit he doesn't know anything about football. Meet Gary Baxter and Kelly Gregg, possibly the next two stars on the Ravens defense.

Fast forward about two months to the regional field hockey championships where No. 1 Fallston and No. 10 Towson are likely to meet again. Then, there will be a winner. Yesterday, however, the two battled to a 0-0 double-overtime tie at the Towson Tournament - somewhat of a moral victory for both teams, which had played 140 minutes of field hockey by the time the final whistle sounded. Both notched earlier victories over Westminster in the round-robin affair. "I feel really good," said Towson defender Meredith Harter after 60 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute seven-on-seven overtime periods against Fallston.

Hip-hop has become radio's new battleground. And that has meant new business - and new challenges - for Radio One Inc., the Lanham company that built a multimillion-dollar empire by operating radio stations aimed at African-American listeners. The hip-hop genre has gone mainstream. Seven of Billboard's current top 10 hits are by such hip-hop stars as Beyonce, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Lil' Kim and Chingy. The rapper Eminem won an Oscar and Grammy awards for the soundtrack from his critically acclaimed movie 8 Mile.

OFF TO ONE side of the massive, humming, "head-end" computer center in White Marsh where Comcast broadcasts its signal to 350,000 customers in the Baltimore suburbs, there's a small room lined with wall-to-wall monitors, set-top boxes and other gadgets that are the future of cable television. In one corner, you can flick a remote control and download the latest headlines from the Internet, check out the movie schedule at the cineplex down the road or browse the menus at local restaurants, all on a regular television set - no computer necessary.

This week, we are going to give you the answer to last week's question. Just as King Stoneheart became King Strongheart, his kingdom of Whineytown became transformed into Winnertown. Stay tuned to next week's Just for Kids for a very big announcement. Teachers: Check www.nie-sun.com tomorrow for stance questions related to Just for Kids stories.