Stretch

Just another day at Camden Yards, right? Another ho-hum, garden-variety 5-2 win Sunday, this time over the Oakland Athletics? OK, maybe not. Say what you will about this team and where it'll end up at season's end. But right now, you can't deny this: The Orioles sure have been fun to watch. "It was fun there in the ninth inning," manager Buck Showalter said in his typically understated way. Fun in the ninth? Yeah, kind of. Let's play it back: With one out, Matt Wieters doubles off A's closer Grant Balfour, a shot to the base of the left-field wall to tie the game at 2. Two batters later, Wilson Betemit smacks a walk-off homer.

One game does not define a team, but the next four will. It's crunch time in the NFL, the final month of the regular season where serious contenders start to pull away and pretenders bow out. The Ravens (9-3) have one of the best records in the NFL, but few take them seriously. They seem to have the right characteristics, but not the consistency. With the Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Cincinnati Bengals left on the schedule, the Ravens can silence their critics and go into the postseason pounding on their chests.

Ridership on the new stretch of light rail from Baltimore to Ferndale and Glen Burnie was sparse on Sunday, opening day for the two new stops.Mass Transit Administration officials said they didn't count ridership on Sunday, but Dianna Rosborough, media public relations director, said she observed the light turnout."

CLEVELAND -- About 2 1/2 hours before every game at Jacobs Field, the Cleveland Indians' rubber bands are unleashed.Fitting, because the Indians are not your average team, so these are not your average rubber bands.They are huge.They are red.And they are used by the winningest team in major-league baseball to stretch hamstrings, backs, thighs, arms and nearly every other muscle that a player might pull while playing."They're just a part of the flexibility program that we installed in spring training," said Fernando Montes, the Indians' strength and conditioning coach.

LAUREL -- High Degree surged between tiring rivals and drew off to a 1 1/2 -length victory in yesterday's Laurel Race Course feature.A Fur Piece led early in the $24,000 allowance race before I'm Wild overtook him in the early stretch. Then, High Degree rallied between those two before easily finishing clear of a belated bid from Seven Salutes.The winner completed 6 1/2 furlongs in 1 minute, 17 3/5 seconds on a track that was rated fast throughout the 10-race program despite intermittent rain.

Greater flexibility can enhance your overall athletic performance.Longer muscles -- a sign of flexibility -- can generate greater force on a joint. As a result, you can throw farther, lift heavier, jump higher and run faster. The best way to improve your flexibility is through slow, deliberate stretching movements that increase your range of motion.Rapid or bouncy stretching can be dangerous; it places too much tension on the muscle being stretched. It's also usually ineffective because it triggers the involuntary stretch reflex, which contracts the very muscle you are trying to relax.

I have a weekly squash game on Saturdays. As I get older, I notice I'm more sore than I used to be afterward and I'm getting more minor injuries. What can I do to avoid this? We asked Meadow Mill Athletic Club owner Nancy Cushman for advice. "What I tell people is that stretching before and after your match is most important," says Cushman. (Jog or jump rope for five to 10 minutes before stretching to avoid pulling a muscle.) Between workouts, Cushman suggests adding cross training and weight training to your routine.

Some people, as they grow old, can become SO inflexible.And then there's Ina Marx, 68, who can put both feet behind her head. Or, standing with her arms extended at shoulder height, can raise her straightened leg until her toe touches her hand. Or even do a not-so-simple backbend.There is nothing inflexible about Ina Marx, except her attitude toward exercise. And that attitude is: You've got to do it, even if it's only 10 minutes of stretching a day. And, she says, one can never be too old or too unfit to start.

NEW ORLEANS -- Line In The Sand captured the $200,000 Louisiana Derby yesterday after Colony Light was disqualified for interference in the stretch.Line In The Sand, the 4-5 betting favorite in the Grade III race for 3-year-olds, closed ground in the stretch under Pat Day, but fell about two lengths short of Colony Light, which went off at 9-1 under Julie Krone.Colony Light took command in the stretch after the early pacesetter, West Vermont, faded.However, Colony Light drifted inside near the eighth pole and stewards at the Fair Grounds ruled Krone interfered with Hill Pass, which finished third.

Conventional wisdom says you should stretch before and after exercise to prevent injury and soreness. But a recent report in the British Medical Journal showing that stretching does not prevent next-day muscle soreness or injuries seems to refute that notion. Is there literature that supports stretching? The problem is that there are no gold-standard studies on stretching. The studies that the British Medical Journal cites had a total of 77 participants, too few to be statistically significant.