Sunday S Game

Kyle Boller said he is taking his new role as Ravens starting quarterback one game at a time. "I really don't try and think too much ahead," he said yesterday. Nothing wrong with that, especially in the midst of a three-game losing streak and with Steve McNair suddenly out of the picture. But he's about the only one not thinking ahead. Everybody else's view of Boller's latest chance goes way beyond Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns - it goes right through the rest of the season.

For most of the 1990s, the NFC championship game has been one of the sexy events on the sports calendar, with more than enough star power to hold a viewer's interest.With some variation of the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers involved, the NFC title game has more often than not been more compelling than the over-ballyhooed Super Bowl, played two weeks later.But for the first time in seven seasons and only the second time in the last 11 years, none of those teams, with their proven marquee value, will play for a Super berth.

The beleaguered Washington Redskins suffered another setback yesterday when they found out that wide receiver Michael Westbrook broke his wrist Sunday.Trainer Bubba Tyer said Westbrook's right wrist was placed in a cast after X-rays revealed a hairline crack in the scaphoid bone.He might need surgery.Westbrook suffered the injury in the 35-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, although he wasn't sure when it occurred. He reported feeling pain in the third quarter but kept playing and made a diving catch for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

BayRunners coach Herb Brown told guard Keith Booth to take one night to think about his future with the team.Booth did, and he has decided to honor his contract and return to the BayRunners.Booth was suspended for Wednesday's 101-81 win over the San Diego Stingrays for missing practice. He thought about leaving the team, but he met with Brown yesterday, and told his coach he wanted to remain on the squad."He told me Wednesday that he did not know if he felt committed to playing," Brown said.

What was going to be a fairly humdrum Pro Bowl telecast on Sunday night just got a whole lot livelier with yesterday's announcement that Dan Dierdorf will be leaving ABC and "Monday Night Football."In a statement released through his management group, Dierdorf said he had been told by ABC that there would be "no substantial offer to extend my contract," which expires at season's end.As such, Dierdorf, an offensive lineman during his playing days with the St. Louis Cardinals, and ABC parted company after a 12-year association.

SAN DIEGO -- There are precious few positions in all of sports that come with a rich history and prestige already attached.Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. Tailback at the University of Southern California. Center for the Los Angeles Lakers. All evoke memories of legendary performers and represent remarkable traditions.But perhaps no position anywhere can match that of center field for the New York Yankees. Of patrolling the hallowed turf defended by DiMaggio and Mantle. Of playing, literally, center stage in baseball's most hallowed theater, Yankee Stadium.

There are a lot of people who feel that Orlando Magic guard Penny Hardaway should not be an All-Star. They base their argument on the fact that Hardaway, because of injuries, only played in 21 games during the first half of the season.But don't expect Hardaway to make any apologies about representing the Eastern Conference in the starting lineup of Sunday's game in Cleveland."There's no debate [in my mind] at all," Hardaway said. "I'm healthy, I most likely would have made the team anyway.

Well, the World Series is over and no substantial damage has RTC been done to the American form of government or, more importantly, to NBC executives.Sunday's Game 7 between Florida and Cleveland did a 26.0 rating in the Nielsen overnight survey with a 39 share of the audience, the highest rating for a baseball game since Game 7 of the 1991 Series did a 32.2 on CBS.The pessimists will accurately note that Sunday's number was the lowest for a seventh game since the 1968 clincher between Detroit and St. Louis did a 21.2 for a game played in the afternoon, but the 26.0 rating is a strong number, which will be exceeded only by the Super Bowl among sporting events.

Two Ravens were honored by the NFL yesterday -- outside linebacker Peter Boulware was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month and kicker Matt Stover was named the AFC's Special Teams Player of the Month.Boulware, the team's top draft pick and No. 4 selection overall, had an NFL rookie-high four sacks (19 yards in losses) among 29 tackles, tying him for second on the team after five games. He started each of those games, He also had six quarterback hurries.In the team's two division wins -- over Cincinnati in Week 2 and over Tennessee two weeks later -- Boulware had eight tackles, three sacks, three quarterback pressures and a blocked pass.

Three days after he rushed for 154 yards on 35 carries, rookie running back Jay Graham was unable to practice.Graham's sore left ankle had improved remarkably by Monday, but not enough for him to suit up yesterday. Graham, listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Arizona, could practice today on a limited basis."It's one of those deals where [Graham] had a little setback between Monday and Tuesday. The soreness actually moved down the side of the ankle, and he is having trouble pushing off," Ravens trainer Bill Tessendorf said.

It was a rotten year. That 401(k) tanked quicker than the Orioles in September. The Maryland men's basketball team rallied less often than Wall Street. As for employment opportunities, at times it seemed the only jobs around Baltimore were for starting pitchers. Sports are supposed to muster the troops, push our worries aside. The Ravens are doing just that. If there's a bounce in the collective steps of Marylanders these days, credit football. Reaching the NFL playoffs - the Ravens play at Miami on Sunday - has given folks a distraction from their daily fears about stock woes, downsizing and housing ills.

Sunday's game at Miami should tell us something about the Ravens' high-profile rookie. Not quarterback Joe Flacco. It's the other top rookie - first-year head coach John Harbaugh. Because the Ravens got trounced 31-3 by the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, this is the time to see whether Harbaugh can breathe new life into a team that just got flattened. The defense is shaken after getting ripped by Peyton Manning. The offense is searching for confidence after turning the ball over five times.

The Orioles took another small step in club president Andy MacPhail's long-term rebuilding program yesterday, allowing the Tampa Bay Rays to claim right-handed reliever Chad Bradford off waivers in exchange for a player to be named. Bradford, one of the most dependable relievers in the Orioles' bullpen, goes to the first-place team in the American League East. The Orioles save $4.5 million in payroll - the remainder of the three-year, $10.5 million deal Bradford signed before the 2007 season to become part of an expensive bullpen renovation.

The Ravens' secondary has been a revolving door this season, and a lack of continuity has certainly contributed to its woes. It was never more glaring than in Sunday's 32-14 loss in San Diego when a struggling Philip Rivers looked more like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning than a quarterback who had thrown five interceptions in his previous three games. Cornerback Samari Rolle returned after missing six of the past eight games while dealing with the effects and treatment of epilepsy, but Chris McAlister sat out for the fourth time in five games with a recurring knee injury.

Kyle Boller said he is taking his new role as Ravens starting quarterback one game at a time. "I really don't try and think too much ahead," he said yesterday. Nothing wrong with that, especially in the midst of a three-game losing streak and with Steve McNair suddenly out of the picture. But he's about the only one not thinking ahead. Everybody else's view of Boller's latest chance goes way beyond Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns - it goes right through the rest of the season.

The Orioles finally are able to team up pitcher Jaret Wright with catcher Ramon Hernandez. It's just not happening in Baltimore. Wright and Hernandez will report to Single-A Frederick on an injury rehabilitation assignment and start tonight against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Hernandez will stay with the Keys an extra day and serve as their designated hitter tomorrow, while Wright rejoins the Orioles. If everything goes according to plan, Wright will come off the disabled list in time to start Sunday's game in Cleveland.

Should the Ravens be concerned about their secondary after Sunday's game? It is not about one player or a group of players. It's about playing as a team on both sides of the ball. That will be the difference maker. Ed Bivons Cockeysville Every team's passing philosophy is that "We will attack Samari Rolle until he stops us," and that the Ravens keep sticking him on their No. 1 receiver is a bit of concern. Duane Layton GLEN BURNIE NEXT QUESTION Will firing Jim Fassel make the Ravens better on offense?

The mood in the visiting dressing room at halftime of Sunday's game at Giants Stadium was hopeful. The Washington Redskins trailed by only six points even though their defense hadn't forced a punt and their offense hadn't shown the same explosiveness as the previous two weeks. "I think our guys wanted to play hard," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said yesterday, a day after his team's 19-3 loss to the New York Giants. "I just don't think we played well. To be truthful, it was kind of the way we started the game off. We just never really got in sync."

ASHBURN, Va. -- Everywhere Santana Moss turned, his path was blocked and he had little room to breathe. And that was just Moss' experience with the media yesterday. A day after the Washington Redskins (5-5) suffered their fifth defeat in the past seven games with a 16-13 loss to an Oakland Raiders team that had lost five of its previous eight road games, questions about the lack of offense continued to swirl at Redskins Park. Much of the scrutiny centered on the ineffectiveness of the wide receivers against a team (4-6)

Pro basketball Grizzlies topple Lakers, 85-73 Pau Gasol had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the host Memphis Grizzlies to an 85-73 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Eddie Jones added 16 points for the Grizzlies and Mike Miller had 13 before being helped to the locker room with just under two minutes left after banging his right knee while scrambling on the floor for the ball. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 18 points. Bryant, 7-for-18 from the field, turned in his second low-scoring performance after scoring 17 points Friday against Philadelphia.