Team Chemistry

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Give New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner credit. He could have kept last year's world championship club intact and cruised back into the World Series, but that would have been, well, boring.Instead, Steinbrenner put his team's outstanding team chemistry at risk to add some more star power when he acquired future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens from the Toronto Blue Jays for starting pitcher David Wells, reliever Graeme Lloyd and infield prospect Homer Bush.The Boss has always loved a good headline, but this deal had dynasty written all over it. Steinbrenner has had some good teams over the nearly three decades that he has owned the Yankees, but the current version of the club has a chance to go down in history with the Murderers' Row clubs of the 1920s if it can sustain last year's success for any length of time.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said, "He'd make me a better player." Penny Hardaway said he'd love to be on the same team with him. Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl has gone to his front office and said he'd like the opportunity to coach him.Say what you want about the weirdness of Dennis Rodman. He's a winner, as evidenced by the number of teams trying to sign the free-agent forward.Rodman, the only major free agent still unsigned, is the one player who can change the balance of power in the NBA. If he signs with the Lakers, they might coast to the Western Conference title.

Jr. -- UP -- It's been a week since Cal Ripken ended The Streak and gave Camden Yards a moment few expected would happen this season. Yes, it is "time to change the subject," but not before embracing the city that has forever embraced him.1998 -- DOWN -- A season that began with promise crumbled early and ends in uncertainty. An off-season face lift awaits.Dan O'Dowd -- UP -- The Orioles were willing to jump through the Cleveland Indians' hoops to interview him for the GM vacancy. He apparently enjoys the support of Pat Gillick.

Senior forward Matt Steppling is South Carroll's handyman.Ask Cavaliers coach Jim Carnes about all the different things Steppling provides on the basketball court, and he'll come up with a lengthy list -- scoring, rebounding, versatility and leadership, to name a few.Then ask him what the 6-foot-4 Steppling does best of all, and you won't have to wait long for an answer."

The laboratory in team chemistry that the U.S. national men's soccer team has become will resume in next Thursday's game against Ecuador at Memorial Stadium.U.S. coach Steve Sampson announced the roster for that game yesterday, a 17-man squad that includes 12 players who haven't seen national duty in at least six months, many of them for longer.The players are being called up from five of Major League Soccer's 10 franchises, but none of the three regulars from this area's representative, D.C. United, is among them.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Orioles have assembled an impressive 1996 roster, but talent isn't everything. The baseball season, as much as anything else, is a chemistry experiment, and assembling a championship team is not an exact science.Orioles general manager Pat Gillick knows this. So does manager Davey Johnson. Both have experience putting together winning clubs -- and no other current combination of GM and manager has had more success -- but that doesn't make it any easier to put a finger on what precisely makes for good team chemistry.

Good team chemistry.Baseball coaches don't usually throw those words around as often as basketball and soccer coaches do.But Western Maryland baseball coach Dave Seibert does not have much else to bank on these days as he prepares the Green Terror for the 1995 season."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- When asked, Kenny Rogers will always spend a second pondering the Kevin Brown question. Like a defense witness being grilled by the prosecutor, he cocks his head and pauses, as if in search of just the right answer.Be aware this is a big-time friendship that goes beyond baseball. Families are also involved. Brown, Rogers and Rafael Palmeiro enjoyed spending time together both on and off the field when all three played for the Texas Rangers.But it's his friendship with Brown that Rogers now has to defend.

There was the six-game losing streak in the first month of the season. The 10-game losing streak that ran to just before Christmas. A six-game losing streak that ran into the All-Star break. And through it all, the Washington Bullets never have lost sight of a playoff spot.And there was no reason to. Some 7 1/2 games separated the Bullets from the eighth playoff spot at the All-Star break. Play in the Eastern Conference has been so poor that three losing teams would make it to the postseason today, including Boston, 19-27 going into last night's game.

In a deal filled with ramifications that are likely to reverberate throughout the NFL, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones lured cornerback Deion Sanders away from the San Francisco 49ers yesterday by making him the highest-paid defensive player in league history.Although Jones wouldn't reveal the details until Sanders arrives in Dallas for the official announcement tomorrow, sources in Dallas said Sanders got a $25 million deal with a $12.5 million signing bonus that is the highest in league history.

For nearly a month each summer, Ravens players move from their luxurious homes to a two-story hotel, where they share a room that is smaller than some of their man caves. Instead of fancy dinners with significant others, they eat in a cafeteria with 80 of their closest (and largest) friends. Nighttime trips to clubs are replaced by evening meetings. As a result, their thoughts are squarely on football. Their circle of friends during training camp is composed of teammates. It's the ultimate in team-building.

News item: The Orioles made their first round of cuts yesterday, sending out seven nonroster players, including top pitching prospects Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta. My take: There are scouts out there who think both pitchers could help the Orioles right now at the major league level, but Andy MacPhail and Dave Trembley pledged at the outset to put the long-term interests of the players ahead of the short-term needs of the team. It was the right move to send them out before the temptation becomes too great to accelerate their development.

Catonsville guard Shamika Williams drew a lot of attention last year when she led the Comets to an upset victory over Western at the Basketball Academy. She later scored 27 points in leading her team to the Baltimore County title, earning a spot on the All-Metro first team. This season, Williams, 17, is again the centerpiece of the Comets' unbeaten No. 9 team. The multitalented 5-foot-7 player averages 15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 3.5 assists. A veteran of the Baltimore Cougars Amateur Athletic Union program, Williams signed early to play for UMBC.

When the Fallston girls basketball team takes the floor, freshman Jess Harlee and senior Kristen Steiner can be counted on to handle most of the scoring. The rest of the offense is "by committee," said Cougars coach Vernon Brown, referring to Kim McDaniel, Jess Steiner, Lexy Fitzkee and Lindsay Howard. Harlee, 5 feet 11, averages a team-high 18 points and is the most versatile player on the squad, playing every position but point guard this season. Harlee went on a two-game spree last week, scoring 48 points in two nights.

The Sun's Bill Ordine ranks the NFL's 32 teams [2005 RECORD IN PARENTHESES] 1. INDIANAPOLIS (14-2) / / With unquestionable talent but dubious heart, the Peyton Manning-era Colts may be the best NFL team to never make it to the Super Bowl. But oddsmakers think otherwise, and kicker Adam Vinatieri might prove to be the difference. 2. CAROLINA (11-5) / / Coach John Fox ran out of running backs last year in the NFC title game, but he boosted the offense in the offseason with receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

College Park -- Their desire for unity was evident the moment the Maryland men's basketball team stepped onto the court at Comcast Center for its first official practice. Instead of one person stealing the spotlight at Maryland Madness on Oct. 14, the players and coach Gary Williams walked in together and were introduced as a team. In the previous two seasons, Williams said, there had been too much individuality. "Our theme tonight is team," he said last month. It could very well be the Terps' theme for the season.

When players report for training camp tonight, the Ravens will begin their march to the regular season as an older, and in their estimation, wiser team. One only has to catch a glimpse of coach Brian Billick's newly grown beard to get that message. "You know I never had any gray before I became head coach," he said with a chuckle. Only seven months ago, questions -- not smiles -- filled the Ravens' locker room. A self-proclaimed Super Bowl contender failed to make the playoffs, losing four of its last six games to finish 9-7. It was a late-season tailspin never before seen in Billick's six-year reign, leading many to wonder why it occurred.

ABERDEEN - After three days of the Ripken Minor League Experience, I've reached a startling conclusion that goes against everything I ever believed about baseball: The game is way easier than it looks. How else do you explain the fact that I've made some of the most harrowing defensive plays this side of Jose Canseco and my team has streaked right to the top of the standings? So much for meeting the Ripken Challenge, which was delivered by Bill Ripken in January when the minor league fantasy concept was still in its embryonic stages.

Once a self-proclaimed Super Bowl contender, the Ravens have become a divided team, cornerback Chris McAlister said yesterday. In a lengthy discourse on the state of the Ravens, in front of a captive audience of reporters, the Pro Bowl player revealed a disturbing split on a team that is finishing one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. "I can't really put my finger on it, but it's not the same feeling," McAlister said. "Maybe it's because we're losing, coming off last year and not being able to follow up and meet expectations.

If the Chicago Cubs survive the four-team scrum for the National League wild-card berth this week, a plastic deer with a child-sized Kyle Farnsworth jersey could find itself resting beside Steve Bartman and Harry Caray in franchise lore. The Cubs added the plastic deer to their traveling party, adorning him with the Farnsworth jersey, and wound up finishing 8-4 on their latest road trip. Who knows? Maybe they've found the answer to the Curse of the Billy Goat. This late in the season, teams will look to anything for a psychological edge.