Team In Baltimore

As the Gulfstream jet lifted off the runway on its secret mission, Cleveland Stadium came briefly into view.Scattered among the plane's leather-upholstered seats were four men who knew the stadium better than the masons who built it: Browns owner Art Modell, his son and two close advisers.The mood was unusually subdued for this tight-knit group. Even Modell, ever ready with a quip, was reflective as the plane pierced the overcast, autumn sky. No one mentioned the stadium below. Modell saw it out of the window and thought -- correctly -- that he had spent the last of more than 300 Sundays there.

He was our worst enemy. Now, he's our best friend.CPaul Tagliabue hasn't changed. It's just that his lack of vision as TC NFL commissioner suddenly is working to Baltimore's advantage.Think Pete Rozelle would have rolled over like this? No chance.Rozelle would have fought the Browns' move to Baltimore. Actually, he never would have even faced the problem, because he would have put an expansion team in Baltimore in the first place.A strong commissioner addresses issues like this before they reach the crisis stage.

More than 150 well-wheeled officers from five states donned full gear this weekend for the Baltimore Police Second Annual Mountain Bike and Strength Competition at the Inner Harbor's Rash Field.They raced nearly six miles to Fort McHenry and back, sped through an obstacle course and finished with a dramatic tug-of-war that ended in an upset."It's not any harder than every day at work," said one member of the city's bike patrol.Tug-of-war honors went to a team of recruits from the Baltimore Police Academy, that defeated the Baltimore Tactical Quick Response Team in the finals of Saturday's competition.

He is as steady as a white, marble stoop.As feisty as a Chesapeake blue crab.As enduring as Fort McHenry.As graceful as a skipjack at sail.Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't just play for a team in Baltimore, he is Baltimore.That is why this region so embraced him as he set the major league baseball standard for consecutive games played. The hubbub of "Streak Week," the sustained cheering and moist eyes that have marked the midpoint of every game at Oriole Park this past week, are about more than a diversion played with hickory sticks and leather mitts.

The American Hockey League is moving closer to expansion, and Baltimore appears to be moving with it.Yesterday, Gary Handleman, vice president of facilities for Centre Management, and Bob Teck, a prospective AHL franchise owner, said they are working toward an agreement on the use of the Baltimore Arena for a new AHL team that would begin play in the fall.Teck and his partner, Alan Gertner, have been looking into a franchise in Baltimore since last October. They are business partners in the Gertec Corp.

Some people are saying that we just should give up this crazy NFL quest. Some people say we can find better uses for public funds than sitting by the telephone like the girl in the Vikki Carr song ("It must be him/Oh dear God, it must be him . . . . Or I'll just die"). Some people say the NFL simply doesn't want a team in Baltimore.Maybe you're one of those people saying such things.But if you are, would you keep it down? I'm tryin' to write over here.Before we go and do something frivolous such as commit stadium money to schools or hospitals or homeless shelters, let's consider what the future could be like if Baltimore remains a perennial NFL contender.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer yesterday suggested that the hapless Washington Redskins may be suffering from something beyond the control of players and coaches: the curse of Baltimore.Schaefer, a passionate advocate for returning Baltimore to the NFL, predicted that the Redskins would not win another game until team owner Jack Kent Cooke stops opposing a team in Baltimore.Meanwhile, Gov.-elect Parris N. Glendening yesterday reiterated his opposition to the Redskins building a stadium in Laurel, saying such structures should be built in city centers.

If Peter Angelos is successful in his bid to buy the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will the National Football League approve the sale?NFL rules, which have not been tested for legality in court, require approval of three-fourths of the other owners before a franchise can relocate, and an informal poll of team officials yesterday revealed divided opinion about the Baltimore Buccaneers.Carmen Policy, the president of the San Francisco 49ers, says one team is enough for the Baltimore-Washington area.

SHREVEPORT, La. -- Jim Speros, the general partner of Baltimore's Canadian Football League team, doesn't see an NFL team in Baltimore's future.But if he did, he would want to be part of it."If I really thought, with the momentum we have going, that an NFL team could be moved, I'd certainly take a look at it myself," Speros said.Speros says his "contacts" insist that city officials will not be able to lure either the Los Angeles Rams or Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Baltimore. He has not talked with Peter Angelos, the Orioles owner who is spearheading the NFL drive, about those efforts.

KIND words for our city and our new football team from columnist George Vecsey of the New York Times. He wrote this before the CFLers drew 41,000 fans to their most recent home game at Memorial Stadium:"This is a time of deprivation for baseball, but a time of reparation for football. There is a football team in Baltimore once again."This team cannot legally be called the Baltimore Colts, because that team was taken on a trail of tears to Indianapolis 10 years ago by a surly outsider named Irsay.