Team In Baltimore

If there's a market for the NHL in the Baltimore area, the Washington Capitals are going to find it.No longer feeling hand-tied thanks to the departure of the Skipjacks, the Capitals for the first time are beginning to market the team in Baltimore, hoping to entice area residents to Landover in the same fashion -- but likely on a lesser scale -- as the Orioles have lured Washington-area fans to Camden Yards."

Much of what's unfolding in Baltimore's pursuit of a National Football League expansion franchise is the kind of material that makes for a high-powered mystery novel. Only this is authentic, the real goods and not born of the imaginative mind of some writer working out of his attic to portray fictionalized situations.There are the two committed groups, headed by Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass and Malcolm Glazer, eager to win the right to own the team in the event the NFL grants Baltimore approval.

Most of the fire has been directed at the office of National Football League Properties for suggesting, in an informal way, that a team in Baltimore be called the Rhinos. Hooks were baited in Chesapeake Bay and an effort was made to land a rhino so as to lend some credence to this preposterous idea but not a single one was boated, pulled into a dock or caught in a crab trap.So Baltimore has difficulty identifying with a rhino. Then came a suggestion that Ravens might fit, citing the fact Edgar Allan Poe, who authored the classic of the same name, is buried in Baltimore.

Rhinos may have good hearing, but let's hope, for their sake, they didn't hear what people were saying about them yesterday.If the NFL puts a team in Baltimore, it apparently will be called the Rhinos, and folks who were talking about that name yesterday didn't sound very happy."

Gary Fisher, secretary-treasurer of the Skipjacks, said yesterday that season-ticket deposits on a prospective East Coast Hockey League team in Baltimore will be refunded within two weeks.The Skipjacks, who are moving to Portland, Maine, next season, have been holding deposits in anticipation of an ECHL team coming here. But the Baltimore Hockey Advocates announced Wednesday that negotiations to put the team in the Arena had ended unsuccessfully, signaling the end of a 14-year run of professional hockey in Baltimore.

The agreement that would keep the Washington Capitals' top developmental team in Baltimore next season is rapidly unraveling in the wake of the financial difficulties of Skipjacks owner Tom Ebright.Capitals general manager David Poile said yesterday he is beginning to prepare for a Baltimore alternative."I thought we had a deal based on Tom wanting to go forward another year," Poile said. "Then I read the article [in Thursday's Sun] and spoke with Tom. He's had a complete change of heart in terms of not wanting to lose the money that he has been losing each year, and is very disappointed he's had no reaction to his press conference."

Hey fans, how 'bout them Baltimore Cobras?Prospective owners of new NFL franchises so far have filed trademark applications on 13 names for their teams, ranging from the Memphis Hound Dogs and Jacksonville Sharks to the St. Louis Archers.Aside from a few off-beat ideas, most borrow heavily from the tried-and-true animal kingdom. Sundays in front of the television set could soon include a few new cats, a deadly snake, an oafish dog, a work horse or even a man-eating fish.All three of the Baltimore investment groups say their first pick is to buy the Colts name from the team that moved it to Indianapolis.

If the new pro football labor deal opens the door to expansion -- that's still a big if -- the next question is obvious:What will the new free-agency plan mean to expansion teams?Joel Glazer, the son of Malcolm Glazer, who heads one of the three groups trying to get an expansion team in Baltimore, is selling the idea that it'll make it easier to build an expansion team.He argues that a well-run expansion franchise won't have to go through years of losing before it becomes respectable because it can buy several good players.

Baltimore is one of the few cities seeking a pro football team that has not resorted to a name-the-team contest to whip up fan support. But that hasn't kept fans out of the game.At least three of them have gone so far as to draw up specific designs, apply for formal trade name or trademark protection and submit them to the investment groups vying to own a team in Baltimore."When I heard about the NFL effort I thought, 'This is my chance,' " said Matt Battison, a graphic artist with Mobil Corp.

Representatives of the St. Louis NFL bid, which must sell its share of the New England Patriots before buying a new team, contacted potential Baltimore football investor Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass as recently as a month ago about taking over the Patriots.Weinglass said he wasn't interested, but the incident highlights a potential trouble spot in St. Louis' effort to land an expansion team: the Patriots must be sold first.St. Louis and Baltimore are among five cities competing for two NFL expansion teams scheduled to be awarded this fall.