Team In Tampa

Trustees selling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- who have done everything but beg for offers -- got their wish this week in the form of a verbal bid from investors interested in keeping the team local.Team officials, citing a confidentiality agreement with the bidders, declined to say how much the bid was for, but said it was "meaningful" and hoped it would spark other offers.They also said they expected an offer from Orioles managing partner Peter Angelos this week, something Angelos declined to comment on.Angelos, who had two attorneys and an accountant in Tampa yesterday going over the details of a proposal for the team, did say he was not surprised or concerned about the rival bid.The offer came Monday during a meeting in Tampa with a group that includes Florida-based developer Tommy Shannon and Outback Steakhouse executives Chris Sullivan and Bob Basham.

No one gets forgiven, not Irsay, not Cooke, not Tagliabue.Not any of the creeps who turned us into scavengers, turned Baltimore into Indianapolis, 11 years removed.We played by their rules, they rejected us. We jumped through their hoops, they rejected us. We earned an expansion team, they rejected us.Now they ge what they deserve.They get the relocation of one of the NFL's most storied franchises, the franchise that gave the league Jim Brown and Otto Graham and Marion Motley and Lou Groza.

DETROIT -- Orioles starting pitcher Scott Erickson will undergo ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in Los Angeles today, shutting him down for the remainder of this season and making uncertain his availability for the 2001 campaign, the club confirmed last night. Erickson, on the disabled list since July 28, left the team in Tampa Sunday afternoon. He was examined yesterday by Anaheim Angels orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum, who forwarded the test results to the Orioles last night, as well as Erickson's consent to major surgery.

Jeremy Guthrie, who will start today's series finale against the Kansas City Royals, said he doesn't need to change anything in his approach. "My goals always are to try to get ahead early and make them put it in play," Guthrie said. "So that's what I'll try and do to hopefully give the team the most innings I can with [a] limited pitch count - just because of not having started and not having built up a huge pitch count." Manager Sam Perlozzo said he would like Guthrie to pitch five innings, calling a six-inning effort a "blessing."

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Jeff Conine hears his name featured among trade talks and shrugs. Playing for his fourth team in five seasons causes him no worry. Last season taught Conine the true meaning of terror. Whatever happens to the Orioles' veteran utility player in the next two weeks can't come close. "If it's about perspective, I think I have my share now," Conine said before ending yesterday's 1-0 win over the Texas Rangers with a ninth-inning RBI single. The Orioles probably will shed two veteran position players before setting their roster in Atlanta on March 30. Able to play first base, third base and outfield, rookie Mike Kinkade offers the same versatility as Conine, along with the bonus of representing a third catcher.

It would be like the Dallas Cowboys losing to Prairie View A&M, the Toronto Blue Jays losing to the Bad News Bears, Michael Jordan losing a game of one-on-one to Danny DeVito.Peter Angelos losing to Malcolm Glazer.Naturally, the possibility arose on Friday the 13th. When it comes Baltimore's NFL quest, it's always Friday the 13th. The only thing that changes is the actor playing Jason.Paul Tagliabue, Jack Kent Cooke, now Steve "Tell Us Another" Story.Angelos' enemies list just keeps growing.

Now that Peter Angelos has taken the cost of sports teams through the roof -- not the modest one that covers your house but, more importantly, the one that covers the universe -- there will be no turning back.His bid of $205-$210 million for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will place him in the Guiness Book of World Records. And this, like it or not, is only the beginning. It can only go higher.If Angelos fails to bring home the current prize, his purchase of an existing team in Tampa Bay, let it be said he's going to be opening the window of possibility on something that essentially makes more sense and could render a positive development for Baltimore.

The story is firm. The answer is yes. The Browns are moving from Cleveland to Baltimore. There are no what-ifs, no maybes, no anythings now. The NFL is coming back to town. The deal is done. The announcement is today.Still doubt that it will happen? Still in denial until you see the ball in the air on the opening kickoff next September? Fair enough. You have company in this town of football cynics. And you have justification for your cynicism. Justification named Tagliabue, Glazer, Bidwill and Cooke.

DETROIT -- The Orioles learned yesterday that right-handed starting pitcher Scott Erlckson will require "Tommy John" surgery on the right elbow that has plagued him since last season. The operation, scheduled for today, will be the second in the last six months on the elbow, but will be a far more major procedure. It is expected to mean Erickson will be sidelined through at least most of next season. Erickson, who has been disabled since July 28, left the team in Tampa Sunday afternoon to fly to Los Angeles, where he was examined by Anaheim Angels orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yoeum.

PHOENIX -- On the day Malcolm Glazer finally became a member of the NFL club, St. Louis officially threatened to sue to get in.After the NFL owners unanimously approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Glazer family yesterday, they started to debate the thorny issue of the Los Angeles Rams' proposed move to St. Louis.Hanging over the discussions was a declaration from the attorney general of Missouri, Jay Nixon, that the state will file an antitrust suit against the league if the move is turned down.