Team Sports

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The New York Knicks made Patrick Ewing the highest-paid player in professional team sports yesterday, giving him a contract extension that will pay him $33 million over the next six years.Ewing's average annual salary of $5.5 million for those six years places him above the highest-salaried stars in the other major sports -- the Boston Red Sox's Roger Clemens in baseball ($5.3 million), the Miami Dolphins' Dan Marino in football (about $5 million) and the Los Angeles Kings' Wayne Gretzky in hockey ($3.1 million)

An Under Armour online competition to showcase female athletes drew 10,000 contestants over 10 weeks and ended with four winners from across the U.S., including a Baltimore elementary school teacher who coached girls at the school to complete a one-mile run. Kaitlin Loftus, 30, who will be starting her eighth year as a teacher at Edgewood Elementary School in West Baltimore, found out Wednesday afternoon that she was among four finalists in Under...

The $3.5 million gym that opens at the Edgewood Recreation and Community Center next month could provide an ideal venue for a sport that proponents insist promotes fitness and wellbeing while instilling pride and a sense of accomplishment in participants. Councilman Dion F. Guthrie, who represents the southern area of the county, wants to start a boxing program in the nearly 11,000-square-foot gym. The full basketball court, with bleachers, could make room for a portable boxing ring, he said.

Team Kaya's dragon boat sped quickly past others along the waters of Baltimore's harbor Saturday morning, leaving other teams to wonder if it had a secret weapon. "It's that girl in the front. Look how small she is," said one man, wondering out loud if smaller team members mean a lighter, faster boat. The 17 teams competing in Saturday's event hosted by the Baltimore Dragon Boat Club at Tide Point Marina had spent weeks training for the grueling races, in which they paddled at top speed for 500 meters — at least two minutes for most boats.

If there's one thing Bacharach Rasin has learned over nearly 90 years in the sporting goods business, it's that survival means adapting to changing times.The hunting guns the store sold in the 1960s aregone. So are the fishing poles. Now, the Severna Park store, part ofthe Baltimore business established in 1904, has taken the last of the tennis rackets and badminton nets off the shelves.It seems that in the recession-plagued 1990s, fewer sports enthusiasts are shelling out money for luxuries like golf, tennis, squash, croquet and racquetball.

Team Kaya's dragon boat sped quickly past others racing along the waters of Baltimore's harbor Saturday morning, leaving other teams to wonder if it had a secret weapon. "It's that girl in the front. Look how small she is," said one man, wondering out loud if smaller team members mean a lighter, faster boat. The 17 teams competing in Saturday's event hosted by The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club at Tide Point Marina had spent weeks training for the grueling races, in which they paddle at top speed for 500 meters - at least two minutes for most boats.

An Under Armour online competition to showcase female athletes drew 10,000 contestants over 10 weeks and ended with four winners from across the U.S., including a Baltimore elementary school teacher who coached girls at the school to complete a one-mile run. Kaitlin Loftus, 30, who will be starting her eighth year as a teacher at Edgewood Elementary School in West Baltimore, found out Wednesday afternoon that she was among four finalists in Under...

North Arundel Cable TV is raising its basic rate for the second time this year, boosting the price for its 42-channel service to $17.90 a month.But even with the latest $3 increase, company officials boast the service still is the best bargain in town because the basic package includes Home Team Sports.Neighborhood rival Jones Intercable Co. offers 60 channels for $16.95 a month, but charges extra for the popular sports network, which shows Baltimore Oriole and Washington Capital games.Determined to keep sports fans happy and add at least one new channel by next February, North Arundel CATV was forced to raise its rate, said Robert J. Salem, vice president of Acton Corp.

The Washington Bullets and Capitals said yesterday that the television rights to their games have been purchased by Bethesda-based Home Team Sports, where the games have aired for the past 12 years.HTS officials said the contract would run at least past the year 2000. Sources familiar with the negotiations have said the deal would pay more than $10 million a year between the clubs, up from about $6 million they currently receive.The marriage appears to be forced, since the clubs had received an offer from Fox and TCI and only stayed with HTS because the regional sports channel had clauses in their contracts that gave it the right to match.

Q: It's Little League baseball season again, and I let my enthusiastic 8-year-old sign up; but I couldn't help wondering if it was the right thing to do. He wanted to join because his friends play, but I'm not really sure team sports at such an early age are a good thing. What do you think?A: Your son's eagerness to do what his friends are doing is perfectly normal, but we respect your thoughtfulness about his activities. Our general recommendation would be to let your son try baseball while carefully monitoring his experience.

With the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's state wrestling tournament coming up Friday and Saturday at College Park, teams and individuals are fine-tuning their skills. But unlike other high school sports such as football and basketball, players from different teams can be found practicing with their strongest competition. In Howard County, River Hill, one of three teams in the state sending 11 wrestlers to the state tournament (Owings Mills and La Plata are the other two)

The $3.5 million gym that opens at the Edgewood Recreation and Community Center next month could provide an ideal venue for a sport that proponents insist promotes fitness and wellbeing while instilling pride and a sense of accomplishment in participants. Councilman Dion F. Guthrie, who represents the southern area of the county, wants to start a boxing program in the nearly 11,000-square-foot gym. The full basketball court, with bleachers, could make room for a portable boxing ring, he said.

These are strange times indeed. In Greece, all team sports have been suspended for a two-week period after hooligan violence led to the death of a fan before a Greek Cup women's volleyball game. In Jamaica, the British coach of Pakistan's national cricket team was found dead recently under suspicious circumstances after the team suffered a World Cup loss to Ireland. Next thing you know, our NHL players will start braining each other with their hockey sticks and our NBA players will start chasing fans into the loge section.

The Orioles signed 28-year-old outfielder Jason Dubois as a minor league free agent in December. A one-time Chicago Cubs prospect, Dubois was a two-time first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection at Virginia Commonwealth. The Virginia Beach, Va., native was hitting .393 with one home run and five RBIs entering yesterday's game to play himself into consideration for the Orioles' final bench spot. Why did you choose to sign with the Orioles? -- I just thought it was a good fit. Both Baltimore and Norfolk are close to home.

Tradition. In the sport of lacrosse, and for those who are passionate about the game, tradition is a word that means practically everything. Where did you go to high school? Whom did your brother, your father and your sister play for? How many times did your family make the trip to watch the Final Four? Maryland or Johns Hopkins, whose side are you on? Do you remember Paul and Gary Gait? Do you know the story of Morgan State and the Ten Bears? Does Boys' Latin vs. St. Paul's mean more to you than Ravens vs. Steelers?

The soccer tournament on this page was a "classic," which may seem odd, especially if you are getting acquainted with youth sports. But use of that word has meaning if you are into youth soccer, which like all team sports for kids comes with an array of competitive jargon. Here is something of a primer on how youth team sports are organized: AGE GROUPS: Players as young as 4 or 5 begin in "clinics," or introductory play. Age groups evolve into "rec-level" and then "travel" teams for players through high school age. Through it all, the idea is to keep things competitive with players of similar coordination, experience, physical development and ability.

Annapolis cable television subscribers will pay 60 cents a month more to watch the Baltimore Orioles and other professional sports on cable television in a new agreement brokered between the city government and TCI Cablevision.TCI informed city officials Monday that it will include Home Team Sports in its expanded basic cable package starting Friday at an additional cost of 60 cents per month, bringing the monthly bill to $12.70.The new package will include the Washington Capitals, Washington Bullets and major college sports teams from the Washington-Baltimore area.

Every child needs to move, but not every child likes sports. Some don't welcome yet another rules-dominated, adult-run activity. Some lack athletic talent. Some have parents who can't afford the fees or can't chauffeur them to practice. But sports or no sports, every child still needs to move -- and it's a need our world conspires to deny. From schools with shrinking recess times to streets without sidewalks to homes filled with mesmerizing screens, today's environment encourages immobility.

Drew Voyt, 10, suits up in his white T-shirt with an eagle and the Freedom Fighters team logo splashed across the front to play a game full of conversion kicks, drop goals and scrumdowns. The terms are new to Voyt, who is learning to play rugby for the first time. He's also learning about teamwork, because the game is all about working together. Finding time between participating in karate, basketball, soccer and lacrosse, Drew, of Eldersburg, said that "after a few practices" he began to understand the game.