Tomorrow Night

John Isner laughs when he is asked how a guy nearly 6 feet 10, who grew up in Greensboro, N.C., the heart of Tobacco Road, could wind up playing professional tennis. "I'm a huge basketball fan," said Isner, who will show off his tennis skills tomorrow night in the PNC Tennis Classic at 1st Mariner Arena. PNC Tennis Classic Tomorrow night, 1st Mariner Arena, 7

A program tracing Anne Arundel County's 350-year history -- from the earliest Puritan settlement known as Providence to the intense development late in this century -- will premiere tomorrow night at 8 on Maryland Public Television.The nearly hourlong project, "Anne Arundel's Legacy," won an ovation Monday night in a preview showing at a popcorn-and-soda reception at Loews Annapolis Hotel. The audience of about 200 included public officials, corporate sponsors and some of the program's stars -- longtime county residents.

COLLEGE PARK -- If there were one Monday morning this season that Maryland running back LaMont Jordan did not want to wake up with a sore right hamstring, it was this week.The television cameras (ESPN) will be rolling in Atlanta tomorrow night for an 8 o'clock game with No. 9 Georgia Tech (2-1), and it will be Jordan's only opportunity this season to perform in front of a national audience against a Top 25 team.The hamstring was improved yesterday morning, and Jordan took part in a light afternoon workout, prompting Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden to express optimism over the tailback's chances of starting tomorrow night.

Being Brian Billick has been easy since the Ravens hired him as their head coach after last season. He replaced Ted Marchibroda's losing, easy-to-follow act. He has installed the same offense the Vikings used to obliterate opponents. And of course, he has gone undefeated through the off-season.Basically, he has been honeymooning for seven months as a promising concept for fans and players to believe in after three straight dismal seasons.There were no games to play and, thus, no annoying losses to break the reverie.

Alfred Uhry's 1997 Tony Award-winning drama, "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," makes its Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre tomorrow night. Set in 1939 Atlanta and focusing on two rival college-age female cousins, the play returns to the world of German-American Jews in the South, which Uhry also explored in his off-Broadway hit, "Driving Miss Daisy."Directed by Vincent Lancisi, Everyman's production features Megan Anderson and Shira Ginsburg as the cousins and Rosemary Knower and Stan Weiman as members of the older generation.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- It's been said everyone has a plan until they get hit. The Virginia Tech women's basketball team had a plan entering yesterday's NCAA East regional semifinal against No. 2 Tennessee: limit the Lady Vols' transition opportunities and keep them from ripping off back-breaking runs.Part one of the Hokies' plan worked well, as they kept the Lady Vols from running at will. But the second part failed miserably, and, as a result, Tennessee pounded their way into tomorrow night's regional final with a 68-52 win."

Brace yourself for the longest Emmy awards telecast in history tomorrow night."The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Show" will run four hours -- that's almost an hour longer than it ran last year. The extra time will be added at the front end, with the show starting at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., according to executive producer Don Mischer, who says there will also be other big changes in this year's telecast on NBC.The most widely publicized has been the lack of a host. Variety, the industry trade publication, reported that Jerry Seinfeld and several other "four-star" celebrities had been offered the job and declined.

SAN ANTONIO - You can't say you weren't warned.The first two weeks of the NCAA tournament were a movable feast of upsets. Why not the third?Tradition took one wicked pounding at the Final Four semifinals yesterday at the Alamodome.North Carolina and Kentucky came in with their records and reputations and all those good things that go with years of success, and Utah and Stanford were, well, not at all impressed.One inch here and here and there was all that separated America from a Utah-Stanford final tomorrow night.

This could be a record-setting season for Centennial coach Dave Greenberg and Glenelg senior guard Lauren Martin.Greenberg is nine wins away from becoming the first Howard County coach and the third in the Baltimore area to reach 400 victories. Greenberg's record over 20 seasons is 391-98.Martin could become the county's all-time leading scorer. The county's leading scorer the last two years, she has 1,286 points, 390 shy of the record held by 1982 Mount Hebron graduate Dorothea Beck. Martin scored 272 points as a freshman, 596 as a sophomore and 418 last year.

Well, it didn't take the Ravens long to land in a thorny situation.Just three games into a season that kicked off with raised expectations, they'll play a win-or-else game against the Bengals tomorrow night at Camden Yards.And they'll play it with their second-string quarterback and third-string running back in the starting lineup.Not exactly comforting.They'll also play without their middle linebacker and defensive anchor, Ray Lewis, who has an injured elbow. Nose guard Tony Siragusa also might not play.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -Dave Trembley was asked essentially the same question the previous night and the day before that, only it was far more difficult for him to answer Tuesday night. So, the Orioles manager took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts and while staring at the wall in front of him, tried to sum up the misery of his team's 12-game losing streak, secured by a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. "I can't give you an answer. I've run out of things to say. I think I've been cordial, direct, upfront, dealt with it as best as we possibly can, but I really have no explanation, no excuse," said Trembley whose team now owns the longest losing streak in baseball this season and needs to win three of its final five games to avoid the third 100-loss season in franchise history.

At 5 feet 3 inches, Nichelle Groom is the driving force behind No. 7 Digital Harbor's offense. The junior point guard averages six assists to go along with nine points and five steals for the Rams (22-3), who are headed to tomorrow night's state Class 1A semifinals for the second year in a row. Groom, who has a 3.5 grade-point average, wants to play basketball in college. How did you get started in basketball? I watched my brothers, and my father coached. That kind of got me started playing, because I always wanted to get out there with my father and my brothers.

QUARTERBACK DERBY Kyle Boller was named the starter for tomorrow night's preseason opener against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., but that was more a case of previous experience than execution during training camp. Boller was steady yesterday and had a couple of deep passes dropped, but Troy Smith continues to make more big plays, including a 60-yard pass to second-year wide receiver Kerry Reed. Rookie Joe Flacco is still up and down and had one pass tipped at the line of scrimmage that drew the ire of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

Marylanders might see more flakes in the air today, but the National Weather Service said most of the latest Eastern snowstorm will stay well to our south. The real weather news is the bitter cold arriving late today and tomorrow. "With winds 10 to 20 mph out of the west-northwest [Sunday], wind-chill values will be in the teens. It's going to feel a lot colder than the already cold temperatures we're going to have," weather service meteorologist Rick Winther said. The arctic cold sweeping across the country is sending temperatures into the single digits or lower in many areas, promising bitter cold for both National Football League conference playoff games tomorrow in Green Bay, Wis., and Foxborough, Mass.

ISSUE: After organizers of the financially troubled First Night Annapolis event threw in their party hats this fall, the group behind the city's Charter 300 celebration stepped in to save the family-oriented, alcohol-free New Year's Eve party downtown. There are still an afternoon children's program and a fireworks display at midnight, but the number of musical acts has been scaled back, as have the number of venues. Most of the performances tomorrow night are free, so revelers don't have to shell out up to $22 for an admissions button.

Hometown -- Reisterstown Current members --Dan Walker, vocals; Dan Ciarrocchi, guitar and backup vocals; Kyle Wesley, guitar and backup vocals; Matt Szalecki, drums; J.W. Sargent, bass Founded in --2005 Style --indie rock Influenced by --Brand New, the Graduate, Minus the Bear, Cursive, Boys Night Out Notable --The first half of the band's new six-song EP Twilight is more ambient, and the second half is darker, Ciarrocchi said. Its CD release party is tomorrow night. Quotable --"We feel that there's a division between the first half of the EP and the second half," Ciarrocchi said.

Check out the catchy pop-rock of Paramore, whose members met in Franklin, Tenn., in 2004, tomorrow night at Rams Head Live. The band's lead singer is teenager Hayley Williams, and its latest album is RIOT!, which was released in June. The Starting Line is also slated to perform at the show. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $20. The club is at 20 Market Place. Call 410-244-1131 or go to ramsheadlive.com.

John Isner laughs when he is asked how a guy nearly 6 feet 10, who grew up in Greensboro, N.C., the heart of Tobacco Road, could wind up playing professional tennis. "I'm a huge basketball fan," said Isner, who will show off his tennis skills tomorrow night in the PNC Tennis Classic at 1st Mariner Arena. PNC Tennis Classic Tomorrow night, 1st Mariner Arena, 7

The competition for the No. 3 quarterback job is one of the few intriguing battles so far at Ravens training camp. Troy Smith and Drew Olson will take their evolving contest from the practice fields at McDaniel College in Westminster to M&T Bank Stadium for tomorrow night's opening preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith, who was drafted in the fifth round this year after winning the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State last season, has been getting more reps in practice than Olson, who signed as a free agent out of UCLA in 2006 before spending last season on the Ravens practice squad and playing for an NFL Europa team in Amsterdam.

Space cadets! This week offers an unusually rich opportunity to watch the International Space Station during a series of passes almost directly over Baltimore. The best views, if skies are clear, will come tomorrow night and Tuesday morning, and again Wednesday night and early Thursday. Tomorrow, look for a bright moving "star" rising from the southwest horizon at 10:05 p.m., passing 223 miles overhead at 10:08 p.m., at a brisk 17,500 mph. For details of the week's best flyovers, visit the Weather Blog at MarylandWeather.