Triple Threat

Somewhere in his past, recent or distant, Paul Triplett must have gotten a four-of-a-kind in a poker game, hit on a 16 playing blackjack and won or just plain had a really good day in Vegas or Atlantic City. What else explains the remarkable run of good fortune Triplett is having as athletic director at Mount St. Joseph, which has No. 1 teams in three sports, boys basketball, indoor track and wrestling? "It's been fun for me as the athletic director because the kids have been doing such a great job and they work their butts off," Triplett said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The game at the Preakness is beat the Kentucky Derby winner. That may never be truer than this year, because Giacomo has no one quaking in his boots. After shocking the racing world with the second-largest upset in Kentucky Derby history, Giacomo will attempt to win the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, on May 21 at Pimlico. Six of the past eight Derby winners won the Preakness, but few on the backstretch at Churchill Downs yesterday believed Giacomo would become the seventh of nine.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Nick Zito and Tim Ritchey hold daily news conferences at predetermined times outside their barns at Churchill Downs. The question-and-answer sessions attract dozens of media members -- in Zito's case maybe 100. Zito trains five Derby horses, including Bellamy Road, the favorite. Ritchey trains Afleet Alex, one of the favorites. Overlooked in the media scramble is Todd Pletcher, trainer of three Derby entrants, including Bandini, impressive winner of the Blue Grass Stakes.

DUDE, I SERVICE society by rocking, OK? That's how Jack Black's character, a failed rock 'n' roll performer masquerading as a schoolteacher, explains his philosophy of life in School of Rock, a movie that has a lot to say about music and growing up. Apparently, it's not a philosophy shared by Martin O'Malley, Baltimore's rockin' renaissance man. (Surprising, since even Mr. O'Malley's critics will concede he can talk with a certain degree of, uh, youthful...

WASHINGTON - Ernie Grunfeld traces the success of the Washington Wizards this season back to opening night in Memphis. Against a team that was the biggest surprise of the NBA a year ago, the Wizards played without three starters, fell behind by 18 points - and won. "It showed that we were going to compete," Grunfeld, in his second season as the team's president of basketball operations, said recently. The first of a league-high 10 victories coming back from double-digit deficits was more than the impetus for the franchise's best record at the All-Star break in 25 years.

Anne Arundel officials have tabled a proposal that would bring video bingo machines resembling slot machines to the county's three commercial bingo halls. Some critics, such as state Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, painted the proposal as a backdoor attempt to bring slot-style gambling to Maryland without state approval. Disputes over legalizing slots have dominated state politics for the past two years. The county's advisory committee on amusement and licensing voted 3-2 in June to allow the machines, known as "Triple Threat Bingo."

THREE HOWARD countians have made Team America for the annual world duathlon championships Oct. 19 and 20 in Alpharetta, Ga., north of Atlanta. Duathlon, an arcane sport that is a combination of distance running and cycling, conducts its competitions by age group. The three residents have been to world meets before, and each competes in a different age group. They are Trey Cassidy (30-34 years old), Don Forgione (50-54) and John Elliott (60-64). Cassidy, principal of Glenelg Country School, and Forgione, a federal health-care employee, live in Ellicott City.

They have turned a phrase with a negative connotation into a positive approach. "Running back by committee" usually means no player stands above the rest and often ends in griping, but the Ravens have used Terry Allen, Jason Brookins and Moe Williams to forge a mauling offensive identity similar to the one that led to a remarkable playoff run last season. The Ravens have rushed for more than 200 yards in the past two games, with the trio combining for 41 carries Sunday in the 20-3, first-round playoff win over the Miami Dolphins and 37 carries the week before against the Minnesota Vikings.

Gary Baxter was given a full plate at Ravens' training camp, so the second-round draft choice was fed up with four days of inactivity last week. Baxter was a fine cornerback for some awful Baylor teams, and the Ravens made him Rod Woodson's heir apparent at free safety when they selected him with the 62nd overall pick in April. Besides beginning his education at that spot, he is supposed to hold down a position on the kickoff coverage unit and challenge for the nickel back position, but his development was delayed by a strained hamstring on Wednesday.

Designer Ella Pritsker, 33, loves what she does. "I've always dreamed about it, ever since I was a child," she says. "It's the creative part that appeals to me, being able to express myself -- the way I feel and the way I think -- in clothes." Pritsker came to Maryland 10 years ago from Russia as part of a relief program, traveling through Italy and Australia and soaking up their fabric offerings -- the colors and textures -- as she came. After five years in the United States, she started her own label, Ella Moda, in the basement of her home, fashioning couture-quality suits and separates.