Wes Unseld

WASHINGTON -- It's par for the course for a player in a new city to check off a list of appealing things about the new place, and Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw, the first player chosen in yesterday's WNBA draft, held up her end of the bargain.Holdsclaw, the selection of the Washington Mystics, tossed a bouquet about the enthusiasm of Mystics fans and of teammate Nikki McCray, a former Lady Volunteer. Then the 6-foot-2 guard/forward threw in a line to warm the heart of owner Abe Pollin, who was sitting in the arena he built here.

The Baltimore Ravens have broken training camp. This should be a time of fanatic interest, as Our Very Own professional football team prepares for its third season. We have a new quarterback, a new stadium, and new toilets that flush on cue.What more do we need to get juiced about the Ravens?For whatever treasonous reason (the Orioles streak since the All-Star break?), some of us aren't on board yet. Team spirit remains lackluster, and team knowledge is weak. We should be ashamed. Even if we never become a die-hard Ravens fan, we should know a few fundamentals.

DENVER -- A Washington Bullets team that had been picked by many to compete for the Atlantic Division title had been reduced to a laughingstock. Back-to-back blowout losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz -- by a combined 52 points -- were described by some players as the worst losses of their careers. On any level.So when the players, on their way to a morning shootaround yesterday, were told that Jim Lynam had been fired as coach, the news did not come as a total surprise."We had to make a change," Bullets forward Juwan Howard said.

No. 11 Woodlawn survived a valiant effort by Old Mill for a 58-57 victory in the final first-round game of the Wes Unseld Tournament at Catonsville Community College last night.The Warriors (5-1), the defending tourney champions, advance to tonight's semifinal round where they will meet Baltimore County rival Milford Mill at 6: 15. A third Baltimore County team, No. 2 Randallstown, will play five-time Unseld champ Broadneck in the other semifinal.Woodlawn was clinging to a 58-57 advantage with 11 seconds remaining when it turned the ball over on an inbounds pass near midcourt.

Please excuse Demon Brown if he's walking a bit crooked today. Down the stretch last night against Woodlawn, he all but carried the Randallstown Rams on his back.The 6-foot-1 senior guard scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, helping No. 2 Randallstown pull away from the 10th-ranked Warriors for a 65-55 victory in the championship game of the 12th Annual Wes Unseld Holiday Tournament at Catonsville Community College.After being held in check for most of the game, Brown took over, using his slick ball-handling and soft touch to turn a six-point Rams lead into 17 by midway through the fourth quarter.

In four seasons, Randallstown coach Kim Rivers has guided his team to a state title in 1995, three state semifinals and three Baltimore County championships.But something is missing from his impressive resume: a Wes Unseld Tournament title.The No. 2 Rams earned another opportunity to secure that championship as they defeated Broadneck, 51-48, in a tournament semifinal last night at Catonsville Community College.For the second consecutive year, the championship game will be an all-Baltimore County showdown between Randallstown and Woodlawn.

After spending the last two years rebuilding Johns Hopkins back into an NCAA Division III contender, coach Bill Nelson could see definite signs last night that his Blue Jays are ready to make another tournament run.Led by the clutch shooting of junior point guard Kaman Coar, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half and overtime, and the inside scoring of seniors Matt Gorman and Wes Unseld and junior Greg Roehrig, host Hopkins upset Washington University's...

After watching his team wait nearly two months for a victory, Western Maryland coach Nick Zoulias didn't mind seeing the Green Terror work a little longer for another win.Western Maryland hit all five of its shots in overtime, and Deon Wansel made two free throws and a steal in the final seven seconds as the Green Terror ended its 10-game losing streak with a 98-94 victory over Johns Hopkins in a Centennial Conference game last night at the Gill Center.Johns...

BaseballDodgers: Signed IF Juan Castro.Mariners: Agreed to terms with C Chris Widger on a one-year contract.Red Sox: Agreed to terms with SS John Valentin on one-year contract. Signed P Vaughn Eshelman to a one-year contract.BasketballNBA: Named New Jersey Nets F Armon Gilliam Player of the Week. Gilliam led the Nets to three victories last week, shooting 50.8 percent and averaging 28.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.Bulls: Activated C Luc Longley. Placed C James Edwards (strained Achilles' tendon)

County basketball coaches are not happy with this week's schedule to start the New Year. Most teams are playing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the Thursday game a makeup of postponed games of Dec. 19.It means the boys and girls will have one day of practice (Tuesday) after the long New Year's weekend, then play three straight.The thinking of county coordinator Rick Wiles is to get the makeups out of the way in order not to have games backed up if more inclement weather hits.On the other hand, it's not easy playing three nights in a row, two of them school nights.

Each Tuesday in the Toy Department, veteran Sun sportswriter Mike Klingaman tracks down a former local sports figure and lets you know what's going on in his/her life in a segment called "Catching Up With ..." When he chose pro basketball over a medical career, folks thought Jack Marin should have had his head examined. Play for the bedraggled Baltimore Bullets rather than become a doctor? Forty-three years later, Marin has no regrets. The Bullets' top draft pick in 1966 wouldn't change a thing.

The teams were ready to start the second half of the 21st Wes Unseld Classic final last night, but there was a problem with the basket at Broadneck's offensive end at CCBC-Catonsville. As it was, the championship game had started late because of a couple of overtimes in other games. Now, the announcer asked for everyone's patience as the Catonsville crew prepared to repair the basket. The rim was bent slightly, but Broadneck coach Johnny Williams was anxious to play and told tournament officials to forget about it. No. 8 Broadneck led Centennial by two at the half and Williams' players were fired up. The Bruins then put on a show in the third period on the way to a 71-51 rout of the Eagles (7-3)

A basketball player, two local television news anchors, an actor/writer and two nationally known authors are among the celebrities who will put in an appearance at the ninth annual Random House Book Fair from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Carroll Community College. Wes Unseld - a former NBA player known for his rebounding skills, a former professional coach, a Basketball Hall of Famer and a county resident - is the Random House Book Fair honorary chairman. He will address visitors in the afternoon.

DENVER - Denver forward Ryan Bowen said the attention to detail that has helped Jeff Bzdelik turn around the Nuggets was apparent even before the former UMBC coach was formally put in charge. "His coaching style is that he comes prepared," said Bowen, who has been with the Nuggets for five seasons. "I'm sure he's the first one here in the morning and he's the last to leave. He breaks down so much tape and he's prepared. Every practice is written down to the last minute," said Bowen. " ... I think he's doing a great job."

WE'RE NOT saying Wes Unseld isn't cool, but how bad would a kid want a Wes Unseld throwback jersey? Granted, the 1977-78 replica jersey is fly. It features the old Bullets logo with the hands outstretched toward a red basketball. It's done up in that eye-popping red, white and blue of '70s double-knit. "You feel these things and you wonder how those players ran up and down the court like they did. These things are coarse, heavy, hot. But we've tripled sales in the past year," said Matt Bourne of NBA Properties What would a kid these days risk just to have one of these coveted, old-school jerseys?

Danny Dixon scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth period, when unranked Edmondson out-scored 19th-ranked Pikesville 15-7 en route to a 47-39 quarterfinal upset of the two-time Class 1A state runners-up in the Wes Unseld Classic at CCBC-Catonsville. Dixon, 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds and an All-Metro football wide receiver, also was 6-for-8 from the free-throw line, grabbed 10 rebounds and had a dunk and a steal while shadowing the defending Baltimore County champion Panthers' second-team All-Metro selection Clement Sorgho (12 points)

When his two youngest kids used to get together on the backyard basketball court at his Deerfield, Ill., home, Harvey Catchings knew the competition would eventually require a couple of the essentials of his NBA games, namely a referee and a trainer. "I would always say to my wife, `Get the bandages ready,' because one or both of them would wind up bleeding," Catchings said recently. The two offspring parlayed that intensity into NCAA Division I scholarships, and each has a reasonable chance at a professional career, like their dad, who played for 11 years in the NBA, notably with Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

WASHINGTON -- It's par for the course for a player in a new city to check off a list of appealing things about the new place, and Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw, the first player chosen in yesterday's WNBA draft, held up her end of the bargain.Holdsclaw, the selection of the Washington Mystics, tossed a bouquet about the enthusiasm of Mystics fans and of teammate Nikki McCray, a former Lady Volunteer. Then the 6-foot-2 guard/forward threw in a line to warm the heart of owner Abe Pollin, who was sitting in the arena he built here.

The Baltimore Ravens have broken training camp. This should be a time of fanatic interest, as Our Very Own professional football team prepares for its third season. We have a new quarterback, a new stadium, and new toilets that flush on cue.What more do we need to get juiced about the Ravens?For whatever treasonous reason (the Orioles streak since the All-Star break?), some of us aren't on board yet. Team spirit remains lackluster, and team knowledge is weak. We should be ashamed. Even if we never become a die-hard Ravens fan, we should know a few fundamentals.

Please excuse Demon Brown if he's walking a bit crooked today. Down the stretch last night against Woodlawn, he all but carried the Randallstown Rams on his back.The 6-foot-1 senior guard scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, helping No. 2 Randallstown pull away from the 10th-ranked Warriors for a 65-55 victory in the championship game of the 12th Annual Wes Unseld Holiday Tournament at Catonsville Community College.After being held in check for most of the game, Brown took over, using his slick ball-handling and soft touch to turn a six-point Rams lead into 17 by midway through the fourth quarter.