Work Ethic

Having swum in Michael Phelps shadow for most of his career, Tyler Clary finally made his first Olympics - and promptly dissed the guy who is headed to his fourth. Clary, 23, of Riverside, Calif., shocked the swimming world Tuesday, when a columnist for a California newspaper quoted him as saying the Baltimore swimmer with a record 14 gold medals to his name doesn't work as hard as he does. “I think the things he could have done if he'd worked as hard as I do would have been even more incredible than what he has pulled off,” Clary said to Jim Alexander of The Press-Enterprise . The remarks caused an instant ruckus online and at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where Phelps, Clary and the rest of the recently picked U.S. Olympic swim team is training for the Games that begin in 2 1/2 weeks.

Former disgruntled Ravens left offensive tackle Jared Gaither may have worn out his welcome in San Diego as well. During his stay in Baltimore, Gaither was often criticized for his work ethic, especially during the offseason. Apparently, the pattern for the former Maryland standout continues. A San Diego columnist gave him the much-deserved nickname of "The Big Lazy. "

It might be misleading to call the Charlotte game a "breakout" effort for freshman Sean Mosley. That's because you get the sense he'll be having a lot more games like this one. The freshman from St. Frances filled the stat sheet - 11 points, 2-for-2 on threes, five rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes. Now we know why Gary Williams likes this kid so much. It's the work ethic. His teammates say Mosley is a killer in practice, crashing the boards and playing rugged defense. He plays big for 6 feet 4. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.

COLLEGE PARK -- Darrius Heyward-Bey's role models are predictable for a wide receiver yet illuminating about how he approaches the game. Heyward-Bey says his two favorite receivers are former San Francisco 49er great Jerry Rice "because he's the best of all time" and the Dallas Cowboys' Terrell Owens because "his work ethic off the field is better than anyone else's." Maryland@North Carolina State Tomorrow, noon, chs. 54, 20, 105.7 FM, 1300 AM Line: N.C. State by 2 1/2

Marshal Yanda spent his pre-teen mornings pitching out calf stalls on the family's dairy farm five miles north of tiny Anamosa, Iowa. His afternoons were devoted to riding a four-wheeler he shared with farming buddies, punishing the trampoline in the backyard or shooting baskets with his mom and sister. Life on the farm was good for Yanda. So good that one day he will return to it. For now, though, his consuming passion is carving out a career in the NFL as a gritty and versatile offensive lineman for the Ravens.

The world of academia - the world of ivory towers, learned scholars, and ivy-covered walls - is a fraud. And I am a living fraud. As an academic, I cannot escape the fact that I work in the fake world. What else can I conclude when people use the term "the real world" to refer to life outside academia? University faculty and support staff hear this phrase so often that we barely pause over it. Worse still, we have thoroughly imbibed it and utter it regularly. Sure (I tell myself)

Naval Academy forward Becky Dowling is burying any thoughts of a sophomore jinx with the same fluid motion she uses on her jump shots.Dowling, the Patriot League's reigning Rookie of the Year, continues to show no mercy on Midshipmen opponents, scoring 63 points in her first three games. She had 25 points, six rebounds and nine steals in an 80-64 win over Morgan State in the opening round of the Navy Tip-Off Classic, then sealed Most Valuable Player honors with 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 76-69 victory over Eastern Michigan.

Tia Lincoln, born here in 1972, grew up in a large household, did well at first in school, was marched regularly to church. But Tia's father and mother belted their kids, often and hard; two of her sisters ran away; she discovered boys. Tia went to Franklin High School -- through a special arrangement -- and graduated a few days before her first child's birth; her father (a charmer, and an MTA bus driver) left; the family, on welfare and food stamps, moved from place to place. Tia's boyfriends, on drugs, had no interest in work.

AMERICANS have long been proud of their work ethic. But notions of hard work are relative. Nowadays it's not uncommon to hear Americans complain that immigrants work too hard, putting everyone else at a disadvantage.If Americans have forgotten what really hard work is, they still are far ahead of the Russians, whose years of guaranteed employment under communism sapped the country's work ethic. Russian journalists Nina Chugunova and Olga Shchedrina, who were visiting fellows at The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists this past spring, recounted several examples of Russian women's attitudes toward work in the bulletin's July/August issue:".

Each week, we bring you a Q&A with a Ravens player to help you get to know him better. Today's guest is safety Haruki Nakamura, 24, a third-year veteran who grew up in a family of judo champions and played football to forge his own identity in the family. Question: How far back does you family's judo tradition run? Answer: It started with my father [Ryozo]. He was actually being shuffled around the world to teach judo. He came from Japan to the United States in the '60s and ended up being one of the top referees in judo.