HOPING THIS STORY OF LOCAL SPORTS FAN HAS HAPPY ENDING - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Todd Hill's friends know how theatrical he can be. They also knowhow much he loves to play games. Now that Hill's life is in danger,his friends are praying for an encore.

They want to hear his standard response to jokes that go oversomeone's head: 'You can't use 617 jokes in 508 area codes.' They arehoping that he somehow walks away from the rubble in New York,promising to give them all of the miraculous details. As grim asthings now appear to be, they almost expect Hill to call at anymoment.

'I know it's a cliche, but if anyone can make it out of somethinglike this, it's Hill,' Joe Chernov, Hill's roommate of nine years,said yesterday. 'If it was me, people would know I'm a goner. But notHill. One of our friends said it best, `Hill lives his life as ifthere's a trap door in every room.' That fits him perfectly. He's thetype of guy who can negotiate with falling rocks.'

Hill and Chernov are not famous athletes. They are sports fans whonever saw a day like yesterday coming. They used to spend Sundaysplaying John Madden video games and watching the NFL on twotelevisions in their South End apartment. But yesterday, the day thatall sports stood still, Chernov found himself sitting in theFrancesca's Cafe on Tremont Street, sipping iced coffee. He waswishing for games, wishing for something that temporarily would takehis mind off the quandary - at least - facing the 34-year-oldsalesman he simply refers to as Hill.

Hill was last heard from on Tuesday morning. He took a businesstrip to New York and stayed at the Marriott World Trade Center. Hewas on the 17th floor of the hotel when the first of the Twin Towerswas struck at about 8:45 a.m. He sent an e-mail to Boston at 9:49,telling a friend that he was waiting to be evacuated from hisbuilding. He logged off his computer at 9:52. About eight minuteslater, the World Trade Center collapsed.

Was Hill, a notorious free spirit, able to realize what danger hewas in and make it out of the hotel in time? That's what his friendsare hoping. They have seen him get in and out of some remarkablesituations, and that's what inspires them now.

This is the same Hill who once went up to Matt Lawton, then anoutfielder with the Minnesota Twins, thinking he was Red Soxoutfielder Troy O'Leary. Lawton corrected him and, eventually, he wasshowing Lawton around Boston.

This is the same Hill who won a trip to Cabo San Lucas forexceeding his sales quota. He went marlin fishing on the trip,although he never had been fishing in his life. While everyone elsecame up empty, he didn't.

This is the same Hill who once went out to a club with a friendand convinced everyone that he was a sports agent and that his friendwas an up-and-coming superstar.

'He lives his life with an absence of caution,' Chernov said witha smile. 'He doesn't take much of anything seriously.' Chernov, whoheads a public relations firm called Upper Right PR, paused. 'I don'teven know what verb tense I should be using. I'm hoping for the best;I'm not going to use the `d' word.'

The 'd' word doesn't fit a Boston sports fan who has so muchverve. Hill used to tell his friends that he would 'single-handedly'run Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette out of town. He is a bigJimy Williams and UMass basketball fan. He once called the Globe andcomplained that the sports section seemed to be pro-Boston Collegeand anti-UMass.

Chernov said he and Hill have had no major arguments - 'and acouple disagreements' - in nine years. They both love sports, theyboth like to laugh, and they are both used to bill collectors callingthem because they pay so late. With no games yesterday, Chernov wasentertained with the thought of Hill coming into the apartment,frantic about the boot on his car.

'He's so dramatic,' Chernov said. 'He never pays his tickets. Andhe always wants to use my credit card.

'He's a great guy. You've got to meet him.'

Since Hill has been gone, there have been no games on TV in theapartment. The phone rings often, with friends and family hoping tohear some good news about a good sports fan. Chernov was looking atpictures yesterday, pictures that remind him of good times. In one,Hill had a big smile at a friend's wedding. In another, he washolding a pair of sunglasses, still looking relaxed, still smiling.

'When Duquette leaves town, I'm going to miss Hill like crazy,'Chernov said. 'We always talk about stuff like that. Terry Glenn wasreinstated. He still doesn't know that, either.'

AVANCE! A FENCING TEEN CLIMBS HIGH AS A SPORT ENJOYS AN URBAN RENAISSANCE, WOODHOUSE JOINS ITS YOUTHFUL ELITE - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Talk to Enoch Woodhouse 3d about fencing and he gets right to thepoint.

'It's not like any other sport. There is strategizing. You aretrying to anticipate and adjust to your competitor,' says the MissionHill teenager, describing how a fencer must retreat at times toprepare for his attack, as in a chess game. 'It's something that Iwork hard at. It's something I enjoy.'

And excels at.

Woodhouse, 17, ranked sixth in the Junior World Cup games in thejunior men's foil competition in September in Kentucky and capturedninth place last April in the Junior/Cadet World Championships inTurkey in the youth-under-17 foil.

At the Boston Fencing Club in Waltham, there is a special pridethat Woodhouse has joined the fencing elite.

'He's come very far over the years,' said Linda Merritt, theclub's president. 'He has pretty much grown up here.'

Curiosity as a youngster - and a father who once fenced - ledWoodhouse to the fierce but elegant and artistic sport.

At age 7, Woodhouse was 'fooling around with some of my old foilsaround the house,' said his father, Enoch Woodhouse II, a formerofficer with the Tuskegee airmen of World War II fame and a fencerduring his Yale undergraduate days. 'I told him, `If you want tofence, it's a discipline. You have to work hard and it takes a lot ofpractice.' '

The senior Woodhouse enrolled his son at the Boston Fencing Club,and watched from behind a glass window as young Enoch climbed inlocal and national competitions in foil events. (In the foil event,a point is earned when the tip of the sword lands on the opponent'storso).

Woodhouse emerged in the sport when he won second place in theunder 11-foil competition during the 1996 Junior Olympics inKentucky.

Although most of his classmates at Roxbury Latin prefer othersports, fencing is closest to Woodhouse's heart. 'It's a littleunorthodox because it's not the classic football or basketball, butit's normal to me,' he said, adding that the sport has been enjoyingan urban renaissance in recent years, and in pop culture, as well. (Isn't that Madonna dueling herself in her newest video, the themefrom the James Bond movie 'Die Another Day'?)

Fencing has also taken Woodhouse far - to Spain, France, Germany,and, on this side of the Atlantic, to South Carolina. It was therelast year, at the age of 16, that he took 15th place in the 19-and-under foil field and tied for third place in the 16-and-under foilcompetition at the US National Fencing Championships.

He spends at least three days a week at the fencing club inWaltham, training for about two hours a day with his coach.Sometimes, he passes on his fencing prowess to younger fencers on theweekends.

His style tends to be more offensive than defensive in the duels.In his practices, he often charges, dashing like a young Zorro.

When he's not fencing or 'kicking it back' with his friends, thesenior at Roxbury Latin is focusing on what he will do after his highschool graduation.

He is applying to colleges and although he isn't sure where he'llend up, the school has to have collegiate fencing.

'It's a part of me,' said Woodhouse, as a chorus of clashing foilsclick-clack nearby. 'I cannot imagine myself not fencing.'

Their money's on the home team ; As budgets remain low, supporters and parents chip in thousands to keep school sports afloat - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Unlike the Red Sox, Anna Karski and other members of the HullBoosters Club Inc. can't afford to have a bad year.

That is because varsity sports at the high school are hanging inthe balance, always in danger of being cut if the money isn't raisedto keep them going.

Hull High boosters, area families, and other supporters are inthe fourth year of virtually self-funding the school's athleticprograms. After a property tax override failed in May 2009, theathletic budget of $240,000 for Hull High sports was reduced tozero. In May 2010, the town again voted down an override that wouldhave restored much of the school budget, and with it the athleticbudget.

The school budget now includes $40,000 for coaching salaries, butthe remaining funds needed to sustain the program -- about $220,000for this year, according to the athletic director, Jim Quatromoni --have to come from athletic fees charged to families or from moneythat is privately raised or donated.

The Pirates have managed to keep the lights on, thanks to a corpsof highly motivated volunteers and a policy of cutting expenseswherever possible, including some road games and nonleague contests.

Hull is hardly alone in needing to raise money to keep sportsprograms going. In the 46 public high school districts in the GlobeSouth coverage area, only seven do not impose athletic fees. In thepast two years, 11 districts have either instituted or increasedathletic fees, while three districts have decreased them. Inaddition, 19 districts impose non-sport activity fees, for suchthings as drama clubs, at high schools.

As communities struggle with tight budgets amid the economicdownturn and a continuing aversion to broad-based tax increases,several schools south of Boston are relying on dedicated boosterclubs of parents and fans.

In Abington, for example, the Green Wave Booster Club has raisedabout $75,000 in the last three years to help keep Abington High'ssubvarsity teams in business and assist in other areas of thebudget.

In Bridgewater, a group that was formed in 2004 to save sports atthe high school finances items that the district and sports budgetcannot afford.

Karski has been involved with the Hull boosters for six years,since her daughter Elena was in the eighth grade.

In Hull, the funds raised by boosters had long supplemented thebudget, buying jackets and other extras. But after May 2009, whenthe sports budget was slashed, they became vital to the programs.

'I can recall being devastated at first,' Karski said. 'Afterall, sports, drama, all the fun stuff, it's all part of high school.I couldn't imagine my kids not having that full experience.'

Elena went on be a captain in basketball and also played soccer.Son Calvin is a Hull High junior, playing basketball and soccer. 'Idon't know how many people other than Jim [Quatromoni] could havelasted this long doing this,' Karski said.

Over the past few years, she said, the core group of volunteershave fed off one another's energy.

'We didn't want to let each other down,' she said.

She said she has also been heartened by the outpouring ofsupport. 'The townspeople have been wonderful. They've donatedcruise boats for our midnight cruises; they wear the boosterstickers proudly on their vehicles. I wouldn't change any of theexperiences I've had.'

The sports boosters also try to help in areas outside of sports,such as renting a bus for a field trip or enrichment trip.

'It's such a small town, and we're all in this together,' Karskisaid.

She doesn't see the extensive fund-raising or user fees goingaway any time soon, but hopes there will be some light at the end ofthe tunnel.

'We just have to find ways that the entire burden doesn't fall onthis committee,' she said.

Quatromoni said the number of students requiring a waiver of feeshas increased in recent years. That, in turn, has exacerbated budgetproblems, leading to an effort that asks residents to sponsor thefees of student-athletes who cannot pay.

The story is much the same in Abington, where the Green WaveBoosters long supported Abington High athletics with the traditionaljackets, awards, and banquet. But when the town faced hard budgetchoices three years ago after a failed override and it seemedsubvarsity sports would be eliminated, they stepped up theirefforts.

'If we didn't get that money, I'd hate to even think about wherewe'd be,' said Abington High's athletic director, Steve Moore.

The booster club president, Chris Nagle, had two daughters gothrough Abington High and now has a son who is a junior. The groupruns such activities as going door-to-door each October, or hostinga Teamwork Trivia night and a comedy night in conjunction with youthfootball. Then there are the usual concession stands at AbingtonHigh athletic events.

'We're always looking for new members and new ideas,' said Nagle,who has been president for three years and involved in fund-raisingfor eight years. 'Our motto is, 'Keep them in cleats and off thestreets.' '

What keeps him and the rest of the boosters going is the supportfrom residents. 'The townspeople, the high school alumni, they comeout in droves to support our fund-raisers,' Nagle said. 'It neverceases to amaze me.'

Nagle said there is a core group of 15 to 18 volunteers. Theyfeel the pressure with the schools and student-athletes counting onthe money, and he wonders what would happen if they had a bad year.

The town and the schools need to find another way to pay forsubvarsity sports on a more permanent basis, he said. 'Sooner orlater, this [money] has to be in the budget,' said Nagle. 'I don'tthink anyone involved in the schools wants us to feel that kind ofpressure.'

The Friends of Bridgewater-Raynham Athletics was born during the2004 budget crisis that threatened the existence of the athleticprogram. Since then, it has morphed into a group that funds capitalprojects or items that the school or town budgets cannot afford.

In recent years, that includes a $35,000 resurfacing of the highschool track, new scoreboards for the soccer field and the fieldhockey/softball complex, and the sweeper arm that, attached to atractor, grooms the artificial turf field.

'Generally speaking, we're going to do something that lasts morethan a year, said Friends president Paige Heath. 'We leave theuniforms to the schools and the teams.'

The group raises about $28,000 a year through businesssponsorships, and generates thousands more by staffing concessionstands and the annual 'Mr. B-R' pageant, which features male seniorsin formal wear showing off their talents and answering beautypageant-style questions.

'They've been a godsend,' said Bridgewater-Raynham's athleticdirector, Dan Buron, of the Friends.

'They've allowed us to keep our heads above the water and me tofocus on the core of the program,' he said.

In Weymouth, school sports for the past five years were largelyfunded by user fees, gate admissions, fund-raisers, donations, andadvertisements by town businesses. In one year, the school budgetallocated $100,000 for athletics, but in other years the program wasdependent on user fees and other outside sources of income.

This year, fund-raisers got some relief when the School Committeeprovided $300,000 for the sports budget, leaving just a $100,000gap.

'I think for the last five years, we've run a streamlined andsuper-efficient program, and that's allowed us to overcome financialchallenges,' said athletic director Kevin Mackin.

Mackin praised members of the booster club for their hard workand the support from businesses in town, and said the budget wouldallow everyone to 'take a breath.'

Karski of Hull, and Abington's Nagle said they believe they arenot being taken for granted and that students appreciate the workthat goes into raising the money.

When students and parents convene to register for fall sports,Karsi said, they are reminded that there would be no sports withoutthe fund-raising.

'We make sure the kids are a part of this effort and haveownership in it in some way,' she said.

'At the annual banquet, we ask kids who played subvarsity sportsthat year to stand up,' said Nagle. 'We say to the parents, 'Yoursons and daughters wouldn't be playing sports if it weren't for thepeople in this room.' I think they understand that.'

Failed Fenway health club giving lawyers a workout - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Things weren't going so well.

Barely 15 months after it opened, the Adam Berke Gym, the much-publicized, upscale Fenway fitness center, was buckling under acrush of messy financial problems and a sometimes violent familydispute.

Personal trainer Adam Berke, 34, trying to save his eponymousfacility from extinction, proposed to his landlords that he turn thesleek, moodily lit gym at 1260 Boylston St. into a sleek, moodily litbar.To several in the fitness industry, that ambition typified anidentity problem that doomed the Adam Berke Gym to failure almostbefore it opened. The gym, said its critics, was too scene-driven,too image-conscious -- in short, too much like a bar from the verystart.Indeed, the splashy rise and thudding fall of the Adam Berke Gymis more than a tale of financial and familial chaos. It is also thestory of a kind of cultural clash, between a man who apparently sawsuccess in conspicuous glamour and a city far better known for itspersistent practicality.Positioning his stylish facility at the top end of the market,Berke, who for several years had been a fixture on the city's youngersocial scene, tried to attract affluent, image-conscious members.Dues in the beginning were as high as $1,500 a year. The gymoffered not only treadmills and barbells, but lavish extras includinggilt mirrors, subtle lighting, valet parking, and a sofa-strewn juicebar that also served wine. There were plans for an oxygen room,where members could breathe in oxygen-enriched -- even scented --air, as they do in some Los Angeles clubs.Berke, who declined to be interviewed for this story, and his newgym garnered flattering publicity in national magazines such as Vogueand GQ. Boston magazine gave Berke two 1998 Best of Boston awards:Best Personal Trainer, for his professional competence, and BestPublic Sculpture, for his physique.Ordinarily, that kind of publicity would lead to healthy trade.But local fitness fanatics, say other gym owners, want few frillswith their Stairclimbers and spinning classes. Here in Boston, theysay, people like their workouts nice and simple.'There are places, like L.A. and New York, where they go to{health} clubs to be seen,' said Cathy Masterson McNeill, spokeswomanfor the International Health, Racket and Sports Club Association.'But that doesn't tend to happen in Boston. Here, they like a niceenvironment, but it's not image for image's sake.'Sooner or later, most of the fitness professionals seeking toexplain the problems at the Adam Berke Gym arrived at the C-word.'Boston, just by its nature, is very conservative,' said MarkHarrington, president of Healthworks Fitness Centers. 'People don'twant trendiness in their life, and they want a product they can counton. Adam Berke had a lot of publicity, but that just wasn'timportant to the consumer we know.'Those consumers stayed away from the new gym, and it was ailingvirtually since its much-ballyhooed arrival in October 1997.'There were very few people working out there,' said Bonnie Jones,a Fenway resident who first visited the gym Jan. 7 for trainingsessions with Berke. 'It seemed strange to me.'The gym also suffered from more practical problems. Few residentsof student-filled Fenway could afford the high fees, and there waslimited parking for patrons from more affluent neighborhoods.'He was doing high-end stuff, but it was absolutely in the wronglocation,' said Paul Crisostamo, owner of Mike's Gym in the SouthEnd.And the club's decor may have alienated some potential members.'If a gym is to be successful, it has to be into health and notaesthetics,' Crisostamo said. 'It was more a nightclub atmospherethan a gym.'McNeill agreed. 'One reason you exercise is to feel energy, andup,' she said. 'A dark atmosphere, I think, is counter-intuitive.'A year after it opened, Berke had cut the club's fee, offeringfull-year memberships for as little as $99. But he was still unableto attract enough members to appease his creditors.Jones did venture into the gym, to engage Berke as a personaltrainer based on the Boston magazine recommendation. She said shepaid him $300 for four sessions, but got only two.'I was there on Jan. 22, a Friday, then I went back on Mondaymorning and there was nothing there,' she said. 'It was reallystartling to think that all of it had disappeared since Friday.'Looking back, Jones said, she had noticed fixtures and furnituremissing in the weeks leading up to the eviction.'There were certainly signals things were not in good shape,'Jones said. 'But I had no clue the gym would actually be closing,and I felt sure {Berke} must have known that when he accepted mymoney.'Berke's landlords had told him point-blank that his bar idea was ano-go, said their lawyer, Lenard Zide. Last weekend, Berke, who hadalso been living at the gym, according to his lawyer, was finallyevicted from the premises for defaulting on rent payments totalingmore than $130,000, according to eviction orders in Roxbury DistrictCourt.'He owed a substantial amount,' said Zide. 'The landlord tried tomake accommodations. At some time you have to cut your losses.'Those landlords joined a half-dozen other creditors who have alsobrought suits against Berke in the past six months.Berke and his company have been sued by radio station WBCN, andpublications The Improper Bostonian and Bay Windows, for unpaidadvertising bills totaling more than $18,000. LAZ parking, whichleased 30 Fenway spaces to Berke when the gym opened, sued him for$3,600 in uncollected fees.Suits also were brought against the gym by a member who said Berkehad overcharged her for training sessions, and by a woman who saidshe never received a refund of her $1,000 membership fee promised toher in writing by Berke. Both won their cases by default when Berkedid not show up for hearings.It is unclear whether current gym members will have their duesrefunded, or whether memberships will be transferred to other gyms.None of the people interviewed for this story knew how many memberswould be affected by the closing.As the gym sank further and further into debt, Berke was embroiledin a bitter, protracted dispute with family members over itsfinances.He has accused his father, Carl Berke III, of siphoning off gymfunds for personal use, said the younger Berke's lawyer, Philip A.Tracy Jr. For his part, Carl Berke has accused his son of embezzlinggym money, according to a criminal complaint made by Carl Berke atRoxbury District Court.On Sept. 4, according to police reports, the dispute betweenfather and son erupted into a fistfight in the gym's lobby.'The father suffered more injuries,' said Tracy. 'But AdamBerke's position is that his father started it. Mr. Berke went tothe hospital, then a race to the courthouse began.'Adam Berke said at the time that his father attacked his wife,Catherine, and he came to her defense. The police incident reportlisted his father as the perpetrator.Carl Berke immediately took out a restraining order against hisson. Catherine Berke took out a restraining order against CarlBerke. She also sought a restraining order against Joshua Berke,Adam's brother, whom she also accused of embezzlement.The father and the son have brought assault and battery chargesagainst each other; those cases are set to be heard early this month.None of the family members would be interviewed for this story.'It's an ugly family dispute,' said Tracy. 'There's no questionthere's bad feeling on all sides. There's always hope that somehowthere can be a resolution, but right now it's not on the table.'

Field of Dreams -- Frequently Asked Questions -- What people want to know about Big League Dreams and a sports complex for Yakima - Yakima Herald-Republic

Here is a list of frequently asked questions about Big LeagueDreams' proposed sports complex that will be voted on Sept. 18:

-- What is sports complex being proposed by the city of Yakimaand Big League Dreams USA of Mira Loma, Calif.?

On city property around Kiwanis Park in southeast Yakima, BigLeague Dreams has proposed operating a sports park that will includefive lighted ballfields, of which three would be scaled-downreplicas of historic major league ballparks. The complex would alsocontain a multisport pavilion, batting cages, a restaurant, parkingfor up to 350 vehicles and a playground and picnic area.

-- Why was a company from California picked and not someonelocally?

Starting in 1991, local service clubs and sports enthusiastsbegan studying a number of proposals before selecting Big LeagueDreams of Mira Loma, Calif. One of the main selling points was thecompany's scaled-down replicas of major league ballparks includingBoston's Fenway Park and Chicago's Wrigley Field. Big League Dreamsalso already has successful complexes operating in Cathedral City,Calif. (opened in January 1998) and Riverside County, Calif. (openedin April 2000). A third facility in Chino Hills, Calif., is underconstruction.

-- We have heard the project will cost from $9 million to $12million. What will the actual cost be?

According to a city staff report, the estimated cost to build thesports complex is $11.9 million. The city has $2.7 million incurrently available resources - $1 million from the sale of LarsonPark to Yakima Valley Community College, another $1.1 million worthof property purchased by three local service clubs that was thentransferred over to the city, an additional $100,000 in donations,and $500,000 through grants. That leaves a balance of $8.7 million.

Added to this is the $10 million necessary for debt service andinterest payments during the lifetime of the 25-year bond.

-- Will the complex, with its sports pavilion, be used year-round, or will it be closed in the winter months?

Big League Dreams plans to run the facility 261 days a year. Themultipurpose pavilion is a semi-enclosed facility that is notheated, insulated or air conditioned. It is designed to accommodatebasketball, inline hockey, indoor volleyball, indoor soccer, andcorporate and community meetings.

City officials say if bids for construction come in lower thananticipated, amenities such as heating could be added to thepavilion.

-- Instead of the city leasing out the sports complex, whydoesn't a private owner build and run the park without seekingpublic funding?

According to a city staff report, the cost of building a sportscomplex would force the private operator to charge much higher fees,making the facility unaffordable for many prospective users. Apublic/private ownership, as proposed in the sports complex forYakima, would keep fees to a minimum.

-- How many years will it take to pay for the sports complex, andis there any guarantee that the utility tax will end when the bondsare paid off?

The city predicts that, under current rates, it will take 25years to pay off $8.7 million in general obligation bonds. Thesebonds are approved by voters. The government's promise to repay theprincipal and pay the interest is constitutionally guaranteed on thestrength of its power to tax. When the payments are met, the bondsare eliminated.

-- How much is the utility tax and how much will it cost familiesand businesses in Yakima?

If approved by voters, the utility rate on private utilities -natural gas, electric, and wired and wireless telephone services -would increase by 1 percent, from 6 to 7 percent. The city estimatedthe increase for the average household is $1.80 per month orapproximately $22 per year. Businesses or high-volume users wouldpay a maximum increase of $40 per month per account or $480 annuallyfor each utility.

-- How much have the local service clubs - Rotary, Kiwanis andLions - donated to the proposed sports complex?

The service clubs have contributed $1.6 million. That money hasbeen used to purchase property south of Kiwanis Park. Ownership ofthose lots, in turn, has been transferred over to the city ofYakima.

The service clubs have also paid Big League Dreams a fee of$150,000 to secure exclusive rights to the complex so the companywould not be able to negotiate with other cities in the region.

-- What will it cost for softball teams to use the fields forleague play and for tournaments?

Although no fees have been set for the sports complex in Yakima,officials with Big League Dreams say fees will be comparable tothose charged at their complex in Cathedral City, Calif.

For league play, Big League Dreams would charge $300 per team and$20 per player (with teams consisting of 12 players). Those chargescover a 10-game season. That's $54 per game.

The current rate through the Yakima parks department averages outto around $840 per team (there is no per player fee). These chargescover a 22-game season. That's $38 per game.

For tournaments, Big League Dreams charges $175 per team whilethe city of Yakima now assesses $190 for tournaments. In Pasco, teamtournament fees are $250.

-- Will alcohol be sold at the restaurant? If so, will there beany restrictions?

Yes, alcohol will be served. The lease with Big League Dreamsdoes not forbid alcohol sales while youth games are being played.

-- What kinds of teams will be able to use the baseball fields?

Big League Dreams states its sports complex will be home to youthbaseball, slowpitch softball, girls fastpitch, tournaments softballteams, indoor soccer, volleyball, basketball and inline hockeyteams.

-- Who will pay to clean up any graffiti or other vandalism atthe sports complex?

Maintenance of the sports complex will be the responsibility ofBig League Dreams. The company states it will staff the park fulltime. With one controlled access gate, company officials say thefacility will be 'safe and secure.'

-- How many softball teams could play in the sports complexduring the year?

There are more than 200 youth and adult softball teams nowplaying in the Yakima area, according to a city staff report. Withfive lighted fields, Big League Dreams can accommodate five leaguegames per night per field, or 50 teams per night and a total of 250teams per week (Monday through Friday). Currently, the city softballleague can host 24 teams per night at its four lighted and fourunlighted fields.

-- Is a simple majority or a super-majority of 60 percent of'yes' votes required for the utility tax measure to pass in theSept. 18 primary?

A simple majority is needed for passage. And unlike a schoollevy, there is no minimum number of votes required to validate themeasure.

-- What happens if Big League Dreams decides to pull the plug andback out of the complex in a couple of years?

Under the recently signed lease agreement, Big League Dreamswould be required to reimburse the city a licensing fee of $300,000if it pulls out of the complex within three years after the city haspaid the fee. The property would still be owned by the city, whichcould then either operate the complex with city staff or seekanother company to run the operations.

The city could also choose to lease the restaurant andconcessions to a private business as it has done with the restaurantspace at the Yakima Air Terminal.

-- Who pays admission and how much will it be?

Beginning at 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends, BigLeague Dreams will charge an admission of $1.50 for adults and $1for children who are playing a game. All other children under 13 arefree. Every person who pays an admission fee also receives a tokenworth $1 off any item at the concession areas.

-- Will parking always be free?

The sports complex will provide parking for up to 350 vehicles.Though the lease does not forbid Big League Dreams from charging afee, the company has stated it will not charge for parking.

-- Will families be able to bring food and drinks into thecomplex or will they be required to buy food and refreshments fromBig League Dreams?

A restaurant and sports bar will be part of the sports complexand will open up to the three ballfields that will be replicas ofmajor league ballparks. Concession stands also will be available. Afamily picnic area with tables and benches will be available outsideof the facility, but those entering the stadium will not be allowedto bring in food or refreshments.

-- Big League Dreams says it will make, by the fourth year, morethan $3 million and will pay the city 10 percent of that, or$300,000, to help pay off the bonds. What if the complex doesn'tgenerate that high of revenue? Will the city have to make up thedifference?

With gross revenues rising from $1.4 million in the first year to$3.1 million in the fourth, Big League Dreams has agreed to pay thecity of Yakima 10 percent of its gross income starting with thefourth year of operation. That amounts to $310,000. The city's parksand recreation department will receive a portion of this futurerevenue for maintenance costs and programs.

In the event Big League Dreams does not generate the anticipatedgross income, the city's percentage would still be 10 percent, butthe overall dollar amount returning to the city would be less.

-- What limits will be placed by Big League Dreams on softballgames? Are they different than those now being imposed in the Yakimaparks department?

Adult league softball games at the proposed sports complex willbe limited to one hour in length. This is comparable to the limitsnow imposed in the city parks program. League play in the city parksrequires doubleheaders, with no limit on the first game but anoverall time limit for both games. Total playing time is roughly twohours and 10 minutes.

Also, softball games for Big League Dreams will require that allbatters start their at-bat with one ball and one strike. That is thesame rule now being used for city softball leagues.

-- Have there been any studies of traffic congestion at the siteof the sports complex?

The proposed sports complex must receive an environmental reviewunder the state Environmental Policy Act. That would include a studyof traffic impacts.

-- How many jobs will be created at the sports complex?

Big League Dreams expects to hire 15 full-time and 70 part-timeworkers.

-- How did other cities pay for the 'Field of Dreams' complexes?Did any of these cities take a tax vote?

No other city has gone to the voters for an increase in taxes. Infact, officials with Big League Dreams say the vote in Yakima willbe the one and only time a tax issue will be sought at the ballotbox. In Cathedral City, Calif., the city used a nearly $5 millionbond measure to help pay for the facility. No direct tax dollarswere involved.

-- What happens to the Kiwanis Park property if this taxingmeasure doesn't pass?

The city of Yakima will still control ownership of the property,including the land purchased by the three service clubs. Anyadditional construction of ballfields would depend on outlays fromthe current budget of the parks and recreation department and anygrants the city might secure. City officials say it would still take$4.6 million just to build a conventional sports complex.

-- What are the differences between the family sports complex andthe proposed Central Washington complex recently proposed in UnionGap?

In July, a group of local businessmen announced plans to developa 220-acre Union Gap hayfield into a complex to include a sprawlingarray of soccer, softball and baseball fields, an indoor field andice hockey rink, volleyball and basketball facilities. The privatelyfunded venture, called Central Washington Sports Center, could costanywhere from $25 million to $50 million. Supporters of the sportscenter say the Yakima Valley could support both their facility andthe Big League Dreams complex.

However, the sports center in Union Gap is likely years away fromreality. Investors still must be found and permits secured.

-- Why did the city settle on a utility tax instead of some otherkind of tax like a hotel/motel tax?

According to a city staff report, Yakima has the debt capacity tolegally issue bonds. But it has no existing revenue source to payoff the bonds.

City staff recommended the utility tax because it would be astable and reliable revenue source, would need a simple majority forpassage and the procedures to tax private utilities are already inplace.

The city had looked at a voter-approved telephone tax increase, avoter-approved property tax increase, a new business and occupationtax and an increase in the tax on city refuse, water and sewerutilities. However, these options were not considered since theburden of these taxes would fall unevenly on residents.

A sales tax increase was ruled out because it wouldn't raiseenough.

And a boost in the hotel/motel tax likewise was not consideredbecause it's already at the maximum level allowed and would requireaction by the Legislature to increase it.

-- Why should taxes be used to build a privately run restaurant?

In this sport, it's good thing to ...: THROW STONES. - The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Byline: Jon Fox

Mar. 22--JENKINS TWP. -- Only half of the Brazilian curling team showed up. The pre-game activities at The Tipsy Turtle, a nearby bar, had claimed two of their crew. One member was lost to a treacherous parking lot. He hit a patch of ice and 'went down like a bag full of curling stones,' explained Jonathan Loiselle, one of the two remaining Brazilian players. Another teammate bailed on the Sunday night curling session to continue a conversation with a girl at the bar, Loiselle said. Such is the topsy-turvy world of recreational curling.

It's important to note that neither Loiselle nor David Degnon, the two guys wearing the green Team Brazil shirts, hail from Brazil.

Degnon's from Tunkhannock and Loiselle's from Taylor. But they did trade e-mails with the Brazilian consulate, and both had Portuguese phrases written on cards and taped to their wrists. 'It started off as a joke,' Degnon said on a recent Sunday at The Ice Box skating rink. Brazil didn't have a curling team in the winter games, so the friends figured the field was wide open to represent the South American country. Degnon, like a lot of the other players at the third meeting of the Scranton Curling Club, had seen the game televised during the Turin Olympic Games. For two weeks that seemed heavy on ice dancing, curling, sort of like a version of shuffleboard on ice, became the most interesting thing to watch, he said. For Team Brazil, it was a second try at the game that seems to be more of a punch line than a pastime in America. 'It was a joke but I tell you what we came here last week and we had a great time,' Degnon said. Dave Cawley, 39, launched the Scranton Curling Club with his brother-in-law in hopes of capitalizing on a post-Turin wave of enthusiasm for a game he grew up watching on television in Buffalo. When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation wasn't beaming hockey games across the border, it showed curling, Cawley said. The 16th century Scottish game played with 42-pound granite stones has nearly 900,000 players in Canada, but hasn't caught on south of the border. But Cawley might qualify that statement with 'yet' -- as in 'Curling hasn't conquered America, yet.' The Pittsburgh curling club draws 80 players each week, and has a 500-person waiting list to get on the ice, Cawley said. A club in Plainfield, N.J., had 1,000 people pop their heads in after the Olympics. At a club outside Boston, 1,200 people recently lined up to try the quirky sport. 'With the Olympics, people are flocking to curling,' Cawley said The local club leased 32 used stones from a club in Utica, N.Y., and trucked them down in the back of a pickup.

Each brand new stone could have set them back a couple of hundred dollars in price and shipping from Scotland, where they are hewn from especially dense granite. The game is played by teams of four, sliding the stones across a sheet of ice. The goal is to park the stones closest to the center of a bull's-eye, or the 'house' in curling parlance.

One player, the 'skip,' points to the target for the benefit of the slider and two sweepers brush the ice in front of the stone to keep the throw true. Brushing the ice can allow the stone to slide an extra 15 feet and prevent it from curving or curling when it slows, a property that lent the game its name. It's a game that's beginner friendly, kind of like pool, Cawley said. And there's no need to know how to ice skate. 'Anyone can learn to play pool in five minutes but you're not going to be a super expert.' Pool, however, doesn't involve covering one's shoe in duct tape and sliding toward something called a hog line while propped up on a broom. The tape is 'the handyman's secret weapon,' Cawley said. It's also, incidentally, very slippery on the ice. Players normally use Teflon covers for their shoes, but a sudden increased interest has made the covers temporarily unavailable. 'This is the cheap way of doing it for now,' he said. 'We're going to be getting some sliders soon. The place we ordered them from is a little backlogged.' A couple weeks into his curling club experiment, Cawley says things are going well and he hopes to keep enough interest in the sport to keep sliding until April, the traditional end of the curling season, before resuming play in the fall. Loiselle expects to turn out a third time to represent his version of Team Brazil, but he's not ready to say he's hooked. 'It's not the crack of sports here,' he said. 'I wouldn't say twice is an obsession or an addiction.' ------------ more photos from a recent meeting of the Scranton Curling Club go to www.timesleader.com [http://www.timesleader.com] . --For more information about the club, go to www.scrantoncurling.com [http://www.scrantoncurling.com] . Jon Fox, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7219.

Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.),

(213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

CANINE ATHLETES PLAY RUFF IN THE NEW SPORT OF FLYBALL.(MAIN) - Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)

Byline: BELLA ENGLISH The Boston Globe

NASHUA, N.H. -- On one track at the Riverside Canine Center, Freddie, a miniature pinscher, flies so fast over the hurdles that his tiny paws barely touch the ground. On the other track, Roli, a Jack Russell terrier, misses half the hurdles; he's much more interested in the other dogs.

``Roli's issue is that he doesn't like to carry the ball. He's a barker, and when he barks, the ball falls out,'' says his owner, Tony Costa of Waltham, Mass.

As for Freddie, owner Dawn Sullivan, who lives in Everett, says simply:``Freddie is very ball-oriented.''

The ball in question is a tennis ball, usually soggy with dog drool and a bit tattered. The game is flyball, and it's a doggy relay race, with four dogs per team trying to beat the clock -- and their rival teams.

Picture a racing lane with four hurdles spaced 10 feet apart, a spring-loaded box at the end. One at a time, each dog races across the hurdles and jumps on the box, which releases a tennis ball. The dog catches the ball, turns, and heads back over the hurdles to the finish line, where the next dog up is waiting to take off. Timing is an art; if a dog ``jumps the gun'' before his teammate has crossed the line, there's a penalty.

Move over, Carl Lewis. In flyball, the course is 102 feet up and back, and the fastest dogs can do it in less than 4 seconds. Teams beat others by thousandths of a second.

The sport has spread to Australia, Europe, and Japan. In this country, it is governed by the Chicago-based North American Flyball Association, which has a Web site that includes a ``seeding list'' and ``top point-earning dogs.'' In New England, the perennial favorites are the Trailblazers of Vermont; their four-dog team -- three border collies and a Jack Russell -- completes the course in just over 16 seconds.

Flyball is not for your couch potato -- your overweight basset hound or your shambling St. Bernard. But weight issues aside, it's a democratic dog sport, unlike dog shows, where bloodlines are as important as they were in the antebellum South. Certain breeds do dominate: the faster, ball-crazy dogs such as Jack Russells, Australian shepherds, shelties, border col@@hyphen@@lies, mini pinschers. Small dogs are sought after, since each team's hurdles are set at 4 inches below the tiniest member's shoulder height. The lower the hurdles, the faster the dogs. Yorkies, toy fox terriers, and corgis are in high demand.

The coolest thing: Like most other trends, flyball started in California, in the late 1970s. And, like most other trends, it took a while to reach New England. Barb Black of Southborough first saw flyball in a park in Southern California in 1996. ``I thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw,'' she says. She knew she had to bring it home to her three border collies, Duffy, Blazer, and Trim. She asked the All Dogs Gym in Manchester about starting a team. In 1998, she founded ARFF (Awesome Racing Flyball Fanatics); the next year, the club won the New England Regional Flyball Championship.

``At first, we didn't know what we were doing,'' says Black, 56. But by going on the Internet, putting together a flyball box, and talking to flyball veterans in California, Black assembled a group of dogs and owners. At their first tournament, in Philadelphia, they came back with a title. ``Our dogs just picked it right up,'' she says.

Some dogs are naturals, like Bluebell, an 8-year-old mutt who has her ``swimmer's turn'' down to a science. She flies down to the box and hits it with her paws, pushing off.

Then there are dogs like Joe, a ``green'' border collie who's clueless about why those crazy humans are screaming at him to ``touch the box!''

On a Saturday morning at the Riverside Canine Center, the air vibrates with barking. Owners are cheering their dogs on, or, as in the case of Joe, correcting them. Every Saturday, Black's club, ARFF, and Kay McDonald's club, the Boston Stragglers, practice side by side. Don't let the Stragglers' name fool you; McDonald's club is driven.

``Last year we finished second in the lowest division,'' says McDonald, the chief financial officer for a small high-tech firm and Bluebell's owner. ``This year we finished first in Division 1. We were so psyched.'' The Stragglers club now has three teams, with four dogs on each: the Boston Flea Party, the Boston Baked Breeds, and Fenway Bark.

``I do it as a hobby,'' says McDonald, who lives in Bedford. ``It's a good outlet for the dogs.'' Her 7-month-old border collie puppy, Luna, is in training, and McDonald is expecting big things; her father is on the world-record-holding team in Ontario.

Dog people: What kind of people want to spend half of Saturday hanging around a gym full of doggy smells and sounds, not to mention traveling to tournaments all over the place?

Roli's owner, Costa, knows the hobby might sound strange to nondog people. But that's OK. ``We had sons who played high school and college hockey,'' says Costa, a sales manager, ``so we're used to people thinking we're crazy.''

The walls in Black's home office are covered with plaques, ribbons, and dog photos. She notes that her dogs are perfect for the sport: They're ball-crazy. Duffy in particular. ``He's insane. His teeth are worn down from tennis balls.'' Duffy is a flyball master champion, two levels below the top ranking.

Though Black says she's in it for the fun, she has noticed a recent change in flyball: People are beginning to buy or breed dogs just for the sport. ``They're pets. They're so smart and so much fun,'' she says of her dogs. ``But now, people are buying dogs just because they're fast. It's too bad.''

The Weston Whirlwinds fall into the ``fun'' category. ``We're not at all snooty about it,'' says team captain Cindy Henderson. ``We don't really care what breed you are or how fast you are. Your dog just has to like tennis balls and have a good temperament.''

NAFA has a ``three strikes'' policy: If a dog shows aggression three times, it will be banned from the sport. Likewise, owners are required to behave: no choke or electric collars for dogs, no screaming at judges.

Trudy Lanman of Newton and her vizsla, Boomer, belong to the Boston Stragglers. Lanman, 78, says flyball is good for both her and her dog. ``I walk him 40 to 50 minutes a day, but he still needs more,'' she says. ``I can no longer keep up with him. Here, I stand around and the dog does all the running.''

But lots of younger members are tapped to run alongside the dogs in practice, encouraging them all the way up and back. Walt Lutter of Winthrop is a main ``runner'' for ARFF; he's 35 and athletic. At a recent practice, his Jack Russell, Mac, is barely panting after several races. But Lutter has worked up a sweat.

Kathy Buckley is a professional dog trainer and captain of the Jumpmasters flyball club in Seekonk. Of all the dog sports -- shows, agility, training -- flyball is her favorite. She likes the fact that, unlike dog shows, the judging is objective: It's by the clock, not by the coif.

Buckley, who has five dogs, says her friends don't understand her passion. ``They say, why don't you just get a life? I say, this is my life.''

Developer of Miami Condo/Hotel to Build New Tennis Club. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Cara Buckley, The Miami Herald Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 6--Millennium Partners, the developer of downtown Miami's Four Seasons, plans to build a 6,000-square-foot outdoor tennis club on a patch of downtown land. The condo/hotel itself, meanwhile, will house The Sports Club/LA, a hyperluxurious gym, spa and celebrity haunt that has enjoyed runaway success in Los Angeles and New York.

The club is slated to open next fall, to coincide with the opening of the Four Seasons and Millennium's planned tennis courts.

The tennis center will solve, at least temporarily, the problem of where Four Seasons guests can put racquet to ball. The Four Seasons had floated plans to bus tennis-keen guests to nearby courts. If the project goes through, the guests will be shuttled to the site, just eight blocks from the hotel.

Brian Collins, a principal with the Four Seasons, said the four-acre complex would primarily service condo dwellers in the Brickell corridor.

Millennium is banking on the project to drum up interest in the downtown Brickell area, where it owns eight additional acres of land that could be developed into retail shops and condominiums. The site is bordered by South Miami Avenue, the Metrorail track, Southwest Fifth Street and Southwest Seventh.

Eight tennis courts and an Olympic-size swimming pool, also roofless, are planned. Plans for the complex to be managed by Cliff Drysdale, the former tennis star who runs a tennis academy in Crandon Park and is the resident pro at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne.

The center will cost roughly $1 million to build. Membership, Collins estimated, will run at roughly $150 a month.

City Commissioner Johnny Winton believes the project will easily win city approval and bring pedestrians to a neighborhood in need of foot traffic and more patrons for its restaurants and clubs.

But the tennis center may not be a permanent fixture. When the demand for housing goes up, Winton said, the center will likely come down.

'It will last as long as it takes them to figure out what the housing market will accept on their site,' Winton said. 'If the market changes rapidly, probably three years; if the market doesn't materialize, I'd say 10.'

Collins concurred, estimating the complex's life span at five to 10 years. The developers did not receive city incentives to build on the site, he added.

The Four Seasons, for its part, should last much longer. The $390 million condo/hotel will be the second major luxury hotel to pierce the Brickell market, and its 70-story, mixed-use tower will be the largest building south of Atlanta -- hence worthy, its developers decided, of a high-end gym and spa.

Enter The Sports Club Co., touted as the Cadillac of the health-club world. The company runs 14 clubs and enjoys a devout following among the wealthy, the buff and the wealthy wannabe buff. Members include Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, Kim Cattrall and Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Perks, depending on which club you attend, include dog walkers, shoeshiners, rock-climbing walls, dermatology treatments and teeth-whitening sessions.

Membership privileges at the Miami club have not been finalized, but members can expect luxurious decor, plush carpeting, an array of workout classes, classes in five types of yoga, tai chi, a Jacuzzi and a cafe. The 40,000-square-foot club, expected to cost roughly $30 million to build, will cater to Four Seasons guests, residents and the paying public.

Membership is pricey: The initiation fee at most Sport Clubs is $1,295 plus $145 a month. Cofounder Nanette Pattee Francini, however, said Miami patrons who sign up early would get a bargain: $400 to join, then $90 a month. The membership office is scheduled to open in February.

The club will compete with the Downtown Athletic Club, mere blocks away. While the Athletic Club is cheaper, regularly charging $225 to join plus $52 a month, Francini expects people to move over because her clubs, she said, are more plush, more cutting edge and outfitted with scores of fitness-class options and private trainers.

The company's stand-alone facilities have thrived in Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Noting that the clubs, which opened in 1979, have done well even during economic slumps, Francini predicted that the Miami site would further bolster the company's healthy track record.

To see more of The Miami Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.miami.com

(c) 2002, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

PROPOSAL TO CONVERT THEATER TO CLUB OPPOSED RESIDENTS SAY THEY FEAR MORE NOISE, TRAFFIC - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

A proposal to convert a vacant movie theater into one of thelargest clubs in Boston drew strong opposition yesterday fromelected officials and the residents of a luxury apartment andcondominium building across the street.

'I think this concept is very ill-conceived,' said Rep.Salvatore F. DiMasi (D-Boston) at a hearing yesterday before theBoston Licensing Board to determine if a liquor license should begranted to Texas developer Michael Graves.

Graves is seeking to convert the former Pi Alley Theater at275 Washington St. into the Boston Arena Sports Grille. The clubwould feature 18 television monitors and a large boxing ring thatwould be used as a dance floor. It would have capacity for 975persons. Graves operates a similar bar in Baltimore.

But the project has been met with opposition from most of theresidents of One Devonshire Place, across the street from thetheater, which has been empty since August 1987. About 1,000 peoplelive in the luxury high-rise.

Residents as well as some business leaders fear increasedtraffic, noise and rowdiness from the large crowds the bar would beexpected to attract.

'I don't like the idea of our neighborhood being inundatedwith a large number of people,' said Jinx Richmond, who lives inOne Devonshire Place.

But Terrence P. McDermott, a lawyer representing Graves, saidthe developers have taken fears about congestion and noise intoaccount. He said 400 parking spaces would be available to customersat a garage next door and patrons leaving the bar would be directedaway from the high-rise toward Tremont Street.

McDermott also said announcements would be made inside the barreminding patrons there are residents in the area and to keep noiseto a minimum when they leave. A security staff of 36 would work tokeep disruptions to a minimum, he said.

Graves plans to live in One Devonshire Place and 'will be onsite and available,' McDermott said.

Graves acknowledged problems would exist. 'We're not going totell you that we're going to alleviate every noise anddisturbance,' he told Andrea Gargiulo, chairman of the licensingboard. But, he added, 'I think I've tried to do everything I can tolisten to the residents and answer their concerns.'

In arguing for the liquor license, McDermott said the emptytheater has been an eyesore since USA Cinemas vacated the11,000-square foot complex last year. He said the proposal for abar has received support from merchants adjacent to the vacanttheater.

'I don't think any of us in the city are proud of the vacanttheater,' he said. 'Unfortunately some of the homeless have takento laying in the doorway. Pi Alley is not really people-friendly.'

He also said the sports bar in Baltimore has operated in asimilar downtown neighborhood without any major complaints orproblems. And he said the same problems would exist no matter whatis built inside the empty theater.

But DiMasi, who represents residents in One Devonshire Place,disagreed.

'We're not like other cities,' DiMasi said. 'We don't havewide open spaces. We're a very congested city. This will simplycreate new problems and exacerbate existing ones.'

Although the bar would have a maximum capacity of 975 people,DiMasi said on some nights as many as 3,000 could visit the club.

Referring to McDermott's citing of the homeless sleeping infront of the former theater, DiMasi said, 'If you're suggestingthat three or four homeless people are more dangerous than 3,000or 4,000 bar patrons, I would disagree.'

'I consider this an amusement park,' DiMasi added. 'There willbe people watching sports events and people watching sports tend toget riled up. There will be people drinking all night and thenleaving the bar.'

Some residents said the bar would be inappropriate in aneighborhood with historical sites, such as Faneuil Hall, Old CityHall, King's Chapel and the Old South Meeting House. 'I'd rathersee somthing more in keeping with the ambiance of the area,' saidone resident.

A lawyer representing the owners of Devonshire Place, who areopposed to the project, said the notion of a bar would not havebeen taken seriously if it had been proposed for more typicallyresidential neighborhoods. Devonshire Place, which is next door toOne Devonshire Place, houses business offices.

'If you had wanted to put something like this in the North Endwe wouldn't even be thinking about it,' said lawyer MichaelRoitman. 'But if you spread the 1,000 people horizontally insteadof vertically you'd have a similar situation.'

EMPLOYEE AT GOLF CLUB HONORED BY MEMBERS - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

Friends at the Brookline Golf Club (formerly Putterham Meadows)said a collective and surprise 'thank you' to town employee JimmyRozon, a familiar face behind the desk at the club's pro shop.

A week ago Wednesday, Rozon, who officially retires this monthafter more than 30 years with the town's recreation department, wasleaving the course at about 6 p.m. for the commute to his home inHingham. But the folks who planned the party took Rozon's car keysso that he had to remain on the premises, where he was feted by 100friends and club members who bought tickets for the dinner and a giftto Rozon. His wife and two daughters were on hand for thefestivities.

The party was hosted by the staff of the Putterham Golf CourseCafe, headed by Brookline resident David Rosenberg, who said that'Jimmy was very surprised and very honored, even though he had saidto me earlier this summer that he really didn't want a retirementdinner. But the response was so overwhelming, that we had to do it.'

Among the others who planned the event were club members TomMcCarthy and Joe Gulley, head pro and director of golf Jack Nevilleand assistant pro Frank Milbury.

Harvard's defense welcomes Fitzgerald

Ryan Fitzgerald of West Roxbury, a junior defensive tackle whoplayed at Roxbury Latin School and was a Globe All-Scholasticfootball choice, is listed as No. 2 defensive left tackle on theHarvard University football team, which had a 5-5 record last year.Harvard's season starts at home Sept. 16 against Holy Cross.Fitzgerald, considered the quickest of the Crimson's defensivelinemen, is a 6-foot-2-inch, 255-pounder. He earned his first varsityletter last season and had a quarterback sack to his credit. 'He hasexcellent instincts,' said Harvard head coach Tim Murphy, who willwelcome 111 candidates to preseason camp on campus Aug. 25.Fitzgerald, a 1998 graduate of Roxbury Latin, captained the football,basketball, and lacrosse teams his senior year. He was a three-timeall-Independent School League pick in football and was league co-MVPhis senior year. He was a two-year starter in basketball and wonfirst team all-ISL honors as a senior and was a two-year startingdefender on the lacrosse team.

Boston contingent joins Curry team

Steve Nelson, head football coach at Curry College of Milton, willwelcome four freshmen from the Boston area to his third preseasoncamp. Under Nelson, a former New England Patriots All-Pro linebacker,Curry posted its first back-to-back winning seasons since 1988-89.Nelson led Curry to a six-game turnaround in his debut season (6-4)and was named New England Football Conference Coach of the Year.Last year, the Colonels improved to 7-3.

The freshman contingent includes linebacker Bob Bertucci ofCambridge, a graduate of Matignon High; offensive guard Paul Burdetteof Dorchester, a graduate of John D. O'Bryant High; linebacker MarkCilibrasi out of East Boston High, and defensive back Derrick Lyonsof Dorchester and Boston English High.

Curry's returning players include junior linebacker Rance Cooleyof Hyde Park and Wellesley High; senior linebacker Chuck Israel ofMattapan and Reading High; sophomore linebacker Darrell Jones ofDorchester, a graduate of Cathedral High; sophomore tight end LarryMulrey of Somerville, who attended Matignon High, and seniordefensive end and tackle Damien Simpson of Dorchester, a graduate ofSouth Boston High.

John Hurley of South Boston, a 6-7 forward from Thayer Academy inBraintree, was a member of the MassHysteria team that competed inlast month's AAU National 17 and Under boys basketball championshipsat the Disney Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The team finished witha 2-3 record, including victories over Ohio and Arkansas.

It's no throwaway sport Lifestyles and careers are merely spinoffs of the play for Frisbee fanatics - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

The Commies canceled film night. Instead of reviewing tapes ofpast games, they ran extra windsprints.

Lady Godiva, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically demure. It's along season, the Godivas figure. As reigning champs, they plan tohusband their energies for big games in November.

As Ultimate Frisbee buffs know, the Commies are the best men'sFrisbee team in Boston. Lady Godiva, also of Boston, is the bestwomen's team in the country.

For the Commies and Lady Godiva, the 1992 Ultimate Frisbee seasonbegan yesterday with the start of a two-day tournament billed as theWimbledon of its sport.

On the greensward of Columbus Park in South Boston, 16 teams fromaround the country are engaging in one of the few tournaments on theFrisbee tour that awards prize money. At the conclusion of today'splay, the top teams in the men's and women's divisions will each beawarded $4,000.

For many Americans, Frisbee is a throwaway sport, a badmintonalternative that can be played with children or dogs.

To a small band of devotees, however, Frisbee is a far granderthing, an obsession worthy of career changes and cross-country moves,an avocation both costly and time-consuming.

'There are only two things we do -- work and play Frisbee,' saysGodiva player Robin Barney, a 31-year-old chemical engineer. 'Ourlives revolve around our sport.'

Barney's commitment is not unusual. Teammate Christine Dunlap,28, commutes to most of Godiva's four weekly practices from her homein Vermont, a 2 1/2 hour drive each way.

Social worker Anne Westcott, meanwhile, is hors de Frisbee.Honorably lamed in a July practice match, she hopes her surgicallyrepaired Achilles' tendon is fully healed before the Novemberchampionships.

On the practice fields of Wellesley and Newton, she watches on thesidelines as the team practices under the stern gaze of coach ChrisPhillips. 'They've got a lot of heart and stamina,' he says. 'Butthey can be a handful.'

Once an avid player, Phillips, 30, is on his third career. Whenmonitoring satellite signals in New Jersey got in the way of hissport, he decamped to the Hub to play for a top team. For the pastfew years, he has worked as a carpenter. Now training as a physicaltherapist, he's on sabbatical from active play.

As Phillips explains it, 'Ultimate Frisbee' synthesizes elementsof football, soccer and lacrosse.

On a football field, the offensive team scores a point when itpasses the Frisbee to a receiver in the end zone. Running with theFrisbee is not allowed; it can only be advanced by passing. Anincomplete pass results in a change of possession.

Teams field seven players at a time. Given the game's fast pace,there are frequent substitutions. Though elite players specialize incertain skills, anyone can throw or catch.

'In this game, anyone can be a quarterback,' says AndrewBorinstein, 31, a Time Inc. researcher and an acolyte to the PennState professor who tends the Frisbee archives.

If the history of Frisbee were made into a movie, the title mightbe 'The Revenge of the New Jersey Nerds.'

According to cherished lore, the Abner Doubledays of the sportwere student government leaders and school newspaper editors at ahigh school in Maplewood, N.J.

After inventing the game in the school parking lot in 1968, thesepioneers spread the word in a student government newsletter. Theyalso brought their sport with them when they attended colleges suchas Yale, Cornell, Columbia and Princeton.

'These guys were not athletes,' Borinstein says. 'They werestrait-laced suburban kids.'

As a home to many colleges, the Hub eventually emerged as aFrisbee hotbed. Katherine Rowe, 30, a Yale English professor whohelps run a Boston corporate Frisbee league, estimates that 80 teamsplay in the area.

That includes teams for Boston University, Tufts, Boston College,Harvard and MIT, says Steve Goodfriend, the regional coordinator forthe Ultimate Players Association, a national group of 10,000 memberswho pay annual dues of $25.

Club teams from the Northeast, such as the Commies and Godivas,are chock-a-block with young professionals -- money managers, goldtraders, Shakespearean scholars, computer software designers.

These zealots think nothing of shelling out $3,000 to $5,000 ayear to subsidize road trips. This season, the ultimate road tripwill be to San Diego, site of the national championship.

Because of its desirable demographics, Frisbee has attracted somecorporate sponsorship. The patron of the Boston tournament is JoseCuervo Tequila, which makes some uneasy.

As a spectator sport, Ultimate Frisbee is strictly ho-hum. Tomake it crowd-pleasing, Cuervo has brought in canine aerobaticsdemonstrations. It has also decreed a rule change that createssomething like basketball's three-point play.

But such corporate dog-and-Frisbee shows could queer the sport'spristine karma, fears Borinstein, the players associationapparatchik.

'When I started playing in Philadelphia, it was a renegade sport,almost a hippie sport,' says Godiva's Heather Morris, 31, a Bostonmoney manager. 'I liked that. No rules, no referees -- I liked thattoo. Now it's got to the point where people move to different citiesto play with a certain team.'

While purists fret, there is one consolation: Frisbee seemsconducive to romance. Many elite players date one other, and Frisbeemarriages are nearly as common as knee injuries.

Computer consultant Michael Terner is but one of many who can say,'I met my wife through Frisbee.'

'It's a tightly knit social circle,' agrees Adam Phillips, whosefiancee plays for Lady Godiva.

After a few lost serves, Dorchester tennis club rallies - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

DORCHESTER -- The first time Alveta Haynes's 13-year-old sonJelani saw the Sportsmen's Tennis Club, he was only days old.

On the way home from Brigham and Women's Hospital after Haynes hadgiven birth, her husband, Conway, insisted that they stop at the BlueHill Avenue tennis center.

'He had to stop by this place to show his new son around, to givehim his first tour,' said Haynes, who sat in the car and waited thatday.Haynes, whose husband is president of the club's board, laughs nowwhen she tells that story. Sitting in an office at the club, shesays it is just one example of the love and dedication this placeevokes.Haynes's son and many other children come here to learn lifelessons as well as how to play a good game of tennis. Children andadults are drawn to this facility where nurturing and supportingurban youth of diverse backgrounds has been a daily mission for 25years.Next month, the club will celebrate that bond and ask those whouse the facility for a renewed commitment to help rejuvenate theplace, which in recent years has declined. A fund-raising campaignis in the works to raise $100,000 to retire a debt, help pay forsummer and fall programs, and make repairs to the facility at 950Blue Hill Ave., near the Boys and Girls Club.On May 9, the tennis club, as well as other recreationalfacilities throughout Boston, will offer free tennis lessons tochildren (at 10 a.m.) and adults (at noon) in a citywide event.From May 26 to May 29, about 1,200 Boston public school childrenwill be bused to the center for lessons that club members havevolunteered to teach.On May 30, a dinner, silent auction, and dedication ceremony willtake place to honor Jim and Gloria Smith who helped create the cluband poured their lives into it until their deaths last year. Thededication, which Haynes is helping organize, will change thebuilding's name from the Franklin Field Tennis Center to the Jim andGloria Smith Tennis Center.On May 31, fom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a children's tennistournament featuring corporate sponsors and child and adultcompetitors.The Sportsmen's Tennis Club, a private nonprofit club, was foundedin 1961 by a group of Boston tennis buffs who wanted to teach thegame to children.Initially, lessons were give at a playground in the South End andin a Roxbury gymnasium. In 1973, the club completed the facilitywhere it is now. The Sportsmen's Tennis Club, with both indoor andoutdoor courts, was the first such facility in the country to bededicated to helping disadvantaged youths.The club has helped 400 young people attain local, regional andnational tennis association rankings. Also, more than 500 youthshave attended college on full or partial tennis scholarships.But the tennis center is looking a little tired of late. Theentry into the parking lot is rocky with broken pavement. Carpetingin the foyer is way beyond worn. Blue paint is peeking through inspots on a white wall.Still, the former glory of the place lingers in a photo display ofold black-and-whites of celebrities who have visited here: ArthurAshe; the Kennedys, Ethel, Ted, Robert Jr.; Billie Jean King.'The news is that the Sportsmen's Club is still here,' Haynessaid. 'There was a time this time last year when we had graveconcerns. But we're still here and we are bigger and better thanwe've been in years.'Half of a $100,000 debt has been paid off. A roof that leaked sobadly on rainy days that the indoor courts became wet has beenrepaired. Computers have been purchased to replace the typewriters.Many more improvements are planned.Several programs have been created to bring more people into theclub. An early bird play period runs from 7 to 10 a.m.; on Fridaynight, there is mixed adult doubles from 8 p.m. to midnight; a Sundayleague from 3 to 5 p.m. has taken off this year since the courts wereresurfaced.The tennis club also has a new executive director, Laury Hammel,who came on board in October and is given much of the credit forturning the club around.Part of the problem has been that the club hasn't been able tocompete with some of the other recreational facilities in Bostonbecause equipment hasn't been updated over the years, Haynes said.Also, as corporate funding has dried up, it has been harder to getmoney to fund a sport that some see as an elitist luxury.'Adding to that,' said Hammel, 'is the fact that tennis clubs as abusiness from 1980 on were going out of business across thecountry.'In the early days of tennis, when Ashe, Bjorn Borg, and JimmyConnors were the big names, the game easily drew customers. But, asrecreational opportunities broadened, there was more competition forpeople's time.'So you needed to be proactive to promote tennis, and thatpromotional side wasn't increasing here as time went on,' saidHammel, who owns three recreational facilities in Natick and Waylandand was good friends with Jim Smith.'The interesting thing,' said Haynes, 'is that that piece of ourmission to provide affordable tennis to children remained intact. Itwas not at the level we wanted it to be, but it was there. Mainlybecause parents helped out.'Les Smith, the son of Jim and Gloria Smith, still plays at theclub, sometimes with Haynes's son. He's glad to see the changes andlooks forward to the dedication ceremony. 'I always used to teasemy parents about the tennis club being their first child and I wastheir second,' said Smith, who was born in 1965 after the club wasfounded. 'It's good that this can be done in my parents' memoriesbecause they've contributed so much of their lives to trying to makethe city a better place through tennis.' For information on clubactivities, call 617-288-9092.

A CONFLICT WITH INTEREST Boston youths all have an opinion on NBA's Jordan-O'Neal matchup - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

For city kids, The Game has nothing to do with Harvard vs. Yale.

It's Shaq vs. Michael.

'Shaq is The Man,' said Windell Davis, 15, taking a break fromplaying one-on-one with his friend, Keya Gunter, on the courts atTown Field in Fields Corner in Dorchester.

Gunter, 21, begged to differ.

'Shaq can't stand next to Michael Jordan. The man can't evenshoot free throws!'

Davis, wearing Shaquille O'Neal's jersey, waved him off and calledfor the ball.

'Man,' he sniffed, 'you just got back on the bandwagon.'

'I never got off the bandwagon,' Gunter protested. 'I never leftthe Bulls. Michael got off the bandwagon.'

And so it goes. From Charlestown to Chinatown. From Southie tothe South End. From Roxbury to West Roxbury. With the Celticssafely in their graves for 1995, the ongoing NBA playoff seriespitting the Orlando Magic against the Chicago Bulls is big stuff withyoung people in a supposedly neutral city.

The teams are led by men who are not just basketball icons, butmarketing machines. They hawk sneakers, soda and hamburgers -- inshort, stuff that means something to anyone too young to vote.

It is often said that too many young people don't have opinions.Everyone, however, seems to have an opinion about Michael vs. Shaq.Perhaps because they seem so different on and off the court.

Shaq is power. Michael is grace.

Shaq is in yo' face rap. Michael is silky smooth R&B.

Shaq is Pepsi. Michael is Gatorade.

Shaq is Reebok. Michael is Nike.

Michael is McDonald's. Can Shaq be that far off from signing amultiyear deal with Burger King?

'Shaq can't shoot threes,' said Omar Cruz, 14, of Dorchester.

'Shaq,' retorted 13-year-old Milton DeSoto, 'can dunk all overMichael.'

Tia Holiday, 13, of Roxbury, said she sides with Jordan because hehas a better all-around game. 'Michael can do more things. He's notjust one-dimensional. You've got to have more than one thing inlife.'

Put 11 kids in a room at the Dorchester Youth Collaborative andask for a show of hands: eight Michael, three Shaq.

Jumping ability is admired. 'Michael's got more rise,' explained16-year-old Jason Simpson of Dorchester.

But O'Neal's backboard-breaking power appeals to some. 'I don'tgive Jordan no kinds of props,' said Jose Martins, 14, whichtranslated from kidspeak means he doesn't like Mike. 'He needs to goback to baseball. Shaq will back you up till you can't go back nomore, and then it's over.'

Bruce Seals, the athletic director at the Col. Daniel Marr Boysand Girls Club in Dorchester, said he has noticed how many kids playout the matchup between Jordan and O'Neal.

'I see the kids lean toward Michael, because they can emulate moreof the things he can do,' said Seals, who played for the NBA'sSeattle Supersonics. 'But the year and a half Michael took off toplay baseball hurt him, especially with the younger kids. Shaq isthe '90s player. Michael is the elder statesman.'

Many kids, meanwhile, do not choose their favorites based solelyon performance on the court. Wearing a Chicago Black Hawks hockeyjersey, 15-year-old Sparkle Henderson of Dorchester declares herselfonly mildly interested in the basketball games themselves. Nike ads,she contends, are more creative than Reebok ads. 'At least the onesthat Michael is in,' she said.

Melissa Khomlasaben, 14, considers Jordan's ads materialistic,while 'Shaq gives some positive messages.'

Older kids seem to be more judgmental of O'Neal, chastising himfor paying too much attention to his endorsements and not enough tomastering the art of free-throw shooting.

Artis Edmondson, 15, of Dorchester, says he can't imagine being asbig as the 7-foot-1-inch, 300-pound O'Neal but knows he wouldpractice with a bit more tenacity than the Shaq. 'How can I like apro when I can shoot threes and free throws better than him?' heasked.

If the generational breakdown has older kids siding with Jordan,so does the gender breakdown. Girls, in general, seem to like Mike.

Except Relisha Jones. The seventh grader at the Grover ClevelandSchool has her entire room festooned with O'Neal paraphernalia.

'Coach' Willie Maye, the sports director at WILD-AM, says thatyouths are notoriously fickle when it comes to their favorites, butthat Jordan and O'Neal seem to transcend all that because they are somuch a part of popular culture.

'When Shaq came on the scene, you saw kids all over wearing baggygear, oversized shorts,' Maye said. 'Michael's stuff istop-of-the-line, funky stuff. Kids know this.'

Kids also know this matchup will be back.

Members at Miami's Tony Health Clubs Sweat Champagne Style. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Howard Cohen, The Miami Herald Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 16--The dirtiest word at these workout palaces is gym.

Sure, there are the weights, the floor mats, the treadmills.

But, gym?

'Urban country club,' opines suit-and-tie attired Daniel Miller, manager of the Sports Club/LA, the new $25-million health club in the Four Seasons Miami on Brickell.

'Cardio Theater,' pronounces Sporting Club owner/trainer Marco Borges of what others would call a treadmill room.

Along with the Deepak Chopra Center at Doral, these two new spots represent the newest addition to the South Florida fitness scene: the health club as haute couture. Pineapple coconut body wash with mango shampoo. Personal plasma TVs. Massages by candlelight.

Think five-star hotel: Concierges. A lobby boasting a Botero sculpture (at Sports Club/LA). And the best views $5,000 a year in annual fees can buy: Biscayne Bay at Sports Club/LA, the Atlantic Ocean at South Beach's Sporting Club and the golf courses at the Chopra Center at Doral.

'Whatever you need, we get for you,' says the Sporting Club's Borges as he strolls the Continuum, the South Beach condo housing the club. 'You need reservations at Joe's? We'll get you into your favorite nightclub on the Beach. Tickets to something at Gleason?' High-fashion fitness is a growing trend, says Brooke MacInnis, a spokesperson for the Boston-based International Health, Raquet & Sportsclub Association.

'It would be difficult to go to any major city and not find an upscale club,' she said. 'This is a trend that caters to a specific clientele.' People like Miami trial lawyer Jay Solowsky, a recent convert to the Sports Club/LA.

'They have a far greater range of amenities than any other club in the area. The class schedule is varied with a wide range of good times for professionals.' Solowsky, 52, works out six days a week. 'We're very fortunate to have this in Miami. This is far and away the best club I've been a member of.' Here, then, is a peek inside:

--Sports Club/LA: I burned more calories saying 'Thank you' and 'That feels good' than I would normally do walking three times a week with my regular exercise group.

The silver clocks on the walls are Audemars Piguet. The lockers are oak. Here, sweating saline would be gauche; you sweat champagne.

The Precor cardio machines have personal plasma TVs attached. (No squabbling over the communal telly.) Blaring techno music, a turnoff at regular gyms, was absent.

The weight training room is 10,000 square feet, with wraparound windows overlooking Miami's banking towers to the north and luxury condos to the south.

I had an unfamiliar spring in my step in the yoga/aerobics room.

'The floor is spring-loaded so it absorbs shocks,' explained Miller, the club's manager.

The coolest feature proved to be the touch-screen computerized class schedule board. Touch any of the 14 different yoga offerings or, say, something called Sets & Reps, and a video of the class pops up.

(You can find out what a class looks like before revealing you have two left feet.) The Versa Climber -- in which you're basically climbing a mountain -- is where I should have found myself. But I had an appointment for a sports massage at Splash, the indoor spa. Suffer on the climber or get a 50-minute massage to the strains of Enya in a relaxing room?

Enya wins out.

--The Sporting Club: Arguably, the best views of the bunch. The club sits on the end of South Pointe, thus anyone lounging on the private sun deck gets the view of South Beach.

Sports Club/LA had us spoiled. At the Sporting Club, four flat-screen TVs, rather than individual plasma TVs, lined the 'Cardio Theater.' But they were facing Government Cut, so you could gaze over the waters while striding on the stepping machine.

Minor quibbles aside, the Sporting Club trumps other residential gyms. Sheer size is a big factor. Most gyms tucked into condos top out at around 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. The three-story fitness center and spa here is 20,000 square-feet. Flinging sweat on your neighbor is nearly impossible.

Borges has designed a jewel of a gym, with the programs one would expect such as yoga, spinning, Zumba, body sculpting and private training sessions augmented by free valet parking, a rooftop pool, beach club access, a spa and a limited membership capped at 500.

I took a private training session with Borges. I'm still recovering, graced with the knowledge that this is how the muckety-mucks fit into the fancy threads party season requires.

Given time, a run on the beach, followed by a stint in the Eucalyptus Steam Room may have been nice. I settled for an $85 Destresser massage.

What? Me, spoiled?

Getting there.

--The Chopra Center: The final stop on our tour was the Chopra Center at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. The center is named for, and follows the teachings of, California spiritual guru Deepak Chopra, the medical doctor whose followers have included Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Bill Clinton.

At first blush, this one doesn't exactly fit the theme. There are no Freemotion machines, Versa Climbers, Hoggan hand weights or good old-fashioned medicine balls. The smell of Nag Champa incense greets you at the center's door and the adjacent glass shelves are lined with books such as Grow Younger, Live Longer and Vital Energy: The 7 Keys to Invigorate Body, Mind & Soul.

Then you figure, we've worked the body at the other clubs, shouldn't the mind and soul get attention too? Is that not a part of fitness?

The center's program director, Drew Tabatchnick, uses a Star Wars analogy: 'May the force be with you? We give you the tools to engage the force.' The tools of this trade include classes in meditation, diet and nutrition, yoga and exercise routines. Four Ayurvedic treatments utilize massages with warm herbalized oils. Ayurvedic -- the 'science of life' -- combines ancient Eastern teachings with Western methodology.

Shirodhara, a $75 treatment, would strike most Western eyes as unusual. Patrons recline on a massage table in one of the center's eight treatment rooms. The room smells of soothing incense. Candles flicker. A stream of yellow sesame oil, falling from a suspended silver bucket, is poured over the forehead -- 'the third eye' -- for 25 minutes.

Tabatchnick picks up on the skepticism you are trying to hide.

'If you were to ask me 10 years ago would I be teaching it, I would have had no idea,' he says, smiling. 'This will take you to the bottom of the ocean, nothing feels like this.' Maybe next time.

TONY HEALTH CLUBS: PRICEY MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES

Working out in luxury doesn't come cheap. Here is what you can expect to pay at South Florida's three new health clubs.

SPORTS CLUB/LA

1441 Brickell Ave., Miami 305-533-1199.

There are four membership categories:

-- Executive ($1,500 initiation; $200 monthly dues) includes use of all club amenities, private locker room with personal locker, 24-hour laundry service, pool and sundeck privileges at The Four Seasons, charge privileges, seven private training sessions, three-hours free parking.

-- Bicoastal ($1,200 initiation; $210 monthly) includes privileges at the Sports Club/LAs in Miami, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beverly Hills.

-- Access East ($1,200 initiation; $188 monthly). Same as Bicoastal except no access to the California clubs.

-- Health ($250 initiation; $95 monthly) offers use of the Miami club's amenities.

Prices vary at Splash, the spa. A 60-minute evaluation and assessment with the club's nutritionist costs $225. Computerized nutritional analysis is $125. Hair services at Rik Rak, the club's salon, run $40 to $600 and up. (Call 305-381-3981).

THE SPORTING CLUB

100 South Pointe Dr., Miami Beach 305-938-4240, ext. 240.

Membership fees are $5,000 annually, limited to 500 members.

Membership includes access to the fitness center and its group classes, five training sessions, fitness evaluation, free valet parking, access to the beach club, pool and tennis courts.

Spa treatments generally run about $85 per massage. Prices vary for personal training sessions and food and drink.

THE CHOPRA CENTER

4400 NW 87th Ave., Doral 305-592-2000.

Primordial Sound Meditation, a mantra-based practice designed to alleviate stress, is taught as part of the center's Perfect Health program or as a stand-alone three-day course. The next session is Jan. 5-7 and runs $295. Call 305-392-4972.

The four Ayurvedic treatments run $75-$145.

--Howard Cohen

To see more of The Miami Herald -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com.

Texas Megamall Sells Stimulation.(Originated from The Boston Globe) - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

GRAPEVINE, Texas--Dec. 9--The Gameworks virtual reality arcade at the new Grapevine Mills megamall feels like a 21st century music video.

The pounding surround-sound rock beat is, by design, just a bit louder than the synthesized chorus of explosions and crashes. The staff wear headsets. Flashes of color illuminate the fierce grimaces of techno-consumers skiing virtual slopes, fly-casting for virtual bass and gunning down armies of virtual enemies. A few of the funkier games were designed by Steven Spielberg.

Grapevine Mills represents the new direction in American shopping -- the mall as entertainment district. The hip Rainforest Cafe here serves lunch amid the roaring and shaking of electronically animated alligators and elephants. The American Wildlife Experience, coming next year, will be part zoo, part museum, part amusement park. Visitors to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, coming in 1999, will be able to play-test fishing rods, golf clubs, even hunting rifles.

Of course, they also will be able to buy stuff -- mostly high-end products at outlet prices.

This lucrative mix of commerce and fun, which has come to be called 'shoppertainment,' is revolutionizing the way Americans spend their dwindling leisure time. Grapevine Mills, located in this suburb halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, expects 16 million visitors annually. Ontario Mills, a similar Mills Corporation megamall in Southern California, attracted more visitors than Disneyland in its first year. Mills even plans to raze Nashville's beloved Opryland theme park to build a shoppertainment mecca.

Mills now has seven malls open and eight in development, not including its recent proposal for a $220 million project at the South Weymouth Naval Air Station -- a mall that, if it wins approval, won't open until 2000 at the earliest. Shoppertainment is also in vogue at rival malls, from a laser-tag operation at the Mall of America in Minneapolis to a Ferris wheel at Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y. In this era of sensory overload, a mere shopping spree is apparently no longer enough.

'There's a certain boredom factor out there; people are tired of going to the same old malls,' said Jim Dausch, executive vice president of development for the Virginia-based Mills Corporation. 'This is obviously something different.'

The average visitor spends nearly four hours at a Mills mall, three times the average stay at regular malls. Of course, the longer they stay, the more money they spend. And shoppertainment is designed to attract entire families. So while mom buys golf clubs at The Sports Authority, dad can take the kids to the wilderness simulator. Then they can all grab dinner at Dick Clark's American Bandstand theme restaurant, catch a movie at the 30-screen cineplex, and maybe hit Gameworks, a partnership among Sega, Universal Studios, and Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG.

'This is the best mall I've ever seen,' said Brock Brogdon, 27, a delivery man from Irving who regularly drops $20 at Gameworks during his lunch hour. 'Definitely awesome -- oh, wow, he caught a good'n!'

Brock's focus had switched to his friend Tom, who had just caught a 12-pound virtual bass.

Not everyone is thrilled about these innovations in the national consumer culture. Already there are 42,000 malls in America, and social critics have long complained about their effects. They kill vibrant downtown retail districts. They accelerate suburban sprawl. They create a cookie-cutter nation where everyone shops at the Gap. They replace the civic life of the old public square with pure commercialism.

Mills executives say their new malls could revive the farmers market concept, bringing communities together under one roof. But critics say these modern gathering places, where political activity is banned and security forces are so pervasive as to seem almost Orwellian, have nothing to do with community. And where the farmers market featured local stores, local products and local character, Mills malls rely almost exclusively on national chains.

'These malls are replacing the public square, but they serve no public purpose,' said Gordon Silverstein, a professor of political science and law at the University of Minnesota. 'You can drive there in your Suburban, then drive back to your gated community without getting exposed to any social activity.'

Grapevine Mills, at 1.8 million square feet the largest retail project in America this year, looks like every other Mills project: a one-story monolith covering 34 football fields. The Weymouth plan, which calls for 1.5 million square feet, would use the same generic mall style. Mills also is considering projects in Japan, Canada, Germany, and Brazil.

Even Dausch, the Mills executive who complained about mall homogeneity, admits that 'a big box is a big box, no matter what kind of facade you put on it.' But there is a bit of regional flavor at Grapevine. The six entrances are graced with giant sculptures of Texas icons, including a football, a tornado and a bluebonnet. Each leads to a 'neighborhood' with a Texas theme, one featuring the Dallas and Fort Worth skylines, one a sports motif. The food court evokes a rodeo, with giant cowboy hats and belt buckles alongside hokey quotations like 'That's tellin' 'em how the cow ate the cabbage!'

In general, the mall is designed to provide a constant assault on the senses, highlighted by 28 overhead screens projecting a steady stream of 'Mills TV' entertainment and promotions. Each neighborhood has its own color, music, and design scheme; the 'entertainment zone' changes from blue to pink to green every few seconds, thanks to disco-style automated lighting. There is always something to look at, just as there is always something to do.

The new look seems to be working. Grapevine opened to 100,000 visitors Oct. 30; the crowd hit 200,000 the day after Thanksgiving. The Off Rodeo Drive boutique is running out of marked-down Giorgio Armani and Hugo Boss suits. Diners are waiting as long as three hours to brave the Rainforest Cafe's artificial thunderstorms. Sing 'n' Snore Ernies are predictably flying off the shelf at K B Toys, but the same goes for $329 12-gauge shotguns at The Sports Authority and $24.95 slabs of Texas Stadium sod at the Dallas Cowboys Shop. The Bible Factory Outlet also has been overwhelmed.

'We're an oasis in the mall; we don't buy into the commercialization of Christmas,' said the Bible outlet's district manager, Nancy Evans. 'But sure, we're very glad to have lines going out the door. We think of it as a real blessing.'

Mills executives try, but it's hard to spin a mall as an engine of social progress. It's mostly full of frantic shoppers, plus world-weary video enthusiasts like Jimmy Blankenship and Jason Huck. Huck, 18, just quit his job at Taco Bell; his parents are divorced, and he hasn't applied to college yet. Blankenship, 16, is a good student who hates school; his parents are getting divorced, and he's fighting with his dad. These days, they spend most of their time and money at Gameworks, riding virtual skateboards on a game called Top Skater. They talk about applying for two of the mall's 4,000 jobs, but they haven't gotten around to it yet.

'I could never get bored of this place,' said Huck, a skinny kid with stringy blond hair and a Nike cap on backward. 'I can smoke, I can sulk, I can spend money, and nobody's going to bother me. I can stay here all night.'

Grapevine is supposed to be smoke-free, but no matter. A minute later, Blankenship stepped off Top Skater and broke some bad news: 'Dude, we're broke.'

'Aw, man,' his buddy replied. 'I guess we're outta here.'

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