ABCDE SPORTS thursday, october 21, 2010 CONCUSSIONS


NFL players chafe at rule Steelers’ James Harrison and Patriots’ Tom Brady are among those who are critical of tougher stance on illegal hits. D6


Star without country Lori Chalupny is not allowed to play for U.S. soccer because of concussions, even though she plays professionally. D6


BLOGS,MULTIMEDIAANDCHATS washingtonpost.com/sports First Things First Today, 9:30 a.m. Tracee Hamilton starts your sports day with a chat. Ask Boswell Today, 11 a.m. Thomas Boswell discusses the baseball playoffs and more. Jaime Moreno chat Today, 12:15 p.m. The retiring D.C. United legend takes your questions.


4, 6


Going home to celebrate, or get nervous


its moment of ginger- ale celebration if the Rangers go to the World Series. It’s just not appropriate that folks in Yankee Stadium, who’ve enjoyed pennant-winning parties 45 times, should get to watch their show. So, in a sense, the Yankees merely


A


helped extend the most compelling available script in this American League Championship Series by winning Game 5, 7-2, to send this theater disguised as baseball back to Texas for its final chapter. Or two. See, that’s the problem. When the


Redskins try to teach proven QB new tricks Shanahan and his staff


BY RICK MAESE For 11 years, Donovan McNabb has


essentially thrown a football the exact same way, relying on his quick feet and impressive upper-body strength tomake passes that other quarterbacks simply can’t. Early in his tenure with theWash- ington Redskins, though, coaches have spotted areas where McNabb’s mechan- ics could use work, and they say they’ve already noticed improvement. “Let’s face it, he’s always been a great


passer,” said Washington quarterback coachMatt LaFleur. “It’s something that we always thought, if he did it a little more consistently, he’d get even that much better.” Coaches have been trying to improve


McNabb’s accuracy, and to do that they’ve focused on his footwork. In studying tape, coaches noticed that when McNabb’s stance is more narrow, he strides into his throws and isn’t as balanced as they’d like. By widening his stance, they hope a more steady base leads to better throws. “Quarterbacks in general, when you


have a base, there’s a lot less moving parts, and it allows you to throw more accurately,” LaFleur said. While young quarterbacks often tin-


kerwithmechanics, veterans don’t often undergomajor overhauls. Some, such as Chad Pennington,


might alter their mechanics following injuries or surgeries. Others, such as Rich Gannon, might continually tinker with their throwingmotion,much like a golfer tweakshis swing or a batter fiddles with his stance. McNabb played down any changes,


saying his footwork is “one of many” areas coaches have been trying to im- prove. “There’s people with footwork worse thanmine,” he said. Entering Sunday’s game at Chicago,


McNabb’s home town, the bigger ques- tion becomes: CanRedskins coaches still teach a veteran quarterback new tricks? Cris Collinsworth, the NBC analyst


who called the Redskins’ loss to India- napolis last Sunday, met with Coach Mike Shanahan in the days before the game and made passing reference to


mcnabb continued onD7 Redskins at Bears


When: Sunday, 1. TV: WTTG-5, WBFF-45. Where: Soldier Field, Chicago.


l Hall, Haslett argue over defensive assignments. D7


new york


fter waiting for 39 years, Texas has truly earned


THOMAS BOSWELL


Yanks win, even just a game to stay alive, they always want to make it a habit. It’s their nature. Manager Joe Girardi


said of his Yanks that he “sawsomething in their eyes” before this


game and it was “determination” and guess what, “character,” too. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Girardi sawa dozen players who’ll make $9 million to $31 million this season. Unfortunately for their foes, the


Yankees really do have determination and athletic character, plus obscene amounts of talent. That’s how they got those contracts for $250 million (Alex


boswell continued onD5


PROBASKETBALL Wizards’ ‘second


training camp’ The preseason is over, but Washington still has plenty of preparing to do for next week’s season opener. D10


Predicted finishes for Georgetown and Maryland men’s basketball in the Big East and ACC, respectively. Stories, D8


Yankees put Rangers’ plans on hold


Texas heads home with no trophy, but it has two more shots at pennant


BY DAVE SHEININ Giants-Phillies late


Cody Ross and the Giants were still playing the Phillies in Game 4 of the NLCS when this edition closed. Read the story at washingtonpost.com/sports


new york — The vibe around Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon felt suspiciously like surrender. As the cere- monial first pitches were thrown — by Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent, a not-so- subtleacknowledgmentof themiraclethe situation required—thousands of empty seats dotted the stands. The Texas Rang- ersmust have sensed it, too, because they sent out a news release inviting fans back home to greet the presumably trium- phant teamat the airport lateWednesday night. But in the New York Yankees’ club-


house, there was nothing of the sort. Everyone else sawtheYankees asneeding three wins to survive the American League Championship Series. The Yan-


kees saw themselves as only needing one —this one. Andwith a 7-2 victory over theRangers


in Game 5, the Yankees fulfilled the day’s mission. It could not have gone much better. Their bats finally broke out of a week-long slump. They played nearly flawless defense, and the only pitchers who took the mound for them were CC Sabathia, KerryWood andMariano Rive- ra.


Things still don’t look great for the


Yankees. They still trail in the series, 3-2. They still have towinback-to-back games this weekend in Texas, the second of which would be started by October uber- ace Cliff Lee. But — shhhhhhhh. To the Yankees, there is no Game 7 unless they first win Game 6, and that will come


yankees continued onD5 D EZ SU


work with veteran McNabb on his footwork


PHOTOS BY DOUG KAPUSTIN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST From the ground, and in the midst ofmayhem,Maryland’sMelissa Etheridge tries to get the ball to a teammate in last weekend’smatch vs.North Carolina. THE ACE OF CLUBS


Maryland women’s rugby players get to pay for the privilege of competing, and winning Unlike the university’s 650 varsity athletes,


BY LIZ CLARKE The pregame ritual for Maryland’s women’s


rugby team starts the night before when players gather to cook the meal they’ll serve the visiting team after they’ve battered one another for 80 minutes. Twohours before kick off, theTerrapins arrive at


the grassy field on Route 1 that’s ringed by fraterni- ties to set up the steel goal posts, erect the sideline barriers and braid each other’s hair (French braids are best for securing tresses during battle). Steeped in two centuries of tradition, rugby—a


sport in which teams try to carry an oblong ball over the goal line by passing it backward and kicking it forward — is classically contested by men. But on the campus of the University of Maryland, that’s hardly the only convention that’s being turned on its head.


whose perks include treatment from top-flight athletic trainers, access to state-of-the-art weight rooms, academic tutoring if needed and, in most cases, scholarships that cover tuition and fees, Maryland’s women’s rugby players pay for the


privilege of competing. In return they get bruises and, in some cases,


scars and concussions that attest to the sport’s physicality. They also get a sisterhood that lasts a lifetime and a profound sense of empowerment. The women’s ruggers are emblematic of the


2,500 students — nearly four times the number of varsity athletes—who play one of 42 club sports at Maryland. The clubs get no funding from the athletic


department’s $55 million annual budget, which is dedicated to mintingNCAAchampions (at a cost of nearly $85,000 per athlete). Instead, they’re re- quired to raise 30 percent of their team’s expenses themselves. The rest comes from the Student Government Association and Campus Recreation Services. The clubs reflect a broad range of interests —


terrapins continued onD8


“It feels so good to know that I have this strength.” —Marlie Dorlston, 19, a junior kinesiology major from New Jersey


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