Contact Sports

Jesse Ferguson became nauseous and vomited whenever he was punched in the left side of his face. Not a problem for most folks, who luckily don't have to fend off many jabs to the jaw. But it was a big problem for Ferguson, a professional boxer. "If I can't fight, I can't feed my family, said Ferguson, a veteran of 40 professional heavyweight bouts. After magnetic resonance imaging and brain scans showed nothing abnormal, Ferguson, 40, got in touch with Dr. Edward Williams, a Philadelphia dentist, a former athlete and an appointee to the Medical Advisory Committee for the World Boxing Association.

Villanova assistant Joe Jones last night was named the new men's basketball coach at Columbia. Jones, 37, had been at Villanova since 1997. Before that he assisted at Hofstra for three seasons, also under Wildcats head coach Jay Wright. The native of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., was known for his recruiting ability at both Hofstra and Villanova. Jones succeeds Armond Hill, who was fired after eight years with the Lions and a 2-21 record last season. Soccer The Baltimore Blast defeated the Milwaukee Wave, 13-12, in Milwaukee to win the championship of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Tomorrow night, the Personnel and Internal Matters Committee of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District will decide whether to recommend spending $20,000 for a ninth-grade sports program. While many parents say the money is a small price to pay to give ninth graders a chance to compete with ninth graders from other school districts, others say that intramural sports might be a better way for the district to spend its money in tight economic times. "I am in favor of any program that encourages more student participation in school programs," said John Maher, principal of Unionville High School, where ninth graders attend.

French Open tennis champion Michael Chang could be sidelined up to two months after suffering a small fracture of a bone in his left hip. Chang yesterday said he heard his left hip breaking when he hit a tennis ball during practice in Florida on Wednesday. X-rays have revealed a small crack about two millimeters wide in Chang's hip socket. "I went for a backhand deep in the corner and when I made contact, my hip cracked," Chang said. "I heard it crack. "It's just bad luck," said Chang, 17. Chang's injury requires neither surgery nor a cast, although he expects to be on crutches for a month and inactive for at least eight weeks.

Camden Catholic had to wait a little longer than most teams to begin its boys' basketball season, but when the Irish did, they showed no rust. Playing with a selfless style, the Irish cruised past host Eastern, 101-70, in last night's nonleague game between Olympic Conference teams. Camden Catholic, ranked No. 6 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, is expected to be a contender in the difficult Olympic National Division. Eastern, which is considered an Olympic American contender, dropped to 1-1. "We have high expectations this year," said Camden Catholic coach Jim Crawford, who has four starters back from a 20-6 team.

If it were up to some of the Flyers, there would be no more checks to the head, whether they come from Scott Stevens, Bob Boughner, Darius Kasparaitis or any other NHL player. Given the number of concussions in the league and the fact that a sixth concussion may have ended the career of the Flyers' star center, Eric Lindros, perhaps the league's general managers will eliminate checks to the head. Such hits are legal when delivered with the shoulder. Flyers winger John LeClair said that Stevens, the New Jersey defenseman who hit Lindros on the chin with his shoulder in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, was head-hunting even though the hit was clean by definition.

What high school girl would volunteer to spend the majority of her spring afternoons trapped in a cage? What athlete would choose a position so humbling that a 50 percent success rate was considered good? What sane person would wear less, rather than more, equipment to face a speeding, rock-hard ball aimed straight at her? The answer: the courageous souls who play goalie, the most demanding - and appreciated - position in lacrosse. "Once during practice, I put on the goalie equipment just to see what it was like," Moorestown coach Deanna Knobloch said, "and I was scared.

The usual crowd had begun to assemble on the court of my local Y to play lunch-time basketball. We men, between the ages of 35 and 45, loosened up, shared news, talked about our latest injury, joked - what we have been doing for years, so that these gatherings have acquired, for me, the feel of ritual. As I turned from a chat with one of the guys, I saw a woman in her late 20s and about my height on the court taking practice shots. This was no large surprise. Women playing basketball in the gym is nothing new. However, they usually play among themselves and seem to prefer it that way. But this woman, casually shooting up with the rest of the guys, apparently intended to play with us today, and that was something out of the ordinary.

Joan Feeney didn't expect her debut as coach at Archbishop Ryan to begin this way. Feeney, who graduated from the school in 1980, has seen the early stages of the Catholic League season interrupted by the teachers' strike. No sports teams at Ryan will practice or play games during the strike. The strike forced the postponement of Ryan's opener Wednesday against Little Flower, which reached the Catholic League title game last fall. "We've been looking forward to it and the girls were so upset," Feeney said.

Colleen Purdy stands on the sidelines of a dimly lit field watching Colleen Purdy play women's flag football. No, she is not hallucinating. Just keeping an eye on her mom, who is playing defense for a team sponsored by Pat's Cafe. On the next series of downs their roles will be reversed as Col "Mama Col" Purdy watches Col "Little Col" Purdy play offense. It is 7 o'clock on a Wednesday night at the Bridesburg Recreation Center at Richmond and Ash streets. In one corner, a bunch of little kids run up and down a miniaturized field playing midget soccer.