Gym

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

This summer, hair weaves are taking a turn for the kinky, the curly and the wavy. Why is this news? When black women first started sewing hair onto their scalps during the 1990s en masse, the resulting shoulder-length bobs were as much about achieving a smooth texture as it was about having length. Fabulous hair was defined as long and straight. However, as more black women have come to terms with their natural curl pattern, store-bought tresses are trending toward the fuzzy rather than the flat-ironed.

About 300 people demonstrated Monday night outside the Northeast City Hall to protest cuts in the number of hours public school gyms are open to youth groups. The cuts were ordered last month by the Department of Recreation and the Board of Education to save money. Weekday times were cut by one hour, Saturdays by four hours.

Ground has been broken for a $5 million gymnasium that is expected to spur growth at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia branch in Lower Merion. About 100 people attended ground-breaking ceremonies last Sunday at the Kevy K. and Hortense M. Kaiserman Branch, City Avenue and Haverford Road in Penn Wynne, spokesman David C. Friedman said Monday. The gym will rise where the branch's tennis courts are now, and it will connect the center's swimming pool and classroom buildings.

As Mayor Goode and City Council debate the constraints that accompany bare- bone budgets and discuss the merits of cuts in services vs. reductions in manpower, the Somerton Youth Organization is about to be given a long-term lease on its athletic fields and, a few months hence, a new gymnasium. In times of fiscal austerity, such matters tend to raise eyebrows. But not in this instance. The long-term lease, providing for a nominal annual payment for the site, and the gym to be built upon it are the result of a campaign promise made some years ago by Councilman Brian O'Neill.

The tipoff for Bensalem's $15 million field house is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, three years after bids were sought for the gym at Bensalem High School. Four high school basketball games are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, with the official dedication and ribbon-cutting for the Bensalem Community Physical Education Facility set for noon Saturday. Three alumni basketball games will follow the ceremonies. The gym has three hardwood basketball courts, including one with seating for 1,700 spectators.

Police are still investigating the brouhaha that erupted at the high school gymnasium after a close wrestling match between Audubon and West Deptford ended in a disqualification Wednesday night. Tempers flared when West Deptford's Eric D'Ippolito, who moments earlier was declared the winner at 135 pounds, was disqualified after Audubon's John Meccierello said he was bitten during the match. Two unidentified male fans in adjacent cheering sections then stood up and began hollering and gesturing at each other, according to Audubon principal Bill Westphal.

Dorothy Kaufmann moved effortlessly from slant board to dumbbell rack to weight machine. Kaufmann, on this day clad in a black leotard, tights and a sky-blue sweatshirt, has been coming to Al Berger's gym in Haverford long enough to sleepwalk through her hour-long exercise and weight-training routine. In her 70s, Kaufmann is part of a clientele that is, for the most part, over 55. "They limp in," said Berger philosophically, "and they leap out. " Berger, has been in the fitness business for 53 years.

The Grier Street playground is history. The large wooden play gym was removed last week after Warminster Heights residents complained about rowdy teenagers who gathered at the park - and about the drug syringes and broken beer bottles they left behind. "Thank the Lord," said Deborah Evanson, a resident who had requested that the play area be torn down. While she and other residents said the playground's removal might not solve the problem, they said it would be safer for neighborhood children, who at times took the dirty needles home.

A Philadelphia gym is a good place for a man bent on homicide. "I remember the day Sonny Liston tried to kill me," Georgie Benton said. It was 1960, and the two men were preparing to spar at a gym in North Philadelphia. Liston was the top heavyweight contender, about three prone bodies away from the world title. He aimed to turn his sparring partner - poor Georgie Benton - into one of those prone bodies. Liston weighed 220 pounds, Benton 160. It looked like a colossal mismatch.

This is the last of 21 profiles that The Inquirer is presenting of participants in Sunday's Blue Cross Broad Street Run. See full coverage at www.philly.com/broadstreetrun. By Michael Vitez INQUIRER STAFF WRITER When Dana Hein was a little girl, she loved to watch Rocky movies. "It was like watching a movie about my dad," she said. "He and my mom married with next to nothing to their name and no college degrees, but they gave us kids the world despite the odds.

Three of the most stressful jobs are police officer, firefighter, and transit worker, says Laimondo Trowell. About the latter, Trowell has plenty of personal experience. For the past 23 years, he's been a SEPTA bus driver, working a daily swing shift. His first shift runs from 6 to 10 a.m.; his second shift, from 3 to 7 p.m. For about two hours in between, he tries to relieve some of stress of battling traffic, dodging obnoxious drivers, and dealing with surly passengers by working out at the gym. His palace of perspiration is LA Fitness on West Chester Pike in Havertown.

Some basketball players mope for hours, even days, if their coach even slightly takes them to task. Not John Davis. One of these days, after getting vilified by Carl Arrigale, Davis might actually stand, applaud, and give the guy a heartfelt hug. "That's one thing about Coach," Davis said. "You only get really yelled at when you deserve it. I appreciate that about him. " Davis, a 6-foot-4, 198-pound junior, plays forward for Neumann-Goretti, which now owns its fourth consecutive Class AAA city title.

With a packed gym, senior-day festivities, and a raucous student cheering section contributing to a blaring atmosphere inside St. Joseph's Prep's Kelly Fieldhouse, Neumann-Goretti showed why it has been almost four seasons since it lost a game in the Catholic League. Led by four players scoring in double figures, the Saints beat the Hawks, 66-53, Friday. Neumann-Goretti, ranked No. 3 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, extended its PCL win streak to 66 games, handed the Hawks their first league loss of the season, and grabbed sole possession of first place with a 12-0 record (18-3 overall)

Guys from Haddon Heights know Haddonfield's gym with the bleachers that rise above the floor like the seating at an indoor swimming pool. Guys from Haddonfield know Haddon Heights' gym with its double doors at one end of the floor that open to Third Avenue. That's the way it works with these neighbors and Colonial Conference and Group 2 rivals. They always play twice in the regular season and often meet again in the state tournament. So for Haddonfield seniors Jake Sikkema and Mike Lacatena, there was something special about their last regularly scheduled visit to Haddon Heights on Tuesday night.

Guys from Haddon Heights know Haddonfield's gym with the bleachers that rise above the floor like the seating at an indoor swimming pool. Guys from Haddonfield know Haddon Heights' gym with its double doors at one end of the floor that open to Third Avenue. That's the way it works with these neighbors and Colonial Conference and Group 2 rivals. They always play twice in the regular season and often meet again in the state tournament. So for Haddonfield seniors Jake Sikkema and Mike Lacatena, there was something special about their last regularly scheduled visit to Haddon Heights on Tuesday night.

Everywhere Agnes Irwin senior Emily Wetz looked Thursday afternoon, she was reminded of the nine points she needed to surpass 1,000 for her career. There was the "991" sign hanging from the wall, changing each time she scored. There were the students from every grade level, and some from brother school Haverford School, packing the gym of the tiny all-girls school rarely touted for its athletic feats. Even faculty showed up, including the mother of the school's only other 1,000-point scorer, athletic director Sheila Pauley.

It took Maurice Watson Jr. 4 minutes, 52 seconds Thursday to make Philadelphia Public League basketball history. It took him three layups and six points. It took him one prodding drive to the basket, absorbing some contact from an upright Simon Gratz defender, Fulani Freeman. With the game clock reading 3:08 in the first quarter, the ball left Watson's right hand, kissed off the glass, and zipped through the net. Watson, of Boys' Latin Charter, became just the fourth player in the Public League's 112-year history to eclipse 2,000 career points.