Rust

It had been a while since Garry Kelly had played in a real basketball game. Like since the end of the regular season. Kelly had been ruled academically ineligible on the final game of the regular season for Lower Merion and was distracted during and after the season with other personal problems. But Kelly showed no signs of mental anguish nor basketball rust on Thursday night in his first hoops game of meaning since late February. Kelly made his mark playing for Dave Foody's Del-Val Cadets in a first- round match-up against the Sonny Hill Senior team in the single-elimination Donofrio Basketball Classic at Conshohocken.

There has been a quiet automotive revolution in progress for sometime, and some clear winners and losers are beginning to emerge. The revolution in car rustproofing - as evidenced by the automakers' recent rush to increase perforation warranties - leaves the automobile buyer an obvious winner. And anyone who has ever been subjected to the considerable cost of repairing a rust-out on his or her car knows just how a big a win that is. Conversely, that considerable improvement in corrosion protection, and the resultant warranties provided by the carmakers, is not such good news for aftermarket car-care firms that specialize in rust prevention.

Question: I have a plowing company near the Poconos. Last winter while plowing, I left rust streaks on two properties. Though they are not very noticeable, they are noticeable. Do you have any ideas or solutions to removing rust from concrete? We have tried acid, and CLR (cut and straight). I have powerwashed the streaks on one property on my own driveway, but all I did was leave clean streaks where I powerwashed. Answer: Jelmar's CLR cleaner does a great job removing rust stains from bathroom porcelain and tile, but I'd never tried it on concrete.

The rusting, radarless ash ship Khian Sea, limping back toward Philadelphia after her 17-month sea odyssey of rejection, dropped anchor off the Delaware Coast this morning, where she might remain for a day or two. "It's probably found a home," remarked Richard Belote, who, from a watchtower in Cape Henlopen State Park, maintains radio contact with cargo ships entering the Delaware Bay. Though the privately owned ship, loaded with 15,000 tons...

After going three months between NHL starts, Vincent Riendeau can be certain his next chance will come a lot sooner. Riendeau stopped 29 shots last night in his first game since Oct. 25, and the Boston Bruins beat the slumping Washington Capitals, 3-1, in Landover, Md. While Riendeau didn't exactly make a dozen sprawling saves, he did find a way to keep the puck out of the net. "He just lets the puck hit him. That's all he does," Boston coach...

It was an optional practice, and Allen Iverson was an eager participant. That certainly shows Iverson's willingness to return to the court. Regardless of his well-publicized views of practice, Iverson knew he needed the work yesterday to shake off some serious rust. After the workout at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Iverson and Sixers coach Randy Ayers proclaimed the four-time all-star ready to return for tonight's game at the Wachovia Center against the Milwaukee Bucks.

This is the time of the year when high school baseball teams would like to be hitting their midseason strides. Hitters should have their timing down by now and pitchers should be seasoned and in form. But the wet weather the last two weeks has started rusting the swings and the wings. Instead of planning for the stretch run, coaches now are scrambling to reschedule games and find gymnasium time in a desperate attempt to keep rust to a minimum. "This kind of weather is certainly not good for us," Conestoga coach Tom Keyser said.

They were worried about being as rusty as a junkyard clunker, given their long layoff. And they were worried about their feisty opponents, a bunch of fired-up upstarts who had just pulled the upset heard round the NHL. And they were worried about that hot goalie who was going to face them. And they were worried about being worried. Pushed by such feelings of dread, the Montreal Canadiens beat the daylights out of the New York Islanders, 4-1, in Game 1 of the Wales Conference finals yesterday afternoon.

A couple of responses came in recently to a question about taking care of rust on a refrigerator at the Shore, and I thought I'd share, since summer is almost upon us. From Nate Lentz, who, with 40 years' experience in the field, says "whenever I see the word ‘rust,' my eyes light up": "A salt environment is very corrosive to all metals, paints, and the like. Any rust must be removed completely; otherwise, it will continue to grow under any protective coatings. " Lentz suggests that once the rust is removed completely, the refrigerator should be polished periodically.

Here are some helpful hints for working in your home and garden: A coffee filter placed inside a cast-iron skillet when stored will absorb moisture and prevent rusting. When making your own baby food, puree and freeze in ice-cube trays; store in a plastic bag and defrost as needed. To prevent ice crystals from forming on ice cream, place a sheet of aluminum foil or plastic wrap against the ice cream surface after opening the carton. Close and store in plastic bag in freezer.

SAN FRANCISCO - Carlos Ruiz took part in his daily pregame routine during batting practice at AT&T Park yesterday. He fielded ground balls at third base alongside Michael Young. But for the second time in the last five games, Ruiz did not start behind the plate when the Phillies took the field later in the night to take on the San Francisco Giants. Erik Kratz started at catcher in place of Ruiz, who is hitting .100 (2-for-20) since returning from his 25-game suspension. Over the weekend, Ruiz said he's still attempting to get into a comfort zone at the plate after his near monthlong absence.

LAS VEGAS - Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought as if he had never left the ring, coming back from a year's absence Saturday night to win a unanimous, 12-round decision over Robert Guerrero in their welterweight title fight. Mayweather was masterful at times, landing thudding right hands and bloodying Guerrero's face in a performance that mimicked some of his best fights. Mayweather (44-0) hurt Guerrero (31-2-1) on several occasions, including a series of right hands near the end of the eighth round that buckled Guerrero's knees.

Even Simon Gagne was surprised by his effectiveness in his emotional return to the Flyers on Wednesday night. It's not that Gagne doesn't believe in his ability to still be a productive player. But he wondered if he would be rusty from a long layoff and a long plane ride that didn't get him from Los Angeles to Philadelphia until the wee hours in the morning. "I was worried about the way I was going to feel, especially traveling the whole night and not sleeping a lot of hours," Gagne said Thursday at the Flyers' practice facility in Voorhees.

THIS TIME next winter, if all goes according to plan, Jamie Betancourt's teeth will not chatter like crazy each time he walks down the street. To borrow and slightly alter a famous saying, it pays to have friends in warm places. Betancourt, a 6-1, 160-pound senior, is a promising combo guard for Kensington High's basketball team, and one of his best buddies is Daiquan Walker, who last year helped Constitution win the overall Public League title and the PIAA Class A state championship, and now is making early headway for the University of Central Florida.

Marion Cotillard won the best actress Academy Award in 2007 for her performance as the iconic chanteuse Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose . It's highly likely that Cotillard, who has managed to work both sides of the Atlantic - in her native France and in Hollywood - will be nominated again in January, for her work in an altogether different sort of French film, Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone. As a Marineland whale trainer who experiences a catastrophic accident, leaving her a double amputee, Cotillard brings riveting emotional authenticity to the sort of role that is easy to overplay, to sentimentalize.

Aylisha Brown has been writing poems since age 16, when she found it the best way to make sense of her crazy world. One of her first poems was included in a news story about her mother, Crystal Brown - a narrative of tragedy and triumph - published in The Inquirer in 2006. It was then that Aylisha learned that her biological father was also her grandfather, that her mother had long been abused by her father, and that that relationship had caused the progressive genetic disease leaving Aylisha in a wheelchair.

Apparently, if you believe Peter Kushkowski of Portland, Conn., I goofed pinpointing the source of rusting of a heating register next to a reader's toilet. "From my experience, the obvious cause is not condensation as you suggested, but her husband," said Kushkowski, identifying poor aim as the cause. "Advising him to sit down as his wife does will go a long way to eliminating the reoccurrence of rust - it worked at our house," he said. Of the six e-mails suggesting this as a reason, Kushkowski was the only male sender.

THOSE OF YOU who are eager to see Andy Reid become the former head coach of the Eagles might be wise to root for Michael Vick to be the picture of health this season. Because if he continues to play as poorly as he did in Sunday's 17-16 win over the Browns, he not only will shatter George Blanda's 50-year-old record for interceptions in a season (42), he'll also get Reid fired. Six years ago, when his son was Vick's head coach in Atlanta, Jim Mora famously described the quarterback as a "coach killer.

Question: We have had natural hardwood floors for five years. During that time we had a rug under a coffee table. This week we removed the rug and the wood floor was a much lighter color. What can we do to have the floor return to its original matching finish? Answer: It probably would involve less work if you just let the area darken to match the floor that was exposed to the sun's UV rays. I've seen homeowners use bleach to lighten wood floors with some success but I wouldn't do it myself.

A couple of responses came in recently to a question about taking care of rust on a refrigerator at the Shore, and I thought I'd share, since summer is almost upon us. From Nate Lentz, who, with 40 years' experience in the field, says "whenever I see the word ‘rust,' my eyes light up": "A salt environment is very corrosive to all metals, paints, and the like. Any rust must be removed completely; otherwise, it will continue to grow under any protective coatings. " Lentz suggests that once the rust is removed completely, the refrigerator should be polished periodically.