Silver

DEFENSE attorneys for two men charged with murdering four people with a car speeding away from an armed robbery persuaded a judge Thursday to bar the most graphic death-scene photos from the trial. The photos of the severed limbs and crushed bones of the three children and young mother killed on the sidewalk at 3rd and Annsbury streets on June 10, 2009, would serve no purpose other than to inflame jurors' passions, said attorneys for Ivan Rodriguez, 23, and Donta Craddock, 21, who are charged with four counts of second-degree murder.

Mexico is celebrating Christmas by issuing a silver bullion coin in two sizes, both of which contain a depiction of the manger scene. The 1988 Christmas commemorative is a 12-troy-ounce silver piece being issued only in proof grade and a 1-ounce proof. The obverse design shows Mary with Jesus lying in the fold of her mantle. They are surrounded by shepherds, farm animals and Magi with a starry sky behind them. The reverse shows the first cathedral in America, built in 1573 in Mexico City and still standing.

Watching the joyful interaction of America's two medal-winning eights yesterday, it would have been easy to assume both were gold. Minutes before the U.S. men's eight won a gold medal for the first time in 40 years, the women captured their first medal since 1984 - finishing second to Romania. "Watching the men win gold right after we captured silver was the perfect end to a perfect day," said Anna Mickelson. "We were able to cheer for them from the dock and hear the national anthem being played.

Since historic events often lead to the appearance of medals, a subcategory of collecting has to include historic non-events, too. To mark Ross Perot's potential candidacy for president, a Texas firm struck silver medals with a portrait of Perot, and the legend "H. Ross Perot for President. " Now that Perot has withdrawn from consideration, the medals have become a curiosity commemorating mostly the parallel between the medalist's quick response to events and journalism. The silver one-ounce medals were struck by John W. Grayson of San Benito, Texas.

It was a tough day for the U.S. rowers on Lake Banyoles, with one notable exception. In the men's four without coxswain, a crew from the Penn Athletic Club won a silver medal. The crew - Doug Burden, Jeff McLaughlin, Tom Bohrer and Patrick Manning - had beaten Australia's "awesome foursome" in July but was unable to overtake the Aussies yesterday. "The gold medal is what we all were after," said McLaughlin, a 26-year- old architect from Summit, N.J. " . . . Afterward, you ask yourself what- if this and what-if that, but there are no what-ifs.

Dmitri Domani walked off the SkyDome court yesterday, smiling, holding his silver medal aloft. The World Championship of Basketball book will show that his Russia team finished second at this year's tournament, but Domani feels it should be second place with an asterisk. "For our team, this is like first place," said Domani, the sophomore from St. Joseph's who made a strong showing in his first major tournament with the Russian national team. "The U.S. team is like in a box. They are in another class.

Marcel Brown of Philadelphia hit, punched, jabbed, smashed and ultimately struck gold last night in the boxing finals of the U.S. Olympic Festival, but Mike Rafferty, Philadelphia's other entry in the finals, was not so fortunate. Brown, in the first Festival of his career, survived early trouble to take a 3-2 decision over Juan DelGado of San Antonio, Texas, and capture the 112- pound (flyweight) gold medal. "This is wonderful," said the 5-foot-4 Brown, who had celebrated his 21st birthday four days earlier.

For two weeks, American Emily deRiel watched in wonder as hundreds of athletes climbed the Olympic medals podiums. She dreamed of joining them - but anyone can dream. To actually do it was almost too much to comprehend. Even as she held her own Olympic medal. "I can't believe it still," deRiel, of Havertown, Pa., said yesterday after winning the silver medal in the first Olympic women's modern pentathlon. "I feel like maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and it'll be the real thing.

WHISTLER MOUNTAIN, British Columbia - First, Johnny Spillane. Then, the rest of the boys. As heartwarming as Spillane's silver medal in the Nordic combined was on Valentine's Day, America's team silver yesterday paid off years of heart-wrenching near-misses. They are the first American medals in the event. "For sure, we'd have liked to win," Spillane said. "To walk away with a silver - we can hold our heads up high. " The U.S. took fourth in 2002 and seventh in 2006, but stood in second after the ski-jumping portion of the competition, earning a start in the cross-country portion only 2 seconds behind Finland.

They came to the National Championships Regatta this week with 70 oarsmen and high hopes. They came here with a host of goals to fulfill, several national titles to defend and the not-so-secret desire to prove that the once-moribund Penn AC is now the best club in the nation. Yesterday morning they put forth a powerful argument in their favor, as two Penn AC boats battled a strong field of finalists and an even stronger quartering wind to finish 1-2 in the elite men's four-with-coxswain event on Eagle Creek Reservoir.

Chris Mazzone's job description is right there in his job title: Designated hitter. So when the Sterling junior went into a little slump over the last few games, he took his struggles to heart. "I know I need to hit for this team," Mazzone said after busting out in a big way in Sterling's 8-4 victory over Haddonfield on Monday in a key Colonial Liberty baseball game. Mazzone hit a pair of RBI doubles as Sterling (11-1, 7-1) took a two-game lead in the division and moved to the brink of clinching a berth in the 39th annual Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic.

Sam Silver, a junior at Friends' Central, came home with two tennis gold medals - one each in singles and doubles - from the 12th annual Pan American Maccabi Games, held Dec. 24 to Monday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His medals came in the 17-and-under junior division, in which he won all five singles and doubles matches he played. He beat Ben Soloway of Chicago, 6-3, 6-2, for the singles crown, then teamed with Sam Rice to win the doubles title over a Bolivian pair. Silver, 16, was one of six boys chosen to represent Team USA in Brazil after winning the silver medal in singles and the gold medal in doubles at the International Maccabi tournament in Philadelphia last August.

New Year's Day auctions are not as popular as they were 20 years ago, but Stephenson's in Southampton is going stronger than ever. Beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday at its gallery at 1005 Industrial Blvd., it will offer almost 400 lots, including a 200-piece Georg Jensen flatware service. The service for 14, in Jensen's popular "Acorn" pattern, includes eight open salt cellars dating to 1915, with green enameled interiors and salt spoons. It comes from a prosperous Chestnut Hill family in whose possession it had been since 1941, according to auction house owner Cindy Stephenson.

When jeweler Steven Lagos was a teen, he worked as a runner for Wayne Jewelers and Silversmiths in the King of Prussia mall. Lagos, who grew up in Broomall, knew back then that he wanted to fashion fine accessories. But his own mall store? His own fiefdom in Bloomingdale's? That was a lofty dream. It's all happening now for the 54-year-old jeweler. Last week, the man behind the "Heart of Philadelphia" necklace opened a gleaming six-counter, 400-square-foot shop-in-shop boutique inside the King of Prussia Bloomingdale's.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - After nearly two hours in the Pacific Ocean, it all came down to a fraction of a second for Arthur Frayler on Saturday. And for the 17-year-old from Ambler, those three-tenths of a second cost him a gold medal in the 10-kilometer open-water swim at the Pan American Games. "It was a battle for first," said Frayler, a senior at Germantown Academy. "That's all it was, really. " Canada's Richard Weinberger edged Frayler to the line in the 6.2-mile race off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, winning the gold medal in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 31 seconds.

JOAN AND STEPHEN Dydak experienced quite the shock while watching Game No. 3 in Central High's 2008 junior varsity football season. Their son, Ryan, had been a slot receiver to that juncture. A second-teamer, at that. And in youth ball, he'd served exclusively as a lineman. Now, he was playing quarterback. "I didn't even tell them about the switch," Ryan said yesterday. "They were proud of me, but shocked. They were asking me afterward, 'Why are you at quarterback? How'd that happen?

They had just allowed 37 points in losing their third game in a row, and yet things have never seemed more promising for the Cherry Hill East football program. The Cougars fell to 3-3 with Friday's 37-21 loss to host Williamstown in a West Jersey Football League interdivisional game. So why the optimism for the Cougars? A look at where they came from shows they are among the most improved teams in South Jersey. This is a team that went 1-9 last year, lost by 41-7 to Williamstown, and suffered seven defeats by 19 or more points.

Take it from a veteran cruiser with about 40 cruises under his belt. Dining on the all-suite, 376-passenger Silver Spirit was a rare gastronomic adventure. Clearly, the extraordinary meals were the highlight of a 14-day transatlantic cruise that included visits to Boston, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ireland, Wales, and England. Each lunch and dinner had an artistic Michelin multi-star quality, with small portions of such exotic offerings as ostrich, eel, frog legs, wild boar, pigeon, caviar, and venison in addition to the usual steak, fish, seafood, fowl, and pasta entrees.

In another sign of the lure of precious metals in a tight economy, two local hospitals announced Friday that thieves stole scrap X-rays last month, presumably to harvest silver from them. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Lankenau Medical Center said they were concerned about the thefts primarily because of patient privacy issues. Some of the stolen films may have included patients' names and birth dates, although they did not include Social Security numbers, addresses, or financial information.