Team Names

Just two weeks after releasing a blistering critique of Superintendent David Hornbeck's reform agenda for the Philadelphia public schools, a Commonwealth Court judge pronounced herself "tremendously reassured" by his plans. Judge Doris Smith came to that conclusion after spending more than four hours yesterday listening to Hornbeck and Assistant Superintendent Katherine Conner explain in detail his 10-point "Children Achieving" proposal during a court hearing. Smith, who is presiding over a long-running school desegregation case, even invited the parties in the lawsuit to work together to find a way to provide equal educational opportunities for the city's poor and minority students.

It's been 16 years since running back Herb Lusk caught passes for the Philadelphia Eagles. A span of 20 city blocks separates Veterans Stadium from Rev. Lusk's Greater Exodus Baptist Church. But yesterday Rev. Lusk caught a long one from the Eagles. During a news conference at the Vet, club owner Jeffrey Lurie announced the formation of the Eagles Youth Partnership: a nonprofit organization that will contribute the Eagles' name, prestige, players and dollars to "improve the lives of children and youth" through greater Philadelphia.

While the rest of the kids are spending their lunch period in the cafeteria or playing out on Gaul Street, a handful of inquisitive young brown-baggers at Holy Name School in Fishtown are up on the third floor eating sandwiches with "Mr. Dolgin" and talking sports. They talk history, geography, and maybe a little English, too. No matter what they discuss, it's all part of Howard Dolgin's "Sport Geography Quiz," an amusing 45-minute break in which the kids research via phone calls, encyclopedias, public libraries, even the Internet, how sports teams got their names.

On the surface - a fitting expression in this case - the decision restricting Australia's Pat Cash to doubles duty in the Davis Cup finals against the United States starting today is a shocker. Although Cash has struggled through several injury-plagued seasons recently, the 1987 Wimbledon singles champion still is Australia's most successful player. The reason Australian captain Neale Fraser is limiting Cash to doubles with John Fitzgerald tomorrow is the playing surface for this 29th U.S.-Australia Davis Cup final meeting (the Aussies lead, 15-13)

The Eagles yesterday signed a cornerback you've never heard of even though he's a veteran and former division rival. Yes, William James is now a member of the Eagles. Before yesterday, James was known as Will Peterson, but after agreeing to a one-year deal at the prorated veteran minimum of $585,000, the Eagles announced his name change as well as his addition to the roster. To make room for Peterson - sorry, James - the Eagles released cornerback Dexter Wynn, who had returned to the team after a Week 1 injury to Lito Sheppard.

No one will have any doubt about the sponsor of the new Please Touch Museum that's scheduled to open at Penn's Landing in 2003. It'll be right on the building: Please Touch Museum Presented by McDonald's Kids Charities. The expanded name is the result of a hefty, $5 million donation from the fast-food icon. Following the example of stadiums and entertainment centers, a growing number of nonprofit institutions - from the Mattel Children's Hospital in Los Angeles to the General Motors Center for African American Art in Detroit - are embracing corporate sponsors in exchange for big donations.

You need strength, athleticism and courage to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team. This year, you also needed waterproof mascara. The top women competed in the national championships last month, and they competed in the Olympic trials on Friday and yesterday. While those results were used as a guideline, the final roster of the team was picked by a committee headed by U.S. gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi. When the winners and losers were announced last night, there were tears of joy, tears of sorrow, and, well, just tears of relief that the whole long process had finally ended.

The latest version of the NHL under commissioner Gary Bettman will take shape today when the league conducts an expansion draft to fill the rosters of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. Except for the two recent expansion teams, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Nashville Predators, who will not participate, all NHL clubs will lose two players in the draft. The Blue Jackets and the Wild will select three goalies in the first round, eight defensemen in the second round, 13 forwards in the third round, and two players from any position in the fourth round.

Jon Bon Jovi says it was definitely his idea - calling Philadelphia's new Arena Football League team the Soul. The rock star and team co-owner said the name came to him on thinking about the "Philadelphia Sound," created here in the 1970s by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The name is meant, he said, to link music, football and the community. "I was very passionate about it," Bon Jovi, a self-described football fanatic, said yesterday. "You had to have a catchy name. It had to have something to do with the city.

"I think anytime you get a player that is well-versed on the opponent, you spend a lot of time with them. Max and I had a lot of conversations in my office, talking about personnel, players we're not as familiar with that maybe come in because of injury, systems. And we go over it . . . Max was right there . . . So not only was Max great on the ice, maybe one day he'll make a great coach as well. " - Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, after Sunday's 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh.