Time Limit

College athletes will be limited to no more than 20 hours a week on sports, an average reduction of about one-third, under legislation the NCAA Presidents Commission will sponsor at the 1991 convention, the group announced yesterday in Chicago. The reduction addresses a common complaint voiced by athletes in a survey two years ago. In addition, the presidents agreed to endorse cuts in scholarships in a move to reduce spiraling athletic costs. Also, the commission will sponsor a measure to increase the number of games in a basketball season from 25 to 27, and specify that athletes in-season must have at least one day off a week.

Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has his lips mostly sealed. For the Flyers, that's a great sign heading into the Pennsylvania Cold War series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. You see, ever since Bryzgalov stopped talking about himself and focusing on his game and his teammates, he has flourished. On Monday, Bryzgalov, who put a three-minute time limit on the group interview, said very little, though we did learn he doesn't fear the favored Penguins. "I'm not afraid of anything [except]

Please help us get out of a legal mess. Our house is listed for sale with an excellent Realtor. In early May, we accepted a purchase offer from a buyer who made a $2,500 earnest money deposit. But her offer contains a contingency for obtaining a new mortgage. Unfortunately, there is no time limit on how long we have to wait for her to arrange the new loan. When I checked with the Realtor yesterday, he said the lender hadn't made an appointment for the appraiser to inspect our house nor has the lender approved the loan contingent upon the appraisal.

Citing the statute of limitations, a Delaware County Court judge yesterday ruled that a local nursing home had no right to sue to collect the bill of a resident five years after the resident's death. The ruling may apply in at least two other cases. Judge Anthony R. Semeraro said the Bishop Nursing Home could not sue because it had not taken legal action within the four-year statute of limitations. He also ordered the Media facility to pay $1,133 to Morton Gershenfeld of Media - the man the facility was suing - because it failed to pay him a refund owed when his mother died in 1986.

There is no limit, it seems, to the different ways states now seek to push or prod people off welfare. Vermont says go to work after 30 months. Florida mandates no more than three years of benefits in a five-year period. Michigan requires recipients to work, volunteer, or go to school after 90 days. Virginia wants people working or doing community service after 30 days. Iowa sets a different time limit for each family. On the federal level, Congress will debate next month the "two-year-and- work" limit proposed by President Clinton and the "five-year-and-off- for-a-lifetime" limit proposed by conservative Republicans.

The Milan administration has decided to take on the state. After initial hesitation, Mayor Milton Milan yesterday directed his city attorney to take action to block a state panel that was authorized last month to manage Camden's beleaguered finances. Milan said his decision was triggered by the harshness of the rules under consideration for the board's operation. The rules, he asserted, are "punitive" and are not the "partnership" with the state that he had hoped they would be. The rules are scheduled for adoption by the Local Finance Board in Trenton tomorrow.

The city should spend half of its federal development money on housing for its poorest residents, dedicate other funds for the same purpose, and repeal new time limits on Section 8 housing vouchers, a coalition of housing advocates said yesterday. Acting on the results of a study measuring the city's need for affordable housing by the University of Pennsylvania's Cartographic Modeling Laboratory, an unusual group of allies shared the microphone at a news conference where they urged City Council to change Philadelphia's housing policies.

OF ALL current policy debates - including affirmative action and a military draft - Section 8 housing assistance is the simmering pot most likely to boil over with racial and class resentment. But a proposed seven-year time limit on eligibility for the program is the rotten apple in an otherwise fine barrel of Section 8 reforms being proposed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, as reported recently in the Inquirer. My position on Section 8 has been settled for some time, and can be summed up in two points.

Attorneys for both sides are meeting this week to find a new hearing officer to conduct the hearing into allegations by the City Council that Burlington City Treasurer Douglas Ayrer mismanaged his office. The withdrawal last week of Freehold lawyer Martin Pachman as hearing officer, after he had been designated for the task by a city council resolution, came after an objection by John Sweeney, Ayrer's attorney. Sweeney said that Pachman's law partner, Steve Glickman, formerly served as labor attorney for the city, and that there could be a conflict of interest.

After listing my home for sale for several months, I finally received an acceptable purchase offer. But I didn't read it very carefully before signing. After my realty agent left I discovered several inspection clauses. I understand the need for a termite inspection. But another clause says, "This offer is contingent upon a satisfactory professional inspection of the property. " When I called the agent about this, she said the buyer plans to have an inspector look over the entire house.

Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has his lips mostly sealed. For the Flyers, that's a great sign heading into the Pennsylvania Cold War series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. You see, ever since Bryzgalov stopped talking about himself and focusing on his game and his teammates, he has flourished. On Monday, Bryzgalov, who put a three-minute time limit on the group interview, said very little, though we did learn he doesn't fear the favored Penguins. "I'm not afraid of anything [except]

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The baseball gods do not discriminate. Hitters make outs. Outs end games. Games end seasons. Even the best of the best are not immune. Ryan Howard knows this. Still . . . "It sucks," Howard said yesterday. "I'm not going to lie. " What Howard dealt with this offseason was little more than a curiosity of chance. Two straight seasons, his spot in the lineup happened to be up with two outs and the Phillies trailing by a run in what would prove to be the final game of a postseason series.

Sunday A writer at sea In his new book Hemingway's Boat , author Paul Hendrickson accomplishes something that should be just about impossible - taking a fresh look at the life of a writer whose name has ossified into one-word shorthand for a kind of macho intellectual posturing and freeing it so we can see the tortured, torturing soul behind the works. Starting with Papa's purchase of his fishing boat Pilar in 1934 and continuing until his suicide in 1961, the book details the man's struggles with love, fame, and fatherhood.

Paul Leka, 68, a songwriter and producer who was best known for writing the chanting chorus of "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)," a 1969 hit that was reborn in the 1970s as a sports arena anthem, died Oct. 12 in a hospice near his home in Sharon, Conn. The cause was lung cancer, said his brother, George. Mr. Leka wrote and produced "Green Tambourine," a No. 1 hit in 1967 for the Lemon Pipers; signed REO Speedwagon to its first record contract; and produced four of Harry Chapin's albums, including 1974's Verities & Balderdash . In 1969, Mr. Leka was helping a friend, Gary DeCarlo, fill the B-side of a single he was recording for Buddah.

Q When my husband divorced his first wife three years ago, there was no alimony or child support awarded. Both their children were grown. We pay for his daughter's education, and I have no objection. He also agreed to pay his ex-wife's rent and a little extra to help while she got an education, too, and found a job. The daughter was still living at home. Now the daughter has moved out and wants her dad to help her with her rent until she finishes college next year. Meanwhile, the ex-wife hasn't even started school.

BUFFALO - The day began for the Flyers with a Mystery Daily Double: 1) Who would play goaltender and, 2) Would Chris Pronger take the ice for the first time in the series? The correct responses, as we now know, are: 1) Everyone, and 2) Sort of. It was a limited role for Pronger in the Flyers' Game 6 victory over the Sabres, only five shifts, all on the power play. He took two shots, one of which missed the net. His total ice time was 4 minutes, 33 seconds. Along the way, Pronger was called for a slashing penalty while fencing with Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers in the crease in the first period.

After yesterday's morning workout on the second day of training camp at Saint Joseph's, forward Thad Young walked across the court with a Twizzler in his mouth and another in his hand. He didn't get the candy from teammate Elton Brand. Brand has sworn off the treats. And fried food. And a lot of other goodies that would add to his waist line. Brand reported to training camp more than 10 pounds lighter than the 265 he carried last season. Now 31 and entering his 12th NBA season, Brand knew after last year's disappointing run that changes were needed.

Edison High School outlasted George Washington in a wild baseball game that took 3 hours and 55 minutes to complete yesterday. Edison trailed by 8-0 and 13-2, then led by 20-15 before Washington rallied. Jake Wright made it 20-20 with a three-run homer in the home seventh. The Owls won it for reliever Gonzalo Lebron on Miguel Delgado's RBI single. Jose Sosa hit two homers for four RBI. Teammate Chris Lopez also homered, as did Washington's Dan Meade. One umpire tried to halt the game at 6:30.

For the second time in as many years, City Controller Alan Butkovitz yesterday called for a crackdown on student TransPasses. A study by his office in 2008 following the slaying of Sean Conroy on a Center City SEPTA subway concourse called for the elimination of the pass. Yesterday, he instead called for a cutback in the hours of usage. He said passes create the opportunity for violence by allowing students to ride SEPTA an unlimited number of times weekdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. The 2008 study went largely ignored by the Philadelphia School District and SEPTA, which said Butkovitz offered no hard evidence to support his claims.

Forget the one-day health-care summit on Feb. 25, where the two sides will pretend they can compromise enough to pass the Senate's health-care monstrosity. Instead, let's hold a two-day event, one that caters to the inside-the-Beltway crowd's need for style, and the other providing the substance that citizens want. Day 1: the setting, a massive conference room, with President Obama and congressional leaders seated, and VIPs, staffers, and media types hovering about. Open with a prayer.