Dec. 10, 2000: A 24-3 win over the San Diego Chargers at PSINet Stadium clinches the first playoff berth in Ravens history. It's the fifth consecutive victory for Baltimore (10-4) and the fifth time this season that it hasn't allowed a touchdown.

Dec. 8, 1992: “I can't imagine any game doing more for a boy and man than football has done for me,” Earl Banks says upon his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in New York. Banks, 68, coached Morgan State's football team for 14 years (1960-1973), when the Bears went 95-30-2 and sent 40 players to the pros.

Dec. 5, 1989: Maryland's Chris Weller gets the 200th basketball victory of her 10-year coaching career as the Terps women (4-1) rout Georgetown, 63-40, at Cole Field House. Clara Faison's 12 points lead the winners, who force 27 turnovers.

Dec. 7, 1975: The playoff-bound Colts defeat the Giants, 21-0, at Shea Stadium in New York. Eight sacks and three interceptions help Baltimore win its seventh straight, and Lydell Mitchell (119 yards) becomes the first Colts running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

Dec. 9, 1970: The Bullets rout the Milwaukee Bucks, 127-97, before an announced 10,655, the largest crowd of the season at the Civic Center. Center Wes Unseld has 25 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists and outplays Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) who, at 7 feet 2, is 7 inches taller. It's just Milwaukee's fourth loss in 25 games.

Dec. 7, 1962: Poly suffers its first football loss of the year, 19-7 to undefeated Miami High in the Orange Bowl. Ernie Torain races 78 yards for a touchdown on the game's second play for the Maryland Scholastic Association champs.

Dec. 6, 1958:Johnny Unitas passes for three scores, breaking the NFL record for consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass (23) set by Cecil Isbell of the Green Bay Packers in 1941. But Unitas is also intercepted three times as the Colts, Western Conference champs, lose, 30-28, to the Rams in Los Angeles before an announced 100,202, the third-largest NFL crowd ever.

Dec. 6, 1939: In the city's first bowling match between private schools, the Institute of Notre Dame defeats Notre Dame of Maryland, 671-638, on the latter's lanes at the school on Charles Street.

Birthday

Dec. 4, 1957: Lee Smith, Orioles relief pitcher who, in strike-shortened 1994, led the major leagues with 33 saves.

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