Double meaning with that headline.

For one, it's finally, mercifully, the end of the Ravens preseason. That was nerve-wracking. The whole fear of a serious injury occurring in that last game permeated the whole first quarter - but so did the idea that the offense was going to look bad again.

Everybody could breathe a sigh of relief at the end, though. Say what you will about that touchdown drive being bailed out by an uncharacteristically boneheaded penalty by a Joe Gibbs-coached team - when the Redskins had 12 men on the field for that field goal, it was if it was a set formation; they couldn't even claim confusion about which players and unit was supposed to be out there - but the Ravens capitalized on it. No, it didn't look particularly good that the Ravens would otherwise have stalled out and were trying a very long Matt Stover field goal. But it looked good that they converted the fourth-and-inches, and that they got a pretty hook-up between Steve McNair and Mark Clayton for the touchdown. Great that McNair can make that throw and that Clayton - who was creeping close to gaining a "fragile'' reputation earlier in camp - can make that kind of catch.

Remember, the Ravens still haven't had all their offensive starters on the field at the same time. They apparently will in Tampa next week. Even if they haven't been together to mesh in a preseason game, in various combinations they have meshed relatively well. If they could move against the 'Skins first-team defense, they ought to be able to have a respectable showing against Tampa Bay's excellent D. Ought to.

As for the Redskins - good Lord. All I can say about that offense is, they look as bad as they did in the first couple of weeks last season under Mark Brunell - until Brunell, with absolutely no warning, went crazy in the final minutes of the Cowboys game, and they pretty much rolled from there. They'd better do the same once the real games start.

Now, the second meaning of "The End ... the U.S. basketball team. Remember that rant from a couple of days ago about all the haters rooting against the U.S.? It's not so much that they're justified this morning (no, they're not). It's that the team gave them so much material this morning against Greece. OK, Greece apparently is pretty good, even though its best players are NBA prospects and former draft picks, not current NBA players. Greece has been a building power in Europe for a few years. But c'mon. From late in the second quarter this morning until the end of the third, they hit 23 out of 28 shots. From all over the court, too, long distance, post-ups, drives down the lane by big men and small. What the hell?

Here's what you have to keep in mind about what happened. One, even with all the talk about how this was a new format of putting the team together, their preparation for the World Championships was almost identical to past years - invite players, practice for a few weeks, play a handful of exhibitions, and within just a few weeks, play for a world title. Technically this is the very beginning of the process, and the payoff this time is supposed to be 2008 in Beijing, so maybe they should get a pass on this loss.

But they looked once again like a team that was slapped together on the fly. This was supposed to be an agile, versatile team - but Greece's best big man, the one they called Baby Shaq, beat up on them. All of a sudden, the U.S. looked weak inside, borderline soft. Yet they also got worn out from the outside, which makes you wonder why there were no real pure shooters on the roster. (Did they miss Gilbert Arenas? Gilbert thinks so.) And their halfcourt defense stunk.

So, bottom line ... is it the players' fault? They do what they do, and they did it within a short time span. A lot of key players - Arenas, Kobe, Chauncey Billups included - weren't there but will be there in 2008.

Think real hard, then, about Jerry Colangelo, architect of this grand scheme, who appears to have done no better a job picking the roster than the committee did in Athens. And Mike Krzyzewski, who was considered the savior, but might not get them as far as Larry Brown did two years ago, considering the U.S. meets Argentina for the bronze. Coach K was chosen ahead of dozens of coaches with NBA and international experience - but, you know, NBA coaches don't really coach, they babysit, right? Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson and Mike D'Antoni, who are they in comparison to Coach K?

Colangelo and Coach K might very well point the team in the right direction by the time they get to the Olympics, but there is nothing encouraging about this start.