So the 24-year-old, who has postponed his studies at Georgetown University to start a computer consulting company, decided to teach himself HTML, the programming language used to create Web sites. Within a few months, The Eagle's Nest—The Unofficial Washington Capitals Home Page was on-line.

Like many self-designed local sites, it started out crudely, with barely a screen's worth of material. By last month, though, Southern's home page had splashy graphics, scrolling messages and an end-of-the-season injury list as well as pictures and video clips of a Capitals playoff game. During the team's season, fans could connect to hockey chat rooms and an Internet hockey pool.

"It was real bare bones to begin with," said Southern, who spends an hour a day working on the site. "Now people tell me it's the best site about the Caps out there."

For devoted fans of sports teams, the Web is a convenient way to get everything from box scores, minutes after the final whistle blows, to action photos of favorite players. Every local professional team has its own official home page—along with more than a few unofficial ones. Among the area's best official pages are those maintained by the Washington Bullets and the Baltimore Orioles. On the crisply designed Bullets site, users can get video clips of Rasheed Wallace dunking, end-of-the-year statistics and connections to other National Basketball Association teams.

The Orioles official page, launched in April but still in development, is one of the trendiest. Fans can use an audio player to listen to live radio broadcasts of games while simultaneously chatting with other fans and watching an electronic scoreboard. By clicking on twirling baseballs, visitors can move between pages or play an interactive game called Cyberskipper, in which they predict each player's performance during that day's game.

"It's sort of like the virtual ballpark. You're sitting in the bleachers and talking to the fan next to you," said Spiro Alafassos, the team's events director. He said the site has been getting 3,000 to 5,000 visitors a day.

The Washington Redskins, the D.C. United soccer team and the Prince William Cannons minor league baseball team also have sites, as do the athletic departments of the area's large colleges, including Georgetown, George Washington, the Naval Academy and the universities of Maryland and Virginia.

Recreation
When it comes to recreation, Washington's weekend warriors can find the Web a good place to meet like-minded enthusiasts and plan outings, whether it's roller-skating or locating the best (or worst) pinball machines.

One place to start is the Washington D.C. Fun and Recreation Page, which links to information on more than a dozen different pastimes, from biking and hiking to in-line skating and windsurfing. There are even links that differentiate between sea kayaking and river kayaking.

Mike Matson, an Army lieutenant colonel from Upper Marlboro, said he put the page together because, as a career military officer who moves a lot, he knows the frustrations of trying to link up with people of common interests.

"It can take many months and a lot of wrong turns to find the best groups and best areas for various outdoor activities," he explained in an e-mail message. "The Web makes it simple. People with common interests can rapidly find each other, share information and get the most out of life."

The Washington D.C. Swing Dance Server lists clubs and organizations serving folks interested in the lindy hop, jitterbug, West Coast swing, Carolina shag, hustle or D.C. hand dancing. Users can find out about coming events and lessons or download music and video clips to help them practice keeping off their partner's toes.

A site maintained by the nonprofit Washington Area Rollerskaters lists popular places to skate, along with participant comments on the venues. Some of the directions are a bit vague: The listing for Seneca Park says only that the park is "off Clopper Road in Gaithersburg about 1 mile north of the MVA."

More explicit directions were provided on the site of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. But from the look of some of the recommended bike routes, riders will have to read and ride at the same time. The directions for a 50-mile ride around the Gettysburg Battlefield and surrounding Pennsylvania farmland listed 67 road changes or turns, including six in the last mile.

The FSPA Maryland Pinball Listing site gives local arcades and bars where pinball machines are located and rates their condition based on player comments. The site is maintained by the Free State Pinball Association, which runs leagues in College Park, Northern Virginia and north Baltimore. The World Cup Soccer game was "good but left flip weak, goalie busted," the page reported recently.

Speaking of goalies, the Potomac (Md.) Thunder, a team for players younger than 12 affiliated with the Potomac Soccer Association, is looking for an experienced one. At least that is what a flashing message said on the team's home page one day in May as it put out the call for new players.

Anyone preparing an outing to the National Zoo might want to first stop by its Web site, which provides maps and updates on new exhibits. One link leads to an electronic version of the Great Ape House, featuring photos and stories of such hairy denizens as Augustus, or "Gus, the gorilla leader," and Haloko, "the kindly 'Auntie.'‚" Visitors can even try their hand at learning the symbolic language that is being mastered by the zoo's orangutans.

Staff writer Dan Beyers contributed to this report

There's more! Read the rest of the Washington Web Guide.