Of course! It’s Taylor Swift’s fault

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced on Wednesday that Sam Howell has been benched and that Jacoby Brissett will start Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. That is the official news. The obvious news came on Sunday during the Commanders’ 30-28 loss to the New York Jets —…

Miami at Baltimore — it has a history

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ When you’re not a Dallas Cowboys fan, whenever you have to root for the Cowboys, they lose, as they did on Sunday when Baltimore Ravens fans were rooting for them to beat the Miami Dolphins, which, of course, they did not do. The Dolphins’ 22-20 win over Dallas, coupled with…

A Ravens statement that bears repeating

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports With their national-television 33-19 road win Monday over the San Francisco 49ers, the Baltimore Ravens won their fifth game in a row to stand atop the AFC with a 12-3 record. The three losses — Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Cleveland — came by a combined 12 points and came after the…

Merry Christmas, hon!

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ Baltimore Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos originally suggested a new long-term lease for the club at Oriole Park at Camden Yards could come as “an All-Star break gift” in July for Baltimore fans, which, of course, didn’t happen. Five months later, though, after five years of negotiations and unknown…

Weekend update

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The Baltimore Ravens’ 23-7 win at Jacksonville Sunday night was one of grit. In obvious and subtle ways, it was one of the most impressive wins of a season that has already produced 11 wins in 14 games. The Baltimore defense, which is one of the best in football, again…

Grab an eggnog; enjoy a film forever

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ Speaking of Christmas movies, as to the raging debate of whether or not “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, I am of the opinion that it is a Christmas movie even though, while it all centers around an office Christmas party, the plot is clearly not about Christmas. That’s right.…

And so this is Christmas …

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports ’Tis the season and everywhere we turn — restaurants, the market, the stores, the radio — we hear Christmas songs and songs of the season, and we also hear some folks complaining about it, which I don’t get, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The only complaining about…

No, Virginia, this ain’t Santa Claus

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ So, the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals are moving again? That’s what the teams’ owner Ted Leonsis and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin said on Wednesday when they announced plans for the NBA Wizards and the NHL Capitals to move to a state-of-the art arena and entertainment complex in Alexandria,…

A tale of two beltways

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports It was December football at its finest in old Bawlmer, hon, with steady rain falling under increasingly darkening skies, with the only consistent from the hometown Baltimore Ravens being head coach John Harbaugh’s trademark mismanagement of timeouts and play challenges. But then quarterback Lamar Jackson led a brilliant late-game drive…

This whining is so unbecoming, champ

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ The Pittsburgh Steelers began the weekend with their second-straight horrible loss, the Baltimore Ravens concluded it with a not-pretty, but gritty victory on a dreary, rainy day when not much went right until the very end, and the Washington Commanders were mercifully given the weekend off following last week’s blowout…