Heavy hearts in Rick Snider’s Washington

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Terribly sad news came Tuesday night when we learned that longtime Washington, D.C. sportswriter Rick Snider died just two weeks after suffering a stroke. Rick Snider, a graduate of the University of Maryland, covered, reported on, wrote about and talked about virtually everything Washington, D.C. and the DMV since 1978,…

Best fortnight in tennis – and in sports

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The daily and nightly excitement and drama are happening now, as Monday marked the beginning of tennis’ U.S. Open, for my money, the best and most enjoyable major sporting event there is. The U.S. Open has always been Casablanca and Rick’s place, because everybody comes to the U.S. Open –…

Fenced out and unwelcome

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports How did we ever survive all those years when anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 fans attended every high school football game at the stadium, always found a place to park and children were free to come and go as they pleased to have fun with their friends on a Friday…

Not the kind of fun O’s want to be having

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Sunday must have been Mike Elias’ dream come true, as eight of the nine position players who started the Orioles’ 12-0 rout of the Houston Astros were drafted by the Orioles and have come all the way through their player development system – Adley Rutschman, Coby Mayo, Jackson Holliday, Gunnar…

Yep, NIL is here – do the right thing

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Won’t lie. Amidst my ongoing battle to stave off old-guy fuddy-duddyism, seeing the headline, “WVSSAC has an NIL policy in place for the 2025-26 school year” in Thursday’s Cumberland Times-News not only caught my eye but prompted a “What the …” But then it didn’t take long for a younger…

If you don’t have to be there, why go?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Fall sports practice in West Virginia high schools has been underway for over a week. Maryland practice begins today, meaning the new school year is here, as the first day of fall sports practice has long marked the beginning of time in places such as ours. In the day, come…