MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Prior to celebrating the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games record, the Baltimore Orioles and Orioles fans everywhere took time to remember Davey Johnson, who died Saturday after a long illness. Outside of Baltimore, Johnson is remembered most as being the brilliant manager of the 1986 world…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Maryland enjoyed a season-opening 39-7 win over Florida Atlantic Saturday at SECU Stadium before a nice crowd of 35,000 considering it was Labor Day weekend. Maryland is a very young team this season, but also an enormously talented team. Head coach Michael Locksley brought in a nationally-ranked freshman class, and…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports With the Baltimore Orioles commemorating the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games streak prior to Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the memories of those consecutive evenings when the record was tied, then broken, have been very alive lately. Ripken played his 2,131st consecutive game…
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,…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports A lot of old friends returned to Baltimore for a nostalgic long weekend of sports, beginning with the Colts, the football team that held Baltimore’s heart for 31 years before breaking it that nightmarish March evening 41 years ago. The Ravens, entering their 30th season in Baltimore, hosted the Colts…
