Yeah, Ty Johnson’s on your roster

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ Did you see Ty Johnson shoot himself from a cannon early Sunday evening on national television? Yup, that was Ty giving the Buffalo Bills an enormous boost with his 28-yard touchdown from quarterback Josh Allen, and as it was pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, it was likely the first…

Terps no longer play for moral victories

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ It was a significant but disappointing day in College Park on Saturday, and that it was significant for the eyes of a national television audience is no longer enough for Maryland football. The disappointment must be the story of this day for the sake of future days in College Park;…

Swingin’ A’s the Movin’ A’s; again?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Yes, it’s a sad day when a city loses its team. We know this because we’ve seen it happen close to home — Washington Senators to Minnesota, Washington Senators to Texas, Baltimore Bullets to Landover (now Washington) and Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. We’ve also been on the receiving end of…

Just desserts, just rewards in Baltimore

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ The day after the Baltimore Ravens’ latest absurd loss, this one 33-31 to the Cleveland Browns after leading by 14 points in the fourth quarter, head coach John Harbaugh once more discovered his inner Clouseau in deducing, “If we finished strong in every game we’d be undefeated.” In the immortal…

When opportunity knocks …

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports It’s easy to let the little picture gnaw at you when it comes to Maryland football, because in so many ways the little picture should never have been in the viewfinder to begin with. But the fact is, Maryland gave away winnable games to Illinois and Northwestern this season, both…

All three 2-Hour teams in good shape

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ Meanwhile, in 2 Hours from Everywhere football, the Baltimore Ravens are suddenly 7-2, winners of four straight and in first place of the AFC North Division. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the last team the Ravens lost to are in second place at 5-3, while in the NFC East, the Washington Commanders…

Terps a sinking ship

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports University of Maryland football came out looking like a hot mess, then proceeded to play like one in front of a sellout home crowd on Saturday in the latest embarrassing loss to Penn State, 51-15. The crowd of 51,802 was Maryland’s first sellout since 2019 when 53,228 fans sat in…

They deserve it for having survived it

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ So now the baseball season is over and the withdrawal has begun. No game last night, no game today, no game tomorrow, the next day or the day after that, and we can go on and on for 146 more days until Opening Day returns. Oh, and daylight saving time…

Farewell, Hondo

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports There are times when you least expect it to, when you least want it to, that baseball will remind you of how strong a hold it has on you — and has for your entire life. Frank Howard, the great and enormous Washington Senators slugger, died on Monday at age…

Homecoming remains our very best day

Homecoming remains our very best day MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports­­ Certainly I saw Fort Hill as the favorite coming in, but I believed it would be a better game than it ended up being; but the Sentinels clearly had other thoughts on the matter. Fort Hill was a machine in its 47-21 Homecoming triumph…