If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports What I have been able to watch, the World Baseball Classic has been very entertaining, highlighted by two thrilling victories down the stretch by the United States and Japan, who met in last night’s championship game, which, given I’m writing this yesterday afternoon, I don’t know who won. But I…

No happy ending, but such a happy story

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Maryland’s 73-51 loss to top-ranked and top-seeded Alabama late Saturday night was legit, because Alabama is very legit. But so, too, was Maryland’s 2022-23 season, as will be the seasons to come under head coach Kevin Willard. Saturday’s game would have certainly been a different game had Terps center Julian…

Baseball, cable and some other stuff

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Watched the World Baseball Classic elimination game Wednesday night, which Puerto Rico won, 5-2, over the tournament favorite, the Dominican Republic, and, man, that’s baseball. So many talented players on both teams and so much passion for the game, not only amongst the players, but throughout the stands, as it…

At least there’s no agent to blame

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports First of all, I am a big Lamar Jackson fan. I really hope he and the Baltimore Ravens can come to an agreement. But with that said, to paraphrase Ashley Wilkes, “Well, gentlemen, if Baltimore fights, I go with her.” This all could have been avoided so easily, well before…

Terps-WVU: Oh, it’s here; it’s happening

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports One year after missing the NCAA Tournament, the Maryland Terrapins return as the No. 8 seed of the South Region. And who else would they be playing but geographic neighbor West Virginia, which enters the tournament as the No. 9 seed in the South. The teams will meet Thursday in…

We can work it out

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Call it what you will – a big gamble, a huge gamble or a game of chicken – and it would all seem to apply, as the Baltimore Ravens stunned much of the #NFLTheTVShow world on Tuesday by applying the nonexclusive franchise tag to Lamar Jackson to keep their quarterback…

Terps choose to do this the hard way

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The way Maryland lost that one on Sunday was a new one, even for lifelong Maryland fans who never fool themselves into believing they’ve seen it all. With the Terps, we’ve never seen anything yet. And this one was another one … Maryland lost to Penn State, 65-64, Sunday afternoon…

Pairings set for 61st ACIT

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The No. 14 team in the country will be in town, but first, a pair of the four top-10 teams in the Washington Post High School Basketball Top 20 will tip it off Thursday afternoon, as the 61st Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament gets underway at Frostburg State University. The 61st…

ACIT in like a lion March 9-11

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The field is set for the 61st Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament and it will be led by the St. John’s College High School Cadets (29-2), the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference champion coached by Pat Behan. St. John’s, which defeated Paul VI, 65-63, in last weekend’s WCAC Tournament final, is the…

Senior Week felt very familiar

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Myrtle Beach is like Rick’s Place in “Casablanca.” Everybody always ends up there. I finally ended up there last week, making the trip with two of my friends and meeting other friends down there. Of course, we ended up meeting many more than we had originally counted on meeting, as…