Brady’s gone; get used to seeing him

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports I offered a snide aside here yesterday about Tom Brady never going away, clearly not knowing he would choose first thing the very same morning to announce he was going away. Again. He may actually stay retired this time, but I stand by the sentiment that he’ll never go away…

Underwhelmed by #NFLTheTVShow semis

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports So it’s the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 57, both 16-3 on the season and both the top seeds in their conferences, marking the first time top seeds will meet since 2017 when Philadelphia beat New England. The Eagles had little trouble advancing, rolling the…

O’s may be quiet, but they’re sneaky

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The perception is the Baltimore Orioles have not had a productive offseason following their surprising 2022 when they stayed in contention right up to the final week. And certainly, there hasn’t been a lot of glitz with the maneuvering of general manager Mike Elias this winter, yet when it comes…

To us, Billy Packer was Mr. Basketball

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Time and its passage can be unforgiving for a kid who grew up and older an avid sports fan. For in that time, so many meaningful and influential pieces of our growth begin to disappear piece by piece, one day at a time, with the disappearances coming more frequently than…

Perception beats politics anytime

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Truthfully, Scott Rolen did not ring in my mind as a Hall of Famer; he never has. Frankly, neither does Fred McGriff, with whom Rolen will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer in Cooperstown. Rolen becomes the 18th third baseman voted into the Hall of…

Watch with an open mind, and enjoy it

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Say this for the Maryland Terrapins during their first year under head coach Kevin Willard – they are what they are, and what you see on any given night is what you get. You’re just not quite sure what it is you’ll be seeing. Nobody in College Park, or at…

TVShow ratings will be just boffo

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Well, it’s like this: Last week for #NFLTheTVShow’s Divisional Round (I call it the second round), I was 3-1 on winners and 2-2 playing the points, which can be viewed as respectable, but, frankly, I find the 2-2 on the points to be a complete and utter failure. As Dallas…

No full guarantees … or, so they say

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Mark Twain said, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” That’s pretty much the take of just about everybody when it comes to what Baltimore Ravens free-agent quarterback Lamar Jackson wants to make on his next contract, what the Ravens want to pay him on his…

How did you toast Poe’s birthday?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports No writer has had the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe did, which is fitting given the performance this season of the #NFLTheTVShow team in Baltimore that was named after Poe’s greatest literary work, “The Raven.” Poe was born on January…

Tennis, anyone?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports I follow and watch the Australian Open every year, even if it means staying up until 4 in the morning, for two reasons — I love tennis, and seeing how the Australian Open is played in late January in, um, Australia, watching people enjoy the sun and the heat helps…