After all, a TV show is another TV show

After all, a TV show is another TV show MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The legitimacy of #NFLTheTVShow has never been so far in doubt. What other conclusions are there to come to for even the most blindly faithful of the National Football League, given the absolutely horrible and inexcusable officiating that helps determine direct…

Hogs and dogs … just another day

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports The Hogs, of course, were the great offensive lines for the Washington Redskins from 1982 through 1991 under head coach Joe Gibbs and offensive line coach Joe Bugel that became the foundation of three Super Bowl championships for the franchise and made the offensive line a glamour position for football…

O’s offseason going just fine, thank you

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Any time to talk and think about baseball is a good time, particularly after you’ve spent over an hour shoveling water-weighted snow from sidewalks, driveways, parked cars and driveway entrances in the cold winter air. White Christmas, my arse; Bing Crosby is full of it. I don’t see any treetops…

Franco: What else is there to say?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Certainly there was no intention to write about Franco Harris two times in a row; because, very sadly, they are both two very different occasions. Franco Harris died Wednesday morning at the age of 72. Yes, he was 72, though 72 in this day is not what 72 once was…

Franco deserving; Bradshaw is too

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will retire Franco Harris’ jersey number 32 at halftime of the team’s game with the Las Vegas Raiders at Acrisure Stadium in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, which Harris made at Three Rivers Stadium against the Oakland Raiders. With this in…

Improve what passing game?

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports It used to be said, “The only person who can hold Michael Jordan under 20 points is Dean Smith.” In Baltimore, it is said, the only people who can hold the Baltimore Ravens under 200 yards rushing per game are John Harbaugh and Greg Roman. The Ravens, of course, are…

All kinds of stuff to think about

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports UCLA’s enormous 87-60 victory over MARYLAND BASKETBALL on Wednesday night, in retrospect, should not have come as a surprise to any of us, as by the end of the first half it was pretty evident to everybody what we were seeing. For the second game in a row, the flat-footed…

You better be good for goodness sake

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports You like Christmas songs? Sure, you do. Everybody likes Christmas songs whether they want to admit it or not, because whether some of us want to admit it or not, we all love the Christmas and holiday season. Since I was in college, I have always considered the beginning of…

‘The nature of this game’ is next man up

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports Just as we thought it would be, because all of them seemingly are, the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers resumed their old rivalry with another physical, black-and-blue style football game Sunday in Pittsburgh, with the Ravens exhibiting their “Next man up” organizational way of business to prevail, 16-14, to…

Bottom line: Terps are going to fight

MIKE BURKE Allegany Communications Sports I just had a feeling Maryland basketball would not go undefeated this season, even after the Terps’ 8-0 start under first-year head coach Kevin Willard. Rats. I hate when I’m right about some things. The Terps lost on Tuesday night, 64-59, at Wisconsin in one of those obscene 9 p.m.…