If you are a sports fan, the Baltimore – Washington metropolitan area is among the best places in the country to be right now. Even if the news isn’t always good, there’s certainly lots of it.
You can follow either or both of the two major league baseball teams. NBA Basketball? The Wizards’ playoff run has that covered. The same goes for the Capitals’ who are in the second round of the NHL playoffs.
If you’re a lacrosse fan, both the Maryland men’s and women’s squads are in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals as is Johns Hopkins on the men’s side and Loyola for the women. The Terrapins baseball team had a terrific weekend and hopes to be gearing up for a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. And even the Maryland basketball squad generated a big piece of off season news.
Horse racing fans can certainly anticipate Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Or you can fill your sports menu with lots of minor league baseball, MLL or MLS for those who want to follow major league lacrosse or soccer. I’m one guy and I can’t cover it all, but I can give you a taste of things.
Quick news
In MLS action, DC United hosted Sporting Kansas City Saturday and played to a 1-1 tie. The United have a 5-1-3 record that’s good for 18 points and a tie with the New England Revolution atop the Eastern Conference standings.
The Chesapeake Bayhawks dogged the Charlotte Hounds to a 14-10 road win Sunday. The Bayhawks improved to 3-1 and are a game and a half behind the New York Lizards.
The second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown comes to Baltimore on Saturday with 12 horses confirmed to run in the 140th run for the black-eyed susans. The field is led, of course, by Kentucky Derby winner and 5-6 pre-race favorite American Pharoah.
The Wizards
Playing without injured point guard John Wall, the Wizards looked to be just fine through three quarters of Saturday’s game at the Verizon center. The Wizards carried an 85-66 lead into the fourth quarter on their home court only to see the Hawks swoop down to tie the game on Mike Muscala’s three point shot with 14 seconds to play. Then this happened:
Paul Pierece’s buzzer beating bank shot gave Washington a 2-1 series edge that they carry into Monday night’s contest.
The Capitals
Washington’s hockey team didn’t fare very well over the weekend. The Capitals carried a 3-1 series lead into game five in New York and were just 100 seconds away from closing out the series before the Rangers tied the game and scored the game winner in overtime.
The Caps returned to the Verizon Center Sunday night with a second chance to advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998. Once again, the Caps sent their fans home disappointed. Here are the (Rangers) highlights (Capitals) lowlights. Watch at your own risk.
In Major League Baseball action
As the first fifth of the season winds down, the early trend is one of two teams headed in opposite directions. The Washington Nationals completed a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves and have won four straight and remain in second place in the NL East3.5 games behind the Mets. After winning on a walk off home run by Bryce Harper on Saturday, the Nats again came from behind scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-4 decision.
The Orioles ended a four game losing skid with a 6-2 win over the Yankees on Saturday. Sunday afternoon the Yankees returned the favor wining by an identical score to take two of three from the O’s in Baltimore. The Orioles have lost six of their last 10 and sit in the cellar of the AL East with a 13-16 record.
Non-Terrapins college lacrosse news
The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays continued their hot play winning their fifth consecutive game embarrassing the Virginia Cavaliers on UVA’s home field in a 19-7 rout of the the NCAA Tournament’s seventh seed. The Blue Jays move on to the tournament quarterfinals to take on second seeded Syracuse in the first game of a spectacular doubleheader in Annapolis. The second game of the Annapolis quarterfinals features a rematch between the sixth seeded Maryland Terrapins and the third seeded North Carolina Tar Heels. The action starts at noon in the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
Speaking of upsets, how about a shout out to Jen Adams and her Loyola Greyhounds women’s lacrosse squad. The Greyhounds have quite literally raced past their first two opponents in the Women’s NCAA Lacrosse Tournament. Loyola took down the Bryant Bulldogs 21-3 in the first round and followed that with a 19-12 grounding of the fifth seeded Boston College Eagles in Chestnut Hill. Loyola travels to upstate New York to take on the fourth seeded Syracuse Orange Saturday afternoon.
Maryland men’s basketball – Now the NCAA preseason favorite to win it all?
Monday morning the Maryland men’s basketball roster took its final step toward becoming the possible preseason favorite to win the NCAA Championship when Rasheed Sulaimon committed to play for the Terps in 2015-16 after taking an unofficial visit to the College Park campus Friday afternoon. Sulaimon, a McDonald’s High School All-American is on track to graduate from Duke this summer and should be eligible to play immediately. According to Sulaimon, Mark Turgeon, who had recruited him heavily when he coached at Texas A&M, was a principal factor in his decision to come to Maryland.
Barring a surprising late transfer, Maryland 2015-16 roster now looks like this:
| Player | Class | Height | Position |
| Varun Ram | Senior (GS) | 5’9″ | Guard |
| Rasheed Sulaimon | Senior (GS) | 6’5″ | Guard/Forward |
| Jake Layman | Senior | 6’9″ | Forward |
| Robert Carter, JR | Junior | 6’9″ | Forward |
| Damonte Dodd | Junior | 6’11” | Center |
| Jaylen Brantley | Sophomore | 5’10” | Guard |
| Michael Cekovsky | Sophomore | 7’1″ | Center |
| Jared Nickens | Sophomore | 6’7″ | Guard/Forward |
| Melo Trimble | Sophomore | 6’3″ | Guard |
| Dion Wiley | Sophomore | 6’4″ | Guard |
| Ivan Bender | Freshman | 6’9″ | Forward |
| Diamond Stone | Freshman | 6’10” | Center |
Mark Turgeon has built a potential monster Terrapin team in College Park. Will the Terps now gobble up the NCAA? It should be a fun year finding out.
freddy from boca
5 to 6 on am pharoah? must be ladbrooke’s odds. you’ll never see 5-6 odds listed in the u.s.
what no traffic reports. c’mon todd, if you’re going to cover everything, cover everything. and no fishing report. what’s with that. how am i suppose to know where i can catch the elusive gifilte fish. i have the bait. some nice hot horseradish
· 11/12/2019