Oh, my, Maryland wins in front of my eyes

Go to the Carrier Dome with my dear wife Karen to watch my alma mater play the hometown squad in men’s college lacrosse? I’d say I was smiling on Sunday afternoon for the noon faceoff between visiting Maryland and homestanding Syracuse. It’s been awhile since I’d gotten the opportunity to root for the ”that’s where…

There seems to be a Carrier Dome banner missing

Looking around the Carrier Dome this past Saturday as my dear wife Karen and I waited for the Syracuse Orange’s game with Wake Forest to kick off, I took note of the new placement for bowl game banners. Syracuse has been to half a dome’s worth, yes, some long ago, some not as far in…

Talking about Syracuse, Duke and the notion of a rivalry

Syracuse will greet Duke on the Carrier Dome basketball court tonight, and at 31,000 fans will be screaming about it. And so talk in Central New York this week has often included the R word. Is Duke now Syracuse’s rival? Has this Atlantic Coast Conference matchup reached the level of a rivalry? You know, the…

Happy Memorial Day! And Go Terps Go

We salute those that served us today. Happy Memorial Day from A Bitty Better in the Liverpool, N.Y., neighborhood of Galeville. My dear wife Karen and I included a flagpole yesterday among our holiday weekend purchases. And when we got home, I mounted the bracket on the fence at the back of our driveway and…

My Terps won’t win the big prize, and neither will I

My beloved alma mater bowed out of March Madness in the first round. Bye-bye, Maryland Terrapins, to this campaign that began with so much promise. Now that 20-2 record carved by junior guard Melo Trimble and the trio of surprising freshmen – Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson – is nothing but a historical…

Do they have to play the second half?

When my bowling teammate and good friend Randy asked me this week if I thought Syracuse had a chance this weekend in its college football game against Clemson, I shook my head emphatically and said, nope. Clemson would win 70-0, I said. Too big, too strong, too fast are the undefeated and No. 2-ranked Tigers,…

Quietly following Fred Funk

It’s been, oh, a quarter-century now that I’ve had the pleasure of following a guy I share an alma mater with around the hills of Endicott, N.Y. No, I’m not stalking pro golfer Fred Funk. But once again I was able to send an email to my friends that host Fred when he plays in…

Maryland, Syracuse get to play for elite March Madness status

No way I predicted this. Maryland plays Kansas tonight in the Sweet Sixteen. Syracuse takes on Gonzaga tomorrow night with the same chance to advance to the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament’s Elite Eight. Hover over either gallery photo (Getty Images) for a description. Click on either for an enlarged slide show. My alma mater…

It looks perfect on my favorite Terps fan

My dear wife Karen and I were watching a Maryland basketball game earlier this season when the camera crew focused in on the student section. It was during holiday break, and an older guy was amid the happy regulars in those steep rows. He was wearing a cool red shirt that both gave him away…