Then, imagine that the Orioles are hosting the retirement ceremony for Adam Jones, one of the most popular players in recent franchise history, all coming before a sellout Camden Yards crowd. 

That, of course, is the scenario for Friday’s meeting with Tampa Bay, a seemingly made-for-television moment for long suffering Baltimore baseball fans. 

Yet, the contest and all the pageantry, pomp and circumstance will be lost to most usual Orioles viewers, as the game will air exclusively on Apple TV Plus, a subscription and streaming service. 

That means unless you have the Apple TV Plus app on your phone, tablet or laptop or on a smart TV which carries the app, you’ll have to rely on the radio, rather than the usual MASN, a fact that is bound to stir the ire of local fans accustomed to watching the Birds in the usual place. 

Friday’s game joins earlier contests which were carried exclusively on Apple TV Plus and Comcast-owned Peacock. Those games, against Minnesota, Atlanta, Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox, were part of national deals struck by Major League Baseball. 

That the Orioles are an appealing product to a national audience, what with their meteoric rise to the top of the American League standings this year, is not surprising. Add that to the compelling nature of the Rays’ series – a de facto showdown for the division title – and you have the makings of great television that will inevitably be delivered to a dramatically smaller audience. 

The MLB deals with Apple and Comcast, now in their second year, have touched off complaints all over the baseball landscape from fans who are accustomed to watching their teams in familiar places and in familiar ways, meaning not via streaming. 

For viewers in Canada, the shifting broadcast landscape has created its own layer of confusion. Games that once lived comfortably on cable are now scattered, requiring a bit more planning before first pitch. Traditional listings still offer some guidance, but they no longer tell the full story, leaving fans to double-check schedules across multiple sources to avoid missing key matchups. It’s a far cry from the days when turning on the television at game time was all it took.

Those trying to keep up would be wise to treat their viewing routine with a bit more intention. A quick glance at a reliable live TV guide can save plenty of frustration—Check this out before settling in, and you might actually catch the game where you expect it. As baseball continues to stretch across new viewing habits, the experience of following a team has become less about habit and more about navigation, something long-time fans are still adjusting to whether they like it or not.

Of course, following the action isn’t just about finding the right channel anymore; it also depends on having the technology in place to avoid interruptions once the game begins. As more entertainment and live events become tied to digital delivery, reliability has taken on greater importance in both homes and businesses, prompting increased attention to backup power solutions such as the eaton 9px ups. While most viewers may only notice these systems when something goes wrong, they play a quiet role in keeping modern viewing experiences consistent at a time when even brief disruptions can mean missing a pivotal moment.

There is, of course, a simple solution to this issue. Baseball should require that Apple TV Plus and Peacock make their signals available to the local carrier, as the NFL does when games appear on Amazon Prime, the NFL Network or ESPN. The streamers will still get the large audience they crave and the local carrier — in this case, MASN – can give the home viewers what they’re used to. 

The post Orioles and Apple TV appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

In the midst of what might be the best Orioles season in a generation, word emerges that MASN announcer Kevin Brown has landed in the doghouse with team management for saying something critical on the air. 

If the past is any guide, the franchise – in the middle of a pennant chase, no less – is imposing a loyalty test on a talented broadcaster, thus placing his credibility and that of the broadcast up for grabs,  

As the site Awful Announcing first reported Monday, Brown, who last appeared on television at the end of the Tampa Bay series July 23, has been off the screen since then, though he did switch over to radio broadcasts for the ensuing Philadelphia series. He has not been seen or heard from since. 

Allegedly, Brown’s recounting of the Orioles’ previously horrid record at Tropicana Field was the offending act that got him grounded for the last two-plus weeks.  

Though the Baltimore Banner is quoting a “senior Orioles official” as saying Brown will be back soon, The Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reports that Brown is not scheduled to work the Houston series this week, nor is he on the list to broadcast the team’s upcoming West Coast swing of games through Seattle, San Diego and Oakland.  

The objection to Brown’s reciting of factual material is even more puzzling considering that there was a graphic to support what he said. That means that this topic came up in a production meeting and some unnamed (and perhaps unpunished) producer thought, correctly, that including that information was worth it. 

It’s possible that Brown may be taking some planned time off. Legendary radio announcer Jon Miller and Gary Thorne, the former lead television play-by-play, would routinely take extended vacations following the All-Star break. 

However, history suggests that like Miller, Brown has run afoul of someone’s sensibilities perhaps because he didn’t bleed enough “black and orange.” 

That’s a phrase that Orioles owner Peter Angelos said to me 27 years ago when I wrote a sports media column for the Baltimore Sun. 

To recap, Miller, who received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 and is on any short list of the best announcers in the game’s history, was coming to the end of his contract here and was receiving pushback from Angelos. 

Angelos’ concern was that Miller was not sufficiently pro-Orioles on the air.  

“You have the detached observer, but that’s the role of the journalist,” Angelos told me then. “I don’t think that’s the status of a team broadcaster. They should be an advocate for the team. They’ve got to bleed a little bit for the Orioles.”  

Let’s get one thing straight: Anyone who tunes into any team broadcast, be it Orioles, Ravens, Maryland or a high school game, expecting the person doing game to be unbiased is on a fool’s errand.  

Most team broadcasters travel with the teams and rely on access to coaches, managers and players to provide information to their audience.  

That access, in many cases, is contingent on keeping the negative off the air, unless it is so blatant that it can’t be ignored. Also, the employment of many of those announcers is approved by the club, who also, in many instances, pay their salaries. 

Considering that Brown is an employee of MASN, which is mostly owned by the Orioles, it would behoove him or anyone else not to be as much of a Bird-backer as possible. 

That’s not to say that Brown doesn’t do a good job. To the contrary, Brown is as good as the Orioles have had in a while, and, at 33, could be in the booth at Camden Yards (or wherever the Birds end up if current CEO John Angelos doesn’t sign a lease extension) for decades. 

But the specter of Peter Angelos’ declaration about Miller hung over the Orioles’ broadcast booth – radio and television – for years. A lot of very talented and dedicated people – in front of and behind the cameras and microphones — were tainted by the broad brush the elder Angelos painted them with.  

Peter Angelos and apparently his son, believe that the viewers and listeners – you – don’t care who talks about the team so long as who says it bends over backwards to say it in as friendly a way towards the team as possible, perception and reputations be damned.  

Miller, who understandably found the owner’s demands untenable, bolted for San Francisco. If this nonsense drives Kevin Brown out of Baltimore, it may take a change in ownership before the franchise gets someone of quality and integrity in the booth again. 

The post Kevin Brown’s Suspension appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

MASN announced Friday that former Orioles Brad Brach and Mike Devereaux will join the booth as game analysts, joining Jim Palmer and Ben McDonald to form occasional three-man booths. 

Devereaux was an outfield mainstay for Baltimore teams of the 1990s. He spent seven seasons with the Birds, the best of which was 1992, when he hit .276 with 24 home runs and 107 RBI. He was voted into the team’s Hall of Fame two years ago. 

Brach, meanwhile, spent parts of five seasons with the Orioles in the mid- 2010s, working out of the bullpen. He was named to the American League All Star team in 2016, when he was 10-4 with a 2.05 ERA. The following year, Brach posted 18 saves. 

MASN also announced that Jason La Canfora, a former NFL insider on CBS’ football coverage, will join the network as a pre- and post-game contributor. La Canfora, who hosts a show on 105.7 FM, also wrote for the Washington Post. 

MASN’s additions come in stark contrast to the bloodbath at ESPN, where a number of on-air personalities were laid off in perhaps the biggest talent purges in the more than 40-year history of the company. 

Though virtually all corners of the Worldwide Leader’s roster were affected, most notable among the firings was Jeff Van Gundy, who had been with ESPN for 16 years, joining play-by-play man Mike Breen and co-analyst Mark Jackson on the main NBA team, calling the Finals. 

Van Gundy, who coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets before coming to ESPN, brought a droll, but entertaining style to the telecasts. The channel could go with internal candidates like Doris Burke or J.J. Redick, among others. Or it could grab former Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers from the ranks of the unemployed. No matter where they go, Van Gundy will not be easily replaced. 

One name that won’t be replacing Van Gundy is pre-game show host Jalen Rose, who was also shown the door, in a surprising move. Rose, a longtime NBA veteran, was one of the few likable pieces of ESPN’s pre- and post-game coverage.  

“Monday Night Countdown” host Suzy Kolber, a 27-year ESPN veteran was also laid off as well as Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. Two-thirds of ESPN’s disastrous radio morning show, Max Kellerman and former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, were also cut loose.  NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay was also let go.

The layoffs, which were cowardly announced at the beginning of a long, holiday weekend, come as ESPN ponders what to do in the wake of industry developments that are seeing many cutting the cord and abandoning traditional cable and satellite subscriptions. 

At the same time, the company has taken on significant rights costs in new deals with the NFL and the Southeastern Conference, as it also prepares to welcome podcaster Pat McAfee to a five-year, $85 million contract.  

The post Thoughts On The MASN And ESPN Additions And Subtractions appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

For the Terps, the time from that second game of the season, an 81-56 drubbing at College Park to the reigning national champions, has been a period of cohesiveness, growth and learning.  

“I think with every practice and every week of the season, we’ve gotten better, we’ve gotten closer,” Maryland guard Abby Meyers said Sunday. “We’ve kind of learned how to gel not only on the offensive end but the defensive end. And for us, I think we’ve been progressively learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Maryland (28-6) has, indeed, blended nine newcomers into the mix, placing them on the doorstep of the sixth appearance in the national semifinals, following Saturday’s 76-59 win over Notre Dame.  

The problem for Maryland, the second seed in the region, is that nothing has changed for the Gamecocks (35-0), meaning, they haven’t lost. South Carolina is riding a 41-game winning streak, dating back to the finals of the 2022 SEC tournament. 

“But you see with South Carolina, I saw a stat the other day, their starters have started 130 games together, and when you look at our starters, it’s been about 34,” said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. “You see South Carolina, their roster is loaded, extremely impressive. I think how (coach) Dawn (Staley) has been able to manage their minutes and keep everyone happy has truly been impressive to be able to see.” 

In the November 11 meeting, four South Carolina players scored in double figures, led by senior guard Zia Cooke (18 points) and senior forward Aliyah Boston, the reigning national player of the year, who had 16. 

The Gamecocks blocked 11 Maryland shots that day and outrebounded the Terps 55-32. That the Terps have just one regular – senior Diamond Miller—who stands over 6-foot-2 will present a distinct challenge against a South Carolina frontline that has five players over that height. 

Yeah, I mean, obviously we all know South Carolina, they’re huge,” said Maryland forward Faith Masonius. “I think Notre Dame prepared us a little bit with that height. And I think the No. 1 thing that it takes to play big players, big posts, and we’re not that big, is really just heart, hustle and working hard. It makes up for your height, makes up for that disadvantage. But we’ll find it somewhere else.” 

That somewhere else might come in the persona of Miller, Maryland’s leading scorer and a second-team All-America, who did not play in the November meeting with an injury. 

Boston and Miller are widely expected to be the first two players chosen in next month’s WNBA draft and Miller is looking forward to meeting the Gamecocks, though she won’t likely meet Boston head-to-head. 

“It’s going to be fun,” said Miller, who had 18 points Saturday. “And Aliyah is a great player. They have a lot of great players, and our class 2019 is really thriving right now. It’s going to be fun.” 

The post Maryland Faces South Carolina In The Elite 8 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The way you’re likely to take in the NFL on television has completely changed since last February’s Super Bowl telecast, from where you see the games to who’s broadcasting them.

For Ravens fans, things will remain basically the same, in that most Baltimore Sunday afternoon games will air on WJZ-13, the CBS affiliate in town.

And CBS’ booth of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo was the only one of the major NFL carriers that didn’t change in the unprecedented upheaval that took place in the offseason, the first in a new 10-year deal across platforms.

Grab a sandwich and your remote and have a seat as we guide you through the wholesale differences you’re going to notice as you get ready for some football.

NBC: You’ll see the first big change as early as Thursday as has become the norm, NBC kickoffs the season with a telecast of the home opener of the reigning Super Bowl champs, in this case, the Los Angeles Rams, as they host the Buffalo Bills.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice the presence of Maria Taylor as the main host of “Football Night in America.” Taylor, who came over to NBC from ESPN during last year’s Olympics, becomes the first Black woman to lead an NFL telecast, after filling in for Mike Tirico, when he sat in for Al Michaels in the booth on his weeks off.

As Tirico takes over full-time for Michaels (more on that later), Taylor will serve as traffic cop for the pre-game show that leads into television’s most watched program, “Sunday Night Football.” She’ll be joined by former Dallas coach Jason Garrett, who replaces former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees.

Melissa Stark, who previously was sideline reporter for “Monday Night Football” on ABC, will patrol the sidelines for NBC.  

NBC will use its Peacock platform to livestream games, but it will hardly be the only streaming service, as Amazon Prime and Paramount+, a service of CBS, will also carry games.

ESPN: The self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” has struggled in recent years to maintain a consistent presence in its Monday night booth, since Tirico left the channel for NBC.

That should no longer be the case, as ESPN raided Fox, first grabbing analyst Troy Aikman, then getting his longtime booth partner Joe Buck to man Monday nights.

The latter move was stunning in that Buck jumped from the only network he had only known professionally, passing up the World Series, which he had called since 1996, and the Super Bowl, which he and Aikman worked together six times.

In the end, contracts reportedly valued at more than a combined nearly $170 million between them over five years were enough to pry Aikman and Buck away from their longtime home, though they will likely be in the fold when ESPN produces its first Super Bowl telecast in 2027.

Fox: With Aikman and Buck absconding for ESPN, Fox was left without an A-broadcast crew for the first time in 20 years.

The network responded by bumping Kevin Burkhardt from its No.2 team to the lead crew, and just in time for Fox’s turn in the Super Bowl rotation this year.

Burkhardt will call games this year, teamed with former tight end Greg Olson. Olson will be renting the No.1 analyst slot, not buying.

That’s because, at some point uncertain, Burkhardt, or some other golden throated guy, will work with Tom Brady, whom Fox locked up for future duty to 10 years and $375 million when he hangs up his cleats.

Brady’s deal is breathtaking in its size and scope, which is remarkable considering that no one knows whether he’ll be any good at calling football games.

Amazon: The league’s most startling television play comes in awarding its Thursday night package, which has bounced from network to network, to Amazon Prime.

For $1 billion annually, the giant retailer purchased a slate of exclusive nationally aired games that will be available to Amazon Prime and Prime Video account holders.

Just as with Monday night games on ESPN, the streaming cast will be offered to local TV stations in the home markets of the competing teams each week. That means Ravens fans will see the Oct. 27 game with Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a local station.

To lend familiarity and authenticity, Amazon pried Michaels, arguably the dean of NFL announcing, from NBC to call games, with Kirk Herbstreit, on loan from ESPN’s college football coverage, to join him as analyst. The service also plans to offer a non-football-centric treatment.

Viewers will also be able to start, watch or record the action from the beginning, as well as see real-time stats. If you have a Fire TV, you’ll be able to ask your set to show you specific things by speaking into your remote.

That kind of next level technology is at the core of a bidding skirmish between Amazon, Apple and Google for the rights to Sunday Ticket, which are expected to be relinquished by DirecTV after this season.  

The post 2022 NFL Broadcast Guide appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The twin departures of Reese (St. Frances), a third-team All American in the just completed season, and Owusu, one of the nation’s best point guards, leaves Maryland, picked in some circles as a top five team next season, devastated.

The loss of the top two scorers from the 2021-22 roster, also opens calls into question about why Frese has had trouble keeping premier talent for the full four years, as a steady stream of players have departed her program.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Frese said “We wish these student-athletes all the best as they continue their basketball careers and education elsewhere. Every team has been impacted by the transfer portal on both ends of it. Maryland basketball is bigger than any one lineup or person. Our staff is committed to bringing the best student-athletes to Maryland.”

Two other players, freshman reserve guard Taisiya Kozlova and graduate guard Chennise Lewis, who has missed most of the past three seasons with knee injuries, also announced they’d be leaving Maryland as well.

But the announcements from Owusu, who announced her intention to leave via Instagram earlier in the day, and Reese, whose departure was confirmed by a team spokesperson later in the evening, represented a pair of gut-punches coming just after the conclusion of one of the most difficult seasons in Frese’s 20 years in College Park.

The Terps, who lost to Stanford in the Spokane Regional semifinal, slogged through an injury- and illness-riddled campaign which began with a top five ranking but result in a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten, their lowest placement since joining the league in 2014.

The 6-foot-3 Reese, who became the first Maryland player in 47 years to average a double-double for the season, emerged as the team’s No.1 offensive option and one of its best defenders. She missed most of her freshman year, but appeared on her way to joining fellow sophomores Iowa guard Caitlin Clark and Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers at the top of the national list of players to watch in 2023.

Reese said after the Stanford loss that she would be working over the summer to improve her jumper, a sign that she is looking to improve her game on the college level with a look toward a potential WNBA career.

Meanwhile, Owusu, a 6-foot junior, saw her numbers drop from her freshman and sophomore years. She missed some time down the stretch with an ankle injury, and, tellingly, was not on the floor for most of the fourth quarter of the loss to Stanford, after scoring 30 points on the Cardinal in an early loss.

In her Instagram post, Owusu hinted that “unfortunately, events that have transpired on and off the court this year” led her to enter the transfer portal. Owusu didn’t elaborate on what the events were and asked for privacy.

The Tuesday departures are the latest in a string of Terp players who transferred before their eligibility was completed. In 2015, guard Lexie Brown left after two seasons for Duke. Two years later, guard Destiny Slocum, who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, split after her freshman year for Oregon State.

Guard Taylor Mikesell, one of the nation’s top shooters and, like Slocum, a Big Ten Freshman of the Year, split after her sophomore year for Oregon. The Terps also saw forward Shakira Austin leave that season for Mississippi, along with center Olivia Owens, who left for Kentucky,

Both Slocum and Mikesell left their respective programs for new landing spots, at Arkansas and Ohio State, perhaps, lending credence to the notion among some Maryland fans that the problem is with the players, not with Frese.

Still, even with the allowance that relaxed transfer rules have plagued schools all over the country, the flow of players out of College Park has to be alarming to Frese, who will now start the 2022-23 season needing to replace four players from her starting lineup, rather than two.

And Reese’s departure has led some to wonder whether her younger brother, Julian, who had an impressive freshman season, may look for another school, as new Head Coach Kevin Willard attempts to build his first Maryland squad.  

The post Maryland Women’s Basketball Suffers Multiple Departures appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

So, a couple of weeks ago, he was chatting with a young reporter at WBFF-45 named Maxine Streicher and he happened to mention the song “Maxine,” from Donald Fagen’s seminal 1982 album, “The Nightfly.”

Not only had Streicher not heard of the song, she hadn’t heard of Fagen. By then, Cunningham had already decided to retire from the daily grind of television sportscasting, but that moment, and a few more like it, confirmed the wisdom of his decision.

“That’s the natural process of life, though,” said Cunningham. “You know, that people, people, you know, move on. And then people take their place, and they do things differently, or maybe see things differently. it’s time and I feel really good about it.”

Athletes famously say that the sportswriters and sportscasters who cover them can’t understand them because they never played their games.

That may be true, but there is one thing that the media and the men and women they cover share: Rarely do they get to decide how it ends.

For every Ray Lewis or David Robinson or John Madden who get to ride off into the sunset, there are thousands of players and commentators who are unceremoniously shown the door before they’re ready to.

After 45 years in sportscasting – the last 31 of them at Channel 45 here – Cunningham was determined to call his own shot, to leave on his own terms, after remembering a conversation he had had with a mentor who had been fired from a station as he approached 70 years old.

“He (the friend) said, ‘You know, when you’re some place along time, the very best you can hope for the very best you can hope for is that you get to say, when you’re done, you know, and that resonated with me,” said Cunningham,

Cunningham is a short time away from turning 63 and has the energy to keeping doing the job as sports director at Channel 45 – the only one the station has had since launching a newscast 31 years ago.

But sometimes you know when it’s time, and it’s better, Cunningham believes, to go before someone has to tell you.

“Just the idea of somebody sitting across a desk and saying to me, ‘Your career is over,’” said Cunningham. “That seems unfair to me. It’s my career, I get to say when it’s over,”

As the end of his current contract approached, Cunningham told station management that it was time.

So, when he signs off Thursday night, a glorious run of 45 years will come to an end with no regrets and a lot of memories.

“It’s been 100% what I wished for, in fact, if I could, I’d go over 100%,” said Cunningham, “I mean, it’s taking me places I never thought I’d go and I’ve done things I never thought I’d be able to do. I mean, I am so incredibly lucky, you know, fortunate to have all this presented to me.”

Cunningham’s absence will be felt, even by his competitors.

“He’s very relatable, like having a conversation with a friend. I know it’s genuine because of many press box conversations we had over the years,” said Mark Viviano, sports director at WJZ (Channel 13) in an online interview. “His longevity in the business and his standing as a trusted sports voice in Baltimore speak volumes of his professional accomplishments. His manner of doing the job speaks to the good person Bruce is.”

You can see a lot in 45 years as a sportscaster.

From those early days in April 1977 at a station in Richmond, Va., that doesn’t even have the same call letters anymore, to 31 years in Baltimore means a lot of home runs and touchdowns, to be sure,

But you also see a lot of growth and transitions, both in the people you cover and the people you work with, like Mike Hill, who interned at Channel 45 before heading off to ESPN and Fox Sports. Or Kevin Frazier, who learned his craft with Cunningham before setting on a trail that would get him to hobnobbing with Hollywood stars as anchor of “Entertainment Tonight.”

And there are the women that Cunningham has nurtured. From Amber Theoharis to Amy Fadool to Kristen Berset to Morgan Adsit, Cunningham has done more for female sportscasters than anyone in this town.

“It (hiring women) means that he’s present. You know, he’s not stuck in the 1950s. In the 1980s. And early 2000s,” said Adsit, who has been at the station for 11 years. “I mean, I think that just says a lot for his character that and not only females and some of those goodbye messages. In (a tribute) video you saw there was Kevin Frazier, and there’s Mike Hill, Nobody was putting them on air. And he helped them. He guided them. And that took a lot.”

And, if you’re lucky, like Cunningham has been, you can see some of that growth in yourself.

“It’s been one of the best parts about my stay at Fox 45. I’ve grown as a person, because I’ve worked so closely with females. And that wasn’t always the case in the sports world,” said Cunningham. “It helped me. It helped round me out at a stage of life that already thought I was already rounded out.”

Indeed, since that June night in 1991, when Cunningham came on the air here wearing a tuxedo and a spectacular tuft of hair, life has been pretty good here.

There was the closing of Memorial Stadium and the introduction of Camden Yards. There was welcoming the Ravens to town and the stint of serving as public address announcer at the new stadium. There were two Super Bowl runs, the second of which Cunningham covered with a broken arm, suffered the night before the big game.

And don’t forget the Stallions, the Canadian Football League team that landed here in 1994 and won a Grey Cup. Cunningham was the radio play-by-play voice on those broadcasts, alongside former Colts running back Joe Washington, and the two forged a lifelong friendship.

And Cunningham found what he calls the highlight of his career.

“I’ve got a Stallion helmet sitting in my den because I never want to forget that it was it was the best time ever. And nothing has matched it. Nothing has matched it. I don’t think anything ever will,” said Cunningham.

It wasn’t just the Stallions who burrowed their way into Cunningham’s heart. The city itself did, and not just because the son of an Army sergeant was looking for a home. The charm of Charm City is just that powerful.

“If you’re not from here, Baltimore kind of puts its arms around you, and it squeezes your real tight, you know, and as the days turn into weeks, and weeks into months and the months into years, that really fosters a sense of home,” said Cunningham.

He continued: “So many times, you got people that spend their entire lives wishing they were somewhere else. And I got here and looked around. And after a little bit of time, I said ‘This is it. You know, even if I get out of the business, I’m staying here.’ It just appeals to me that way.”

In the end, ironically, it was that love of Baltimore and a yearning to enjoy it with his dogs, his grown kids and his wife, Wendy, who was born here at Lutheran Hospital that convinced that it was time to call it a career.

“I’ve been on somebody’s newscast since April of 1977. And that’s 45 years of getting home at midnight and 45 years, working weekends and holidays, and 45 years of missing family stuff, and all of that,” said Cunningham. “And …when you’re younger, you just accept those sacrifices, you know, that’s part of it. But as the years go by, and you get older, you start to realize that maybe you’ve sacrificed enough.”

“I want to try, you know, being home in the evenings, you know, I want to try, you know, having a weekend and leave town or so, oh, here’s the big one, going out to dinner in the middle of the week with my wife, if I want to, you know, the kind of stuff that’s important to me now, and it’s grown in importance over the years. And just to bring it full circle, it’s because I’m kind of weary of that sacrifice you have to make, and I just want to spend some time now not doing that. Does that make sense?”

Of course it does. Cunningham’s not completely going away. He’ll keep his Saturday afternoon talk show on The Fan (107.5 FM). And if you listen carefully, you’ll probably catch a little Donald Fagen and some Steely Dan in between Orioles and Ravens takes, because, if nothing else, Bruce Cunningham surely remembers the Queen of Soul.

The post Bruce Cunningham Says Goodbye appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The Terps got run out of the Bahamas by Stanford 86-68 during a Thanksgiving weekend contest. As the two teams prepare for Friday’s regional semifinal match in the NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash., the parties spent Thursday talking about how different they look in the new calendar year.

“I’m excited because we couldn’t drastically be any different,” said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. “So I think that’s the progression you want to see. I’d say the same thing for Stanford. When you look at them in November, as everyone is trying to find their own identity, they’re a lot different in March as well.”

Of the two teams, it’s the Terps (23-8) who have more reasons to cite and even hope for the difference.

Maryland was waylaid by the Cardinal (30-3) in November, as Stanford shot 52 percent from the field, with all five starters scoring in double figures.

Guard Hannah Jump hit seven three-pointers that day to account for her 21 points and the Terps looked lost defensively, giving up their second highest point total of the year.

“I definitely wanted this side of the bracket and I was happy we got it,” said Maryland forward Chloe Bibby, who had 15 points in the November meeting. “Obviously, we’ll take whatever. Definitely excited to go out there and have a rematch as you said. We saw them in November, so excited to see them again (Friday).”

The Terps are encouraged by the notion that they will meet the top-seed Cardinal this time with starters Katie Benzan and Diamond Miller, who missed the November game with an ailment and a knee injury, respectively.

Benzan, who, like Bibby, is a graduate student, is Maryland’s best three-point shooter at 45 percent, while Miller, a junior, is the Terps best perimeter defender as well as its third leading scorer at 13.2 points a game.

Miller and freshman Shyanne Sellers will be expected to help keep the Cardinal’s three-point game in check, while Benzan should help reduce the load off junior Ashley Owusu, who had a game-high 30 in November, but got little help outside of Bibby.

“I didn’t have the opportunity to play them in November, so just having this opportunity, it’s going to be fun to see them for the first time and compete,” said Benzan.”

The Cardinal, the defending national champion, are riding a 22-game winning streak. They expect the Terps, who beat Delaware and Florida Gulf Coast handily last weekend, to try to play fast.

“I like our team running, too,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. “And I like open-court basketball. I think that’s where we’re at with the women’s basketball game. The more we can play open court, really show the ballet of basketball, the moving, cutting, not have it be a wrestling match, not have it be so physical that you’re fouling all the time. People want to watch — they don’t want to watch rugby in a 94 and 50 square wooden floor.”

The winner will advance to Sunday’s regional final for a ticket to next weekend’s Final Four in Minneapolis.

The post Maryland vs. Stanford Sweet 16 Preview appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

True to form, the Eagles kept firing threes, but they didn’t fall. Meanwhile, the Terps used their superior size to club Florida Gulf Coast inside and harangued them defensively on the perimeter.

The result: A convincing 89-64 win in the second round of the NCAA tournament that propels Maryland into the Spokane regional semifinal next weekend.

The Terps (25-8), who under coach Brenda Frese, have earned a reputation as a program that emphasizes scoring, played perhaps their best defensive game of the season, given FGCU’s prowess at shooting the three.

The Eagles shot just 38.5% overall from the field, and just 11-of-35 (31.4%) from three-point range.

“We adjusted some things away from what we normally do defensively,” said Frese. “We went back to Maryland basketball, and we made the adjustment that we were kind of more comfortable with. I thought it got us playing harder, more aggressive. You started seeing where the confidence grew on the defensive end.”

With junior perimeter player Diamond Miller and sophomore forward Angel Reese at the helm of the defense, Maryland used superior height and length to harass the undersized Eagles along the perimeter.

“We realized we weren’t talking and we were just kind of playing off each other, but you need to communicate on defense, and I think we did that,” said Miller, who also had a game-high 24 points. “Communicating, pointing at each other so everybody knew what was going on and we understood their offense and their game plan and we executed our defense.

Forward Kierstan Bell, the two-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, had 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting, including a 2-for-13 performance from three-point range. She consistently drew attention from Miller and Reese, whose long arms and quickness bottled Bell up.

“I was very frustrated,” said Bell. “Things weren’t going our way. But I was just trying to stay together with my teammates. They were encouraging me throughout the half. But this isn’t what we wanted,”

Said FGCU coach Karl Smesko: “They (Maryland) had really good ball pressure, and they switch a lot of things, and they have great length at a lot of positions,” said FGCU coach Karl Smesko. You just have to give them credit. They turned their defense up another notch, especially late in the half and for the whole second half.”

On offense, the Terps broke open a first quarter tie with crisp ball movement in the second quarter, closing the half on a 9-0 burst to take a 47-39 halftime lead.

“I think this (was) a really fast-paced game,” said Reese (St. Frances). “Some of us are tired. I think us getting back up and down the court and getting this win, I think it’s good for us, especially for me. But I think that we just slowed them down a lot in the second half.

The run continued into the third quarter, where Maryland extended their lead to 21 with just under four minutes to go in the period.

Reese had 21, hitting 11-of-14 free throws. Guard Ashley Owusu posted 20 points in her best game since hurting her ankle late in the season.

The Terps will make their 19th trip to the Sweet Sixteen in program history and the 10th journey for Frese while at College Park.

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The Owls, who meet Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday, lead the nation in three-point attempts and by a large margin.

Keeping FGCU from raining threes all over the arena may be the key to propelling the Terps, the fourth-seed in the Spokane region, into the Sweet 16 next weekend.

“Yeah, their style of play looks pretty fun, just launch from three and go from there,” said Maryland graduate guard Katie Benzan. “And it’s definitely unique. Not many teams play that way. We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing them. They’re a really good team, so it’s going to be a hard battle,”

Indeed, the Owls (30-2), the 12th seed, come into Sunday on an eight-game winning streak, including Friday’s 84-81 win over fifth-seeded Virginia Tech in the first round. They missed 23 three-pointers Friday and aren’t embarrassed at all.

“What we actually call ourselves is “Raining Threes,” said FGCU graduate guard Andrea Cecil. “And it’s something that we take a lot of pride in. It’s a fun way to play basketball. And we focus on getting our three-pointers, and that’s our game and that’s our style.”

Every team shoots threes, to be sure. But no one does it with the frequency of Florida Gulf Coast, who has taken 1,158 treys this year – 236 more than Middle Tennessee, which was second.

By contrast, Maryland (22-8), led by Benzan who shot threes better than anyone else in the nation last year by percentage, has taken 1,159 three-point shots over the past two seasons.

Ironically, the Terps are ranked 18th in the nation in three-point percentage, connecting at a 36 percent rate, placing them just behind Virginia Tech. FGCU, meanwhile, is ranked 76th at just under 33 percent.

However, because the Owls, who shot 15-for-38 from three-point range Friday, launch so many threes – an average of 36 per game – defending them closely along the perimeter can make an opponent susceptible to lay-ups.

“We try to create maximum space on every offensive possession, and I don’t think that’s really even possible if you got multiple kids who can’t shoot or don’t need to be respected from the three,” said FGCU coach Karl Smesko.

“So for us that’s always been our style. Like we want you to have to chase all our shooters around, and then while you’re doing that, hopefully we can score on a cut to the basket or find a driving lane to get to the rim. And if you come over to help, hopefully we make the right decision and get it to an open shooter.”

The Terps, meanwhile, will present their own puzzle for the Owls, who are 16-0 away from Alico Arena in Fort Myers, including an 88-74 win in November over LSU, the third seed in Spokane.

While FGCU has no player on the roster taller than 6-foot-1, Maryland has three starters 6-foot-2 or taller.

The Owls permitted Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley to erupt for an arena record 42 points Friday, However, only one other Hokie scored in double figures.

Still, stopping Maryland’s forwards Angel Reese, Chloe Bibby and Diamond Miller will present its own task for the Owls. The trio combined for 49 points in the Terps’ 102-71 win over Delaware Friday.

“I think we’ve shown this season we kind of know who we are and what our identity is,” said Maryland coach Brenda Frese. “But, I mean obviously — I think they can’t get deflated by the number of threes they take, and obviously we need to make it difficult for them from the three-point line. But for us it’s just continuing to play the right way, within our own offense.

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