Let the Madness Begin!

In Under Armour’s most recent, Under the Armour episode, Brandon Jennings, the starting point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks emphatically said, “The harder you work when nobody is watching, the less you bleed when you go out there and perform.” A sports season can reveal a person character, span a lifetime of emotions- the highest highs and the lowest lows- but in the end; when tournament time rolls around, no matter what sport he/she plays, the team who works the hardest and overcomes those lows walks out on top.

College Championships Abound in Maryland

There were three different college conference championships held in Maryland this past weekend: the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Capital Athletic Conference Men’s & Women’s Swimming Championships and the Maryland JUCO Basketball Championships.

Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex hosted the MEAC Championships this year. The Championships started on Thursday and wrapped up on Saturday. The weekend belonged to the Hampton women and the Norfolk State men. Both teams earned identical scores of 161.5 points to win the conference title.

High School Sports Shine in Holiday Spotlight

Sports fans had a lot to look forward to this holiday season: the NBA was finally starting its season, the NFL was wrapping up its regular season and college bowl games were getting underway.  But if you are a fan of high school sports, Maryland was the place to be for the holidays. Two major high school sporting events took place in Maryland during the last week in December, the Governor’s Challenge and the Chesapeake Bowl.

LeBron Brings His Talent to Baltimore

Last night, Baltimoreans received a rare treat: NBA Basketball.  Well, it wasn’t quite an NBA game, but rather NBA players taking part in a charity pro-am game at Morgan State University.   The Melo League played the Goodman League before a capacity crowd of 4,500 at Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium.  The game featured NBA Stars LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Josh Selby, Jarrett Jack, Gary Neal and Baltimore’s own Carmelo Anthony.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at St. Frances Academy, but with more stars committing to play and the demand for tickets growing, organizers had to find a bigger venue fast. Kurk Lee, the former Towson State basketball standout, is the athletic director for the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center and organizer of the Melo League.  He put the word out that the charity pro-am was looking for a bigger home.  Morgan State answered the call.  Floyd Taliaferro, director of student activities at Morgan, said the event landed on his lap at noon on Monday.  After getting the OK from the school president, Taliaferro had the task of getting the entire campus community on board.

ESPN National High School Invitational Comes to Coppin

The beautiful new arena at Coppin State is less than six months old, and it is getting its first nationally televised event over the Easter weekend.

The ESPN boys and girls high school basketball tournament RISE (aka “mini March Madness”) is in its second year and already garnering attention as a showcase for the finest scholastic athletes, even before they get to college.  The tournament is broadcast over three days (April 1-3) and includes teams from all over the country.

The event was supposed to be at Georgetown Prep, but the conflict with Easter proved a problem.  Coppin was happy to step in.

We don’t know the economic impact of this event, but the coverage is certainly a nice bonus.  It will give a national audience a good look at the future of the sport in a beautiful new facility.

(Disclaimer:  MSA built the Coppin Physical Education Complex, so a certain amount of crowing is personal pride.)

Congratulations to all those who swooped in for the rebound and scored at the buzzer to land this one.