Sports surprises, tragedy
Jordan McNair’s death, unexpected triumphs marked 2018
UMBC men’s basketball gave us a dash of the miraculous, and the mighty colt Justify added a dose of the majestic. We celebrated one of the greatest athletes in the city’s history, Ray Lewis, and threw a little love to the hockey team from our neighbor to the south.
But at its core, 2018 was defined not by games but by the complex and sometimes tragic stories that accompany them. From Jordan McNair’s death at the University of Maryland to the stew of racial and class tensions around St. Frances football, Baltimore sports gave us many sobering issues to ponder.
So here they are, the 10 most important sports stories of the year:
Jordan McNair dies, leading to the eventual firing of Maryland football coach DJ Durkin
It began as an intimate tragedy, felt by Jordan McNair’s family, his Maryland teammates and the peers and teachers who loved him at McDonogh School.
Few guessed at the time that McNair’s death would lead to reports of a “toxic” culture around the football program run by
As allegations of humiliating and dangerous practices swirled, Durkin was placed on leave in August and
Such was the coach’s charisma that the university system’s Board of Regents recommended he keep his job after an independent investigation of the program.
Notre Dame Prep ends McDonogh girls lacrosse winning streak at 198 games
Just 11 days earlier, Notre Dame Prep had nearly pulled it off, carrying a one-goal lead into the final five minutes before succumbing in overtime.
That’s how things always seemed to go against McDonogh girls lacrosse,
But on May 11, the dynasty finally crumbled. Given another shot at the queens,
The Eagles’ 198-game winning streak began in 2009, three months after Barack Obama began his first term as president. Adam Jones had just begun his second season with the Orioles, and Joe Flacco had recently completed his first as Ravens quarterback.
The first hint of vulnerability came when coach Chris Robinson, the architect of the program, stepped down before the season to pursue other business opportunities. McDonogh nonetheless won its first 20 games of the season.
When it was all over, Eagles coach Nancy Love brushed past the short-term disappointment, saying: “Let’s have a huge party and celebrate what this was.”
Baltimore prep teams refuse to play St. Frances in football, prompting a race-class debate
In 2017, St. Frances made headlines by establishing a new world order in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association football under coach Biff Poggi. The upstart Panthers outscored opponents 342-50 and finished No. 4 in USA Today’s national rankings.
The story became a national sensation for several weeks.
The Orioles lose 115 games, leading to the removal of Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette
The Orioles won on Opening Day, a remarkably misleading result that had the exultant home fans dreaming of a fourth expert-defying run to the postseason under manager Buck Showalter.
At times, Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette seemed likely to keep their positions. They were the chief architects of a Baltimore baseball renaissance during which the Orioles won 78 more games than they lost from 2012 to 2016.
But the losing became so pervasive that
UMBC charms the country with an NCAA men’s basketball upset of Virginia
They were supposed to relish the invitation and exit the stage gracefully. That’s what every other No. 16 seed in the history of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament had done.
Virginia, with its smothering defense and impeccable credentials, did not seem a likely candidate to take an unprecedented fall.
But as a nation of basketball fans watched, transfixed, on a late Friday night,
Over the wild 36 hours that followed, a nation learned what the letters UMBC stood for and
In the next round, UMBC hung tough but
Baltimore embraces the Capitals as they finally win the Stanley Cup
As the Orioles sped toward irrelevance in May, Baltimore looked south for a new team to take into its heart.
Perhaps that battered history made it easier for Baltimoreans to embrace a Washington team. Or perhaps it was simply time for
Others made the trip to Washington for games, prompting the MARC Penn line to add extra service. Showalter donned a Caps jersey for one pregame news conference.
Ovechkin and Co. did their part to reward this fervor, seizing the franchise’s first championship with a 4-1 series victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. The clincher drew a record television rating for an NHL game in Baltimore.
The Ravens miss the playoffs again, prompting talk of sweeping changes
The Ravens cleaned out their lockers on New Year’s Day, less than 24 hours after
At his annual “State of the Ravens” news conference, owner Steve Bisciotti said he contemplated firing coach John Harbaugh after the loss and announced that
As if all that uncertainty wasn’t enough, Newsome traded back into the first round of the NFL draft to
The Ravens began their 2018 season 4-2 with Flacco as the starter, but when he went down with a midseason hip injury,
Ray Lewis enters the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Clad in purple pants and a matching purple-and-gold tie, Ray Lewis relished his position as the closing speaker for the 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction class.
There was never much question that
But Lewis seemed deeply moved by the induction experience,
Many current Ravens, including general manager Ozzie Newsome, coach John Harbaugh, quarterback Joe Flacco and linebacker Terrell Suggs, showed up to celebrate their former colleague.
The Orioles begin a new era with Mike Elias at the top
Orioles fans looked with apprehension toward their post-Showalter, post-Duquette future. They weren’t even certain who would pick the team’s next brain trust.
Would it be John and Louis Angelos, the sons of managing partner Peter Angelos? Would vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson have a say?
So fans reacted with a mixture of joy and relief when
Elias — who turned 36 in December — helped the Astros rise from 111-loss disaster to world champions in a four-year rush. He quickly announced that
“In its history and its DNA, this organization was once considered the smartest, most forward-thinking, most progressive team in baseball,” Elias said, singing the exact tune fans wished to hear. “The fact that that was the case here before means it's possible for that to be the case here again. We are here to restore that reputation.”
Justify wins the Preakness on his way
to the Triple Crown as Pimlico faces an uncertain future
He did not make his maiden start until Feb. 18, less than three months before he’d line up as the Kentucky Derby favorite. He ran his last race June 9 in the Belmont Stakes.
But in four months, the powerful colt Justify guaranteed his place in thoroughbred racing history, winning all six of his races and the Triple Crown. He came to Baltimore for the Preakness facing questions about his health because he walked uncomfortably the morning after the Derby.
Three weeks later,
For yet another year, the Preakness went off against a backdrop of uncertainty for dilapidated Pimlico.