Maryland Teams

For many people, kickball is little more than a child's game, a backyard sport played for about as long as it takes to reach adolescence. If you were to ask one of those individuals to play now, they might give a look of amusement before politely declining in favor of more mature activities. But dedicated kickball players would say that's just because they haven't tried it. "I would invite them to actually join us, check out a highlight video on thisiskickball.com, and just give it a try," said Matt Kemph, a player and founder of The Circuit.

As the Maryland players prepare to play against Pennsylvania in Saturday's Big 33 Football Classic at Hersheypark Stadium, they're practicing with a new head coach. Gilman's Biff Poggi stepped down last week as Maryland's coach in the high school football all-star game, and Quince Orchard's Dave Mencarini replaced him in the role. "Dave Mencarini was involved with the whole coaching staff from the beginning, so we made him the head coach," Maryland team director Scott Ripley said in a phone call Wednesday.

Maryland made it official today, confirming that seven athletic teams will be discontinued. Men's outdoor track and field will remain, although the sport will need to reach financial benchmarks down the road in order to remain viable. The eliminated sports are: men's tennis; men's indoor track and field and cross country; men's and women's swimming and diving; women's water polo; and women's acrobatics and tumbling. Some reflections: ** I can't help but think of how members of the Maryland men's and women's track and field teams sat in a semicircle between the starting line and high-jump pit on a November day and were told by athletic director Kevin Anderson that the men's program was being recommended for elimination.

When Maryland opened the season five months ago against defending national champion Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Terps were full of the hype and hope that comes when many expect a team to find its way to the NCAA tournament. After a down-to-the-buzzer loss to the Wildcats that preceded a school record-tying 13-game winning streak, Mark Turgeon's team lost its way. There were times last month when even a National Invitation Tournament bid seemed in doubt.

For the second time in three years, no Maryland school was among the 68 selected for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But coaches and observers say that fact combined with a relative down period for the University of Maryland have obscured an overall upswing in the state's college basketball scene. Highlights from 2012-2013 included: Loyola winning 20 games for the second straight season, Towson staging a historic turnaround from 1-31 to 18-13 and tied for second in the Colonial Athletic Association and Mount St. Mary's going to the final of the Northeast Conference tournament under a first-year coach.

This year, the Crab Pot hockey tournament is truly a Chesapeake Bay affair — all four teams are from Maryland. The men's collegiate tournament — in its 35th year — is hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy and was intended to be a face-off among state teams, but has frequently been won over the years by schools from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Only in the past few seasons has the two-day event become Maryland-focused, bringing a new level of pride to the winners of the trophy, an enameled crab pot mounted on a tiered base.

Pardon our puffed up chests, but Maryland is going to be well represented in the NCAA lacrosse championship contests this weekend. The men's team from the University of Maryland has surprised the experts by making it to the Final Four for Division I teams, and the Salisbury University team will be vying with the Tufts University team for the Division III title. Fittingly, these contests will be played in the heart of lacrosse country, at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Meanwhile, up in Stony Brook New York, the women from the University of Maryland will be defending their title as the best female Division I college team in the nation.

Deanna Espeut, 12, jumped between the two circling jump-ropes, being careful not to step on them, while rope turner Ave Danzy yelled: "Keep your feet up!"But as soon as her 12-year-old teammate gave the tip, Deanna stepped on the rope, which meant she had to start over again.The girls are members of Black Lightning, an 11-member double Dutch jump-rope club formed in October at Owen Brown Middle School."I used to watch my sister [double Dutch]," said Kendra Walters, of Black Lightning. "It's fun, and something to do for a sport."

Bobby Ross got much of the credit for Maryland's short reign as the most dominant team in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the mid 1980s, but Joe Krivak was often referred to as the guru and play-caller for a string of record-setting Terps quarterbacks. Krivak, who died Tuesday after battling leukemia, tutored a line of Maryland quarterbacks that began with Boomer Esiason and Frank Reich, included Stan Gelbaugh and Dan Henning, and ended with Neil O'Donnell and Scott Zolak after Krivak succeeded Ross as head coach in 1987.

He keeps the picture in his office, on a shelf with mementos of the country's most dominant college soccer coach. All around are highlights of Sasho Cirovski's past, from the two national championships his Maryland teams have won to the 40 players they've furnished the pros. But that stuff pales next to Cirovski's treasure - a framed black-and-white photo of his family, circa 1969. It could have been taken during World War II. That's Cirovski in the foreground, in the rocky Macedonian village where he lived, a smallish boy with pursed lips and a resolute gaze far too focused for an ordinary 7-year-old.

McDonogh's girls lacrosse players returned Saturday from spring break in Florida with smiles on their faces. Their winning streak remained intact. Wins over seven-time state champions from Florida and Georgia extended the Eagles' streak to 71 straight victories, dating back nearly four years. Tuesday's 12-7 win at No. 15 St. Paul's, in their Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference opener, made it 72 in a row. "It was a big test, and we responded really well," senior attacker Sammi Burgess said of the Florida trip in which a revamped team picked up where last year's Eagles left off. No other girls high school lacrosse team in the country has played the game better in recent years.

For the second time in three years, no Maryland school was among the 68 selected for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But coaches and observers say that fact combined with a relative down period for the University of Maryland have obscured an overall upswing in the state's college basketball scene. Highlights from 2012-2013 included: Loyola winning 20 games for the second straight season, Towson staging a historic turnaround from 1-31 to 18-13 and tied for second in the Colonial Athletic Association and Mount St. Mary's going to the final of the Northeast Conference tournament under a first-year coach.

No. 1 Loyola (0-0) Coming up: At Delaware, Saturday, 3 p.m. Comment: The Greyhounds begin their defense of the 2012 national title against the Blue Hens, who have won just six of 29 contests in this series. Loyola must neutralize sophomore Tyler Barbarich, who has won 62.5 percent (25 of 40) of his faceoffs thus far. No. 3 Maryland (1-0) Coming up: At Hartford, Saturday, 1 p.m. Comment: The Terps opened last season with a 12-6 home victory over the Hawks, the sides' only meeting.

Nothing screams Super Bowl weekend like hot wings, chips and dip, and, most importantly, beer. Padonia Station in Timonium is taking that last element to the next level, hosting the first Super Bowl of Maryland Craft Beer from Thursday, Jan. 31, through Sunday, Feb. 3. Expected to be on tap are 40 beers from seven local breweries, including 10 from Halethorpe's famed Heavy Seas brewery. Padonia Station General Manager Larry Leonardi said it's a chance for the bar to transform its image.

Bobby Ross got much of the credit for Maryland's short reign as the most dominant team in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the mid 1980s, but Joe Krivak was often referred to as the guru and play-caller for a string of record-setting Terps quarterbacks. Krivak, who died Tuesday after battling leukemia, tutored a line of Maryland quarterbacks that began with Boomer Esiason and Frank Reich, included Stan Gelbaugh and Dan Henning, and ended with Neil O'Donnell and Scott Zolak after Krivak succeeded Ross as head coach in 1987.

Justus Pickett and Makinton Dorleant are leaving the Maryland football team, an athletic department spokesman confirmed Monday. Pickett, a sophomore running back from Charlotte, N.C., is leaving College Park to attend to a family matter. Dorleant, a redshirt freshman defensive back from Naples, Fla., tweeted the following Sunday : “University of Northern Iowa Panther baby!” Pickett was Maryland's third-leading rusher in 2012, gaining 142 yards and rushing for three touchdowns on 69 carries.

  Attackman Wilkins Dismuke of Rock Canyon High in Littleton, Colo., signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play lacrosse for Johns Hopkins. Dismuke led the state in points and goals as a junior and scored the most goals in the state as a sophomore. He was named first-team all-conference and first-team all-state as well as the Warrior 40 West Regional MVP and Warrior 40 Offensive MVP. Other commitments Attackman Lucas Gradinger of Torrey Pines High in Del Mar, Calif., has signed to play at Maryland, Gradinger was a Nike Blue Chip selection as a rising junior and an Under Armour All-American.

Catonsville's boys soccer team was one of only three Maryland teams -- and only 17 nationally among boys -- to earn the National Soccer Coaches Association of America High School Team Academic Award.To receive the award, a team must have maintained a combined grade-point average of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale for the entire 1996-97 school year. The Comets had a 3.31 average.South Carroll and Parkside were among the 33 girls teams to earn the award, which is based on the grade-point average of every person on the roster, including managers.

  Attackman Wilkins Dismuke of Rock Canyon High in Littleton, Colo., signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play lacrosse for Johns Hopkins. Dismuke led the state in points and goals as a junior and scored the most goals in the state as a sophomore. He was named first-team all-conference and first-team all-state as well as the Warrior 40 West Regional MVP and Warrior 40 Offensive MVP. Other commitments Attackman Lucas Gradinger of Torrey Pines High in Del Mar, Calif., has signed to play at Maryland, Gradinger was a Nike Blue Chip selection as a rising junior and an Under Armour All-American.

For many people, kickball is little more than a child's game, a backyard sport played for about as long as it takes to reach adolescence. If you were to ask one of those individuals to play now, they might give a look of amusement before politely declining in favor of more mature activities. But dedicated kickball players would say that's just because they haven't tried it. "I would invite them to actually join us, check out a highlight video on thisiskickball.com, and just give it a try," said Matt Kemph, a player and founder of The Circuit.