Olney Bears Beat the Odds and Every Team in Their Division, Win CCYFCL Super Bowl

By Dave Golden

The Olney Bears 12U team has won the 2021 CCYFCL Super Bowl which took place yesterday, Saturday, November 20th at Winfield at Mayeski Park. The defeated Arbutus 8-6 in a tightly contested battle.

The Bears finished the 2019 season in third place – unable to score a touchdown against the top two teams, defending champions Arbutus, and #2 Damascus. The Olney Bears actually won the Super Bowl in a shortened 2020 season that didn’t include Arbutus and Damascus as participants in the league. Their 2021 schedule had them playing both teams.

Many criticized the 2020 team and did not consider them champions because of the shortened season and two of the heavy hitters not participating. There was an asterisk by their name, but this year with a full season, they played the role of “David,” facing a highly skilled Arbutus team, who they considered the ”Goliath” of the league. Arbutus had not lost a game in five years and had won the Super Bowl each of those years. This year was different, as the Olney Bears finally beat both of their rivals during the regular season.

We spoke with Coach Eric prior to the Super Bowl, who has coached the Bears for seven years and is one of seven coaches for the team. He proudly smiled and said, “It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that these superstars worked so hard, and achieved so much this year, but some will be moving on after this season. It will be quite an achievement to end their careers with the Bears with a victory this weekend.”

The 2021 Super Bowl was intense. There was a lot on the line, as both teams wanted this game. Arbutus, whose only loss in the last five years was earlier this season to Olney, put up a great fight. With Olney leading 8-6, Arbutus was driving down the field late in the game until an interception by Isaiah Womack sealed the game for the Olney Bears.

Congratulations to all of the players and coaches on back to back Super Bowls!

On Saturday, the Washington Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2-1, in extra time to win the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League championship in Louisville, KY.

The Spirit came into the game with an 11-6-7 record and on a 7-game winning streak.

The Washington Spirit played their first six seasons (2013-2019) at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown and now split their home games between Segra Field in Leesburg, VA and Audi Field in DC.

Highlights from across Twitter below:

Kelley O’Hara in extra-time to give @WashSpirit the lead in the NWSL final 🔥

(via @NWSL)pic.twitter.com/2JlQ3RiO2q

— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 20, 2021

Picture-perfect first goal of the season from @kelleymohara 🔥#WASvCHI | @CBS | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/89ohWFr9Dl

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 20, 2021

THE WASHINGTON SPIRIT ARE @NWSL CHAMPIONS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/l1Mzmv1uEz

— ESPN (@espn) November 20, 2021

As a D.C. suburb, Montgomery County plays a big role in helping make Washington D.C the 7th ranked “large sports city” in the country, according to a new report. While many have jumped ship on the Football Team, the Wizards fast start this season, and the recent success of the Capitals and Nationals has likely been helpful.

With NCAA athletes now able to make money from sponsorships using their name, likeness and image, potentially earning them thousands of dollars per year, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2021’s Best Sports Cities.

To determine the cities where the game is always on regardless of season, WalletHub compared 392 small to large cities across the five largest sports in the U.S.: football, basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer.

D.C. ranks 19th in terms of football and 24th when it comes to baseball, but is in the top ten for basketball (9th) and soccer (8th), while coming in 13th for hockey.

Best vs. Worst

• Cookeville, Tennessee, has the lowest minimum season-ticket price for a college football (FBS and FCS) game, $36.00, which is 31.9 times lower than in South Bend, Indiana, the city with the highest at $1,150.00.
• Charlotte, North Carolina, has the lowest average ticket price for an NBA game, $32.05, which is 3.9 times lower than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $125.43.
• NHL fans in Pittsburgh are 28.1 times friendlier and more engaged than their New York counterparts.
• Pittsburgh has the lowest average MLB ticket price, $20.75, which is 2.9 times lower than in Boston, the city with the highest at $60.09.
• Atlanta has the highest attendance rate for MLS games, 163.06 percent, which is 8.1 times higher than in Chicago, the city with the lowest at 20.04 percent.

To view the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-sports-cities/15179

Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the week 8 MCPS football games. They’ll be updated as we receive them.

If a score isn’t listed, it’s because we didn’t receive a report from the game.

Quince Orchard 31 at Northwest 0 (4:30PM)

Blair 41 at Wheaton 6

Einstein 36 at Blake 13

Gaithersburg 7 at Clarksburg 8

Kennedy 0 at Poolesville 40

Magruder 28 at Watkins Mill 11

Northwood 0 at Rockville 42

Paint Branch 33 at Sherwood 0

Richard Montgomery 14 at Churchill 34

Seneca Valley 42 at Walter Johnson 7

Springbrook 27 at Damascus 48

Wootton 14 at Catonsville 17

BCC at Whitman (Saturday 2:30pm)

The Olney baseball team has officially selected Cropdusters as the team’s new name, per a post on the team’s Instagram account– @cropdustersbaseball

Back in March we let you know that the Olney Boys and Girls Community Sports Association, in conjunction with Koa Sports, worked out an agreement to bring a baseball team playing in the Cal Ripken Baseball League to the Olney area in the summer of 2022.

Last month the team needed help with potential names recently have narrowed it down to 7 based on suggestions from all of you.

After input from the community, the team has decided to go with Cropdusters– beating out Mechanics, Bat Flippers, Ogres, Gold Rush, Mumbo Jumbo, and Octopi.

The team will compete in the prestigious Cal Ripken Collegiate League and will host high level Collegiate players from all over the country.

Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the week 4 MCPS football games. They’ll be updated as we receive them.

If a score isn’t listed, it’s because we didn’t receive a report from the game.

B-CC 21 @ Gaithersburg 14 FINAL

Blair 15 @ Paint Branch 38 FINAL

Blake 36 @ Watkins Mill 20 FINAL

Churchill 28 @ Wootton 0 FINAL

Clarksburg 12 @ Urbana 0 FINAL

Einstein 14 @ Sherwood 41 FINAL

Kennedy 36 @ Northwood 0 FINAL

Northwest 29 @ Richard Montgomery 9 FINAL

Poolesville 20 @ Rockville 28 FINAL

Quince Orchard  36 @ Damascus 0 FINAL

Seneca Valley 52 @ Whitman 0 FINAL

Springbrook 20 @ Magruder 28 FINAL

Wheaton 0 @ Walter Johnson 42 FINAL

Back in March we let you know that the Olney Boys and Girls Community Sports Association, in conjunction with Koa Sports, worked out an agreement to bring a baseball team playing in the Cal Ripken Baseball League to the Olney area in the summer of 2022.

Last month the team needed help with potential names and have narrowed it down to 7 based on suggestions from all of you.

Now you can help choose the name out of the 7 finalists:

• Mechanics

• Crop Dusters

• Bat Flippers

• Ogres

• Gold Rush

• Mumbo Jumbos

• Octopi

You can cast your vote here.

The team will compete in the prestigious Cal Ripken Collegiate League and will host high level Collegiate players from all over the country.

They will open in summer of 2022 and will be playing at OBGC.

Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores of the week 3 MCPS football games. They’ll be updated as we receive them.

If a score isn’t listed, it’s because we didn’t receive a report from the game.

BCC 0 at Churchill 7 Final

Damascus at Kennedy CANCELLED

“Due to COVID-19 quarantines and student-athlete injuries from John F. Kennedy High School, the Damascus at Kennedy varsity and junior varsity football games scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, September 18, have been cancelled. After mutual agreement between the two schools, the games will not be made up and will be recorded as forfeitures, in alignment with Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association guidelines.”

Gaithersburg 0 at Northwest 42 FINAL

Frederick 63 at Wheaton 7 FINAL

Northwood 0 at Blair 30 FINAL

Paint Branch 51 at Springbrook 6 FINAL

Quince Orchard 63 at Walter Johnson 28 FINAL

Richard Montgomery 13 at Seneca Valley 0 FINAL

Rockville 24 at Magruder 13 FINAL

Sherwood 21 at Blake 6 FINAL

Watkins Mill 6 at Poolesville 34 FINAL

Whitman 6 at Einstein 47 FINAL

Wootton 6 at Clarksburg 13 FINAL

Lacrosse Legend Paul Rabil Announces Retirement

Paul Rabil announced his retirement today from the sport of lacrosse. Rabil, widely considered the face of lacrosse, grew up in Montgomery Village and attended Watkins Mill High School for a year, crediting his only lacrosse season there for helping him fall in love with the game.

He headed over to Dematha and then Johns Hopkins for his NCAA career.

Along with his brother Mike, Rabil formed The PLL (Premier Lacrosse League), a professional lacrosse league, which had its inaugural season in 2019.

He most recently played with the Cannons Lacrosse Club in the PLF. He previously played for the Boston Cannons and the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse.

After a decorated 14-year career, Paul Rabil has announced his retirement from playing professional lacrosse.

Thank you for everything you’ve done for the sport, 99.@PaulRabil pic.twitter.com/5w56IvX418

— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) September 14, 2021

9/8/21, 10:30AM Update: Adam Schefter has tweeted clarification on Tanya Snyder’s comments on his podcast, stating that a Washington Football Team spokesperson said the list of eight names were a selection of names that were highlighted in the WFT’s Making the Brand Video, and not a final list of potential name candidates.

Tanya Snyder, co-CEO of the Washington Football Team and wife of team co-owner Dan Snyder, announced the final 8 names that remain in contention as the nickname for the Washington Football Team via Adam Schefter’s podcast.

Team President Jason Wright had previously mentioned that 3 names were in contention, but the 8 names that Tanya Snyder announced were Red Hogs, Defenders, Armada, Presidents, Brigade, Commanders, Red Wolves and Washington Football Team.

NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay tweeted that he has “said for a while” that Commanders will be the name that’s chosen and is sticking with that opinion as we get closer.

The team previously announced that they will remain the Washington Football Team for this upcoming season.

Statement from Sport & Social Regarding FanDuel Sportsbook

Sports & Social at 11800 Grand Park Ave in Pike & Rose announced recently that it will be opening on September 9th. Today we received the following statement about their upcoming sportsbook:

“FanDuel is sponsoring the new Sports & Social Bethesda location as a part of their online plans in the state of Maryland pending regulatory approval. They are going to be the location’s official online sportsbook partner when legal sports betting comes to Maryland.”

Governor Hogan signed legislation to legalize sports betting in the State of Maryland back in May, but regulatory issues have delayed the start of sports betting in the state. Originally thought to be begin by the start of the NFL season, Governor Hogan is now hoping everything is ready to go by the Super Bowl. He told Media Matters, “I pressed them pretty hard about making sure we get it done at least by the end of football season when all the betting takes place, really — in the playoffs and the Super Bowl”.

Sport & Social describes itself as a “premier dining, entertainment, sports viewing, and social concept located in high-profile entertainment and lifestyle districts, world-class casino resort destinations, and at the front door of professional sports stadiums around the country.”

Sports & Social is replacing Del Frisco’s, which closed back in 2019.