Jeff Barker
Jeff Barker writes about sports business and issues, casino gambling and, occasionally, politics. Since joining The Sun from the Arizona Republic’s Washington bureau in 2000, he has covered state politics, congressional steroids hearings, the Beltway sniper attacks and Terps basketball and football. He could never decide if he should cover news or sports, so he did both and enjoys writing hybrids of the two.
Recent Articles
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Absent title sponsor, Baltimore Running Festival gets its second wind
Four years ago, the Baltimore Running Festival lost its title sponsor and along with it the cash purses that drew elite marathoners to the city’s signature foot race. Gone were the aspirations that Baltimore’s hilly course might rise one day grow to rival Boston, Chicago or New York, but race organizers...
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No billy goat or 'Bambino' but Washingtonians wonder if baseball team is jinxed
In the early hours of Friday the 13th in the 13th season of the Nationals in Washington, you could hardly blame even the team's most sensible fans for wondering if something had gone cosmically awry with a club that has mastered the art of merely getting close. Unlike some other cities, Washington...
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Brady, Curry, Newton and other top Under Armour athletes get enviable perks
On a summer day at Sagamore Farm – an expansive horse breeding and training center in Baltimore County — a visitor might be surprised to gaze toward a nearby hill and see … goalposts. The posts stand at the ends of a full-length football field adjacent to the property’s main house in the rolling...
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After Las Vegas shooting, man credits Under Armour compression shirt with helping save brother's life
A Minnesota man told a TV station that an Under Armour compression shirt may have helped save his brother from bleeding to death after being shot in the Las Vegas mass shooting. Ben Aurich told WCCO, a CBS station in Minneapolis, that his brother, Philip, a St. Paul native, was wearing a compression...
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Sports betting at Maryland casinos could return for 2018 agenda in General Assembly
The issue of casino gambling, largely absent from the General Assembly’s agenda for the past five years, could return to Annapolis in 2018. Joe Weinberg, head of the company that operates Maryland Live Casino & Hotel in Anne Arundel County, said Tuesday that he is “all in” for an effort to legalize...
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Trump tax threat over anthem protests would have little effect on Ravens, NFL
President Donald Trump’s tweeted proposal on Tuesday to reverse the NFL’s “massive tax breaks” because of the ongoing player protests during the national anthem would have little effect on the league — which voluntarily relinquished its tax-exempt status in 2015 — or the Ravens. Like the other...
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Aberdeen offered to sell Ripken Stadium for $1 to IronBirds organization; mayor says 'no deal' in place
Aberdeen Mayor Patrick McGrady said Monday “there is no deal” in place for the city to sell Ripken Stadium to the organization that manages business affairs for the Aberdeen IronBirds. On Friday, the minor-league baseball team disclosed the city proposed selling the 6,300-seat stadium to Tufton...
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Ripken’s hometown dispute concerns, puzzles Aberdeen residents and him
Cal Ripken Jr. says an escalating dispute with Aberdeen officials has led to “misperceptions in the community” where the baseball Hall of Famer was born and remains a local icon. The dispute began as a discussion over who should manage weddings, proms, fundraisers and other non-baseball events at...