About Gene Sweeney Jr.

Posts by Gene Sweeney Jr.:

Sun photographer Gene Sweeney Jr. says farewell after 30 years

Sun photographer Gene Sweeney Jr. says farewell after 30 years

75 photos

As my time at The Baltimore Sun comes to a close, I was asked to encapsulate the 30 years (half my life) in a few paragraphs – which is impossible. If added together, I’ve spent years at a variety of stadiums, arenas and gyms around the country, with an up-close view of sports history. I’ve covered World Series, Super Bowls, Final Fours, Stanley Cup Finals, etc., and I’ve been paid to be there — what a job! My career in Baltimore lasted longer then Cal Ripken Jr.’s, and I have thousands of photos to prove it.

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In Severn, BMX bicycle racing for young and old

In Severn, BMX bicycle racing for young and old

13 photos

On a spring night at Chesapeake BMX in Severn, the pursuit of the night was speed. With the smell of hamburgers grilling in the air, brother helped brother, father helped sons and even a grandmother helped her granddaughter, all in the pursuit of pedal power. This wasn’t about the jumps or tricks, like the X Games. It was about the shrieks of children as young as two, and the panting of adults as old as 57 as they raced bicycles on a 1180-foot dirt and asphalt course.

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The King of Christmas

The King of Christmas

21 photos

It’s Christmas time and you’re feeling the need to standout in your neighborhood with lights and decorations. You know what you want, but don’t have the time to get out the ladder and possibly you’re afraid of heights anyway.

The answer to your problem may be a company in Frederick called “The King Of Christmas.”

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Oriole Park: Field of Dreams

Oriole Park: Field of Dreams

13 photos

As James Earl Jones stated in the movie “Field of Dreams;” “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.”

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Tunnel washers

Tunnel washers

10 photos

One of the things I still enjoy about my profession as a journalist is that we get to see and do things not everybody has the opportunity to do. On Wednesday night I watched and photographed the cleaning of a Fort McHenry tunnel tube by a machine called a “Unimog.” Any time a machine is involved in an assignment I’m all over it, and with this involving a couple of unique machines, it was right up my alley, or tube, in this case.
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