Terps Typical Tourney Trip-up - Day 2

Special thanks go out to Natural Light for propelling the Terps to victory last night. I'll have to pick up some for the game this evening.

Here are the afternoon headlines...

• Terps Win! And on a serious note, Eric Hayes was motivated by a unexpected death of a family friend. Not sure how that affects his play again tonite, but I'm sure he's under some intense strain.
• Bubble Teams Vtech and Minnesota failed to grab big wins today over UNC and Michigan State, respectively. Helps.
• Lunardi has the Terps as the 5th team out in Bracketology right now. Bottomline, we need this game or we're hosting a couple NIT games at the cable box. Really can't see both San Diego State and New Mexico (who lost to the Wyoming Cowboys last night) sneaking in the backdoor though...
• Couple teams we're pulling for before tip-off: Mississippi State (vs. South Carolina), Illinois (vs. Michigan), and Xavier (vs. Temple).

Mid-Afternoon Gut Feeling - Terps are getting 6 points, and that feels pretty reasonable. We had our chances last week against this team, but they are just too fast and too athletic. Once we got up 5 against NCST you felt fine because they don't play well coming from behind. Wake, on the other hand can score in bunches, as I saw first hand. So yea, I don't feel good about having to play this team with our season on the line.

I think we will come to play though since Gary has been getting them fired up. The "Win Two" philosophy he's been pushing is interesting too. Another thing we have going for us is that Wake is still a young team. For half their starters this is only their second ACC Tourney game after an early exit last year.

All of that being said, I don't think it will be enough. My head tells me something in the ballpark of 77-70 Wake. It will be tight most of the game, but the 1-3-1 zone and Wake's depth will wear us down. Prove me wrong kids.

I'll have some more thoughts over the course of the day, and will be back to blog LIVE during the game.

Go Terps!

Terps 0 - Livers 0 - Everybody Else - :)

In Greek Mythology, the Titan Prometheus is credited with stealing fire from the gods and giving it to man (I read it in wikipedia, so it must be true). As punishment for his crime, Zeus had him tied to a cliff where a giant eagle would eat his liver only for it to grow back over night and again be eaten the next day (which for many of us is sooo college).

Let's be honest, the ancient Greeks were some pretty sick fucks right? Not a bad realization of hell.

Welp, here's mine. Every year for the past 4 years I've spent the entire summer/fall leading to basketball season convincing myself that I shouldn't get my hopes up about Maryland Basketball because it's pretty clear that we have a lack of talent and/or general ability. Then, outta nowhere, they bring me back in with a unexpected win. After bringing back down to Earth with the conference schedule, they make a crazy run at .500 complete with a memorable upset against Duke, UNC, or maybe both.

Then something awful happens. Gary's smoke and mirrors fade, and we fall flat. In 2005, as I looked on from my seat in the Verizon Center, it was a never before seen third straight loss to Clemson in the ACC Tourney. 2007 we made the Tournament!!! But then we lost to mid-major Butler on St. Patrick's Day. Not even several carbombs could erase the pain that day.

Now that all my friends are, thanks to Lost...


** LOST SPOILER ALERT***





...pulling a John Locke, looking for extension cords to hang themselves with, let me try to find the silver lining here.

Despite recent history, I'm really trying to tell myself that maybe we can pull this off. One thing is for sure, I won't be present in Charlottesville Saturday afternoon. I was in the Cable Box for the last two losses, and so I'll be taking one for the team and heading to Hoboken St. Patrick's Day. A sacrifice I wouldn't wish on anyone.

It makes me nervous to even mention that we have some games coming up for fear of being responsible for another first week of March fiasco. Hopefully we break out of this month of March funk. If we don't I'm probably just going to simulate an animal eating my entire liver.

I'm sure I won't be alone.

Like Caucasians to Chipotle

Dear Debbie Yow,

Do us all a favor and just call the season right now. Let's be honest, we just got our standard shocker win over a top ten team, we managed to get back to .500, Greivis dropped a triple double, everybody is loving us... let's just ride off into the sunset satisfied with how things have gone, and just end it.

No matter what happens the rest of the way, beating UNC will 100% be the peak, and in all likelihood we're already setting ourselves up for a typical miserable collapse. So let's just save us all a lot of misery and hang it up.

Your Friend,

Juan

PS. I blame you for making us have to stick with these horrible yellow jerseys. I hope you're happy with yourself.

At the very least, Vasquez should hire an agent today because his NBA draft stock is never going to be higher. I also suggest that Cliff Tucker make a quality DVD of his performance during the UNC game to show to his kids and focus on his degree because it's all downhill from here, bud.

The only players that should want to keep playing are Dave Neal and Landon Milbourne. Neal for the obvious reasons, he's been playing with house money since this season started. There's really every reason for him to let it ride at this point. Milbourne, after fouling out with a weak 6 points and 4 boards, is that guy at the blackjack table that ends up down while all his buddies are getting up from the table with $300 in their pockets. "Come on guys... just one more shoe... come on!"

Even as Maryland fans we should probably just keep the tv off from here on out, and everybody knows it, but we'll all submit ourselves to the inevitable heartbreak anyways. It's like all non-latinos and chipotle. We remember that it was very tasty, but we choose to forget the horrific aftermath on the toilet.

Being a Maryland fan is all about the one or two huge wins we steal a year, and choosing to forget how awful the rest of the season was. Although I know this to be true, I still managed to convince myself that it would be worth it to get a ticket to the Duke game Wednesday night even though I know it isn't going to turn out well.

Let's look at the upcoming schedule.

Duke at home. Duke is coming off a dominating win at home over #9 Wake that broke them out of their rut. We'll spot them 40 points early.

At NC State. They've won 4 of their last 5 at home and we've won one game on the road against the worst team in the league. Really feel good about this one.

Wake Forest at home. Although Wake has struggled on the road, their starting 5 looks like 6'2" 6'4" 6'9" 6'9" 7'0". We've got a shot here. No... no we don't.

At UVA to close out the year. Is there any place that we inexplicably drop more games than Charlottesville? Probably not.

I just don't like our chances. I think we all know that when we look at back the 2008-2009 season that the only thing we're going to remember is the unreal comeback win against UNC and Vasquez's triple double. Both great, but probably too little too late.

So put the Chipotle down white folks, you probably don't have enough pepto or toilet paper at home to survive this one.

"I See Dead People... Walking Around Like Regular People."

After watching UVA inexplicably upset Clemson in overtime in Charlottesville just now, MY20 followed up the game with the movie that best describes Clemson's typical February collapse, The Sixth Sense.

Every year they blow through the non-conference schedule. The hype builds, their ranking climbs, and their fans start to think "hey, maybe this is the year." But then something happens, the ACC Conference slate kicks off and they fade faster than a sorority girl after drinking a cup of the "blue jungle juice."

Last year, it looked like maybe the Tigers could break the trend, and they finally did by securing a 12 seed in the NCAA Tourney. But along the way, they earned the distinction of being the only team to be taken from a lock for a tourney bid to being on the bubble for the second year in a row. They also likely would have found themselves in the NIT once again had they not won two games in the ACC Tourney. Once they found themslves on the mountaintop, they lost in the first round to Villanova.

Granted, every year they've found a way to just barely outdo themselves, and once again they seemed to be threatening to vault themselves to a very solid seed. They beat Duke by 27.

All of a sudden, they've lost 2 of 3, including most recently a loss to UVA in overtime, and I'm not so sure they're a lock for to be playing in March anymore. They host the Terps on Tuesday, and have to travel to FSU and Wake, two teams they already lost to this year.

They're like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense. The past few years they strut around in January like they're a contender in the ACC, but really all they've gotta do is see the huge exit wound on their back to see that they are grossly mistaken.

Since the 2006-2007 season, Clemson has lost 2 non-conference regular season games, which puts them second only to UNC during the same period. On the surface, that's pretty impressive.

Who'd they lose to? Mississippi and Charlotte. Interesting. How many ranked non-conference opponents have they played? 1. No. 18 Purdue, who they beat as a part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Pretty lame.

With the second best regular season non-conference record in the last 3 years, you'd expect them to be in the ballpark of #2 for conference record right? Nope. Tied for 4th with a record of 23-19 behind UNC, Duke and Virginia Tech. Also at 23-19 is Maryland.

So what does that mean for the Terps? To me it means that of our next 3 games (@ Clemson, Duke, UNC) that Clemson seems to be the low hanging fruit. Somehow the media still thinks they are pretty good, so if we can find a way to beat them we'll be in good shape. Personally, I think we'll probably blow it since we're awful on the road.

Since the fact is that we have to find a way to win one of the next 3 to stay alive, and the Terps love to make it harder on themselves, we'll probably find a way to drop what should be the easiest game to win.

Hopefully the Terps can realize what we all should have, chances are Bruce Willis died from that pretty nasty gunshot wound to the kidney and Clemson, without any real non-conference tests, really isn't that good.

Hey You... You in the White... (Part 2)

The internet has made so many things easier.

• Keeping in touch with friends
• Getting up-to-the-minute information on your investments
• Masturbation
• Purchasing wildly underpriced consumer goods from Thailand

Another thing that the internet has made easier and more popular is following hometown athletes from high school to college to the pros. Back in the day when I was like 9 and a Michigan fan, I used to get so fired up for Dhani Jones because he started on a solid Michigan defense, and he went to Churchill, right down the road.

At 9, with no internet, that was pretty much all you had. Now there are 3 or 4 web sites to track it all, and on signing day, which was last week, you immediately know who is joining your alma mater's squad.

So, much to everyone's excitement, the Terps managed to scoop up 2 Cougars, Travis Hawkins and Zach Kerr, who both happen to be prettay... prettay good.

The great thing about looking at a Terps recruiting class is that you know you've got, at a minimum, a solid offensive lineman, a star skill player, and a future Pro Bowl front 7 guy.

Here are my best guesses.

Peter White - OG - 6'5" 340 lbs. Obviously it's never good when a player comes in and you hear stuff like "just too heavy to finish plays" or "will probably spend more time hangin out with Lee Majors eating breast bites than he will on the practice field" or everyone's favorite "think John Candy, The Great Outdoors. He'll be wearing #96 this year." Fortunately, I don't feel like he has the endurance to stand in line at the College Park Chipotle, so I think we can feel comfortable that he'll drop some pounds.

D.J. Adams - RB - 5'10" 210 lbs. I know, I can hear Berg already. "Oh way to go out on a limb John. Picking the NUMBER ONE recruit in the class." True. However, watching his film, it was too much to pass up. He reminds me of a young Herschel Walker. Thick, fast, and probably will end up being remembered more for his contributions as an Olympic Bobsledder than as an actual football player. Either way, we all know Fridge loves using at least 5 running backs in a season when he has the horses in the pen. Could be making a splash early and often, but also could star in "Cool Runnings 2: Jamaica, You've Got a DogSled Team".

DeOnte Arnett - DE - 6'4" 243 lbs. What do we know here? Clearly the more creative the first name of a defensive player for Maryland, the better he'll turn out. Whether it's unnecessary letters (Shawne Merriman), girl's names for guys (Erin Henderson), or the ever popular "q's not followed by u's to make the k sound" (D'Qwell Jackson), you know the more unusual, the more successful. Fact. Also, apparently Ohio State thought he was pretty good, so he's got that going for him. We may not hear from him until 2013, but rest assured Mr. Arnett will have at least 1 sack before his career ends.

So there you have it. Terps are on their way baby!

Hey You... You in the White... (Part 1)

This weekend we've been treated to a little bit of Spring like weather-- a taste of things to come, so to speak. As Terps Basketball typically holds onto the slimest of hopes of a winning season, Terps Football signs its 2009 recruits, and the NFL Draft buzz heats up, I keep finding myself asking some variation of this question...

"Which one of these dudes is gonna drive me to drinking next year?"

So, with that in mind, over the next week or so I'll share my thoughts on the offseason for the Terps and Skins, and why we could be bringin home 2 National Titles and a Lombardi Trophy Baby!!!

...but probably won't.

***********************************************************

"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said 'thank you,' and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to." - Col. Nathan Jessep, A Few Good Men

Let's be honest, Gary's attempts to defend himself in the press the last few weeks haven't sounded too dissimilar to Mr. Nicholas before he so famously gave Tom Cruise the truth that he so badly wanted. But, even if his arguments are tired, he makes some pretty good points.

He did bring the program back into national prominence after the best basketball player in league history dropping dead in Washington Hall and the tough NCAA sanctions. He does have the most wins in Maryland history. He did bring us to 11 tourneys in a row including several sweet sixteen finishes. We've all come to love the traditional pre-game fist pumps.

That's to say nothing about the 2004 ACC Championship (easily one of the greatest moments of my life) and the 2001 National Championship (probably THE greatest moment of my life. I watched it in Cancun...).

But seriously, we all know all of that already. We lived it and it was great.

What is frustrating, aside from the few awful years we've had to deal with recently, is the occasional story of a high profile area recruit deciding to go elsewhere after being treated poorly on a recruiting visit. Most notably, for me, is Donte Greene's, Towson Catholic graduate who spent a year at Syracuse on his way to being an NBA lottery pick, account of his unofficial visit to Maryland.

On top of these anecdotes, everybody can see the 800 lb gorilla in the room. How, despite being deep in the heart of one of the most talent rich areas of the country, do we have so much trouble keeping any local talent?

Well, I can think of two good reasons.

1. For anybody watching Maryland basketball for the first time, one thing inevitably strikes you. "Damn, this coach is out of his mind!" This was particularly clear in the dwindling moments of the Georgia Tech game last Sunday as the Terps gave a foul, up 3 with 18 ticks on the clock. As the camera focused on Gary going justifiably apeshit, everyone could figure out what he was screaming. "You're a fucking asshole!" (Admittedly, if I didn't say it, I was thinking the same thing).

Yea, athletes are used to getting yelled at, and Gary clearly gets results, but if you're shopping around for the program that's going to help you grow into a successful college basketball player, are you gonna pick the guy that's probably going to call you a fucking asshole everytime you make a horrible play? Probably not.

2. This is what grinds my gears the most. Why is the "these players should want to stay local" argument being taken so seriously? If you're a star basketball player from one of P.G. County's less than stellar areas, which there are a couple, how is anybody gonna win you over with the "I know you've got potential, and you can go play anywhere, but why don't you stick around here for 3 or 4 more years" pitch?

Don't get me wrong, I love College Park, but would I have wanted to live there for more than 4 or 5 years? No chance. If I had put in 18 years in Upper Maralboro or Fort Washington, and somebody tried to convince me to make it 22 if I had better options, I would have punched them in the face. Fact.

With hurdles like that, sometimes I feel like Gary would have just as much of a shot pulling talent into Garyland using a strategy once used by Sophomore Dan Chimera to encourage an attractive blonde to be his classmate as she sat courtside in a silent Comcast Center prior to the national anthem.

Dune: Hey You! You in the white! You should go to Maryland!!

Gary definitely has a lot of overcome, but bringing Keith Booooooooooooooth along seems to make sense for countering the obstacles.

Next year's recruiting class has some promise. Granted, when compared to the other ACC classes, we're near the bottom, but that's nothing new. All I care about is that we've got some height and some beef coming in.

Even more importantly, Gary is not done. Reportedly, we're still aggresively recruiting one of the best shooting guard prospects in the nation, Lance Stephenson. (He's from Brooklyn so you know he's good). Keith Booth apparently did some man flirting as Lance visited Maryland for the Miami game, and apparently Lance enjoyed his visit. He's a high school teammate of James Padgett, who has already committed to Maryland, which clearly helps.

Do I think we'll land this 5 star recruit? No, but isn't it refreshing to know that we've got a shot?

My heart tells me we're gonna make a run at the pivotal 9 conference wins here, and although my head tells me we're gonna fall short, I feel like we're bringing some pieces together to be consistently competitive for awhile.

So here's a big fist pump to you Gary. Let's turn this around huh?

Terps Win!

Was in Milbourne's 17? Nope

How about Jin Soo Kim's unexpected 5 point coming out party? Interesting, but no.

The person that was 100% responsible for the Terps finally beating Miami was Alexander Ovechkin.

The number one rule in sports fanship is that if you have a jersey to wear, you wear the appropriate jersey to support your squad. It's a rule I've only broken a handful of times. And in honesty, I can't even remember the last time I pulled it off before last night. I got some weird looks like my Caps jersey on, but in reality, they should have been loving the game winning attitude I brought to the Cable Box.

Faced with yet another Terps 'Canes game I had to make a change. Ovie put in 2 in the 3rd Period to top Detroit, kind of a big deal, so I decided "Hey, why not openly support a winner at the Comcast Center?"

Sure enough, it made the difference. Say what you want, but I've been wearing my standard 23 Mike Jones jersey for years at Maryland games, and lets be honest, it hasn't gotten anybody very far.

Ok, now some actual analysis.

I hate that Gary has been in the news somehow midseason for how awful he is at recruiting. Hey we get it, we don't get good players despite being in the heart of basketball talent country (Sports Illustrated did just point out that PG is, per capita, the most NBA Talent rich area of the country.). That being said, I really feel like we're putting a team together here.

I hate to be the standard DC, "this year isn't our year, but next year we're gonna be great" guy, but look at the facts. Milbourne is just straight up trashing the place. Junior. Bowie is out hustling everybody, and somehow is establishing himself as an actual point guard. Sophomore. Mosley is nasty. Fact. Freshman. And I'll be honest, I'm a huge Dino Gregory fan. Sophomore.

Vasquez would be an asshole to leave because he can't shoot. Hayes is finally finding his role as the shooter. Things are coming together. Yea we're 3-4 in conference. Yea I don't think we have much chance of cracking the important 9-7 barrier.

Here, however, is the optimism. As Herm Edwards once said, you play to win the game. I don't think we've got a shot at knocking off Duke UNC or Wake, but history has shown that thats our personality. Giant Killer when we aren't the giants ourselves. We're more likely to get some Ws on Tobacco Road and drop one or two to some awful team.

The point is my expectation level is low. And that means that as long as we aren't hosting an NIT game, we're bound to do something crazy.

I've also been informed that Vasquez was one assist shy of a triple double. Thats prettay prettay good.

I don't think we're very good, we can't rebound, and we still can't shoot very well. Regardless, mark my words, my Terrapins will make noise this month, and when they do, you can give all the credit to a Russian dude wearing #8.

Also, Torres just netted 2 against Chelsea... I'm gonna go drink beers. Hoooray!

Poop On Duke

I originally was planning on starting this post by pointing out that me talking about how much I hate Duke and how Maryland gets no respect would be completely cliche, but something happened and I changed my mind.

I was getting ready to watch The Office on dvr, but gave my roommate a chance to go upstairs since he isn't watching it tonite. While I waited, I had on the St. Mary's v. San Diego game. As they hyped up the ESPN Saturday Lineup, the following conversation occured.

Some Dude: So at Noon we've got Maryland @ Duke. What do you think?
Some Douchebag: (muffled laughter) Maryland has no chance. That Duke defense is stifling!

Oh I'm sorry. They have a stifling defense, some quality shooters and just all around flawless play? Obviously you're inferring that Maryland has a less than stellar team this year?

When since we won the National Title has this not been the storyline?

Curious. In the last 7 years that ESPN.com has available, who do you think has more wins against Duke in the regular season or ACC Tournament Play, Maryland or Duke's obvious rival, UNC?



Obviously, since I'm an enormous Maryland fan, the answer is Maryland. Maryland is 8-7 in the last 7 years against Duke (UNC has 6-9). Pretty good winning percentage considering we have been just awful since 2001-2002.

Ha. Interestingly enough, I've just found out that the "some douchebag" is former Maryland player, Adrian Branch. Clearly, he was reverse jinxing Duke... and I am an asshole.

This reminds me of a fun game my college friends used to play. It was called "let's pretend we have a strong respect for coach K, or we saw J.J. Redick at the WaWa and everybody was trying to buy him a sub... just so we can see how pissed off John is going to get." Got me everytime.

Anyways. Do I think Maryland is going to win? Absolutely not. I don't see us matching up very well with them anywhere. We aren't shooting well, and Dave Neal is our primary 3-point shooting threat.

The only upside I can see is that Bowie and Milbourne are gamers right now. Vasquez may or may not show up, but you've gotta feel like he's gonna make noise somehow. So who knows. Come 4 PM I'm either going to be on top of the world, or completely miserable. I will be at my Nephew's 1st Bday however, so I won't be able to fully express my emotions until the ride home.

*SPOILER ALERT!!!*

My honest guess is something like Duke 89 - Maryland 60; Neal and Vasquez combine for 1-15 from 3-pt range; Bowie still manages 15-8-5; Gary has an anuerysm and starts bleeding from his left nostril like Charlotte in this weeks episode of Lost.

Go Terps!

Reeling Me Back In

"And then you do something like that and.... TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!"

Ok, it wasn't quite that impressive. We still have Gonzaga today, and a match up with either GTown or Tennessee tomorrow. But, completely changed my attitude about this Maryland team. I didn't feel good about where they were headed this year, and clearly I misspoke.

The main reason I was convinced I was going to spend the next 4 months crying myself to sleep (aside from a lack of rebounding ability and 0 depth) was an impression I got of the team at the Terps v. Cal football game in September.

On my way to get some food, I spotted some basketball players wandering around the concourse. Fittingly leading this posse around was Mr. Vasquez. There he was, leading the younger players around like the pied piper, proudly wearing his OWN JERSEY. I can understand why he felt that nobody would recognize him since we were so terrible last year, but really? Your own jersey?

They say you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. To me, his display that day told me that he was happy with the mediocrity. Didn't exactly exude confidence.

That being said, what was great about the win over the Spartans last night was that it was less about Greivis and more about the supporting cast, which is exactly what we'll need if we want to make any noise this year. Actually running plays on offense and making the extra pass was nice to see, and I don't know if I've seen a Maryland team draw more offensive fouls than they did last night. They're playing like a team because players are finally looking like they want to force the action.

Most notably, Hayes. I had a lot of negative things to say about him after last year, and into this summer, but he's really shown me something in the first four games. 13-6-5 last night was fantastic, but even better are the things he's doing that don't show up on the score sheet. Great D, hustle, and solid off the ball play tells me maybe his trip to train with Steve Blake this summer for a week ignited the fire in him.

Bowie is somebody I was excited for last year despite some things I heard about his lack of ACC quality potential from guys that had seen him in high school. He feels like your typical role player that Gary turns into a game changer. Dude can shoot, he crashes the boards, and he is fast. Gotta feel like when Mosley gets comfortable that he and Bowie are going to be a nasty duo in the next two seasons.

Two words... Dave Neal. Three words... three point shooter. What?

I don't think that all of a sudden we've shed all our vulnerabilities. We still don't have much down low. Vasquez is still shooting 8 3s a game, and although he seems to be taking care of the ball, the numbers don't really reflect his horrific shots late in the shot clock that should count as turnovers. And as far as last night, this team is not going to shoot 42% from outside while running into teams shooting 44% from the line that often either.

All of that being said, there is significant reason for optimism. Last year at this time, we were getting waxed by UCLA and Missouri, and we looked awful. In fact, in the post-BB&T tournament era (now just one game), we really haven't done well at all in these preseason tournaments. We'll see how the rest of this tournament plays out, but you've gotta feel like we're playing with house money the rest of the way in Orlando.

The best part is that I'm excited to watch them again. Gary, I'm sorry I doubted you. Clearly this is your kind of team.

As this team came to life last night, I felt dumb, and then dumber. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to redeem myself as a Maryland basketball fan.

Go Terps.

Empty Inside...

Back in the day, before the age of conference championship games, college football fans had a tradition. If their team was playing late in the season to clinch a spot in a BCS Bowl, an object relating to that bowl would be brought in huge numbers to the field so that if the team did manage to clinch the BCS berth, so much like a bachelor party hooker they could celebrate in lewd and inappropriate ways with said object.

Although I can't find any evidence of this being any of kind of tradition in College Park (let's be honest, we haven't had that many opportunities to create one), I'm sure there's something there. Pac-10 and Big-10 (11) schools for example shower the field in a very American Beauty-esque way with roses when they lock up a berth to the Rose Bowl. God help the opposing teams when the home team locks up a berth to the Watermelon Bowl. That could be trouble.

I'm certain some folks back in 2001 brought some oranges to share with Shaun Hill (pictured... how hammered do you think he got about 2 minutes after this picture was taken? empty shotgunned beers all over the locker room I'm sure) following their 23-19 victory over NC State in Byrd. Right?

Well, now that we have a conference championship game, that apparently non-existent tradition is over. Although technically the Terps could clinch a trip to Tampa Bay for a spot in the ACC Championship, no specific bowl bid can be assured. This Saturday evening in College Park, no one will be bringing bushels of beautiful Florida Citrus. No. No one will pelt the hated Seminoles with frozen oranges as they leave Chevy Chase Bank Field. Frankly, I had to beg Berg to once again make Orange Crushes despite the freezing weather so we could hold on to a sliver of the fact that superstition still is an important part of college football fanship.

I don't know who is going to win Saturday night (let's go Wake... really need one from you guys in Winston-Salem), but a little part of me will be looking to fill the void left by something that once was...


That's what she said.

Go Terps!!!

Kirk Cobain Called...

Ok, it wasn't that bad, but really I can only think of 2 sports weeks that were more miserable than what I (and all fellow Skins, Terps, and Liverpool fans) just went though.

1. September 18-19, 2004. This one is easy. Banes hooked me up with tickets to #21 Terps v. #7 Sheepfuckers in Morgantown. I was all kinds of amped up for this game, so much so that I promised myself that I wasn't going to drink on a Friday night and drive up to WVU at the asscrack to make game time. Needless to say, particularly for those of you who knew me Junior year (or know me now... let's be honest) I got hammered drunk that night before and woke up an hour and a half before game time. Drove up averaging roughly 90 mph to make it there just after the 1st quarter.

Getting to my seat and realizing that no familiar faces were anywhere near my seat, and the natives did not appreciate my presence, "I think you're in the wrong section boy...," I knew I was in for a long day. After 5 turnovers, somehow we were still in the game. 16-16. We were headed to Overtime. It was short lived, as we settled for a field goal, and they drove. Future NFLers Chris Henry and Dominque Foxworth battled it out in the endzone. Henry came out on top. My what a difference 4 years makes. Ballgame. 19-16. Miserable 3 hour drive home.

The next day, the Skins faced off against the G-men. Two not too good teams as I recall. The Giants owner, Wellington Mara had just died. After 7 turnovers, the Skins fell like 36-0.

12 turnovers. Losses to major rivals. I was on suicide watch.

2. I don't want to even look up the date on this one, but Maryland lost to Ohio and American back to back last year. You could hear the thud of the program hitting rock bottom in Shanghai.

So, here we were Saturday morning, a little hungover from Halloween. Liverpool v. Tottenham Hotspur. Liverpool alone on the top of the table. Spurs at the very bottom. 90 minutes later, after a dominating performance and two shots off the post... Spurs 2, 'Pool 1.

Ok, no big deal, Huge Skins game on Monday Night. I can look past this. My boys, despite a strong start, were utterly dominated on both sides of the ball (Byron Leftwich... really? My mom moves better in the pocket). On the upside, I sit in the top row of the Club Level and turning around to check the tv screens, I noted Shawne Merriman sitting 3 feet behind me. Dude has a head the size of thanksgiving turkey. Fact. But I choked in the acknowledgement of his presence.

Anyways. Thursday. Terps. The resurgent, I can't believe this team is nationally ranked, lets go to c-stone for rails, then santa fe for $2 22s and watch us fuck up the Hokies, Terps. Despite my better judgement, I let myself get fired up for this game. Went to Bailey's in Ballston, got all drunk and obnoxious in front of the Arlington chapter of the Hokie alumni club. Very miserable loss. How is the only play we have to get a future first round NFL pick the ball a WR screen? That's like settling for a big mac when you have a gift certificate to the Palm. Its acknowledging that we don't have the ability to do anything past the line of scrimmage. Thanks Fridge.

Being a Terps football fan is like driving a car that's just crossed the 150K mile mark. Every time it turns on you feel like magic could happen. Somehow it starts and you can drive it for like 5 days. But when you really need it, at 2 AM trying to drive for a late night booty call... nothin'. It's not even that you never know whether or not it will start. It's just that you know that sooner or later, it's going to let you down, and probably in front of a lot of people that you just told to go fuck themselves.

On the upside. Skins are on a bye, just signed D'Angelo Hall, and are still in great shape for at least the wild card, and are in play for the division. Terps are still tied for the division lead. Liverpool are still tied for first. But much like the state of the economy, after a miserable week like this you start to think, "hmm... is this the bottom, or is it going to get much worse?"

Fortunately, unlike Mr.Cobain, it doesn't rain 300 days every year where I live. Don't be too concerned about any poorly placed shotgun barrels over here.

Get me some wins boys! This shit is terrible!

Not Settling For Lame

Every year I tell myself I'm going to do it. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. I never follow through with it, but this year, I really think I can pull it off.

I'm commiting myself to knowing everything there is to know about college basketball this year. Yea, that's right. I am going to watch some much basketball this season, that I am going to be a sure thing to pick all 63 games correct in March Madness. Fact.

I'm sure this sounds ridiculous, but let's observe the facts.

My alma mater, the University of Maryland, is going to be absolutely miserable. I want to deny it, but we could be historically bad. Although I will never sell them out, I can't stop watching basketball just because my squad drives me crazy. Although from mid-November to just after April Fool's Day there is going to be a lot of yelling and cursing, I'm going to need to watch basketball without wanting to punch someone in the face.

On the surface, this sounds like a terrible idea. It does kind of sound like the elementary school lunch room situation. You're sittin' there with a slightly thawed out hot pocket (my mom used to do this, I can't imagine I settled for that kind of treatment) and the kids around you are all munchin' on some crazy deli sandwiches. Going to lunch like that is depressing, but you have to eat.

With such potentially depressing situation, why not focus on being able to make the greatest Final Four bracket ever? Sure, there's no such thing as perfect knowledge, but won't it be fun to believe that I can get there?

So, once the season starts here in a few weeks, I am commiting to watching 3-4 games a week, outside of also watching my Terps try to squeak into the NIT, and sharing my completely unqualified thoughts here. Enjoy.

Debby Downer

"There's just something about ya/thats got me not knowin if I want to kiss ya or smack the fuck out ya" - Methodman, You Remind Me Remix

Back in the spring of 2002. I was faced with a tough decision, college. I went 2 for 2 in acceptances (hall of fame numbers), and was stuck between Wisconsin and Maryland. As a sports enthusiast, my decision boiled down to one easy question. Which school would provide me with the most sports happiness? Given the events of 2002, it was pretty clear which school that was going to be. CO-ACC Champion in football, and eventual National Champion in basketball (Maryland also beat Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen that year, the first nail in the coffin), Maryland was the no brainer pick.

Since then it hasn't been such a high flying experience. It isn't so much the fact that occasionally my alma mater fields a bad team. Hey, that is going to happen. What does grind my gears, however, is when a team not only fails to live up to expectations, but does so in a roller coaster, up and down fashion that by mid-november or early march, you're curled up in a ball remembering happier times.

So, as my beloved Terps sit on the cusp on a national ranking, I'm forced to ask myself, "Are we for real this time?" Even after a horrible, seemingly inexcusable loss to Middle Tennessee State (who just squeaked it out over Florida Atlantic for their second win of the season this week) we still find ourselves among the best teams in the league. It isn't much of a surprise since we've knocked off ranked teams in back to back weeks making it four straight against ranked teams dating back to last year.

Although we are 4-1, and look to be making a case for a run for a good season, I still have my doubts. Last year, I was in attendance as we shocked a ranked Rutgers team in Jersey. I felt really good about where we were headed. Even after we squeaked it out against GTech the next week with Erin Henderson injured, I still felt confident we were making strides. Then came UVA, Clemson, and UNC. Loss, loss, and agonizing loss. Then, out of nowhere, we dominated Boston College, division favorite, at home. How did the team that lost three straight tough games come out and knock off the top team in the division? Who knows.

This is the kind of performance I have come to expect. Playing to the level of your opponent. They have looked solid the past two games. Taking care of the ball, getting Heyward-Bey his touches, being creative on offense, bend but don't break on defense. With UVA coming up this week fresh off a bashing at the hands of puke... I mean duke, it feels like the Terps are going to roll again. This time I really want to believe it. I do. But something in the back of my mind keeps wondering which team is going to show up. The team that beat up on two teams looking to contend for a national title coming into the season, or the team that stumbled against a bottom dweller hoping to find 3 or 4 wins this season?

I really can't be sure. The only encouragement I get from this season is that we went out and ran up the score against Eastern Michigan, 51-24. If we can go down to Scott Stadium (no relation, I swear), and handle our business against a team averaging 9 points a game, I'll feel much better.

Please help me avoid the fetal position this year boys... Please.