Maryland Madness

The Terps won!!! I was a little scared there for a few minutes, but they pulled it out. They did it. The team that most thought (including me) wouldn't make the tournament for most of the season just won their first round game. They beat the Cal Bears, 84-71, despite the fact that bears are a more ferocious mascot. I chalk this up to the Golden Bear not being a real animal. A turtle can outlast an imaginary creature any day. It doesn't matter, the game is over and Maryland was the victor. Now it's time to look forward to Memphis on Saturday.

This game will be hard for Maryland. But they have managed to beat some seemingly better opponents this season. Memphis also showed that it is vulnerable by playing a close game against a 15 seeded Cal State Northridge team. It's totally possible Maryland will fall flat and Vasquez will only score 10 points and foul out early in a blow out. But that's been a possibility every game of the season. Maryland has been playing surprisingly well lately though.

Maybe Maryland will be this year's Cinderella team. Can you be a Cinderella team if you are from a big conference even if you are a low seed. I guess we'll find out if Maryland can pull it off tomorrow. Right now I'm just riding the high that is a Maryland tournament win. Win or lose tomorrow, Maryland has come back from the dead this season to rally around their coach, prove sceptics wrong and not only avoid the NIT, but make it to the second round. This is something to enjoy.

Maryland was one of the few upsets the first day. People complain about the lack of upsets but doesn't that mean the Selection committee did a good job. Shouldn't most of the games be won by the higher seed. If it was all upsets wouldn't that be equally boring and questionable. I'm just looking for good games, and Maryland upsets of course.

GO TERPS!!!

March Giddiness

I love March Madness. I love the first weekend the most. It's when the upsets happens, when the Cinderellas go looking for their slippers, and when you can spend several days in a row ignoring all your obligations and just watch basketball. And with all the terrible things happening in the world right now, we could all use a few days to focus on so pervasive that billions of dollars of production are lost. March Madness might not be what the economy needs right now, but it's exactly what people need right now.

Everyone fills out a bracket and gets a chance to win. Everyone gets to feel like they know whats going on. And even when you are crying over you're bracket a week from now, it'll be ok. All of the teams had a chance, well not the team the won the play in game, but you know, all the other ones. Everyone has someone to root for right now. Even if your favorite team didn't make it. There is some team that you are loosely affiliated with and can root for.

Personally I'll be pulling for Maryland. But being from Baltimore, I'd also like to see Morgan State do well. Maybe they'll be the first 15 seed to take out a 2 seed. Doubtful, but it'd be cool. I also will be supporting Temple. They don't hold the same place in my heart the Maryland does, but in general people don't feel as strongly about their grad schools as their undergrads. Well, at least that's how I feel. But I'd still like Temple to do well, and upsets are always fun as long as its not my team getting upset. And Dionte Christmas is explosive, I'm taking the guy from VCU to be this year's Curry but Christmas would have to be my second choice. I've probably just doomed both of those guys. But whatever, I have to put out a few predictions to be mocked.

Either way tomorrow should be great. It should be a national holiday in my mind. I'll have to add that to my platform for Sports Czar.

GO TERPS!!

Fear the Dancing Turtle

Maryland is in! I was worried watching the selection show after they announced Arizona. There were only so many at large bids and so many bubble teams. But after what seemed like forever, Maryland was announced as a 10 seed. I was pretty happy with this. I thought we'd probably be more like an 11 or 12 seed. Whatever, the Terps are going back to the Tourney.

Now it's time to fill out brackets, speculate on upsets and wait for Thursday when we can all start blowing off class, work, and everything else because of the wonders of technology. The first weekend of March Madness is one of the best if not possibly the best sports event of the year. Again I'm biased as to what time of year it is when claiming this and which of my teams happen to be playing in the post season. But regardless of my personal seasonal penchants, how can you not love March Madness.

Every team really has a chance to win. Yes, it's an outside chance, yes, a 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed, but it's possible. Everyone can have hope. The lowest seed to ever win a tournament was an 8 seed. That's a team that's predicted to be right in the middle of the pack, and they won. A few years ago, George Mason, an 11 seed made it to the Final Four. So while it seems unlikely that Maryland as a 10 seed is going to do a lot of damage, it's still completely possible. Maryland is the kind of emotional team that could make a huge run or completely fall flat in the first game.

At this time of year some people try to argue that the tournament should be expanded to let in a few more of the bubble teams. I don't like this idea. I love the 65 team format. I could do without the play in game, but the having teams on the bubble is part of what makes it fun. Not everyone should get in. But you should let some of the lesser/smaller teams in because that's what leads to great upsets and all the excitement. Making the tournament smaller would take away from the excitement.

Even if Maryland was on the other side of the bubble, I still wouldn't want to change the format. I would want to drive to Indianapolis and hurt a few people; but, that's the committee's fault, not the tournament set-up. Don't change a thing. This tournament is just about perfect. People just want something to complain about.

So enjoy the next few days of dissecting the bracket. I won't bore you with my picks, unless they turn out to be really good, then I'll gloat a little. Remember, fear the turtle.

GO TERPS!!!

Shall We Dance?

The suspense is killing me. I want it to be 6:00 right now so I can know for sure if Maryland is in or not. I tried watching the ACC Championship game but watching Duke beat up on Florida State was too much for me. So now I'm trying to find ways to occupy my time for the next few hours so I can stop going over the reasons Maryland should get a berth in my head. I'm literally twitching in anticipation, though that might have something to do with all the coffee I drank this morning.

I'm not going to go over the arguments for Maryland again because if you have any interest in the ACC you've already heard them. So right now I'm just waiting and hoping that Maryland gets in and even better they play their first game in Philadelphia. I know that seems like a lot to ask. But I've never been to a tournament game before (ok, I did go to a NIT game once, but that doesn't really count) and would go nuts if Maryland was able to play in the city I happen to be living in. I have to believe that since Philly is so close to Maryland that the arena would be packed with red clad supporters.

Excuse me while I dream of seeing my Terps win their first round game in front of basically a home crowd. If they don't make the tournament I might wind up crying later tonight. But I don't really want to think about that. Right now I'm thinking about how much fun its going to be. I just want to dream about Maryland appearing on the bracket. Please don't burst my bubble.

Is It a Dynasty?

This weekend I switched up my studying schedule so I could attend the Fourth Annual Maryland State Beer Pong Tournament. My partner and I managed to get a wild card bid and had to face our arch rival in the first round. We've been doing this for four years, we do have an arch rival. Needless to say, we lost, and then we lost again. And were out of the tournament in a quick two games. This was neither surprising or unexpected. Neither of us play as much as we used to and the competition has gotten a lot better over the past few years.

The tournament started out with the National Anthem. A girl near me scoffed and made a comment about this not being a sporting event. She obviously hates America and is quite possibly a terrorist, who else makes insults during the National Anthem. Say what you will about beer pong, but it is very competitive. Ask most of the 56 teams that competed on Saturday. Or come watch another tournament. You have over 100 guys(mostly) competing against each other for a trip to Vegas to play in the World Series of Beer Pong for $50,000 and the title of Maryland State Champions. Tell me anywhere you can get that many people together and have it not be competitive.

I'll be honest, for my team, it was more about blowing off steam, hanging out with friends and an excuse to drink at noon on a Saturday, but even we came to play. Plus, its always fun when two girls can beat two guys at pong, even if it didn't work out for us this week. The team that actually won this tournament was the same winner as last year, Wet Ballz. They consistently rank in the top three in League Championships. You get the idea, they are the elite of the beer pong world. After losing in the first round they managed to fight their way through the losers bracket and to beat Redonkulous in two games.

I didn't actually manage to stay until the end. The beer and hunger got to me. Who could possibly have predicted that as a tiny girl I would be hungry and drunk before six hours of beer pong had finished up. I left to go get food and watch some college basketball and didn't make it for the final rounds of the tournament. I'm told that the matches were hard fought through multiple overtimes. So it looks like a Wet Ballz dynasty.

Major tournaments are springing up all over the place. There are leagues forming in most major cities and even an international tournament in Jamaica. And of course the World Series in Vegas right after New Years. So look for a league or some tournaments in your area.

Before you get too critical of MDbeerpong.com and similar organizations keep in mind that most of the people playing are young professionals who like to compete in every situation. Most of them developed a love of this game during college and don't see a reason to give it up because they now have graduated and moved on. It's not only about the competition, it's another way to socialize and have fun and maybe win some money and at least win some bragging rights. But a lot of is about competition.

Photo: Taken by me of Wet Ballz