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.

Seal the Deal

Personally, I think that after resoundingly beating Wake Forest yesterday, 75-64, Maryland has all but punched it's card to the big dance. But in an increasingly tight fight for those at large bids I wouldn't mind another win to shore up a spot. I mean, I wouldn't mind an automatic bid by winning the tournament either. That would be pretty ideal. But I'm nowhere near that hopeful and confident. If the Terps don't make the tournament with this resume I'll be screaming about a snub on Sunday night.

They have 4 really quality wins, three of those against top 10 teams. They have a few bad losses, but overall, they've stepped up as the season has gone on. And they only have two losses to really bad teams. And UVA beat Clemson when they were a top ranked team. So that loss isn't really that terrible, kinda, sorta.

Whatever, I'll save my arguments for later. Right now I want to focus on Duke. They beat Maryland twice during the regular season. The first time it was almost comical to watch. But Maryland seems to have tapped a new enthusiasm. They actually played better against Wake than they did against NC State. Stringing two wins together has been hard for the Terps this year, and two wins where they played better the second game seems even less likely. But that gives me hope that they'll show up again today ready to play and win.

The team seems to have rallied around Gary. Taking the criticism to heart and playing for to vindicate him as much as to win for themselves. It's very reminiscent of the 2004 ACC tournament. Duke is a really good team. And they tend to shine in the tournament, but if Maryland can keep buckling down and playing their hearts out, they have a good shot at beating Duke. Duke played a hard game against BC last night and I think Maryland will be able to challenge them again today.

LET'S GO TERPS!!! Silence the critics and stop the skepticism. Win today and show the selection committee that there is no doubt you belong in that field of 65.

Let Me Down Easy

Dear Maryland Terrapins,

You are my favorite team. I have watched all season for many seasons. I've weathered the ups and downs. I've suffered with you and enjoyed your successes. So as a long time fan and alumna of the great University of Maryland please grant me one small request. If you are going to break my heart and crush my soul tonight by losing, please do it early. Get blown out by Wake. Make it almost comical, similar to that Duke game earlier this season where I really tried to give up on this team. You keep dangling this carrot in front of me and I really just can't take it any more.

I can't take the game being close until the last three minutes when you're small size become overwhelmingly evident and every shot gets blocked. I just can't watch another game like that this season. It's been a rocky year. I started mourning the end of the season only to have you come back from the dead. I watched as Gary and Debbie exchanged words and embarrassed the once proud program. I defended the team to friends who insinuated all was lost when the revival started.

Please, if I have to suffer through another year of the NIT, give me some time to accept that. Don't give me hope that Selection Sunday will be all smiles for me and all the other Terp fans out there. Ideally, you guys will win tonight. But I'm not sure I'm ready to believe that will happen. I'd love to see the team step up and come together. To play like you did against UNC or Michigan St. I'd love to see a team that won't give up and plays a full 40 minutes. But I won't hold it against you if you don't. I know its hard to keep up the emotional intensity. It's hard to play a fresh team when you battled hard the night before. And I know, no matter what happens tonight, I'll be cheering you on whenever your next game is, be in NCAA, NIT, or next season.

I can't give up on you. I'll be there for you regardless. So please, try to treat all the fans that feel the same way right. Don't tease us and play with our emotions only to let us down and hurt us. Let us know where you stand early on. It's the humane thing to do. Remember, we love you anyway.

Sincerely,

Meghan

GO TERPS!!!

Photo: found at the Baltimore Sun

Hope Hurts More

I know I haven't written in a while but I just couldn't sit down and write this post. But every time I tried to write about something else it just seemed wrong. I wanted to just ignore the loss to Virginia, I want to just let my hopes and dreams die. I want to be able to accept that once again I won't be filling out a bracket that included Maryland.

But then there's the matter of the ACC tournament. In 2004, Maryland looked like it was sitting on the wrong side of the bubble, then they went on a tear and won the ACC tournament. And for that reason alone, I am forced to suffer through another few days of believing in a miracle. In 2004, the emotional and inconsistent leader, Gilchrist stepped up propelled the team to upset Duke's reign as ACC champ. This year, when Vasquez has shown up he has shown bright.

Maryland has already beat NC State, so the first round is not really impossible. And after getting beaten by UVA I'm guessing the team will want to salvage some of its pride. If Maryland can manage not to blow it again, they would move on to face Wake Forest. They were close to beating Wake last game. And while this doesn't bode well for them it is possible they could win. I'm not going to speculate past that round of the bracket. Even thinking about it makes me hopeful and I'm not ready to be that let down again.

After all this turmoil and all the ups and downs of this season, I kind of wish I had left Maryland for dead after the Duke game. I wish I had gotten on with my mourning, walked away and waited for next season. But a real fan can't do that. I'm tied to this team. I have to follow them. I have to watch the games and suffer through this tournament drought. And worst of all, I somehow still have hope.

No Better Time to Be a Terp

It was a good weekend to be a Terp fan. The Lady Terps won the ACC, the men's and women's lacrosse teams beat Duke, and the men's basketball team kept their tournament hopes alive by holding on and beating NC State. The men are back to .500 in the ACC with two games left to play before the ACC tourney. It's nice to occasionally take time to look at the other sports at Maryland and see them doing well.

Sometimes I get so caught up with football and basketball that I forget that Maryland has other teams and that those teams are usually ranked near the top in the country. It's hard with the snow outside to remember that its spring time which means time for lacrosse. I never played lacrosse but it is pretty fun to watch. Watching guys beat each other with sticks is strangely appealing. Also, it's a great excuse to tailgate in the springtime. And any reason to tailgate is good with me.

Also, anytime a Terp team beats Duke is a good day. But maybe its not such a big deal in lacrosse since Maryland is 55-17 all time against Duke. I know Maryland is a hotbed for lacrosse but that is just a pathetic stat for Duke. I think of lacrosse as a Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina based sport. Right now there are five Maryland teams ranked in the top 20. I would guess that there will probably be around 5 Maryland teams in the 16 team tournament at the end of the season.

In general, I love tournament play of any kind. For the last two years, I've even filled out women's basketball brackets on a random ESPN group. And if they have a lacrosse bracket I'll probably fill that out to. The women's bracket is a little easier than the men's because there are clear powerhouses and number one and two seeds usually go pretty far. Also, this is easier for me because I always pick Maryland to go far and they tend to do well.

Basically, this winding, random post is me trying to say check out the other teams at Maryland or whatever college you tend to cheer for and show them some love. At Maryland they tend to be pretty good. I apologize for the rambling nature of this post but my brain is somewhat fried from working on a research paper. I just figured I should throw something up here before tonight's MD-Wake game. And the other teams do deserve some love for their achievements.