Losses!

So I got really bored today and counted up all the Terps games I've been to. In my defense, it was a Sunday afternoon, so it's not like I should have been doing something super-productive, but still. Looking at the list I compiled, I realized that I had a pretty distinct memory of every single loss I've seen. So here's a rundown.

sophomore year vs Notre Dame at the BB&T - Turd and I got all amped up for a trip to see a game outside of the Comcast Center. By this point it had already been established that Verizon was a house of horrors for us, but still we went. Well, we went and saw Notre Dame rain threes on us all day. Turd didn't get the food he paid for at McDonald's before the game, and I had to go home and write a final paper for John Newman that was due the next afternoon.

junior year vs Boston College - This would be the game where Jamie Luckey fouled out Greivis on a technical for hitting the basket support after a questionable fourth foul call. That was pretty much all that BC would need to win this game, perhaps the most daggerishly officiated game I've witnessed in person - which is saying something. Zatch and I, as I recall it, walked home cursing the refs and their family before getting CluckU. This was my concourse level debut.

junior year vs Ohio - part deux of the unholy BC/Ohio/American loss troika. Luckily I didn't see the third one. This one was the night before exams started, and we got pwned by Leon Williams, formerly of Cardinal Gibbons. I believe that this was only the third home nonconference loss for Gary since he came to Maryland, after Coppin State way back in 1989 and Florida a few years before this one.

junior year vs Duke - my first Duke game! And we lost. This would be the one where Eric Hayes tried to box out Gerald Henderson to shield him from getting a ball that had rolled into the backcourt instead of, you know, going after this. That would be something of a pattern of behavior for Hayes. Ritchie and I froze our balls off waiting to get into Comcast, and this is how they repaid us.

junior year vs VT - This one was most famous for Turd screaming "FUCK YOU SETH!" at the end of the game, flipping him off, and kicking the seat in front of him at the Comcast Center. I remember this being another dagger game, though I can't say for sure what actually happened other than us blowing a lead. I was more proud of Turd that day than ever before as his tantrum was more like something only Zatchman or I can pull off.

junior year vs Clemson - The worst ever. Nothing will ever top this loss. We blew a TWENTY (20!) point lead in the last ten minutes in a game that would have all but sealed a tournament berth (we didn't make it). I had even sung the "We're going to the lig" song when it looked wrapped up. Honky extraordinare Terrence Oglesby gave the final dagger on a buzzer beating three that we all knew was coming. The five of us walked back separately and didn't speak to one another for several hours thereafter.

senior year vs Morgan State - Just an awful all around game, with Reggie Holmes of Saint Frances pwning us thoroughly. Morgan State was actually decentish, and we made the Lig, so this wasn't as bad as it could have been. Still, another blown lead to one of the Little Sisters of the Poor no less? Ugh.

senior year vs Boston College - Blown lead. I don't remember how much it was, but it was probably the worst one at home other than Clemson the previous year. I think it wasn't quite as bad as the one at Miami a few weeks prior to this, but it was close.

senior year vs Duke - Another game standing out in the cold, another loss. 0-2 in Duke games! The game made Bob too physically ill to stay (or possibly it was something else), but this was another game where questionable foul calls against Greivis kept him out of the game. On the other end of the court, as I recall it, Gerald Henderson was allowed to act like a running back to get into the lane, but Greivis got called for crummy fouls on the other side. Duke ref bias much?

senior year vs Wake Forest - SENIOR NIGHT!!!!!! My last game as a student. Dave Neal did his best, hitting like four pick and pops, almost leading me to having a stroke screaming SENIOR NIGHT!!!!, but it was all for naught as Jeff Teague teabagged him on a dunk and the Terps lost by two, despite an awesome buzzer beating three by Dave Neal that cut the lead that far down. God I miss the cyborg. This game also would have clinched a Lig berth.

this year vs William & Mary - The first loss as a paying customer at the Comcast Center. They pretty much worked us. I wasn't really angry, just thoroughly disheartened because we were barely even competitive against a mid-major team on our own home court. I think this game would be the 73rd time I swore off of Gary Williams "for good". I think this one last ten days, maybe two weeks at the most.

And there you have it.

Well Then

Owl: "Why am I the only one that updates the blog anymore?"

Me: "You made a new post? I didn't even realize."

Owl: "Well, it was in October...."

Oh.

But anyway, I'm bored (not unusual), and there's a lot to talk about in the world of the Terps. Needless to say, this has not been a very good week in College Park. Let's start with the news you might not have heard about. And let's be real, you have heard about it because there are four of you that read this blog, and all four of you were told about it by me.

Either way, the Terps took a big hit to their once promising incoming recruiting class when their top recruit decided that he's no longer coming next season. Well, he might be, because Maryland is still "in his top five", but anyone that follows recruiting knows that means nothing.

The recruit in question is SG Terrence Ross, a very talented player out of Montrose Christian (see also: Greivis Vasquez, Kevin Durant, Adrian Bowie, Linas Kleiza, et al.) in Rockville. He was the centerpiece of a recruiting class that had gained some recognition nationally and took the heat of off Gary Williams' poor recruiting performances inthe past. It was clear that things were not all well when he didn't sign with the Terps in November during the early signing period with fellow recruits Mychal Parker, Terrell Stoglin, and Ashton Pankey, despite having been committed for nearly six months. Then the news broke that he "wasn't sure" if he was still committed, followed by an article officially announcing that he wasn't planning on going to Maryland next season, at least not quite yet.

The worst part? The article was on a Duke recruiting site, and the current speculation is that that will be his likely landing spot. Never mind that he would be coming into a program already featuring two fantastic sophomore shooting guards (Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry) - playing time must not be a big concern for Ross.

In any event, the whole thing is turning into a circus with his high school coach, the highly respected Stu Vetter, claiming that he's still likely to end up at Maryland and some vague message board talk about the impact Nike might be having on where he'll end up. (Remember which shoe company sponsored Maryland before they hopped to Under Armour last fall?)

Bottom line: The Terps best recruit for 2010, and possibly the guy who would have been the best recruit maybe as far back as Steve Francis, likely will be suiting up elsewhere next season. Let's just call that New Year's Dagger Number One.

New Year's Dagger Number Two happened on Wednesday when the Terps played William & Mary. The Tribe came in with just two losses, already holding a win at Wake Forest, meaning that they were not likely going to be a pushover. After losses in recent seasons to VCU, Ohio, American, and Morgan State, it should have been clear that this game was nowhere close to a lock.

Any pessimism about the final outcome turned out to be well founded as Maryland lost 83-77, and even then, it was worse than the final score as the Terps never really threatened in the final 30 minutes of the game, trailing the entire way, often by double digits.

It's tough to pinpoint any one reason for the loss. The Terps let someone named Quinn Mcdowell, a W&M sophomore, drop a career high 28 points on them. They forced just nine turnovers (although Maryland actually only had eight themselves), and shot a typically abysmal 4-25 from three point range. The starters, with the possible exception of Eric Hayes, all played reasonably well, but the bench contributed just four points in a combined 44 minutes.

So whatever, that's enough analysis of a loss that I didn't see the final five minutes of. There's no real reason to rant anymore - this is what Maryland basketball has become for now. I had convinced myself that this year was going to be different. The Terps were in more than a few preseason top 25 rankings, and I expected a highly experienced team to build on last season's modest success. So far it just hasn't happened, with the team sitting at 9-4, including losses to each of their four best opponents, all in games that weren't exactly nailbiters in the final minutes.

The future doesn't look too exciting either with three of the team's top four scorers leaving, and its top recruit no longer coming. That's not to say that all is lost this season. The Terps ACC opener next Sunday at home against Florida State is a huge game, one that should be very winnable. The ACC is strong throughout this season, but not unmanageable with Duke and North Carolina leading the way as very good teams, albeit ones not seriously expected to have a claim at being the best in the country as they do most seasons.

So hey, maybe the Terps can go 9-7 and squeak out another 10 seed in the tournament. I'm just not going to expect it.*

*(Although I did proclaim to a coauthor today, in my Greivis-induced euphoria that this team is going to the Lig. So yes, I'm fence sitting, what of it?)

Consult a doctor if you stay at a game for more than the first half.

Back in Red

Is this blog died? Probably, but who cares. I need to talk about something. Something near and dear to the five of us that write here on occasion. That something is actually someone; Gary Williams.

Gary Williams is a great man and a great coach. There was never any doubting that. But his Terps have fallen on hard times recently, and there's been more than a few people critical of his performance, namely in the area of recruiting. I've been one of those people.

But now Gary Williams is throwing it back in the haters faces by putting together what could be one of his best recruiting classes, and certainly his best dating back to at least 2003. People probably already know about PG Terrell Stoglin (ranked #88 ESPN/#121 Rivals for his class) and SG Terrence Ross (#39 ESPN/#43 Rivals) who have both been members of the 2010 recruiting class since the spring. Now Gary has gone out and added SF Mychal Parker, who actually plays HS basketball in Charlottesville, VA and picked the Terps over UVA among others. Parker is another top recruit (#42 ESPN/#53 Rivals) who will play someone where on the wing during his time here. He's athletic, he can finish and he can defend.

Things have certainly turned around since January when the Terps were losing by 40 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium and looking destined to not even make the NIT. Gary was under fire, and boy has he responded to his critics, showing why he's one of the greatest coaches in the game. With the increased willingness to recruit and the return of Greivis Vasquez, things are much brighter than they have been at any point in recent memory.

It's not even over yet. The Terps will still have one or two spots in this next recruiting class and are rumored to be in the mix for at least a half dozen top prospects, including one ranked as high as #5 in the country who Gary will visit at home in New York next month. The man is turning it on, thanks in no small part to Chuck D and Rob EEEEEEEEEsahn.

And of course there's next season to think about. Jay Bilas recently picked the Terps to be third in the conference, and although he's more of a Maryland homer than I am at times, he knows what he's talking about moreso than almost any other mainstream college hoops analyst. The team should be expected to finish behind a young but talented UNC team and perhaps Duke as well, but after that the Terps look better on paper than any other team in the conference.

So whatever. This is just a disjointed series of thoughts relating to how college basketball is making me cream my shorts (nasty). I end with this.

I Love Gary Williams

Lig.

TV Showdown

A question, via Facebook.com, from our friend Mumpkins:

Steve Stehle which was better, boy meets world or saved by the bell?

yes, these are the questions I ponder at 2:30 am.

I originally tried to give a yes or no answer, but that wouldn't suffice.

So I thought, why not do a point-by-point comparison.

Let's take this down, Dr. Jack Style:

Protagonist: Zack Morris vs. Corey Matthews

This is probably the easiest battle of the day. Zack Morris is the man. Corey Matthews never broke the fourth wall. He doesn't have his own style of phone. He never won a National Championship. He hasn’t done anything. And look at the way the two got in trouble. Both were inherently slackers, but Matthews liked to piss off his teachers and just screw around. Morris had zany adventures and get-rich-quick schemes.

Verdict: Zach Morris in a walk. SBTB 1, BMW 0

Best Friend: AC Slater vs. Shawn Hunter

AC Slater is an all-around jock and all American. He also was on dancing with the stars. He was known at times to be a rival of Zach but he also was a good second banana. Shawn was Corey’s best friend since childhood. Much cooler and much more popular than Corey, he was always on the cutting edge and getting Corey into trouble. Both characters were loyal to their friends, but let’s face it: Shawn just had more panache.

Verdict: Shawn Hunter. Tiger Beat’s dreamiest guy ’94! SBTB 1, BMW 1

Girlfriend: Kelly Kapowski vs. Topanga Lawrence

This one is not as easy as it seems. Though Kelly is much hotter than Topanga, that is not all that we can rely on for judgment. Kelly is the cheerleader, captain of the volleyball team, and all-around jailbait (or at least presumably she was ). Topanga is the smartest girl in the school, a flower child, and holder of one of the greatest tv names of all time (Say it with me now, “TO-PAN-GA!). Let’s look at their relationships with their respective boyfriends (Zach and Corey) Zach and Kelly has an on-again off-again relationship early in the series. Zach was seen canoodling with every piece of tail he could get, and though I can’t confirm, there’s a 100% chance he did the classic 80s move of watching a girl pass him by then, after she walks past him, lowering his sunglasses down his nose to get a better look (Queue Yellow’s “Oh yeah”). Corey and Topanga, though not together when the series ended, were basically husband and wife by the middle of high school. The story was eventually ret-conned such that they were together since early preschool days, though this is just attributed to writers not giving a damn. Except for a brief story arc in high school were Corey kissed some other girl (how did that Jew-froed kid get that tail we’ll never know), Corey and Topanga were inseparable. They would eventually become man and wife, as would Kelly and Zack. However, Zack and Kelly did it in a tv movie, Corey and Topanga did it inside of the series itself.

Verdict: Though tough, it seems as though Topanga is the winner here. But it’s freakin’ Kelly Kapowski. Half point for the kids of Bayside. SBTB 1.5, BMS 2

Comic Relief: Screech Powers vs. Eric Matthews

Screech was and is really just a poor man’s Urkel. He’s the typical genius/dweeb/geek. He has a robot friend and an unending crush on Lisa Turtle. He’s not so much comic relief as he is the deus ex machina that causes Zack to get into typical sitcom situations. He’ll call out Zack for being on two dates at once or for rigging the home-ec competition. Eric Matthews, however, is a horse of a different color. Originally he started as the smooth and slick older brother type character. He eventually evolved into an imbecile who was a master of the dumb comment or the key pratfall. Also: The Feeny Call. Nothing Screech does can ever top that.

Verdict: Eric Matthews. SBTB 1.5, BMW 3

School: Bayside High/California University vs. John Adams/Pennbrook

Bayside High is home of the Tigers. Set somewhere on the left coast, it is home to three sets of lockers, a central staircase with some posters and ample room for random banner hanging, a class room on the right, and Belding’s office on the right. John Adams High is somewhere in Philly and has two sets of some smaller stairs, two sets of lockers, ample room for banner hanging, a classroom, and somewhere is Feeny’s office. There’s also a pay phone.

California University has a 40-year-old RA who is a former football player. It is also home to the only college dorm suites I know of that have a central room with boys’ and girls’ rooms on either side. Pennbrook is home to the only student union in the world with no one hanging out it and a free pool table. They also have co-ed showers. SBTB was primarily a show about high school kids and the college years just didn’t have much of an impression. However, BMW really hit its stride in the college years, Mr. Turner and the Token Black Teacher be damned.

Verdict: SBTB for high school, BMW for college. SBTB 2.5, BMW 4

Theme Song

Honestly, all I know about the theme song to BMW is that it just repeated the phrase “When this boy meets world” until they were done introducing people. SBTB has one of the most iconic theme songs of the 90s.

Verdict: It’s all right, cause I’m saved by the bell! SBTB 3.5, BMW 4

Principal: Richard Belding vs. George Feeny

Both serve as mentors to the students, and both are early and frequent adversaries to their ridiculous hi-jinks and shenanigans. Belding had his trademark, “Hey hey hey what is going on here?” Feeny used to the be the voice of a car. Was Feeny a creeper when he followed his class to college, while Belding stayed back to help out The New Class? Hell if I know, but he always seemed like he had a thing for Mr. Matthews.

Verdict: Feeny. As a kid was a scary Principal, but eventually he became the best of friends. SBTB 3.5, BMW 5

Hangout: The Max vs. Chubbies

Both were fantastic places to hang out. Chubbies was a basement burger place, and The Max was a neon shrine to the late 80s/early 90s. Both had tragic endings. The Max burned down (thanks New Class) and Chubbies became a pirate restaurant. Sad times. Chubbies became less of an important place later in the series as it was replaced by the Eric’s apartment.

Verdict: Raspberry Iced Tea + Tropical Punch = The Max. SBTB 4.5, BMW 5

Supporting Cast

In terms of family lives, SBTB didn’t really have one. Corey had his family, Shawn had his semblance of a family (including a half brother, a drunk/dead father, and a trailer), and there was a Minkus. BMW had more memorable teachers and overall a much larger cast than SBTB. Even accounting for the summer at Malibu Sands and our good friend Tori, BMW still overpowers SBTB. As for eye candy, Angela and Rachel were actually interesting characters with developed back stories. Lisa and Jesse Spano are flat characters. Although it is fun to think that Elizabeth Berkeley had such a bright future until she blew it up in Showgirls.

Verdict: SBTB kept it simple. Maybe too simple. SBTB 4.5, BMW 6

Intangibles: AKA “Jeter-Ness”

SBTB ran on Saturday morning tv along with… nothing else. The College Years moved it into prime time tv, and the New Class was a fresh attempt to try to revamp the series. There were also two tv movies and the fun Malibu Sands Adventure. BMW ran in the leviathan of tv programming that was ABC’s TGIF. Think about it. This was a tv program that ran under the same mantle as Family Matters, Full House, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, and Perfect Strangers. While SBTB may have been the killer app of a dead NBC line-up, BMW is one of the most memorable shows from a powerhouse group.

Verdict: Boy Meets World. SBTB 4.5, BMW 7

And there you have it. By my calculations, Boy Meets World was better than Saved by the Bell, and by a considerable margin..

Scrillas are graduating...

Seeing as how 2 of the Scrillas are graduating in a few hours, I've decided to write a new post as a memorial of their college careers. I could make this a sappy "go get 'em!" post like the drawn out, overdone speeches that will be given at their commencements tomorrow, but that would be pointless. So I will simply say congratulations to Steve and Andrew. You guys made it. As the first Scrillas to graduate, you guys need to introduce the real world to the Scrillas. I don't know if they're ready for us yet, but the first time either of you say "many muldible" or "I'm not gonna lie..." I'm sure you'll have significant explaining to do.

I would say you guys have taught me resilience, but neither of you made it through engineering. Let's be honest here. If I can make it this far in EE by going to as few classes as I have, studying as little as I have, and generally being as apathetic about school as I've been, what does that say about your willingness to give up? You're quitters! BONES IT!

In all seriousness, you 2 have been my dawgrahams for the last 2 years and I don't know how next year is going to work out, but you guys had better get down here quite a bit. Don't be strangers. We will organize a Scrilla trip to Costa Rica for mangos and ziplining, and I will be sure to let you know when the "anything goes but clothes party" will be held.

Congratulations Mumpkins and Turd: Scrilla Class of 2009! Good luck!

What a tangled web we weave.