Posts under ‘Maryland Terrapins’

Maryland gained a soft No. 4 seed to get Houston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Thanks CBS for the 10 p.m. start. Maryland would then likely meet Michigan State on Sunday in a tough but winnable game.
But, my Washington Examiner column says that’s where it ends because the Sweet 16 [...]

History says it will be a short stay. The NCAA Tournament is so much more important to Maryland that it doesn’t go all out in the conference tourney.
My Washington Examiner column remembers why the ACC gets the short shrift in the postseason tourneys.
An opening act these days

Remember John Gilchrist, the Maryland guard whose career collapsed after winning the 2004 ACC Tournament MVP? Didn’t think so. He came back for a terrible final year before leaving early to play in a string of overseas leagues and ending last season hurt in  Australia.
Greivis Vasquez took the opposite approach. After also thinking of leaving [...]

You can’t ask for a bigger final career game than Duke tonight for Maryland senior guard Greivis Vasquez.
The Venezuelan was a delight to cover and watch. I’ll miss him, but there’s still one big game left. Can they rise to it? Maybe.
My Washington Examiner column compares Vasquez to the Terrapins greats.
Is Vasquez among Maryland’s elite?

I’ve always admired Tom McMillen, starting in 1973 when I was a kid watching Terps basketball team. McMillen embodied what a great student-athlete could be. He later played in the NBA, became a two-term Congressman and now sits on the Maryland Board of Regents.
My Washington Examiner column focuses more on McMillen’s new business that concentrates [...]

The ACC looks as uncertain as it has been in years with North Carolina already losing three straight and Virginia rising from the dead. But Maryland has looked as good as I’ve seen them since 2003 with the last of the national championship crew.
My Washington Examiner column discusses why the ACC has gone topsy-turvy.
The ACC [...]

First, Happy Thanksgiving.
My Washington Examiner column today is whether Ralph Friedgen should remain Maryland coach and what happens if he’s not.
Now go eat some turkey and save me a piece of pumpkin pie.
For Terps, what’s next?

The Terps may never have another backer like Jack Heise. Oh, some may donate more money to Maryland, but none will likely ever spend a lifetime supporting the teams more than Heise, who even married a Terps cheerleader.
Maryland remembered the 1947 graduate before Saturday’s 20-7 loss to Virginia with not a moment of silence, but [...]

Gary Williams won’t be shouting at guard Greivis Vasquez when Maryland basketball practice starts tomorrow.
First, Williams is still recovering from recent surgery for a ruptured disc in his neck using a surgical procedure that could have cost his voice for a year. It’s a little softer for now and Williams will use a microphone for [...]

When I returned to the Maryland beat in 2003 for a couple seasons, there were two people who were always at football and basketball games — Robert  Novak and Jack Heise. Novak passed away recently and Heise died on Monday. They leave a void.
Heise, 84, was a 1947 Maryland graduate who was inducted into the [...]

Maryland was supposed to get smashed by California as a 22-point dog, and the Terps did. The real measure, as Rocky says in his last movie to a selfish child, is not about getting knocked down, but about getting back up. That’s Maryland’s task against James Madison on Saturday.
My Washington Examiner column shows how the [...]

Maryland quarterback Chris Turner is now a senior, no longer the Napolean Dynamite “dude” character of an underclassman. You see a more grown up person who should be the Terrapins best passer since Boomer Esiason a generation ago.
My Washington Examiner column has Turner discussing the change in him from living amongst us Easterners (funny, I [...]

National columnist Bob Novak died today. Certainly, he was an newspaperman’s icon.
Novak was a die-hard Maryland Terrapins fan, traveling with the team for men’s basketball and football games. He rarely missed one for many years.
When leaving the Redskins beat in 2003 for health reasons while still with The Washington Times, I was fortunate [...]

Ralph Friedgen lost 105 pounds and looked as skinny as someone who’s still 300 can, but I admire anyone at age 62 who can do that without surgery. The Maryland coach will really roar with that new energy.
My Washington Examiner column details the trials of inexperienced lines may have on the Terps this season.
Friedgen, Terps [...]

Greivis Vasquez realized the NBA didn’t want him and Maryland did. Seems like a simple decision to withdraw from the NBA draft yesterday. And that’s Maryland’s gain because the Terps will have four starters and eight of their top nine scorers next season.
My Washington Examiner column discusses why Vasquez didn’t go, his options and what [...]

Maryland officials say the “Fear the Turtle” motto that was so popular will be replaced. The Diamondback newspaper said University officials will spend more than $1 million over three years to develop a new slogan.
My reaction as a Maryland alumn — Are you people crazy? Maybe I’ve been paying too much in tuition for my [...]

The Washington Redskins quickly signed 13 rookie free agents. Obviously, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel stands out, though I don’t see him making the team. He’d have to beat out Colt Brennan and that’s not happening. Maryland offensive tackle Scott Burley has a chance. Should have been drafted. One tough guy. Maryland center Edwin Williams will [...]

The Maryland receiver is a sudden riser in the draft. I’m not sure Darrius Heyward-Bey’s a first-round player, but he’s faster than blazes and a workout warrior so I’m sure the Terp’s going in the first round now.
But where? Baltimore would love him at 26, even bringing quarterback Joe Flacco to throw to Heyward-Bey [...]

Now that Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen has named his successor, is he a lame duck with three years or so remaining? The Terps started spring practice with assistant James Franklin now squarely the next coach and with every loss this fall there will be cries form the stands to make Franklin the head coach [...]

Maryland guard Kristi Toliver plays her final game on Tuesday at Comcast Center in the NCAA Tournament second-rounder versus Utah.
The program will miss her. Toliver hit the shot that sent Maryland into overtime when later winning the 2006 national title. She has been a terrific player for four seasons, maybe the best ever in College [...]