Thursday, December 09, 2004

Observations

At this point, I think I would rather watch Mischa Barton try to act on The O.C. than watch Maryland play UNC Asheville this weekend. The game is completely useless. A 30-point win will do nothing for all of the problems that were exposed last weekend. Gary and the boyz are in a holding pattern until the FSU game next week at the Comcast Center.

At least the game won’t be held at the Leon County Civic Center. I mean is there a worse name for a college arena than that? It sounds like the 4-H club comes in after the game and sets up for the big County Fair. Can’t they name it after famous alumni Burt Reynolds or something? It could be called the Deliverance Center…"where FSU makes all of their opponents squeal like a pig, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". Come to think of it, that is what they should rename whatever the arena is called at the University of Arkansas.

Since I’m getting some things off my chest, why doesn’t Maryland have any famous alumni? How much would our program be helped if we had an Ashley Judd type leading the cheers? I mean, Bob Novak is probably our most famous alumnus at this point and he is most notable for revealing an undercover CIA agent in his Washington Post column. Thanks, Bob we are so proud of you. Who else do we have besides athletes? Connie Chung? That dude who defrauded the NY Times? Am I forgetting someone? There has to be some famous alumni somewhere that I’m missing.

The bigger Terps story this weekend is the Maryland Soccer team. For those who don’t know, they are in College Cup this weekend at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. The College Cup is the Final Four of college soccer and this Maryland’s third straight and possibly, last crack at it.

Any self respecting Terps fan located in Southern California (read: Hartz and Waxman!!) should find their way to the game this weekend. Actually, I’m kidding. There is really never a need to ever go to Carson, CA unless you are landing a blimp.

Comments:
I don't believe Bob Novak is a Maryland alum, just a fan (similar to Wolf Blitzer and GWU hoops). As for famed non-athletic alumni, Maryland has its share, which you could probably find on the university's Web site. To be reminded of one, just walk in front of the student union, where you'll see a statue of Jim Henson with his most famed creation, Kermit.

And this game is not useless. The players have been off for a week, studying (we hope) for finals, and a relatively weak opponent is a good tune-up.

Princeton, whose calendar goes from September to June instead of the now customary August to May, takes a few weeks off in January for exams, and traditionally comes back to basketball with a Monday game against a Division III team to get the kinks out of the way before resuming Ivy League play that weekend. It's the same process here. You can't play top 100 teams every time out.

Oh, and on the Leon County Civic Center -- it's not on campus, so I doubt the university had any say in naming the place. And given the traditional lack of interest for college basketball throughout Florida, I'd be shocked if FSU ever builds an on-campus arena.
 
Desert Island Boy: Thank you for getting my jokes. It's nice when someone is with me.

To the anonymous poster before DIB: My point about the UNC-Asheville game is that nothing can happen in that game that will make any Terp fan feel better about the team. We will have to wait until we play a tougher opponent. Obviously the Leon County Civic Center is a county building and not on campus. It was a joke. As for famous alumni, you should check out the www.umd.edu yourself. The 21 distinguished alumni, are either not famous or dead. Regardless, none of them qualify as an "Ashley Judd" type.
 
Now Goldie Hawn is an alumni, but she has a few more miles than Judd on her.As much as I love Goldie, who hails from nearby Takoma Park and is a 1963 Montgomery Blair HS alumna, she never attended Maryland. Instead, she went to American U. for a year, then dropped out to pursue a career in show business.

And comparing Goldie to the much younger Ashley Judd is rather unfair. Judd vs. Kate Hudson (Goldie's daughter)...well, that would be interesting.
 
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