Why I Haven’t Been Blogging

Well, because of the THOUSANDS of e-mails I have gotten asking me,”Hey Terry, where the hell have you been?”, I figured I would post up something real quick. I recently got back into being a full-time sports talk show host. But it’s nowhere near Baltimore.

So, I’ve been busy getting my show rolling. Hopefully, I’ll be able to blog here from time to time. If you’ve been one of the regular readers of this blog I want to say…..THANKS A LOT FOR THE SUPPORT!!!!! I hope to talk with all of you again down the road.

Well, That Sucked

So Korie Lucious, a 32% 3 point shooter, drains a three and ends Maryland’s season. The Terps made a helluva comeback to take the lead. If  Draymont Green’s pass would’ve hit Dorrell Summers the Terps pull off one of the best comebacks in tournament history. But, you know what they say about IF….if your Aunt had a pair, she’s be your Uncle. Summers ducked, Lucious caught the pass and Maryland was toast.

It’s hard to get too upset about Maryland’s loss to the Spartans. They did get up off the deck to make that late charge and Michigan St. is going back to the Final Four again this year. But the Spartans did lose their point guard, were without their shooting guard and their bigs were beat up…..and they outplayed the Terps. To be brutally honest, Michigan State was so beat up they should’ve wore hospital gowns instead of basketball gear….WOW, what an ugly mental picture!!!! Maryland really have taken charge and won the game over a beat up Spartan squad.

So, was it a great year? No, but it was a damn good year! The Terps were fun to watch and finished tied for first in the ACC. Grevis Vasquez was the ACC Player of the Year and  a second team All-American.  It’s hard not to be happy with that BUT……

Maryland seems to have become a program that is good for a big win or two during the year and a victory in the NCAA Tournament…..and that’s about it.  True, they got a bad draw in the NCAA’s by getting Michigan State in the second round but still, that’s a game you have to win if you want to be an elite program. The injured Spartans found a way to win, why couldn’t the healthy Terps?

Maryland spent the first half of the 2000’s as one of the best programs in college basketball. Now, they’re just another better than average program. Pretty good but nothing special.

Fear the Turtle?

So there were three places celebrating the Northern Iowa upset over Kansas…..Cedar Falls, Iowa obviously…..but also College Park, Maryland and East Lansing, Michigan. Now the bracket has been busted wide open for the Terps and the Spartans. You know both camps are thinking, “Hell, if we can win Sunday we get Northern Iowa instead of Kansas! We have a lot better chance to get to the Elite Eight and maybe even the Final Four!”

And you can see why both Maryland and Michigan St. both think they can beat each other. The Spartans have a bunch of guys who got run over in the National Championship Game by North Carolina so they have Final Four experience. Michigan State also is one of the best rebounding teams in America and those are the kind of teams Maryland has trouble with.

The Terps beat basically the same Michigan State team in the 2008 Big Ten/ACC Challenge. If the season were the Daytona 500, the Spartans ran out of gas and blew a couple of tires at the finish line, ending the year 6-5 after a 19-3 start. On the flip side, Maryland is playing real well, winning eight out of their last nine. And the Terps are hoping that freshman center Jordan Williams can hold his own down low against Michigan State. Williams tore up a soft Houston squad inside.

You had to be happy with the way Grevis Vasquez played against the Cougars. He didn’t come out and start chucking up 25 footers with three guys on him. He didn’t get into a gunning contest with Houston ballhog Aubrrey Coleman. That was the old Vasquez. This Vasquez spent most of the game getting his teammates involved. And those cats responded big time. They shot 47% from the floor and tore it up in the 2nd half.  Everyone seemed to contribute. If you told me that Vasquez would shoot 5-13, 0-5 from three and score only 16 points, I’d say,”Oh s**t, Maryland lost!” But that’s why the Terps won this game, they played as a team while Houston played five games of one-on-one. I think Cougars coach Tom Penders must have a rule against passing the basketball.

I think Maryland will win a war against Michigan St. and go on to the Sweet Sixteen with a great chance to beat Northern Iowa and go to the Elite Eight…..if they take the Panthers a little more seriously than Kansas did.

Tillman not #5?

Orioles manager Dave Trembley said the right thing yesterday, telling the media that the final spot in the starting rotation is still up for grabs. But I think we all know right-hander Chris Tillman has to fall apart like a Toyota to lose the number five spot in the Birds rotation.

We all know that the Birds want Tillman to win that job and we all know there is a 95% chance he will win the job. Let’s face it, WE want to see Tillman get the gig. He’s a big-time prospect and we O’s know for this team to finally start winning again these big time prospects  have to develop. So the Orioles need to give Tillman every opportunity possible to be in the rotation.

But you don’t want Tillman to think he has a spot all sown up. He did show flashes in 2009 but he didn’t look like the 2nd coming of Dwight Gooden. You want Tillman to keep working and to stay focused. And just because Tillman is one of the best pitching prospects in the game, it doesn’t mean he’ll actually become a good major leaguer…..see Matt Riley, Adam Loewen and Beau Hale. You also don’t want David Hernandez and Jason Berken thinking they have no shot at that spot either. You want those two cats to believe that if they bust their hump and put up numbers, they can snag that number five spot.

It’ll be Tillman’s gig…the only person that can lose Chris Tillman the gig is Chris Tillman.

So What, it’s Just the ACC Tournament

I know, there are people who will be bummed over Maryland getting beat by Georgia Tech in the quarters of the ACC Tournament but I have two words that will make you feel better…..SO WHAT! Those two words didn’t do the trick? How about these two….BIG DEAL! All the ACC Tournament is anymore is a cash cow for the league and a place where a team can go on a run and make the NCAA Tournament. Please don’t read too much into this loss to the Yellow Jackets.

It’s just the ACC Tournament, I repeat, it’s JUST the ACC Tournament. This only means that Maryland won’t be any better than a five seed in the NCAA Tournament. You know, the tournament that REALLY matters. This is not 1974. We have more than four channels on our TV’s. The players don’t wear Daisy Dukes  and The NCAA Tournament is not 32 teams.  You don’t have to win the ACC Tournament to go the NCAA’s. Maryland is in and they aren’t on the bubble….for a change.

Maryland had won seven in a row and only one of  those games had been a blow out.  Basically, the Terps were due for a clunker. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather get that loss out of the way in the first round of the ACC Tournament than the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Would you be happy if  Maryland won the ACC Tournament and then lost in the first round of the NCAA’s?

Remember, Georgia Tech was the team on the bubble. They had to win to solidify their spot in the Big Dance. Plus, they had pumped themselves up on that revenge angle after the Terps beat them at the buzzer in February at Comcast. ACC Player of the Year Grevis Vasquez was also due for a clunker. He had been playing out if his mind since mid-February.

I know head coaches will ever admit this but I bet Maryland head coach Gary Williams is probably secretly happy now that the winning streak is over and they got bounced early in the ACC Tournament. Now Gary can spit and cuss at his squad and when he says they can lose to anyone at any time they’ll listen. Hopefully, they’ll get their edge back.  Now Maryland got the stink off of them that was coming and now they can go back to College Park and get ready for the games that really matter.

Trade Gaither?

I‘ve had a couple of people e-mail me and post messages lately that have asked,”Do you think the Ravens should trade offensive tackle Jared Gaither?”

 And I say…..WHY NOT!

 I know Gaither is only 24 years old and he has loads of potential. I know he’s only been a starter for two years and he has big-time upside and potential BUT….

 There is a reason the Ravens didn’t put the highest tender on Gaither, which would’ve meant that a team would have to give up a 1^st round pick and a 3^rd round pick to sign him. Instead, the team only put a 1^stround tender on Gaither. If the Ravens really thought that Gaither was going to be a Pro Bowl caliber offensive tackle for years to come in the NFL, why wouldn’t they put the highest tender on him? Maybe because they aren’t crazy about his work ethic and attitude?

 So either the Ravens don’t think Gaither will be the player they hoped he was going to be or they just see him as their most valuable trade chip and they think they have enough depth on the offensive line to make up for dealing Gaither. The Ravens only have five picks in upcoming draft, which is suppose to be one of the deepest in years. The easiest way to get more picks is to trade a player with some value. It seems like that dude would be Gaither.

 Personally, if a team wanted to give me a #1 for Gaither I’d go to his house, throw him in my car and drive him to the airport before that team exec sobered up and realized what he had done. Because of Gaither’s attitude and injury issues I find it hard to believe a team would give up their 1^stround pick for Jared. Even the 49ers and Seahawks, who both have two 1^stround picks, wouldn’t be stupid enough to give up one for Gaither, would they? Damn, I hope so! If Gaither is dealt the Ravens can move Michael Oher to left tackle, put Marshal Yanda back at right tackle and pop Chris Chester in at his old guard spot.

 More realistically, getting a 2^nd round pick and maybe a 5^throunder might be the most you can get for Gaither. I still say…DO IT! Hey, maybe the Cowboys, with Botox Jerry making the decisions, will pony up their #1 or maybe their #2 and #5 for Gaither? It would be great for the Ravens to re-stock some lost draft picks for a player who will probably never be as good as he should be.

Hey, They Actually got it Right!

Big props to those who voted Maryland’s Grevis Vasquez the ACC Player of the Year!!!! It was so obvious to anyone who has watched the ACC this year that Vasquez deserved this award. I can spew the numbers out at you if you want, 19 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds a game, but what really makes him Player of the Year is how many big shots he made for his team, how he learned to get his teammates involved in the game and how he put the squad on his back so many times he needs a brace. And if you also factor in the fact that Maryland would be in somewhere from the middle to the bottom of the ACC without him, it all points to Vasquez as the ACC Player of the Year.

 Let’s also give credit to the voters because they obviously didn’t let their personal feelings about Vasquez get in the way. Hey, let’s face it, if there was a Most Hated Player of the Year award in the ACC, Grevis would be the unanimous winner. Hell, for half of his time at Maryland, the Terp fans hated him! Throw in the fact that Vasquez doesn’t play on Tobacco Road, it just shows you how good of a year Vasquez really did have.

They HAD to do it!

I know, Anquan Bolden is almost 30. I know, Anquan Bolden has injury issues. I know, Anquan Bolden isn’t the burner the Ravens were looking for…BUT BOLDEN MAKES THE RAVENS INSTANTLY BETTER! And the Ravens didn’t have to give up their #1 or #2 pick to get him. This is a move the Ravens HAD to make.

Is Bolden better than Brandon Marshall? Nope. But to get Marshall you would’ve had to give a #1 pick and pull up a Brinks truck at Marshall’s house to dump out a truckload of dough after you sign him to a new contract. Plus, Marshall is a ticking time bomb. Trading for him is like carrying around an explosive device…..it’s sort of like being in that movie “The Hurt Locker”. The Ravens didn’t have to give up as much to get Bolden, they don’t have to pay him as much for as long and they don’t have to worry about seeing Bolden being taken away in handcuffs on the local news.

Also, Bolden plays hard. He breaks tackles after the catch, he blocks and he plays with passion. It’s funny, but people forget that before Larry Fitzgerald showed up, Bolden was the number one wide out in The Desert. he had two 100 plus catch seasons. Even though Fitzgerald is the go-to guy with the Cardinals, Bolden averaged more yards per catch than Fitzgerald last year. Bolden became the “underneath guy” in the Arizona passing offense.  He had 10 catches of over 20 yards last year and only one catch of over 40 yards. Fitzgerald was suppose to be the big play dude but he had only 12 catches of over 20 yards and guess how many catches over 40 yards he had????? As many as I did…yep, zero. And for the record, Marshall had 11 grabs for over 20 yards and four of over 40 yards. So Bolden’s numbers are about the same as Fitzgerald and Marshall.

Now, I don’t think trading for Bolden punches the Ravens ticket to the Super Bowl by any means. He isn’t going to be blowing by cornerbacks and let’s hope his reckless style doesn’t get him hurt. He hasn’t played 16 games in a season since since 2006. But Bolden and Dante Stallworth are a hell of a lot better than Derrick Mason and Kelley Washington. If the Ravens bring back Mason and draft a young wide receiver that would give them Bolden, Mason, Stallworth, Clayton and a rookie wide out. Again, a lot better than that crew they rolled out every Sunday in 2009.

The Ravens also need to get a guy who can rush the passer and a guy who can cover the other teams wide receivers. And we could sit around all day and nit pick at every wide receiver that was available. I could tell you why not to go out and get Bolden, Marshall, Vincent Jackson, Miles Austin Terrell Owens or Malcolm Floyd. You either had to give up too much, pay too much or put up with too much. The other thing to think about is that both Bolden and Stallworth have something to prove. Bolden has to show everyone he can be a number one again and Stallworth has to prove he can still play in the NFL after being kicked out of the league for a year.

The Ravens had to make a move and they did….whether Bolden catches 90 balls or plays only six games, this was THE RIGHT MOVE. Good work Ozzie!

Who Was More Bored, The Team or Me?

So, still stoked over the Maryland win against Duke, I sit down to watch Maryland take on Virginia in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers haven’t won since February, 3rd. At that point they were 14-6. Going into the Maryland game they were 14-14. They had not only lost 8 straight but they also lost their best player, Sylvan Landesberg, for failing to meet his academic obligations. If they suspended guys who play for John Calipari for “failing to meet their academic obligations” his teams would be playing with student managers.

As this game dragged on I wondered who was into it less, the Maryland players or me. It just seemed like the Terps were still hung over after all of the partying after the win over the Blue Devils. Maryland kept flirting with double-digit leads, only to have the Cavs make a mini-run to get back into the game.

The game finally got interesting when Virginia cut the lead to one late in the game. Gary Williams called a time-out and said one of these things to his team….

“Alright dudes, time to get serious. It’s time to quit shooting with your opposite hands. Let’s go beat their sorry asses and go home.”

“Fellas, we have a chance to hang another banner at “The Comcast Center Gary Williams Built With all of the Money His Basketball Team has Made for the School”. Plus, a loss here will make that Duke win meaningless. Let’s not screw up everything we’ve worked hard for. And let’s not screw up my banner!”

Alright you (pick your favorite expletive and drop it in here), if you blow this lead and lose to crappy Virginia without their best player, I will make all of you start taking your own tests!!!!!”

Like everything else since Mid-February, things worked out for Maryland. They got a turnover and a blocking call that could’ve gone either way. And to top it all off, they got a gift technical when Virginia head coach Tony Bennett took off his jacket and threw it down when that blocking foul was called. My first question when I saw Bennett fling his jacket was, “How many beers has he had?” I thought your coach was suppose to be the level-headed one? Isn’t he suppose to be the guy keeping his composure, not losing it? The Terps should’ve gave Bennett the game ball. D-U-M-B!

I know this will sound screwy, but these are the kind of games good teams win. You know, the games they sleepwalk through. The games that no matter how much the coaching staff says, “So what if our opponent has lost 8 in a row, THEY’RE DANGEROUS!”, they know it’s a load of bull. The games that come off of big, emotional wins over a team you hate, your school hates and your fans hate. Throw in the other team is having Senior Day and since they’ve lost their best player, those guys feel like they have nothing to lose because everyone expects them to get run out of their own building. If the trip to Charlottesville wasn’t a classic “trap game” I don’t know what is a classic “trap game”.

The 2009-2010 regular season is over and while I thought they would be a top four team in the ACC, I never dreamed they would win their last seven league games, go 13-3 in the ACC and finish up 23-7. Another good sign for the post-season, Maryland had eight players score at least five points against UVA. If everyone keeps contributing, that will really help the Terps in the NCAA Tournament if a Hayes or Milbourne or God forbid Vasquez has an off game. Ok, maybe not Vasquez, if he has an off game Maryland will probably go home.

It’s been a really nice run so let’s give the Terps big props for a nice ride.

Just Like Old Times

I swear to God if that Maryland win over #4 Duke didn’t make you scream, yell, have your body hair stand on end or make you pee yourself with happiness you need your pulse checked because you might be legally dead.

 It was like the early 2000’s at the Comcast Center last night. The place was rockin’, the students were hurling profanities at the Duke players and Maryland dumped the Blue Devils to move into a tie for first in the ACC on Senior Night. The only thing missing was a bunch a drunk Frat-Guys lighting the campus on fire.

 I now hope everyone realizes that Grevis Vasquez is the ACC Player of the Year. Vasquez scored nine points in the last 5:00 and how about that fade-away runner he made with the Terps clinging to a two point lead with under a minute to go and the shot clock running out. That shot was classic Vasquez. It was a shot that when he put it up you were going….”No, no, no, no Grevis….HELL YEAH! Great shot Grevis!

One of the big reasons this team has stepped it up is the play of freshman center Jordan Williams. He not only had a double-double but his offensive board and put-back gave Maryland the lead for good. Reserve guard Adrian Bowie has all of a sudden woke up these last couple of weeks. He had nine huge points in the second half.

 Look, I don’t think Duke is the 4^th best team in the country but that was a big win for the Terps, because if they beat Virginia in Charlottesville and then win a game or two in the ACC Tournament, they should get a four seed in the Big Dance. And that gives Maryland a nice shot to get to the second week-end of the tournament.

 This team can get to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA’s because of their veteran guards, the emergence of the freshman big man Williams and the fact they can play in the half-court. In the NCAA Tournament sooner or later you get into one of those 57-55 games where the tempo is slowed down and you have to win a half-court battle. The Terps can play and win those games now.

 I gotta go now….I’ve got a couch to go light up at College Park.

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