Friday, August 15, 2008

Back to School

The number of season tickets we hold for various local teams has been steadily creeping up the last few years, a fact that my wife laments. Having dropped our commitments to the Washington Nationals and the Washington Mystics, we have found a number of other squads that we enjoy supporting and seem to build on that group each year. This fall, we will be all about collegiate sports, adding Maryland Men's Soccer and Maryland Women's Basketball to our season passes for Georgetown Men's Basketball.

For even the most casual fan of soccer, there is an embarrassment of riches of the sport in this region. In addition to three professional teams in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, the collegiate soccer offered at the University of Maryland is remarkable. One of the Terps' finest, Maurice Edu, is reportedly leaving MLS's Toronto FC for Rangers, netting an impressive $5 million transfer fee. Edu was one of three former Terps representing the United States in Beijing, as he was joined by Chris Seitz and Robbie Rogers. Stephen King, a midfielder for the Chicago Fire, who stood out in both of our trips to see the Terps play last year, looks like he should settle in well in the MLS.

Whatever the history, we will be going Ludwig Field more often this season in the hopes of seeing Rodney Wallace build on what was a great freshman season. Wallace started all 21 games for the Terps his first year and he is exactly the type of player that I've grown to overvalue. Like CP Baltimore's Mathew Mbuta, he's a winger with pace who is always a threat to score (Unlike, for example, Jerome Thomas...).

First exhibition match at home is next Friday at 7:30 (free to anyone who wants to check the game out) against the Big East's South Florida.

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