This is our fourth year as Maryland Football season ticket holders. It took us nine years of going to Byrd sporadically before we were willing to make the commitment. Then, for the first three years, we barely used the tickets, nor would we try to even give them away when were not using the seats.
No matter how entertaining a game was on the field -- last season's win against Virginia and the Monday night season opener against Miami in 2011 stand out -- sitting in the stands has been a miserable experience. Our eldest thinks fights between drunken men is a routine part of a football game. We regularly get to games late and leave early because of the obnoxious behavior of a vocal minority of idiots.
As much as we have come to love the team, the players, and the coaching staff, dealing with other fans made going to games with the entire family a non-starter.
Until this year.
Whatever else may happen with the move from the ACC to the Big Ten, the change in culture in the stadium has been a total unexpected surprise.
There was nothing to indicate any major shift from the season-opener against James Madison. We sit field level, 50-yard line, visitor's side and, as usual, there were minor skirmishes and major obscenity laced tirades between fans. Certainly nothing from the West Virginia game seemed any different from the norm.
The surrounding rows in our section for the Ohio State game was about two-thirds Buckeyes and one-third Terrapins. I can't remember ever enjoying a football game more, even with Maryland being drubbed. Fans were pleasant and conversational. More than anything they were reverent.
I left the stadium beaming. It is a privilege to be able to watch elite college football. The Ohio State partisans have no qualms about openly recognizing this.
Same thing this Saturday. Huge number of Iowa fans descend on College Park. No tension in the stands. Free and easy. There's a game. There's fantastic athletes. They're about to engage in an epic contest of strategy and skill. And we're here, allowed to see it up close.
There's a long shot of the visitor's side when Stefon Diggs takes off for his long touchdown. Fans in both black and gold and red and black on their feet. He gone. No "You suck" chant. No fingers wagging at the visiting fans. Just joy on some faces, dismay on others. Football at its very best.
Maybe the Rutgers game to close the season won't be like this, but I expect the Michigan State game will. And that's B1G.
Showing posts with label Maryland Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maryland Football. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Taking Care of the Kids
I overemphasize process. The end result, the actual execution of a game plan, is what ultimately matters. But the development of nascent talent or the construction of a strategy can be just as captivating.
I enjoy spring training. Not for the fake games, but for the chance to see coaches working directly with players and eavesdropping on evaluations or advice. I am probably one of a handful of supporters that was excited about D.C. United opening up a single practice to season ticket holders this year.
Maryland football opens a scrimmage to fans this last Saturday? I'm there. If nothing else, it is an opportunity to watch the implementation of the read option by a group of quarterbacks with different skill sets.
My eldest decided to join me for the afternoon and, as is convention for Maryland football events, Pepsi-sponsored activities were provided for kids, including a bounce house. The equipment sale let her buy a used jersey that she quickly converted into a dress. And the families of players in the stands provided the rest of her entertainment for the day.
The key to enjoying Maryland's "Fan Appreciation Day" is moving quickly away from seats within earshot of Maryland "supporters" who loudly criticize the players, the coaches, the school for their obvious collective and individual incompetence. There's no way to get away from this pestilence once the season starts and you are wedded to your seats. But this is just a scrimmage and you can move around until you find a section populated by players' families, for whom the novelty of seeing their kid play Division I football has yet to wear thin.
An example: The fans know that the quarterback should have taken the obvious option. They know that there was a man open in the flat and they know a football should have been delivered there. The families, on the other hand, remark at the speed of the game. They remark at how much bigger and faster everyone has become. They marvel at the development of these young men, even when there is much, much further to go.
These observations are further driven home later, after the scrimmage, when you are down on the turf with your kid watching the players interact with their parents, siblings, and extended family. My daughter could not get over how big some of the players were. Some of the players' families could not get over hearing their sons called "sir" by fans.
It ain't all light and sweetness. The bulk of the people that have come out were angling for a Stefon Diggs autograph or memento. While the team sat easily at tables spread the length of the field, barricades were set up at midfield to create two distinct lines. One for Coach Edsall and one for Mr. Diggs, although the extra demarcation for the former didn't seem necessary. Diggs is the show -- and he deserves to be -- but his tangible benefits from the limelight at this moment are no different from any other scholarship athlete.
My daughter has never waited for an autograph from Maryland's #1. She does not know who he is, other than when I repeat to her (for no apparent purpose) that she saw him play at Good Counsel. Instead, she knows Joe Riddle and Michael Tart, having bought a #29 jersey in honor of players that have always happily signed her helmets and let her know that her presence was appreciated. She knows Dexter McDougle, having seen him repeatedly at gymnastics meets. She knows Shawn Petty, Alex Twine, and Anthony Nixon Jr., because I can't stop telling her how good they are. She knows Zimuzo Nwaigwe because I tell her how hard he's worked to sit behind that table.
She knows all of them because the program makes the players accessible to its young fans and because the players, in the main, participate with good humor and a convincing sense of gratitude that the kids have taken an interest.
And so it ends up not just being a practice session for the players. Saturday afternoon was also a dry run for me. My eldest now says she wants to go to games this season, as long as it is not too hot. There's a process: open events for fans + bouncy house + likable, good-humored players = fans.
I enjoy spring training. Not for the fake games, but for the chance to see coaches working directly with players and eavesdropping on evaluations or advice. I am probably one of a handful of supporters that was excited about D.C. United opening up a single practice to season ticket holders this year.
Maryland football opens a scrimmage to fans this last Saturday? I'm there. If nothing else, it is an opportunity to watch the implementation of the read option by a group of quarterbacks with different skill sets.
My eldest decided to join me for the afternoon and, as is convention for Maryland football events, Pepsi-sponsored activities were provided for kids, including a bounce house. The equipment sale let her buy a used jersey that she quickly converted into a dress. And the families of players in the stands provided the rest of her entertainment for the day.
The key to enjoying Maryland's "Fan Appreciation Day" is moving quickly away from seats within earshot of Maryland "supporters" who loudly criticize the players, the coaches, the school for their obvious collective and individual incompetence. There's no way to get away from this pestilence once the season starts and you are wedded to your seats. But this is just a scrimmage and you can move around until you find a section populated by players' families, for whom the novelty of seeing their kid play Division I football has yet to wear thin.
An example: The fans know that the quarterback should have taken the obvious option. They know that there was a man open in the flat and they know a football should have been delivered there. The families, on the other hand, remark at the speed of the game. They remark at how much bigger and faster everyone has become. They marvel at the development of these young men, even when there is much, much further to go.
These observations are further driven home later, after the scrimmage, when you are down on the turf with your kid watching the players interact with their parents, siblings, and extended family. My daughter could not get over how big some of the players were. Some of the players' families could not get over hearing their sons called "sir" by fans.
It ain't all light and sweetness. The bulk of the people that have come out were angling for a Stefon Diggs autograph or memento. While the team sat easily at tables spread the length of the field, barricades were set up at midfield to create two distinct lines. One for Coach Edsall and one for Mr. Diggs, although the extra demarcation for the former didn't seem necessary. Diggs is the show -- and he deserves to be -- but his tangible benefits from the limelight at this moment are no different from any other scholarship athlete.
My daughter has never waited for an autograph from Maryland's #1. She does not know who he is, other than when I repeat to her (for no apparent purpose) that she saw him play at Good Counsel. Instead, she knows Joe Riddle and Michael Tart, having bought a #29 jersey in honor of players that have always happily signed her helmets and let her know that her presence was appreciated. She knows Dexter McDougle, having seen him repeatedly at gymnastics meets. She knows Shawn Petty, Alex Twine, and Anthony Nixon Jr., because I can't stop telling her how good they are. She knows Zimuzo Nwaigwe because I tell her how hard he's worked to sit behind that table.
She knows all of them because the program makes the players accessible to its young fans and because the players, in the main, participate with good humor and a convincing sense of gratitude that the kids have taken an interest.
And so it ends up not just being a practice session for the players. Saturday afternoon was also a dry run for me. My eldest now says she wants to go to games this season, as long as it is not too hot. There's a process: open events for fans + bouncy house + likable, good-humored players = fans.
Monday, October 8, 2012
New Generation
Maryland's football campaign has been way, way more enjoyable than I anticipated. The defense is loaded from front to back. The offense was always going to have problems, but it is very charismatic.
Stefon Diggs may be better than advertised. Kenneth Tate is back. The Terps have won three games. Suddenly, I'm looking forward to Saturdays for reasons other than Charlton Atheltic.
There's probably a lot of interesting angles to cover about the game against Wake Forest, but with a day to reflect, one thing in particular stuck: the play of Anthony Nixon. The freshman from Pittsburgh was awarded a game ball for his special team play and Coach Edsall singled number 20 out for praise in his post-game comments. From the stands, the only time I cracked open my Maryland Gameday program (featuring a profile of Mikey Ambrose and Dakota Edwards) during game action was to figure out the name of the kid playing flawless football in the secondary in the second half.
Maryland is blooding a ridiculous number of freshmen. The coaching staff has been forced to rely on young kids and remarkably many, like Nixon, are responding with aplomb.
On a related note, I've linked above to a couple of pieces from the Washington Post. After spewing all that awful vile towards the Athletics Department and Coach Edsall last year, WaPo has pulled back and become a fun read. All credit to young Alex Prewitt who is doing a terrific job covering Terrapin football this year.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
First Place
Following today's win over Wake Forest, Maryland is the only undefeated team in conference play in the Atlantic division of the ACC.
Beautiful day to be at Byrd.
Beautiful day to be at Byrd.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Let's Goooooooo Maryland
Three days, three trips to campus, four games. Three Terrapin wins, one tie.
Most of the ink will be spilled bemoaning low attendance at Byrd and a poor performance by the football team against an FCS team. There is certainly justification for a negative takeaway from the weekend (it was shocking to watch) but Maryland's other football teams put in performances that were just as jaw-dropping for positive reasons.
As fans, the recurring theme of the weekend was the incredible support garnered by the various teams from within the athletics program. Among the 6,562 people in Ludwig Friday night was Nick Faust and Pe'shon Howard, as the men's basketball team was well-represented. My daughter and I ran into Faust again Saturday at the football game. Tonight at the men's soccer game against Cal, I was bracketed in the stands by Coach Brenda Frese and her family on one side and Domenica Hodak and Hayley Brock on the other. (Much respect to Coach Frese's boys, who responded to one of the Crew's many "sucks" chants by trying to start positive chants of their own. I remain unimpressed by the Crew who cracked up the stadium with a rousing rendition of Katy Perry's "California Gurls," but wiped out that witticism in a late game chant with the inclusion of the homophobic slur of choice for the student body's biggest tools. You can't put an umbrella up in the stands, but no worries about a group of students calling an opposing player a f&**%t). At the women's soccer game against Towson a few hours earlier, President Loh sat behind Jonathan Morgan for his first official home game as head coach.
Little bit different story for the student body. ESPN3 likely showed the backs of lots of Maryland students leaving Ludwig in the second half of the match against UCLA Saturday night and leaving Byrd on Sunday for the dire game against William & Mary.
It was worth staying for both.
It isn't exactly easy to be optimistic about the football team but after one game it is already clear that, yes, Stefon Diggs is that good. And, yes, the offense is really, really bad... but from a purely selfish standpoint, the inability of the offense to move the ball or avoid turnovers meant that the game stayed close and tense until the last minute, resulting in my eldest being around for the final whistle of a football game for the first time. Still, it is going to be a painful season.
Not so for the soccer teams. Although Maryland's record got its first blemish after failing to defeat a very good UCLA squad, the second half of that match was thrilling. With Keith Cardona in goal, Taylor Kemp and Mikey Ambrose at fullback, London Woodberry and Dakota Edwards at center half, Helge Leikvang and Dan Metzger cleaning up the midfield, John Stertzer directing the offense, and Patrick Mullins as the target man up top, this is a familiar, traditional Maryland powerhouse men's soccer squad. The type of squad that once featured three of the twenty-five called into the USMNT for the World Cup Qualifiers against Jamaica (Maurice Edu, Clarence Goodson, and Graham Zusi), one of Costa Rica's internationals (Rodney Wallace), three of the professional soccer players on hand at the game against Cal tonight (Zac MacMath, Matt Kassel, and Jeremy Hall), and two of the starters for Chivas USA who got blistered tonight by San Jose (Danny Califf and Casey Townsend).
But this year's version of Cirovski's Brigade is decidedly different because of what is on offer from Sunny Jane, Schillo Tshuma, Mikias Eticha, Widner Saint Cyr, Alex Shinsky, and Christiano Francois. These six players are remarkable on the ball and can, with varying degrees of reliability, launch breathtaking runs with only a sliver of space.
UCLA did very well bottling up release valves for these runs, but Maryland still managed 22 shots to UCLA's 8. Cal-Berkeley, picked by Pac-12's coaches to finish second behind UCLA in the conference this season, did not do well in that regard. While the 22 shots against UCLA resulted in 2 goals, 20 shots against Cal tonight resulted in 6 goals.
No Taylor Kemp, no Helge Leikvang tonight (replaced in the starting lineup by Widner Saint Cyr and Mikias Eticha, respectively), no problem. In driving, pouring rain and terrible conditions, kids all around the stadium begged their parents to stay a little longer. Mostly to watch Maryland's number 10.
In three games -- against pretty good opposition in Louisville, UCLA, and Cal -- Maryland has scored eleven goals. They are electrifying. The attacks in the second half of tonight's game (when five of the eleven team goals were scored), Maryland's offense was relentless as they toyed with a defense that was brutally overrun.
Maryland's first road game of the season is against another powerhouse, the #13 (NCSAA)/ #10 (Soccer America) Boston College Eagles, who need to rebound after a disappointing showing against Boston University Monday. With another good showing Friday night, the foundations for a special season will be laid.
Separately, congratulations to Jonathan Morgan on the women's emphatic 5-0 win this afternoon against Towson. Hayley Brock is terrific, but the story of the match was Olivia Wagner's brace. Both were long-range blasts; the first one was stunning. With several freshmen playing a major role on the squad this season, the women are likely to be inconsistent. Today's match gave supporters a little taste of how good they can be.
Most of the ink will be spilled bemoaning low attendance at Byrd and a poor performance by the football team against an FCS team. There is certainly justification for a negative takeaway from the weekend (it was shocking to watch) but Maryland's other football teams put in performances that were just as jaw-dropping for positive reasons.
As fans, the recurring theme of the weekend was the incredible support garnered by the various teams from within the athletics program. Among the 6,562 people in Ludwig Friday night was Nick Faust and Pe'shon Howard, as the men's basketball team was well-represented. My daughter and I ran into Faust again Saturday at the football game. Tonight at the men's soccer game against Cal, I was bracketed in the stands by Coach Brenda Frese and her family on one side and Domenica Hodak and Hayley Brock on the other. (Much respect to Coach Frese's boys, who responded to one of the Crew's many "sucks" chants by trying to start positive chants of their own. I remain unimpressed by the Crew who cracked up the stadium with a rousing rendition of Katy Perry's "California Gurls," but wiped out that witticism in a late game chant with the inclusion of the homophobic slur of choice for the student body's biggest tools. You can't put an umbrella up in the stands, but no worries about a group of students calling an opposing player a f&**%t). At the women's soccer game against Towson a few hours earlier, President Loh sat behind Jonathan Morgan for his first official home game as head coach.
Little bit different story for the student body. ESPN3 likely showed the backs of lots of Maryland students leaving Ludwig in the second half of the match against UCLA Saturday night and leaving Byrd on Sunday for the dire game against William & Mary.
It was worth staying for both.
It isn't exactly easy to be optimistic about the football team but after one game it is already clear that, yes, Stefon Diggs is that good. And, yes, the offense is really, really bad... but from a purely selfish standpoint, the inability of the offense to move the ball or avoid turnovers meant that the game stayed close and tense until the last minute, resulting in my eldest being around for the final whistle of a football game for the first time. Still, it is going to be a painful season.
Not so for the soccer teams. Although Maryland's record got its first blemish after failing to defeat a very good UCLA squad, the second half of that match was thrilling. With Keith Cardona in goal, Taylor Kemp and Mikey Ambrose at fullback, London Woodberry and Dakota Edwards at center half, Helge Leikvang and Dan Metzger cleaning up the midfield, John Stertzer directing the offense, and Patrick Mullins as the target man up top, this is a familiar, traditional Maryland powerhouse men's soccer squad. The type of squad that once featured three of the twenty-five called into the USMNT for the World Cup Qualifiers against Jamaica (Maurice Edu, Clarence Goodson, and Graham Zusi), one of Costa Rica's internationals (Rodney Wallace), three of the professional soccer players on hand at the game against Cal tonight (Zac MacMath, Matt Kassel, and Jeremy Hall), and two of the starters for Chivas USA who got blistered tonight by San Jose (Danny Califf and Casey Townsend).
But this year's version of Cirovski's Brigade is decidedly different because of what is on offer from Sunny Jane, Schillo Tshuma, Mikias Eticha, Widner Saint Cyr, Alex Shinsky, and Christiano Francois. These six players are remarkable on the ball and can, with varying degrees of reliability, launch breathtaking runs with only a sliver of space.
UCLA did very well bottling up release valves for these runs, but Maryland still managed 22 shots to UCLA's 8. Cal-Berkeley, picked by Pac-12's coaches to finish second behind UCLA in the conference this season, did not do well in that regard. While the 22 shots against UCLA resulted in 2 goals, 20 shots against Cal tonight resulted in 6 goals.
No Taylor Kemp, no Helge Leikvang tonight (replaced in the starting lineup by Widner Saint Cyr and Mikias Eticha, respectively), no problem. In driving, pouring rain and terrible conditions, kids all around the stadium begged their parents to stay a little longer. Mostly to watch Maryland's number 10.
In three games -- against pretty good opposition in Louisville, UCLA, and Cal -- Maryland has scored eleven goals. They are electrifying. The attacks in the second half of tonight's game (when five of the eleven team goals were scored), Maryland's offense was relentless as they toyed with a defense that was brutally overrun.
Maryland's first road game of the season is against another powerhouse, the #13 (NCSAA)/ #10 (Soccer America) Boston College Eagles, who need to rebound after a disappointing showing against Boston University Monday. With another good showing Friday night, the foundations for a special season will be laid.
Separately, congratulations to Jonathan Morgan on the women's emphatic 5-0 win this afternoon against Towson. Hayley Brock is terrific, but the story of the match was Olivia Wagner's brace. Both were long-range blasts; the first one was stunning. With several freshmen playing a major role on the squad this season, the women are likely to be inconsistent. Today's match gave supporters a little taste of how good they can be.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Mold Breaker
The Baltimore Sun's Bob Parasiliti recently penned a short puff piece defense of the WaPo-ravaged Randy Edsall. There was nothing earth-shattering about Parasiliti's profile. The column's pro-Edsall bent is not subtle, and Parasiliti is clearly trying to convince Terrapin partisans that the head coach merits a second-look.
Vocal Maryland football fans, however, are not sympathetic. The conventional wisdom holds that Coach Edsall is a stammering, unimaginative drill sergeant, sent from the University of Connecticut to soil the upwardly mobile program crafted and polished by Ralph Friedgen.
While perusing the venomous comments abounding this series of tubes, my head kept wrapping around the intemperate, confrontational language used by the Washington Post's crappy sports columnists playing Salome. And that brought me back to this past Maryland Day, where the number of fans that turned out for the football players' autograph session was considerably smaller than those at Maryland Day 2011. Yet, despite the negativity, despite the personal attacks, despite the cutting accusations of professional incompetence, sitting all by himself at a lonely table was Randy Douglas Edsall. Coach sat there for a better part of an hour vulnerable to the rebukes of any internet warrior desiring to give him a piece of their mind.
If I am a player on his squad, what Coach Edsall did on April 28th was the embodiment of living your word. If a collegiate coach is going to demand accountability from his players, he damn well better not make himself scarce when slings and arrows are directed his way. Coach Edsall has not run away. He has not hidden.
This trait, while admirable, does not win any football games. But it should win some respect and it should win some vocal support.
Vocal Maryland football fans, however, are not sympathetic. The conventional wisdom holds that Coach Edsall is a stammering, unimaginative drill sergeant, sent from the University of Connecticut to soil the upwardly mobile program crafted and polished by Ralph Friedgen.
While perusing the venomous comments abounding this series of tubes, my head kept wrapping around the intemperate, confrontational language used by the Washington Post's crappy sports columnists playing Salome. And that brought me back to this past Maryland Day, where the number of fans that turned out for the football players' autograph session was considerably smaller than those at Maryland Day 2011. Yet, despite the negativity, despite the personal attacks, despite the cutting accusations of professional incompetence, sitting all by himself at a lonely table was Randy Douglas Edsall. Coach sat there for a better part of an hour vulnerable to the rebukes of any internet warrior desiring to give him a piece of their mind.
If I am a player on his squad, what Coach Edsall did on April 28th was the embodiment of living your word. If a collegiate coach is going to demand accountability from his players, he damn well better not make himself scarce when slings and arrows are directed his way. Coach Edsall has not run away. He has not hidden.
This trait, while admirable, does not win any football games. But it should win some respect and it should win some vocal support.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Men of Honor
Part and parcel of the anti-Edsall careening bandwagon is the idolization of former Maryland assistant James Franklin. With a fawning profile and subsequent musings following Vanderbilt's surprising first season under the rookie coach, WaPo's done its part. Vandy's 6-6 year and loss to Cincy in the Liberty Bowl was, of course, a dramatic sea change for a program that went 6-6 with a win over a ranked Boston College team in the Music City Bowl under Bobby Johnson three seasons earlier. Cultural change complete; Vanderbilt ascendant; Terps miss out; Kevin Anderson is a miserable failure.
The Tennessean's Jeff Lockridge's short tweet summarizing Coach Franklin's characterization of de-commits as "not men of honor" and "not men of integrity" in a pep speech at the beginning of the month probably won't register up here. But it certainly raised a few eyebrows in other ACC circles. Per Michael Carvell at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, UNC Coach Larry Fedora waxing poetic on Coach Franklin's sense of honor:
Whatever justification may exist (or, more likely, doesn't exist) for the action, refusing to release players to transfer to Vanderbilt was another incompetent public relations misstep. At a minimum, it further fueled the perception that Coach Edsall is unreasonable, petty, and dictatorial. But before gilding the Commodores any further, let's be clear about what we're talking about. Men of honor. Men of integrity.
The Tennessean's Jeff Lockridge's short tweet summarizing Coach Franklin's characterization of de-commits as "not men of honor" and "not men of integrity" in a pep speech at the beginning of the month probably won't register up here. But it certainly raised a few eyebrows in other ACC circles. Per Michael Carvell at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, UNC Coach Larry Fedora waxing poetic on Coach Franklin's sense of honor:
North Carolina’s Larry Fedora: “What does [Franklin] say about the kids that were committed elsewhere and de-committed from their places to go to his place? That’s my comment. What is his comment on those people? He’s got someone in his recruiting class that did that very thing. He’s saying those guys are not men of honor? Basically, he’s saying he has got kids in his own recruiting class that are not men of honor. He said that, and I didn’t.”Sour grapes for losing Patton Robinette? Sure. Fine. But after crediting Coach Franklin with answering his questions and conceding the inconsistency of some of his views, Carvell included this Vandy recruiting Valentine's in a blog post Tuesday:
Sandy Creek DB Shaq Wiggins, who committed to UGA last weekend, was offered by Vanderbilt on Monday. “I got to talk to about four coaches, including the head coach [James Franklin]. They all knew that I committed to Georgia but they wanted to let me know that I had an offer from Vanderbilt, and they invited me to their Junior Day.”Beautiful: Coach Franklin loses formerly committed Josh Dawson to the Georgia Bulldogs. Coach Franklin opines that some honor or integrity is lost by de-committing. Coach Franklin retreats from comments when called on them by Carvell. Coach Franklin, three days later, then gouges return eye by openly recruiting a Georgia Bulldog commit after public announcement is made.
Whatever justification may exist (or, more likely, doesn't exist) for the action, refusing to release players to transfer to Vanderbilt was another incompetent public relations misstep. At a minimum, it further fueled the perception that Coach Edsall is unreasonable, petty, and dictatorial. But before gilding the Commodores any further, let's be clear about what we're talking about. Men of honor. Men of integrity.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Commitment
The Chicago Bears helmets that used to adorn the top of the living room bookcase have all been moved to the basement; in their place now rests three full-size Maryland football helmets.
Season ticket renewal letters were sent out last week and although I could barely use our allotment last season, we will renew and may even upgrade this year.
In the interim, every single whiny "I hate Randy Edsall," "I want Kevin Anderson fired," comment that I read or hear will get me even more fired up for the opener.
Is Randy Edsall a good football coach? Maybe not. I don't know.
At times last season, I watched the special teams unit and tried to recall, going back to high school, if I remember a team executing that poorly on so many important plays in the flow of the game. At other times, I saw a group of players that busted their rears through the waning minutes of games. Still, I don't understand how an evaluation of Edsall's tenure could be intelligently discussed as the consensus opinion regarding the Coach has been formed based off of WaPo's dislike for him, the complaints of reporters regarding his style, and a terrible inaugural record.
Two seasons removed from a 2 and 10 year and one season removed from a glorious trip to the Military Bowl for a game that drew less people than the one against Temple last season, it is de rigueur to vacuously pine for the days of The Fridge. Great. Best of luck. Sorry you are giving up your season tickets; but if that allows me to relocate for a better view without having to climb more stairs with toddlers in tow, thank you for taking that principled stand and God speed.
Two months until the Red-White spring game.
Season ticket renewal letters were sent out last week and although I could barely use our allotment last season, we will renew and may even upgrade this year.
In the interim, every single whiny "I hate Randy Edsall," "I want Kevin Anderson fired," comment that I read or hear will get me even more fired up for the opener.
Is Randy Edsall a good football coach? Maybe not. I don't know.
At times last season, I watched the special teams unit and tried to recall, going back to high school, if I remember a team executing that poorly on so many important plays in the flow of the game. At other times, I saw a group of players that busted their rears through the waning minutes of games. Still, I don't understand how an evaluation of Edsall's tenure could be intelligently discussed as the consensus opinion regarding the Coach has been formed based off of WaPo's dislike for him, the complaints of reporters regarding his style, and a terrible inaugural record.
Two seasons removed from a 2 and 10 year and one season removed from a glorious trip to the Military Bowl for a game that drew less people than the one against Temple last season, it is de rigueur to vacuously pine for the days of The Fridge. Great. Best of luck. Sorry you are giving up your season tickets; but if that allows me to relocate for a better view without having to climb more stairs with toddlers in tow, thank you for taking that principled stand and God speed.
Two months until the Red-White spring game.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Vacancies
The night before Maryland men's soccer team was slated to meet Louisville in the NCAA tournament, my eldest and I were having dinner at the Macaroni Grill in Silver Spring prior to catching the kid's movie of her choice. Not my favorite restaurant, but my daughter got to make the call and I simply could not cajole her into selecting Nando's.
Fifteen minutes or so after we had sat down and ordered, in walked Louisville's team followed by an impressively large group of boosters and family members. And as the very talented college soccer team enjoyed an evening meal, including three seniors expected to be taken in the first round of next year's MLS draft, I got to talk to my kid about the tournament game the next day in the context of a personal familiarity with the athletic contestants that I had never had as a kid.
That dinner made her enthusiastic about the game early Sunday evening. We sat on the grass hill/embankment and I, once again, counted my blessings. Shortly thereafter, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson strolled up the same hill with his lovely family and I momentarily considered bounding over to him and thanking him for working to create an environment where I could take my kids to games with pride. I demurred, having earlier interrupted a private moment of President Wallace Loh's to introduce ourselves, but have come to regret not stridently expressing support for the regime change that brought Randy Edsall to College Park.
These thoughts kept haunting me as we sat in a cavernously empty Comcast Center on Wednesday night watching Zeke's Florida International Union embarrass Maryland for long stretches of the game. For my daughters, this was their second college hoops contest of the week, having endured the Georgetown-Howard match at Verizon on Saturday. The contrast between the two games was stark. While Georgetown's fans were stunned by how long Howard stayed in the game, they remained supportive throughout and got behind the team at key stretches. Maryland's fans took the opposite tact, bitterly grousing throughout most of the game. At one point, I needed to calm down the infant by walking around and found that I didn't need to actually see the game to follow the action: every time Maryland missed any shot or committed a turnover, the crowd collectively groaned in exasperation; every time FIU scored, the crowd behaved as if it had been wounded.
There is no reason this should happen. Mark Turgeon's doing an admirable job with what he has and, in the absence of Pe'Shon Howard and Alex Len (who both return over the next two games), Maryland is 6 and 3 with wins over a Big East team (Notre Dame) and a Pac-12 team (Colorado). Unless they trip up -- as they've come close to doing the last two games -- they're likely to go into the conference season with ten wins. And while the talent has been derided, there are some good players still on this roster; I really enjoyed Ashton Pankey's performance against FIU.
And, yet, Kevin Anderson continues to bear the brunt of criticism leveled at University of Maryland athletics. All kinds of voices (including alums who own small businesses, go to a few games, and, as such, are entitled to lecture the school about the constitution of the football program) have been popping off about what needs to be done to fix Maryland football and basketball and the grievous ways in which the "legacies" of Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams were tarnished. But we're through the football season and now comfortably into the basketball season. The one thing that's been pretty consistent is piss-poor fan support.
According to the largely useless Report of the President's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (Nov. 11, 2011), overall fundraising revenue (composed of Terrapin Club contributions, major gifts, and endowment revenue) fell from $15.3 million in fiscal year 2008 to $11.1 million in fiscal year 2009 -- a 28% decline in a single year while, by the way, both Friedgen and Williams were coaching their respective programs. Fundraising revenues fell again in FY2010, to $10.1 million (again, while Friedgen and Williams were still coaching) and to $9.1 million in FY2011. The $6.2 million dollar decline in fundraising revenue from FY2008 to FY2011 constituted nearly 6 times the $1.2 million dollar operating loss Maryland Athletics experienced in FY2011 and more than the projected loss for any future year through FY2017. The amounts aren't split out, so it is unclear how big of an impact declines in endowment revenue had on the overall budget, but the USA Today's "College Athletics Finance Database" pegged endowment and investment income as contributing less than $500k to total revenue in FY2010.
Contributions (fundraising) are just as big of a component of the overall athletics budget as football revenue or basketball revenue at Maryland. Kristi Dosh analyzed figures reported to the U.S. Department of Education for FY2010 and observed that Maryland clears the second least amount of football revenues in the ACC -- $11.5 million (compared to $10.1 million in revenue from contributions the same year), just ahead of Wake Forest. Duke, the school immediately above Maryland in terms of football revenue in the ACC, generated $16.1 million in revenue from their terrible football program, 40% more than what Maryland earned. Debbie Yow's new school earned almost twice what Maryland earned in football and Virginia Tech earned almost three times the Terps' take. On the flip side, Maryland spent the least on its football program.
For basketball, Ms. Dosh reported revenue for the Terps of $10.7 million in FY2010, putting it in the upper end of the ACC compared to $26.7 million at Duke, $20.6 million at UNC, $10.4 million at NC State, $9.8 million at Virginia, $9.3 million at Virginia Tech, $9.1 million at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, $8.0 million at Boston College, $7.1 million at Clemson and Miami, and $5.8 million for Florida State.
While basketball revenue seems significantly higher for Maryland basketball, Ms. Dosh's reporting would seem to confirm that Maryland's financial contributions have been relatively meager compared to the athletics program at the University of Virginia which received $26.0 million in contributions for FY2010, while Florida State received contributions amounting to $23.2 million and Virginia Tech's received $16.1 million in contributions as reported in this article from Ms. Dosh.
So, likely because football revenue and contributions revenue put Maryland at the lower end of the ACC totem pole in FY2010, the school relied heavily on student fees -- purportedly the fourth most in the country -- generating $13.7 million from enrolled students. Thus, current (cash-strapped) students contributed more to the FY10 budget than alumni, which seems completely crazy.
Other than noting that luxury boxes at Byrd have been a financial drain rather than boon, the President's Commission Report doesn't spend nearly any time discussing the revenue woes that seem to afflict the program. And while the Report frequently discusses expenditures in context of other conference schools, it makes no such comparative effort with respect to revenue.
But maybe that just acknowledges the slim prospects of embarrassing this fanbase into action. For a game broadcast on ESPN, attendance -- both of the student and non-student supporter variety -- was horrific Wednesday night. Given what the financials indicate about compulsory support from the students, I'm not bothered that they don't show up. But for alums and general sports fans in the region, tickets could be had in the secondary market for less than $5, cash parking at a garage in easy distance from Comcast was $10. Still, the upper bowl was virtually empty. Our row in the lower bowl was completely empty. No one could be bothered.
The other side of the coin here is that A.D. Anderson has a unique opportunity to take a hard look at the culture of University of Maryland sports. He now has a chance, looking out across empty seats in both Byrd and Comcast, to think about how much of a role "F U!" chants and unvarnished front-running play in retarding support for the school's terrific athletic programs.
In the meantime, empty seats at Comcast mean more room to spread out the winter coats, baby toys, and diaper bag and put me at a greater distance from the caterwauling that seems to characterize most of contemporary Terp nation.
Fifteen minutes or so after we had sat down and ordered, in walked Louisville's team followed by an impressively large group of boosters and family members. And as the very talented college soccer team enjoyed an evening meal, including three seniors expected to be taken in the first round of next year's MLS draft, I got to talk to my kid about the tournament game the next day in the context of a personal familiarity with the athletic contestants that I had never had as a kid.
That dinner made her enthusiastic about the game early Sunday evening. We sat on the grass hill/embankment and I, once again, counted my blessings. Shortly thereafter, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson strolled up the same hill with his lovely family and I momentarily considered bounding over to him and thanking him for working to create an environment where I could take my kids to games with pride. I demurred, having earlier interrupted a private moment of President Wallace Loh's to introduce ourselves, but have come to regret not stridently expressing support for the regime change that brought Randy Edsall to College Park.
These thoughts kept haunting me as we sat in a cavernously empty Comcast Center on Wednesday night watching Zeke's Florida International Union embarrass Maryland for long stretches of the game. For my daughters, this was their second college hoops contest of the week, having endured the Georgetown-Howard match at Verizon on Saturday. The contrast between the two games was stark. While Georgetown's fans were stunned by how long Howard stayed in the game, they remained supportive throughout and got behind the team at key stretches. Maryland's fans took the opposite tact, bitterly grousing throughout most of the game. At one point, I needed to calm down the infant by walking around and found that I didn't need to actually see the game to follow the action: every time Maryland missed any shot or committed a turnover, the crowd collectively groaned in exasperation; every time FIU scored, the crowd behaved as if it had been wounded.
There is no reason this should happen. Mark Turgeon's doing an admirable job with what he has and, in the absence of Pe'Shon Howard and Alex Len (who both return over the next two games), Maryland is 6 and 3 with wins over a Big East team (Notre Dame) and a Pac-12 team (Colorado). Unless they trip up -- as they've come close to doing the last two games -- they're likely to go into the conference season with ten wins. And while the talent has been derided, there are some good players still on this roster; I really enjoyed Ashton Pankey's performance against FIU.
And, yet, Kevin Anderson continues to bear the brunt of criticism leveled at University of Maryland athletics. All kinds of voices (including alums who own small businesses, go to a few games, and, as such, are entitled to lecture the school about the constitution of the football program) have been popping off about what needs to be done to fix Maryland football and basketball and the grievous ways in which the "legacies" of Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams were tarnished. But we're through the football season and now comfortably into the basketball season. The one thing that's been pretty consistent is piss-poor fan support.
According to the largely useless Report of the President's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (Nov. 11, 2011), overall fundraising revenue (composed of Terrapin Club contributions, major gifts, and endowment revenue) fell from $15.3 million in fiscal year 2008 to $11.1 million in fiscal year 2009 -- a 28% decline in a single year while, by the way, both Friedgen and Williams were coaching their respective programs. Fundraising revenues fell again in FY2010, to $10.1 million (again, while Friedgen and Williams were still coaching) and to $9.1 million in FY2011. The $6.2 million dollar decline in fundraising revenue from FY2008 to FY2011 constituted nearly 6 times the $1.2 million dollar operating loss Maryland Athletics experienced in FY2011 and more than the projected loss for any future year through FY2017. The amounts aren't split out, so it is unclear how big of an impact declines in endowment revenue had on the overall budget, but the USA Today's "College Athletics Finance Database" pegged endowment and investment income as contributing less than $500k to total revenue in FY2010.
Contributions (fundraising) are just as big of a component of the overall athletics budget as football revenue or basketball revenue at Maryland. Kristi Dosh analyzed figures reported to the U.S. Department of Education for FY2010 and observed that Maryland clears the second least amount of football revenues in the ACC -- $11.5 million (compared to $10.1 million in revenue from contributions the same year), just ahead of Wake Forest. Duke, the school immediately above Maryland in terms of football revenue in the ACC, generated $16.1 million in revenue from their terrible football program, 40% more than what Maryland earned. Debbie Yow's new school earned almost twice what Maryland earned in football and Virginia Tech earned almost three times the Terps' take. On the flip side, Maryland spent the least on its football program.
For basketball, Ms. Dosh reported revenue for the Terps of $10.7 million in FY2010, putting it in the upper end of the ACC compared to $26.7 million at Duke, $20.6 million at UNC, $10.4 million at NC State, $9.8 million at Virginia, $9.3 million at Virginia Tech, $9.1 million at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, $8.0 million at Boston College, $7.1 million at Clemson and Miami, and $5.8 million for Florida State.
While basketball revenue seems significantly higher for Maryland basketball, Ms. Dosh's reporting would seem to confirm that Maryland's financial contributions have been relatively meager compared to the athletics program at the University of Virginia which received $26.0 million in contributions for FY2010, while Florida State received contributions amounting to $23.2 million and Virginia Tech's received $16.1 million in contributions as reported in this article from Ms. Dosh.
So, likely because football revenue and contributions revenue put Maryland at the lower end of the ACC totem pole in FY2010, the school relied heavily on student fees -- purportedly the fourth most in the country -- generating $13.7 million from enrolled students. Thus, current (cash-strapped) students contributed more to the FY10 budget than alumni, which seems completely crazy.
Other than noting that luxury boxes at Byrd have been a financial drain rather than boon, the President's Commission Report doesn't spend nearly any time discussing the revenue woes that seem to afflict the program. And while the Report frequently discusses expenditures in context of other conference schools, it makes no such comparative effort with respect to revenue.
But maybe that just acknowledges the slim prospects of embarrassing this fanbase into action. For a game broadcast on ESPN, attendance -- both of the student and non-student supporter variety -- was horrific Wednesday night. Given what the financials indicate about compulsory support from the students, I'm not bothered that they don't show up. But for alums and general sports fans in the region, tickets could be had in the secondary market for less than $5, cash parking at a garage in easy distance from Comcast was $10. Still, the upper bowl was virtually empty. Our row in the lower bowl was completely empty. No one could be bothered.
The other side of the coin here is that A.D. Anderson has a unique opportunity to take a hard look at the culture of University of Maryland sports. He now has a chance, looking out across empty seats in both Byrd and Comcast, to think about how much of a role "F U!" chants and unvarnished front-running play in retarding support for the school's terrific athletic programs.
In the meantime, empty seats at Comcast mean more room to spread out the winter coats, baby toys, and diaper bag and put me at a greater distance from the caterwauling that seems to characterize most of contemporary Terp nation.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Grave Expectations
With the Washington Post's drums of doom beating with greater urgency and foreboding, our little of family of four set out for a morning constitutional to Byrd -- including a short pit stop at the recently opened local branch of Bobby's Burger Palace -- to catch the last home game of the football season.
There were seven home games on the schedule this year, but yesterday was the first fixture the whole family was able to attend.
All kinds of negative things will be written about this season (although the Post's assault is likely to subside as each of its columnists takes turns expressing their deep moral outrage at Penn State's Athletics Department, presumably highlighting the terrible human failings resulting from a singular focus on the results of a football program to the detriment of its character, before once again pummeling Coach Edsall for failing to claim victories in ball games this year) and much of this will detract from what, with the notable exceptions of the Temple and Boston College debacles, was a very entertaining slate of football games played at Byrd.
The second half of the game against Virginia sucked for Maryland partisans. Effort from certain Terps, most obviously at the edges of the defense, dissipated, and the Cavaliers rolled. But the weather was perfect, the scenery from high atop the stadium stunning on a fall day, and the first half gave another tantalizing preview of what Maryland football might look like next season.
At four months, my youngest doesn't form opinions about such things, but my three-year old has perspective to spare and we had, in another venue for another athletic event, a thoroughly pleasant afternoon on Maryland's campus.
All kinds of people in the neighborhood and within the Terrapin community are supremely disappointed. I have not had success in convincing friends and neighbors otherwise, but outside of the Temple game, there has been a lot of entertaining football played at Byrd.
Start with the Monday-nighter against Miami: I've been equivocal about expressing support for the full Terrapins athletic program (largely, to be sure, because of the culture of Friedgen's and Williams' respective squads). Sitting in the upper deck, that all washed away as the rain poured down and Maryland attacked a weakened Hurricane squad. That night, I walked back home from the stadium in a downpour soaked to the bone but exhilarated by the event.
Two weeks later, I returned to watch the Terps get battered by the Mountaineers completely encased within drunken WVU students who periodically broke into "We're going to the SEC!!!" chants as West Virginia piled up points. As the alcohol wore off, Maryland made an insane run that fell one drive short. A single Danny O'Brien misread overshadowed a furious three touchdown onslaught that had the Mountaineers on their heels and their fans finally exhaling with a minute fifteen left in regulation.
We were out of town for the Temple game the next week and, as such, were spared the spectacle of a comprehensive drubbing in miserable weather. By coincidence, we were staying at the same hotel north of Philadelphia as Maryland's women tennis team -- when guests attempted to harangue the players about the upset, they shrugged it off. So did we.
The victory against Towson the week thereafter wasn't exactly comforting -- Maryland looked awful. Another comeback that fell short -- this time engineered by C.J. Brown -- against a far better team in Atlanta against Georgia Tech instilled a bit of hope.
Georgia Tech bled into a colossal home return against Clemson. And for every Terrapin booster complaining about the program, I'd like to hear how he felt after Matt Furstenburg crossed into the end zone. Actually, considering Nick Ferrara's kick to Sammy Watkins on the next play, perhaps it is tough to remember any elation from that game.
So, now, with bad losses to Florida State and Boston College, let's all remember that Maryland went 8 and 4 during the regular season last year -- and won a luxurious trip to RFK for the Military Bowl. Never mind the 2-10 season in 2009. And never mind these numbers: 51,263; 47,954; 44,452; and 39,168. That would be the average home attendance figures for Maryland football from 2007 through 2010.
This year? 42,355.
I had high hopes for Coach Edsall and the rest of the staff, but truth be told, the performances haven't been encouraging. Maryland's special teams play, in particular, has been horrific and has not appreciably improved as the season has progressed. But we'll be getting season tickets again next year and root for the Terps with a clear conscience.
Friedgen's three-year run from 2001 through 2003 was incredible. But his early success masked deficiencies that would become all too apparent as mediocre season followed mediocre season. Coach Edsall will not be afforded the same margin for error that allowed Friedgen to post a 41 and 41 record from 2004 through 2010.
The process is more important than the results and while it will make things more difficult in the near term, I want the college football program I support to be under close scrutiny. We went to our first Maryland football game in 2002. Even to a passive observer of the program, things have not been right. I'm more confident now about its relative integrity; maybe that's wrong and maybe I'll be disappointed, but I'm way more interested in watching Terps football now then I've been over the last decade.
There were seven home games on the schedule this year, but yesterday was the first fixture the whole family was able to attend.
All kinds of negative things will be written about this season (although the Post's assault is likely to subside as each of its columnists takes turns expressing their deep moral outrage at Penn State's Athletics Department, presumably highlighting the terrible human failings resulting from a singular focus on the results of a football program to the detriment of its character, before once again pummeling Coach Edsall for failing to claim victories in ball games this year) and much of this will detract from what, with the notable exceptions of the Temple and Boston College debacles, was a very entertaining slate of football games played at Byrd.
The second half of the game against Virginia sucked for Maryland partisans. Effort from certain Terps, most obviously at the edges of the defense, dissipated, and the Cavaliers rolled. But the weather was perfect, the scenery from high atop the stadium stunning on a fall day, and the first half gave another tantalizing preview of what Maryland football might look like next season.
At four months, my youngest doesn't form opinions about such things, but my three-year old has perspective to spare and we had, in another venue for another athletic event, a thoroughly pleasant afternoon on Maryland's campus.
All kinds of people in the neighborhood and within the Terrapin community are supremely disappointed. I have not had success in convincing friends and neighbors otherwise, but outside of the Temple game, there has been a lot of entertaining football played at Byrd.
Start with the Monday-nighter against Miami: I've been equivocal about expressing support for the full Terrapins athletic program (largely, to be sure, because of the culture of Friedgen's and Williams' respective squads). Sitting in the upper deck, that all washed away as the rain poured down and Maryland attacked a weakened Hurricane squad. That night, I walked back home from the stadium in a downpour soaked to the bone but exhilarated by the event.
Two weeks later, I returned to watch the Terps get battered by the Mountaineers completely encased within drunken WVU students who periodically broke into "We're going to the SEC!!!" chants as West Virginia piled up points. As the alcohol wore off, Maryland made an insane run that fell one drive short. A single Danny O'Brien misread overshadowed a furious three touchdown onslaught that had the Mountaineers on their heels and their fans finally exhaling with a minute fifteen left in regulation.
We were out of town for the Temple game the next week and, as such, were spared the spectacle of a comprehensive drubbing in miserable weather. By coincidence, we were staying at the same hotel north of Philadelphia as Maryland's women tennis team -- when guests attempted to harangue the players about the upset, they shrugged it off. So did we.
The victory against Towson the week thereafter wasn't exactly comforting -- Maryland looked awful. Another comeback that fell short -- this time engineered by C.J. Brown -- against a far better team in Atlanta against Georgia Tech instilled a bit of hope.
Georgia Tech bled into a colossal home return against Clemson. And for every Terrapin booster complaining about the program, I'd like to hear how he felt after Matt Furstenburg crossed into the end zone. Actually, considering Nick Ferrara's kick to Sammy Watkins on the next play, perhaps it is tough to remember any elation from that game.
So, now, with bad losses to Florida State and Boston College, let's all remember that Maryland went 8 and 4 during the regular season last year -- and won a luxurious trip to RFK for the Military Bowl. Never mind the 2-10 season in 2009. And never mind these numbers: 51,263; 47,954; 44,452; and 39,168. That would be the average home attendance figures for Maryland football from 2007 through 2010.
This year? 42,355.
I had high hopes for Coach Edsall and the rest of the staff, but truth be told, the performances haven't been encouraging. Maryland's special teams play, in particular, has been horrific and has not appreciably improved as the season has progressed. But we'll be getting season tickets again next year and root for the Terps with a clear conscience.
Friedgen's three-year run from 2001 through 2003 was incredible. But his early success masked deficiencies that would become all too apparent as mediocre season followed mediocre season. Coach Edsall will not be afforded the same margin for error that allowed Friedgen to post a 41 and 41 record from 2004 through 2010.
The process is more important than the results and while it will make things more difficult in the near term, I want the college football program I support to be under close scrutiny. We went to our first Maryland football game in 2002. Even to a passive observer of the program, things have not been right. I'm more confident now about its relative integrity; maybe that's wrong and maybe I'll be disappointed, but I'm way more interested in watching Terps football now then I've been over the last decade.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Crumbling Walls
We moved to College Park eight years ago in large part because of a fish pond at the back of a house that was on the market. That the fish pond (and the house) was near a huge public university in the ACC was also a big plus.
Then we moved here, took a short walk around the east side of US1 and worried that we had made a terrible mistake. We saw (and heard) then what David Morton later described in a blistering 2006 article in the City Paper.
We've constantly chosen to live near college campuses and had never previously experienced anything like it; the rampant culture of nihilistic stupidity made no sense at what was, by all accounts, an elite public university.
In response, for our first few years here we steered clear of the school. Occasional trips to the Comcast Center and Byrd Stadium confirmed our negative first impressions; as did my sister's reports of her experiences as a graduate student.
Over time, our distaste softened with increased interactions with the school and alums. Maryland Day, held each year on the last Saturday of April, provides a great introduction to the incredible academic resources of the school to anyone who wants to see them. The women's basketball team fundamentally changed our view of the Comcast Center. Maryland's soccer program -- both the men's and women's teams -- helped to further augment my love for the game. Once we started going to athletic events on campus regularly, we began to appreciate the amazing breadth of excellence in the school's athletic program: men's and women's lacrosse; women's field hockey; women's gymnastics; track & field -- heck, at my daughter's request, we've spent an afternoon taking in a softball game on campus.
We have still, with few exceptions, steered clear of football and men's basketball games. I thoroughly enjoyed the last time I was at Comcast for a men's game (in 2007), but it was for all the wrong reasons as American University upset Maryland for the first time since 1926-27 and Terps fans streamed out of the stadium in droves with three minutes left on the clock. No similar good memories of my last time at Byrd -- hosting Cal back in September of 2008, we ran gauntlets of drunk teenage morons with a three month old. We bailed early with my wife swearing that she would never go back again.
I'll test that resolve this year.
The sea change started with the hiring of Gary Crowton as offensive coordinator. I love Crowton. The Bears were absolutely awful in the two seasons (1999-2000) he was the OC, but his offenses were fun to watch. The lasting testament to Crowton's tenure is the receiving record held by Marcus Robinson. Robinson caught 84 passes for 1,400 yards (and Bobby Engram pitched in 88 receptions for 947 yards) in 1999 with Shane Matthews and Cade McNown getting the majority of the snaps at quarterback. Very few Bears fans (and even fewer NFL fans) would guess that the Bears all-time leading receiving yards record was set with McNown and Matthews behind center. But that's what Crowton can do. And now he has Danny O'Brien? That's entertainment.
The conversion continued with the school's masterful promotion of the Red - White spring game, scheduled to correspond with Maryland Day and Ag Day on campus.
The fact that the team's spring prospectus emphasized the academic accomplishments of Coach Edsall's UConn football teams helped even further.
But what sealed the deal was going to the spring game. The people at the university responsible for organizing the event are to be heralded. My daughter (and I) had a blast. Virtually every player we interacted with at the autograph session was fantastic and made the most of interacting with fans. In a short amount of time, we got to know enough about a few players to significantly ratchet up our interest in rooting for them.
Based on my daughter's experience and watching kids around us, every Terps football fan with children should make a point of attending.
I can't say enough about how grateful we are to the school for setting up the event and making it available to the general public.
Actions speak louder than words anyway, so I bought our season tickets earlier today.
Then we moved here, took a short walk around the east side of US1 and worried that we had made a terrible mistake. We saw (and heard) then what David Morton later described in a blistering 2006 article in the City Paper.
We've constantly chosen to live near college campuses and had never previously experienced anything like it; the rampant culture of nihilistic stupidity made no sense at what was, by all accounts, an elite public university.
In response, for our first few years here we steered clear of the school. Occasional trips to the Comcast Center and Byrd Stadium confirmed our negative first impressions; as did my sister's reports of her experiences as a graduate student.
Over time, our distaste softened with increased interactions with the school and alums. Maryland Day, held each year on the last Saturday of April, provides a great introduction to the incredible academic resources of the school to anyone who wants to see them. The women's basketball team fundamentally changed our view of the Comcast Center. Maryland's soccer program -- both the men's and women's teams -- helped to further augment my love for the game. Once we started going to athletic events on campus regularly, we began to appreciate the amazing breadth of excellence in the school's athletic program: men's and women's lacrosse; women's field hockey; women's gymnastics; track & field -- heck, at my daughter's request, we've spent an afternoon taking in a softball game on campus.
We have still, with few exceptions, steered clear of football and men's basketball games. I thoroughly enjoyed the last time I was at Comcast for a men's game (in 2007), but it was for all the wrong reasons as American University upset Maryland for the first time since 1926-27 and Terps fans streamed out of the stadium in droves with three minutes left on the clock. No similar good memories of my last time at Byrd -- hosting Cal back in September of 2008, we ran gauntlets of drunk teenage morons with a three month old. We bailed early with my wife swearing that she would never go back again.
I'll test that resolve this year.
The sea change started with the hiring of Gary Crowton as offensive coordinator. I love Crowton. The Bears were absolutely awful in the two seasons (1999-2000) he was the OC, but his offenses were fun to watch. The lasting testament to Crowton's tenure is the receiving record held by Marcus Robinson. Robinson caught 84 passes for 1,400 yards (and Bobby Engram pitched in 88 receptions for 947 yards) in 1999 with Shane Matthews and Cade McNown getting the majority of the snaps at quarterback. Very few Bears fans (and even fewer NFL fans) would guess that the Bears all-time leading receiving yards record was set with McNown and Matthews behind center. But that's what Crowton can do. And now he has Danny O'Brien? That's entertainment.
The conversion continued with the school's masterful promotion of the Red - White spring game, scheduled to correspond with Maryland Day and Ag Day on campus.
The fact that the team's spring prospectus emphasized the academic accomplishments of Coach Edsall's UConn football teams helped even further.
But what sealed the deal was going to the spring game. The people at the university responsible for organizing the event are to be heralded. My daughter (and I) had a blast. Virtually every player we interacted with at the autograph session was fantastic and made the most of interacting with fans. In a short amount of time, we got to know enough about a few players to significantly ratchet up our interest in rooting for them.
Based on my daughter's experience and watching kids around us, every Terps football fan with children should make a point of attending.
I can't say enough about how grateful we are to the school for setting up the event and making it available to the general public.
Actions speak louder than words anyway, so I bought our season tickets earlier today.
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