The Upstate Life

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

A Terp's Two Cents, Part Deux

Selection Sunday came and went, and after watching CBS scroll the very last bracket of the Austin region, a hard, depressing truth struck The Upstate Life right in the dome: For the first time in 11 consecutive years, the Terps would not be making an NCAA Tournament appearance. As much as I wanted them to receive an at-large bid, it was clearly obvious that the team truly did not deserve an invitation to the Big Dance and I wasn't really surprised that Greg Gumbel didn't call off their name during the tense Selection Show. It's of course disappointing to see a team such full of talent denied a chance at the National Championship, but Maryland's erratic performance this year was more than enough proof it wasn't one of the nation's 65 best. How do you go from sweeping #1 seeded Duke but lose to Clemson an absurd three times? It was that last meeting versus the Tigers in the first round of the ACC Tourney that dealt Maryland its final blow to any sort of NCAA hopes.

One thing that has clearly bothered me was the amount of detest and degust exhibited by some Terps fans that the team has invited an invitation to the NIT Tournament. Some believe that this is clearly below Maryland and should've outright denied the invite. Look no further than this letter to the editor some idiot wrote to The Diamondback. This individual, who happens to be quite the experienced sophomore and all, believes that the Maryland student section should cheer on the opposing team (Oral Roberts) because he believes that the Terps need to earn the fans respect back. I'm sorry Mr. Burd, but you are what we a call a fair-weather fan and you should be ashamed of yourself. Not only was this one of the most unintelligent things I've ever heard, but if you're not going to support the Terps through the good times and bad, then don't bother showing up at all. It seems history has taken a backseat with the Terps' recent successes with the 2002 National Championship and 2004 ACC Title, but many seem to forget that after Len Bias' death in the mid-eighties the Maryland program tremendously suffered for several years. Sanctions by the NCAA made it incredibly difficult for College Park to recruit promising talent let alone televise a Terps game. Enter Gary Williams, taking a struggling basketball program and rebuilding it into of the nation's premier teams. People like Mr. Burd need to wake up and realize that every year simply cannot be an exceptional one for Terrapin Basketball. It's one frickin off year, get over it.

Do I want Maryland in the NIT? Of course not, but I'm going to support them regardless. A loyal, dedicated Terp fan would never turn their back on them like Mr. Burd would. They would cheer on the team through thick and thin, be it the NCAA or NIT. Now all I need to do is find a bar that actually carries ESPNU. Go Terps!

Posted by Brett at 11:16 AM |