Maryland Basketball: Feeling Minnesota About The Students

Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-1) at
#23/20 Maryland Terrapins (4-1)

Comcast Center – College Park, MD
ACC/Big 10 Challenge

I’ll get to the actual game in a minute. First off, I think it is necessary to address the fan support over the Thanksgiving break. That was just pure disgraceful. Shame on you, students. The Comcast Center was 1/3 of the way full. Usually against lesser-named competition, it is the alumni who don’t show up. But this time, it was an almost completely empty student section that was responsible for most of the empty seats. I understand it was Thanksgiving and all, but students were allowed back on campus early Sunday, and the game was late Sunday afternoon. I don’t care if it is Nicholls State or N.C. State, students should pack it in at all the games. In a school of 30,000 students, I would think that we could find 2,500 or so to attend the basketball game.

The lack of student support is a recent and disturbing trend. My first two years at Maryland, the student support for all sports, not just football and men’s basketball, was amazing. It would be hard to argue that from 2001-2003 that there was a better group of sports fans anywhere in the country. Football and basketball games were sold out, women’s basketball would see crowds of 10,000 plus, soccer games would be packed at Ludwig Field and lacrosse games in this area were always popular. Now, unless Marcus Vick and ESPN come to campus, you can’t get a decent student section to any Maryland contest. I think we started having problems with the class of 2007, but the class of 2008 has been almost non-existent at sporting events. Usually, the student section is packed with underclassmen, as most of the older students have moved away from campus and it becomes harder for them to get tickets and go to the game. But the last two years, the crowd has been compromised of mostly older students. That is because the new crop of students are way to lazy and clearly don’t give a damn about the university.

There are two factors that I think have contributed to the new student approach. First off, the classes of 07 and 08 are spoiled. They assumed coming into Maryland that all the teams would be good. But at the first sign of trouble, those classes cut and ran, leaving only the classes of 04, 05 and 06 to attend the games. More and more, the students coming into Maryland show signs of being ultimate fair-weather fans. These are the same fans who root for the Yankees/Red Sox, Lakers and Cowboys/Eagles/Patriots until those teams start losing. Then they look for the next bandwagon to be jumped on. These fans are the worst kind. It doesn’t help that too many Maryland students come from the New Jersey-New York-Long Island corridor and feel no true loyalty to the university. Now that the classes of 2004 and 2005 have graduated, and the class of 2006 has moved off campus a bit, the true problems with the fair-weather students are becoming evident. And even when these horrible underclassmen show up, they hardly care about the game at all. As a freshman and sophomore, I remember the student body being absolutely crazy and really having an impact on the game. We would show up two hours early, throw things like batteries, bottles and pennies and get on the opponent from the word go. Just ask Carlos Boozer and his mother if the student section was out of control or not. This year and last, it seems the big concern of the student body is what color t-shirt to wear. And the best insult the students can come up with is chanting “F*** you J.J.” over and over again. I don’t mind the foul language. It is just uncreative, ineffective and stupid. The student body I was a part of was definitely classless, but we took pride in that label. We were imaginative, inventive and helpful to the home team. Obviously throwing stuff may have been over the top, but it is definitely better than coming to the game and talking on cellphones or sitting on your hands, like the current group of students do.

The second factor is the computerized ticket policy. It makes it too easy for any student to get a ticket. In my freshman year, students had to go pick up tickets themselves. Often times, as was the case for the big Duke game and final game at Cole Field House in 2002, students had to camp out and wait several days for tickets to be handed out. The only people who got tickets were true fans, who would go see the Terps whether they were terrific or terrible. Now, any fat, lazy, fair-weather student can click his/her mouse a couple of times and go to the game. Not only that, because of the loyalty point system, most students get their tickets, go to the Comcast Center, get their ticket scanned, collect their points, and walk right out without seeing a minute of the game. This is done so students can be assured of have having just enough loyalty points to get a ticket to the Duke game, which is the only game this fair-weather student body cares about anymore. And they care about it not because they want to see Maryland win or Duke lose, but because Duke-Maryland usually means network TV and there is chance that they can be seen for two seconds as a part of the crowd. Pathetic.

And now it appears that Gary is making excuses for the students. He blamed the Thanksgiving brake, the Redskins game and the fact that Maryland is located next to D.C. as reasons no one showed up. He also implied that no one wanted to come see Nicholls State. That may be true, but Gary, you don’t insult the opponent that was nice enough to come to College Park and get beat down so you could get an easy win. This is the first time that Gary has done something like this. Usually, he gets angry if he sees even a few rows of empty seats and tells the students to get to every game they can. This student body is lethargic enough Gary, they don’t need help not showing up.

Now to the actual game. Maryland comes in 4-1 and should now be fully recovered from the Hawaii jet lag and the Thanksgiving dinners. The Terps have only played one complete game so far. They looked really good against Arkansas, who I have as one of my darkhorse teams in the NCAA this year (look at post from yesterday). Other than that, the Terps looked bad against FDU, Chaminade and Nicholls State in the first half, and looked bad all together against Gonzaga.

The Golden Gophers hail from the Big 10, but are often overlooked in a conference with Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Dan Monson, a coach I mentioned when talking about Gonzaga (see Maryland vs. Gonzaga post), has assembled a pretty good team. Too bad three of the best players won't be in uniform due to injury or academic problems. They have a special player named Vincent Grier. The 6-5 guard/forward averaged 18 points a game last year for a poor Minnesota team. Grier was named to the preseason All-Big East first team. Unfortunately for the Gophers, Grier broke some fingers recently and is out 4-6 weeks.

The rest of the team is nothing to write home about (but enough to write about in a blog). Maurice Hargrow has stepped it up in Grier’s absence, averaging almost 20 a game. 6-2 guard and UNC transfer Adam Boone is a decent shooter if left unchecked, but plays average defense and has problems creating his own shot. Spencer Tollackson is decent big man. He is 6-9 and a wide load at 275 pounds. He averages 11 pts/g and 5 reb/g. No one on the team is taller than him, so Ibekwe, Gist and Garrison should be able to go to town tonight.

To compound problems for Minnesota, they lost on Monday to Gardner-Webb. I'll give anyone 10 dollars if you can tell me the nickname for G-WU, where it is located, and the leading scorer on the team without looking it up online. This is bad news for both UM's. Obviously Minnesota can't afford to lose to these small schools. For Maryland, it is going to hurt their RPI later in the season. The ACC/Big 10 Challenge is usually a game that benefits Maryland in strength of schedule. But when the team Maryland is facing is losing to Gardner-Webb and barely beating North Dakota State, it is going to sink the Terps as well. A win this time around for Maryland in the Challenge is not as important as previous years (like 2001 against Illinois and 2003 against Wisconsin). An unthinkable loss tonight for Maryland would be even more harmful than usual (unlike losses to ranked Indiana in 2002 and ranked Wisconsin in 2004).

For Maryland, D.J. Strawberry continues to look healthy. He is shaping up to the be the team leader this season. Chris McCray continues to struggle from beyond the arc, but is playing consistently on defense. Nik Caner-Medley is up to his old tricks of disappearing in games against good teams (Gonzaga, Arkansas) and padding his stats against the poor teams so it looks like he averages 12 points and 6 boards a game. I wouldn’t mind seeing Nik as the sixth man for Maryland, with a starting lineup of McCray, Strawberry, Gist/Jones, Garrison and Ibekwe. I think that would be a great starting five and would motivate Caner-Medley to get his ass in gear.

The ACC is struggling a bit, as they are tied with the Big 10 so far at 3 games apiece. But how about Florida State last night. A 40 point beat down of Purdue. I didn’t realize Purdue was that bad. Clemson may be better than people think this year, and I’m not basing that off their win against dismal Penn State. Miami, a trendy sleeper pick in the ACC, looked pretty bad against a Michigan team that is going to get Tommy Amaker fired at the end of the season. Maybe The U is a bit overrated and Clemson a bit underrated. You heard it here first. Maryland and Duke should get wins tonight, and Michigan State should beat GTech and Northwestern should cruise over UVA, so the Challenge is going to come down to N.C. State and Iowa. Looks like the Big 10 may actually win this year.

As for Maryland, I just said they should get the win. Strawberry will be able to shutdown Hargrow, McCray must clamp down on Boone outside (how many times in the past two years has one decent shooter thrown off the entire Maryland defense), and just put a couple of big bodies on Tollackson, and there should be no problem for the Terps. Offensively, I would love to see the three point shot start falling, so lets get the ball into the hands of McCray tonight, and lets get Jones off the bench some more. I expect the Terrapins to win, and I expect them to win big. I just hope there is a crowd there to watch it. Just tell the students the game is on ESPN2 and they’ll show up.

Maryland 88
Minnesota 65

NCAA Basketball Preview

College basketball has been underway for more than two weeks now. It is about time to tell you kids who is going to a major playa on the national scene. Could Texas have two championship teams in the making? Can Boston College make their first year in the ACC a good one? What is wrong with the SEC this season? Can Gonzaga really compete with the big boys? And what about the caffeinated nerds in Durham? You ask the questions, I’ll give you the answers.

Unfortunately, there is no possible way I can preview all 300 plus teams in division one hoops. Sorry to those of you looking for that riveting UNC-Ashville or Prairie View summary. But I will give you the true contenders for the national championship. And, according to federal law, if talk about the contenders then I must talk about the pretenders as well. I’ll throw in some teams that straddle the line between champion and chump. You can also find some teams you may not know about in the always anticipated “darkhorse” section. Enjoy.

Contenders:

Connecticut: Despite senior guard Marcus Williams putting the con in UConn over the summer, the Huskies are one of the nation’s best teams. The Huskies may be the most balanced team in the country. I love the experience at UConn. Four seniors and a junior see significant minutes. Rudy Gay, a sophomore who played a lot last season, plays even more this year. Jim Calhoun also uses a deep bench of nine to ten guys. Denham Brown is one of the most versatile players in the nation. Rashad Anderson is a dangerous scorer. Josh Boone, who may be the ugliest player not named Shelden Williams, is a monster inside. Just in case Boone gets in foul trouble, Calhoun has the seven-footer Hilton Armstrong and Georgia Tech transfer Ed Nelson to back him up. Throw in super freshman Craig Austrie, who is already seeing 30 minutes of playing time, and the Huskies should be expected to make another deep run in March.
Key Games: LSU (1/7), @ Syracuse (1/16), @ Indiana (2/04), @ Villanova (2/13)

Boston College: I’m going to say this now for the record. This is the best team in the ACC. Period. The combination of Jared Dudley and Craig Smith in the frontcourt is going to be impossible for any team to stop. Both of these players are 6-7 and love to attack the hoop. Just give them the ball and let them create. The senior Smith is a pre-season All-American and the key to the Eagles success. The junior Dudley may actually be better than Smith. He averaged 16.5 p/g and 7.5 reb/g last season. His numbers are even better so far in 2005. Freshman guard Tyrese Rice may be the biggest surprise in the conference. He shoots 43% from beyond the arch. If he keeps that up, it is going to be much harder to guard Smith and Dudley. The Eagles also have a consistent presence at point guard, senior Louis Hinnant. This gives them an advantage over every other team in the ACC. The only problem for BC may be lack of height. They only have one player taller than Dudley/Smith, the 6-10 John Oates. So it will be interesting to see what Al Skinner does to match-up against Shelden and Eric Williams.
Key Games: @ Michigan State (12/6), @ Maryland (12/11), Duke (2/1), Wake Forest (2/28)

Oklahoma: First off, I really like Kelvin Sampson. He has always been one of my favorite coaches. His Sooners boast a pretty good starting five this season. Any team that can put seniors Taj Gray, Kevin Bookout, Terrell Everett and junior Michael Neal on the court is going to be special come the postseason. And in typical Sampson fashion, the Sooners are a deep team again. The Big 12 is also down this season. Kansas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State lost a lot of talent, and Texas isn’t going to be as good as most think this year. That leaves the conference right for the pickin’. The Sooners should be the team to step up.
Key Games: @ Villanova (12/3), Alabama (12/31), @ Kansas (2/5), @ Texas (3/5)

Kentucky: Speaking of deep teams, no one is going to play more guys than Tubby Smith. Even without Randolph Morris, for whom it looks less likely everyday that he will be able to play this season, Kentucky is strong as always. Four seniors and three juniors and three sophomores will see playing time. Smith is not going to have to rely on any freshmen like he did last year. Despite all the upperclassman, the most talented player on the team is sophomore Rajon Rondo, who is already averaging 14 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists per game. 11 rebounds for a 6-1 guard. Wow. Like BC, Kentucky may be a bit height deficient, as little used junior Shagari Alleyne is the only player who is taller than 6-8. But Kentucky loves to run, and Smith’s three guard lineup loves to shoot threes. You add a deep bench to that, and it is going to be hard to stop them. And like Oklahoma, Kentucky can take advantage of a weak power conference to get better seeding come tournament time.
Key Games: Indiana (12/10), Louisville (12/17), @ Florida (2/4), @ Vanderbilt (2/11)

Duke: Couldn’t leave the Dookies out of this category. But instead of telling you all the reasons they could win, let me tell the reasons they aren’t going to come close. Too many freshmen is the main reason. Despite the four seniors in the lineup, Ratface is going to rely too much on freshmen to spell his upperclass. All I keep hearing about is how good these freshmen are. Doesn’t matter. All these other teams in the contender section have talented freshmen too. But they don’t need them to win games. Duke will need the freshmen to step up. And because of the abundance of rookies, Dook’s bench is still weak. If Red-dick has an off night or Williams gets in foul trouble, how is this team going to win? The rotation may be bigger for K this season, but it will be very inexperienced. All those people who say that depth is overrated should look to the Dookies the past five seasons. In 2001, they were nine deep. They won the championship. The last four seasons, they have had talented starting fives, but were limited to a seven or eight man rotation (and really, can you count Nick Horvath as a legitimate basketball player?). Duke wilted in the tournament all those years. Plus, Duke hasn’t looked great at all this season against supposedly inferior competition (Struggling against Boston U and Davidson and beating Drexel by 10 is not going inspire much confidence). Unless the freshmen grow up quickly, the Dookies won’t make it past the Sweet 16.
Key Games: Texas (12/10), Maryland (1/11), @ BC (2/1), @ Maryland (2/11)

Pretenders:

Texas: Rick Barnes is the basketball equivalent to Mack Brown. How convenient is it that they both coach at the same school? They didn’t look very good against Iowa or West Virginia (more on them in a minute). It will be interesting to see how they perform against Duke, Memphis and Villanova before diving into the weakened Big 12. Texas does have P.J. Tucker, Daniel Gibson and Kenton Paulino patrolling the perimeter. All those guards are very good. Texas is a deep team, but lacks talent in the frontcourt. They are going to be reliant on overrated LaMarcus Aldridge and awkward Brad Buckman underneath the rim. Like most of the teams I have filed under the pretenders category, Texas should be good, but not great in March. Definitely not deserving of the #2 ranking in the nation.

West Virginia, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse, The Big East: Other than Connecticut, every other team in the new, 41 team-Big East is severely flawed. West Virginia is going to come back down to Earth after a fluke season and the loss of D’or Fisher. Villanova is too dependent on the outside shot, which will hurt them in conference play and early in March. Louisville has Taquan Dean, but not much else. And Syracuse just lost to Bucknell (I know, I know, Bucknell is really good this season. But still, they’re Bucknell and Syracuse shouldn’t lose at the Carrier Dome to the Bison). So who else is left in the Big East? Cincinnati doesn’t have a coaching staff. Marquette isn’t going to get the second coming of Dwayne Wade anytime soon. Mike Brey is on the hot seat at Notre Dame. And Georgetown is still a season away. Some of these teams will step up and post good records against weak competition, but don’t look for anyone other than UConn to make a deep run in the tournament.

Florida: How many times will the Gators have to collapse in the last two months before all the experts stop overrating them in November?

Illinois: Even with Dee Brown back, the Illini lost too much talent to the NBA. Plus, Bruce Weber’s ugly orange suit can’t help things in Champaign.

Wisconsin: Like Florida, overrated every season with little to show for it in March. Barely pulled out a victory over Old Dominion last week. The most telling sign in that game is that the Badgers gave up 84 points. That vaunted defense can't afford to give up more than 65 a game because the offense, as usual, is terrible. That is not a positive sign for Bo Ryan’s team.

George Washington: Ranked 22nd? Didn’t we learn from last year’s first round exit that no team from the A-10 should be taken seriously.

N.C. State: Julius Hodge is finally gone. Unfortunately for Wolfpack fans, Herb Sendek is still in Raleigh. Look for the Pack to collapse in the ACC and fail to make the NCAA tournament.

Washington: I really like Lorenzo Romar (a guy that Maryland should start looking towards to possibly be the replacement for Gary…just throwing that out there). But the loss of a player like Nate Robinson is going to be too much to overcome. The Huskies should get a nice record in the Pac-10, but don’t look for them to do much in the postseason.

The “Tweeners”:

Gonzaga: They looked very impressive in Maui. They rolled over the Terps and then played two amazing games against Michigan State and UConn. Forget Shelden and Bacne, the best guard-center combo is Adam Morrison and J.P. Batista. Still, with all the promise of the last few seasons, the Zags need to get past the first weekend in the tournament. They shouldn’t lose more than three or four games the rest of the year, and should be given a nice cushy two seed. We won’t know about this team until they actually start playing in the NCAA’s.

Michigan State: Chalk that loss to Hawaii as a fluke (much like UNC losing to Santa Clara last season). The point guard situation has been well documented, and Paul Davis continues to be one of the most disappointing players in the country. But Tom Izzo knows how to coach. Never count him out, especially when he has some talent to play with.

Memphis: Sure, I’ll drink the cool-aid like everyone else. Memphis didn’t look great against the all-mighty Dookies, and still only lost by three in the last minute. Everyone who knows what happened to Darius Washington in the CUSA tournament last year is sure to root for a genuinely nice kid. The Tigers also have the benefit of playing in the depleted CUSA without Louisville, Cincy and Marquette to get in their way. John Calipari had made up for that lack of competition by scheduling Alabama, UCLA, Duke, Gonzaga and Texas before the conference play. But the easy conference schedule, the lack of a challenge in the final two months and the shortage of depth are all going to catch up with Memphis eventually.

Indiana: Mike Davis certainly has the talent in Bloomington. But can he "coach 'em up"? Indiana benefits from the improved play of 6-8 Auburn transfer Marcus Killingsworth. The senior is already averaging 20 and 10 through four games (admittingly against weaker compeition). Marshall Strickland, the 6-2 senior guard, will also be a big part of the offense. He must up his production from last year (7.5 pts/g, 3.4 a/g). The Hoosiers will go nine deep, but will have a lot of inexperience on both the floor and the bench. And like most young lineups, Indiana is capable of putting up some points, but can they play enough defense to win? IU will get plenty of chances to prove themselves, with games against Duke, UConn, Kentucky and the usual Big 10 slate.

Arizona: They could be in this category every year. They are going to be a top team in the Pac-10. They are going to be a top four seed in the NCAA’s. But then what? Can they make a 1997-esque run?

Darkhorses:

Vanderbilt: Kevin Stallings is the best coach in America that you have never heard of. The Commodores may be the best team in America that no one is paying attention to. They’ve got height, they’ve got depth, they’ve got guys who can shoot and an outstanding coach. What’s not to like? Mario Moore is the most underrated player in the country who is not named J.P. Batista. The 5-11 guard is the catalyst for the Vandy offense and is very dangerous from 3-point land. Julian Terrell, Derrick Byars, DeMarre Carroll and Shan Foster are all medium-sized small or power forwards who love to play aggressive. The fact that there are four of these guys make it hard for opponents to focus on any one of them. Stallings is going to have eight guys who play at least 15 minutes a game, and will probably use a solid 10-man rotation. Vandy also has the benefit of playing in the wide-open SEC. Other than Kentucky and maybe Alabama, there aren’t any other great teams in the Southeast. The Commodores should be able to rack up a decent record and grab a six or seven seed in the tournament. Their home game against Oregon tomorrow should tell us a lot about Vandy. Look out for them in March.

Oregon: Speaking of the Ducks, don’t sleep on them either. Ernie Kent is another one of those coaches that flies under the radar (another Gary replacement possibly). MacArthur Court is a tough place for opponents to play and the Ducks always post a solid home record. Oregon must find a way to win on the road. The Ducks aren’t especially deep, but neither is the rest of the Pac-10. The Quack Attack boasts one of the tallest lineups in the nation (four players 6-8 or taller that see significant playing time). They also have a 6-6 guard named Malik Hairston that is worth watching. Oregon won’t keep up with Arizona, but they should be able to compete with Washington, UCLA and Stanford.

Arkansas: This may not be an extremely talented team, but they have one of the best players in the country. Ronnie Brewer is a 6-7 junior that came out of nowhere last season and has picked up this year where he left off. He is already averaging 21.4 points per game (and most of that came in the Maui Invitational against very good competition). Stan Heath has the program back on track after a few years at the bottom of the SEC. Like Vanderbilt, they benefit from a weak conference and should be able to get in the tournament. You may not see “40 minutes of Hell” anymore, but the Razorbacks will return to the national spotlight.

Ohio State: You gotta love Thad Matta. He helped Xavier on the national stage for many years and now he enters his second year in Columbus. Last year the Buckeyes won 20 games and were the only team other than UNC to beat Illinois. The reason no one talked about them is because they were on postseason probation. Now they are eligible for the NCAA tournament and they are going to make some noise once they get there. And next season, they may have the greatest recruiting class of all-time coming in.

Houston: They may not have Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, but the Cougars could be one of the teams that steps up and fills the void in the empty Conference USA. Tom Penders has taken a few extra years to get this program back in shape. Senior foward Ramon Dyer may be the emotional leader for UH, but juniors Jahmar Thorpe and Oliver Lafayette are the best players on the team and make a dangerous inside-outside combination. The one problem for Houston is the schedule. It is way too soft. They play LSU tonight, host Arizona on Saturday and then don't play another ranked team until March 4th against Memphis. The Cougars have already lost to Virginia Commonwealth by a point. They can't afford to have more than seven losses to make the tournament. I think they'll get there.

New Mexico: Danny Granger may not be in Albuquerque anymore, but there is still plenty of talent left from last year’s NCAA tournament squad. The Lobos are led by two seniors. Guard Mark Walters who is the best shooter in the Mountain West, and forward David Chiotti who has upped his game in the absence of Granger. Like Oregon, the Lobos benefit from a terrific home court advantage at The Pit, and rarely lose on campus. New Mexico has already whipped up on Ole Miss 95-42 and they beat a pretty good UTEP squad the other night. Their big test comes at Washington on December 10th, and then down the stretch in the always competitive MWC.

Northern Iowa: The Panthers shouldn’t have been in the NCAA tournament last year. But they will belong this season. They basically return their entire team from a year ago. For a mid-major, they have astonishing depth. NIU may be one of the best defensive teams in the nation. They aren’t going to excite you with their low-scoring style of play, but they will be noticed in March. Their game tonight at Iowa State will be interesting for both teams.

Where does Maryland fit in:

The Terps aren’t really a contender or a pretender. They haven’t gotten enough attention to be considered a tweener. But they are too well known to be a darkhorse. Their schedule should allow them to win about 21-22 games. That should be good enough for fourth in the conference. The Terps should be given a fifth or sixth seed in the tournament. But if you are looking for Maryland to get past the first weekend, you are probably going to be disappointed. The Elite 8 would be a huge stretch, the Sweet 16 would be slightly more reasonable, but a second round exit is most likely.

Tomorrow the Terps tangle with Minnesota in the ACC/Big 10 challenge. I’ll talk about that tomorrow.

Off The Mark: NFL Week 12 in Review

Ugh, the Redskins. I can’t believe I rushed home from New Jersey to see that performance. After the Chargers made it a 17-10 game with about 14 minutes to go, most Redskins fans knew that it was going to get ugly. And right on cue, for the third straight week, the Skins come from ahead to lose late.

These are the old Redskins. These are the Redskins that invent ways to lose in the fourth quarter instead of finding ways to win. The Redskins that have now lost a total of 27 games in the past 3 seasons. 20 of those losses have been by 7 points or less. That is incredible. Whatever mojo the Skins had after their first three wins has been used up.

The end of the game against San Diego was a carbon copy of the game against Seattle. Only this time, the Redskins were playing the role of the Seahawks. Flashback to October 2nd. The Seahawks have just tied the game at 17 and the Redskins have a chance with about a minute left to drive for the game-winning field goal. Instead, on the second play of the drive, Brunell’s pass to Portis deflects right off Clinton’s hands and into the waiting arms of a Seattle defensive back. The Seahawks get possession at the Redskins 37. Poor play calling and an illegal formation penalty force Seattle to try a 48-yard field goal. Josh Brown misses by inches. The Redskins win the overtime coin toss and score a field goal on their first possession to win.

Now back to Sunday. The Chargers get the ball around their 25-yard line with more than a minute remaining in a 17-17 ballgame. On the second play of the drive, Drew Brees’ pass is deflected by Marcus Washington and picked off by Shaun Springs. The Skins get the ball around the Charger 30. Poor play calling and an awful holding penalty force the Redskins to try a 52 yard field goal. John Hall misses by inches. The Chargers win the overtime coin toss and score a touchdown on the second play of the extra period.

It doesn’t seem to matter who the coach is. Whether it was Norv or Marty or Spurrier or now Gibbs, the Skins can’t finish off an opponent. They even had two huge breaks in the final minute (a penalty on San Diego during a punt return giving the Chargers poor field position and then the tipped interception) and couldn’t win the game. Three terrible losses in a row have taken all the joy out of a once promising season.

This doesn’t mean the Skins are done. They have two winnable road games against the Rams and Cardinals coming up. They follow that with three straight division games, two at home, to finish the season. Because of home games against the Giants and Cowboys, the Skins, oddly enough, still control their own fate. But they must win out to make the playoffs. A 9-7 record will not be good enough in the NFC.

Can they win out? Yes. Will they? Probably not. Knowing the Skins, they will find the most painful way to avoid the post-season. I can just picture the Skins winning four in a row, only to lose to a depleted Eagles team in the last week of the year. That would be classic Redskins. Just like the past three Sundays.

Elsewhere around the league:

Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich broke his ankle in the first quarter of a 24-17 win against Arizona. David Garrard is now the starting quarterback for the 8-3 Jaguars. I still stand by my prediction of the Jags finishing 11-5 and getting a wild-card spot in the AFC. Garrard may actually be a better quarterback than Leftwich. He definitely will fit in the Jacksonville offensive scheme better than Leftwich does…

The Lions fired The Mooch today after the ugly performance his team put on during Thanksgiving. Matt Millen should be the next to get his walking papers, but he’ll probably be allowed to stay on at least one more season. Detroit may not be the worst team in the league this season, but they are the worst run franchise in the NFL. Any team that allowed Millen to become GM without any experience should be ready to endure a prolonged period of failure (which Lions fans should be good at dealing with by now). Only a GM with no experience would waste three straight high draft picks on receivers. This is a position that is completely reliant on the quarterback and the offensive line to get the ball and make plays. Millen has a team that is deficient in both of those areas. Millen's decisions are sort of equivalent to the government of New Orleans trying to make sure that Mardi Gras goes on without a hitch and that all the jazz clubs reopen quickly despite half the city being uninhabitable. Millen was basically trying to wax and polish up a car that had no engine or tires. Now matter how good the car may look, it still isn’t going to run. Millen said that drafting three top receivers would make his quarterback and offensive line better. Unfortunately for the Lions, it doesn’t work this way in the NFL…

I underestimated the Broncos. I thought that they would fade down the stretch again this season. They have a great running game and Jake Plummer has finally learned to throw the ball away instead of making bad plays. Too bad that defense still can’t stop Indy…

The Giants choked away another road game. Until they beat someone not named the 49ers on the road, there is no way to take this team seriously since they won’t have more than one game at home in the postseason…if they even make it. By the way, I bet Ron Dayne is looking pretty good right now…

Just curious: Were the Saints considered a home team at the Meadowlands this time around? One New York team already got the benefit of an extra home game, so why not the other? What’s the next advantage this appalling city will get? The Knicks “winning” the lottery to draft a certain superstar from Georgetown. MLB fixing the 2000 NLCS so the Mets could play the Yanks. The Yankees being allowed to have a 200 million dollar payroll. The NFL tampering with rookie contracts to allow some quarterback to whine his way out of playing with San Diego. Oh wait…

I'll Take Potpourri For $800, Alex

Because I’m heading out of town for Thanksgiving tomorrow morning, this post will consist of a little bit of everything.

First, last night’s Maryland game. The Terps did everything I said they couldn’t afford to do. Instead of attacking J.P. Batista early in the game and getting him in foul trouble, Maryland tried to shoot over the Gonzaga 2-3 zone. By doing this, they played right into the Bulldogs strategy. The Terps worried too much about Adam Morrison in the second half, and that left Batista and Derek Raivio open for crucial shots. While Morrison was the leading scorer, Batista scored most of his 21 points down the stretch and scored most of the crucial buckets. On the plus side, it looks like DJ Strawberry is healthy and will be a major factor for Maryland this season.

Today, the Terps apparently looked abysmal against Chaminade. I would know for sure if I had been able to watch the game. For some reason, despite promising all 12 games would be shown, ESPN did not broadcast the game in the Washington D.C. area. So instead of listening to obnoxious Johnny Holliday on the radio, I just waited for the score to show up on ESPN.com. The Terps actually trailed by 10 in the first half and were down two at the break. They woke up in the second half, scoring 23 points in a row, and downed the D-2 host school 98-69. They get the winner of the Kansas-Arkansas game tomorrow. This game probably means little since it started at 8:30 a.m. Hawaiian time and Gary probably didn't stop drinking until around 6 in the morning. And I'm sure Maryland didn't take Chaminade very seriously until they realized what a huge embarrassment losing to them would be. Just ask Duke, who looked rather pedestrian against mighty Boston University (not to be confused with Boston College...there is a major difference) and Davidson in the Preseason NIT. Games like this mean very little...unless you lose (I'm talking to you Quinn Snyder, Mizzou sure looked good in their loss to Sam Houston State. Losing to a team that can't even properly spell their team nickname of Bearkats isn't going to look good come March, when you most likely will be handed a pink slip).

The Redskins take on the Chargers this Sunday. One week after Norv made his return, Marty makes his. Quick, someone check the schedule and make sure the Ol’ Ball Coach isn’t bringing South Carolina to FedEx Field next week. It looks as if Antonio Gates is doubtful for the game because of a foot injury he sustained against Buffalo. This would help the Redskins immensely because it would allow them to key on LaDainian Tomlinson. It may not make much of a difference, because the Bills keyed on Tomlinson last week and Drew Brees had one of the best games of his career.

Offensively the Redskins need to RUN THE FOOTBALL. What happened to the run last week in the second half? The Skins were up 10 points and they only run the ball eight times in the second half. Only one running play in the fourth quarter. Huh? Clinton Portis, his fumbles not withstanding, was dominating in the first two quarters. Suddenly, Joe Gibbs thinks Taylor Jacobs is the second coming of Gary Clark and tells Brunell to start throwing bombs. What was that all about? And then there was the defensive play calling. In the first half, the Redskins threw everything at Kerry Collins. It resulted in a couple of sacks and a hurried throw that was intercepted by Lemar Marshall and returned for a touchdown. In the second half, Greg Williams didn’t blitz at all, called for double and triple teams on Randy Moss and allowed Joey Porter to make big catch after big catch. The second half of the game was a perfect example of what not to do as coach in the NFL when your team has a 10-point lead.

Now it is time for some quick NFL picks for next week. Last week I was 10-5 overall. However, my spread picks were way off. I was 6-8-1 (Jacksonville was favored by and won by three). Not good. A punishment will be determined at a later date because that record is unacceptable. Still, on the season I’m:
Overall: 103-53 (66%)
Spread: 85-68-3
As always, do not use these picks for gambling purposes (you saw what happened last week).

Thursday
Atlanta Falcons (6-4)(-3) at Detroit Lions (4-6)
Beware the Lions on Thanksgiving (except when they play the Colts, like last year).
Pick: Lions

Denver Broncos (8-2)(-1.5) at Dallas Cowboys (7-3)
Beware the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Unless Leon Lett is playing
Pick: Broncos

Sunday
New England (6-4) at Kansas City (6-4)(-3)
Good news for Kansas City: Trent Green got back on track against Houston
Bad news for Kansas City: Trent Green got back on track against Houston
Pick: Chiefs

Baltimore Ravens (3-7) at Cincinnati Bengals (7-3)(-8.5)
Is it too early to get that bronze bust of Carson Palmer ready?
Pick: Bengals

Carolina Panthers (7-3)(-4) at Buffalo Bills (4-6)
I’ll give the Panthers a mulligan on last week’s game.
Pick: Panthers

Chicago Bears (7-3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3)(-4)
Chris Simms was back to his old tricks last week against Atlanta. Cadillac Williams was there to bail him out. Now he gets to face the Bears defense.
Pick: Bears

Cleveland Browns (4-6) at Minnesota Vikings (5-5)(-4)
Now that Captain Smoot is out, the Vikings are sailing right back into contention.
Pick: Vikings

San Francisco 49ers (2-8) at Tennessee Titans (2-8)(-7)
Both of these teams are playing hard but are getting nothing to show for it. I’ll take the home team.
Pick: Titans

St. Louis Rams (4-6)(-3.5) at Houston Texans (1-9)
The Rams can’t lose this game…can they?
Pick: Rams

Jacksonville Jaguars (7-3)(-3.5) at Arizona Cardinals (3-7)
The Jaguars continue their playoff march with another close win in the desert.
Pick: Jaguars

Miami Dolphins (3-7) at Oakland Raiders (4-6)(-7)
Las Vegas made the Raiders seven point favorites? Really? All right, if you say so.
Pick: Raiders

New York Giants (7-3) at Seattle Seahawks (8-2)(-4.5)
WARNING: The Giants are playing a road game. Do not pick them.
Pick: Seahawks

Green Bay Packers (2-8) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-6)(-5)
Could be renamed the Disappointment Bowl. I think I’ll go with Brett Farve over Mike McMahon.
Pick: Packers

New Orleans Saints (2-8)(-2.5) at New York Jets (2-8)
The Saints are favored? It is almost too good to be true.
Pick: Jets

Monday
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4) at Indianapolis Colts (10-0)(-7)
We don’t know if Ben Roethlisberger is going to play or not. We do know that Peyton Manning is going to play. That is all anyone needs to know.
Pick: Colts

I’ll be in New Jersey (Armpit of America) for Thanksgiving until Sunday, so this page will be quiet until next Monday. For the six people who actually read this, I’m sorry about that. Have a great and happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Maryland Basketball: Aloha Means Goodbye

#8/9 Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-0) vs. #23/20 Maryland Terrapins (1-0)
Lahaina Civic Center - Lahaina, Maui, HI
First Round Maui Invitational

Because of Maryland basketball, the normal NFL Week in Review column is shelved until next week. The less said about the Redskins, the better off we all are anyway. Greg Williams has gone from brilliant to brainless in only a month’s time.

Anyway, after all of one game, the Terps leave the mainland for the island of Maui. First of all, I’m disappointed in my WMUC Sports replacements. For whatever reason, most likely financial, WMUC decided not to make the trip to Hawaii to cover the tournament. All I know is, if I was still attending Maryland, my senior class and I would have found a way to broadcast these games. If it meant spending money now so we couldn’t cover the NCAA tournament later, it would have been money well spent. Would you rather go to Maui or the NCAA regionals in Philadelphia? I rest my case.

The Terps enter one of the best Maui Invitational fields in the tournament’s history. Many are calling this the best in season tournament of all time. Six of the eight teams have won a national championship. Three coaches have titles. Five teams are ranked. Michigan State gets the sacrificial lamb and host team Chaminade in the first round. Powerhouses Arizona and Kansas meet in the prime-time game. Arkansas and Connecticut finish the first round off. The second game of the afternoon features Maryland and Gonzaga.

Here is what we know about the 2005-06 Gonzaga Bulldogs. They are going to play their usually tough pre-conference schedule. The Zags do this every year to make sure everyone pays some attention to them before they disappear into conference play in the college basketball hinterlands of the West Coast Conference. The Zags will probably suffer a few losses in non-conference play, go nearly perfect in the WCC, and emerge in March as a 3 or 4 seed, complaining all the while that they don’t get enough respect. While they are complaining, the Bulldogs will forget to show up for their first or second round game, and get bounced early from the NCAA’s. Which proves to everyone why the Bulldogs aren’t to be taken seriously after December and the whole cycle will repeat itself in 2006-07.

For those who don’t know, Gonzaga is a Jesuit school located in Spokane, Washington. As mentioned, they play in the WCC with teams like Santa Clara, St. Mary’s, Pepperdine and San Francisco. They are the premier mid-major in D-1 hoops. They’ve been upsetting power conference teams before it was cool. We first learned of Gonzaga’s existence in 1995 (they’ve been around much longer, but no one paid any attention to them before that). Then head coach Dan Fitzgerald led the Zags to the NCAA’s for the first time. As a 10 seed, they were coincidently eliminated in the first round by some team from College Park, Md. Fitzgerald soon left for greener pastures as do most mid-major coaches who have some success.

After Fitzgerald’s departure, the team was handed over to Dan Monson. Like the typical mid-major school, Monson had trouble sustaining success. With most of the Seattle and surrounding talent going to major Pac-10 or Mountain West schools, Monson’s team didn’t make the tournament again until 1999. The Zags shocked everyone as they upset their way into the Elite Eight before losing a nail-biter to eventual champion UConn.

Like Fitzgerald before him, Monson skipped town for better offers and handed the program to Mark Few (which is short for “Few NCAA tournament wins”…haha). Unlike Monson, Few was able to maintain a NCAA tournament caliber team. They made the Sweet 16 the next two seasons, and established themselves permanently on the college basketball map.

The Zags have not missed the tournament since 1998. Unlike most “Cinderella” stories that come and go, the Zags have actually turned their small program into a Pacific Northwest powerhouse. Instead of being one-hit wonders, like College of Charleston, Valparaiso or Manhattan, Gonzaga is in the tournament year in and year out. Instead of losing talent to teams like Washington, Oregon, Stanford and Utah, the Zags are actually starting to steal talent from those states. But, for all their regular season and recruiting success, they haven’t made it past the second round of the tournament since 2000.

So now Gonzaga gets set for 2005. The program is at a crossroads. The rest of the WCC is starting to catch up. Santa Clara, St. Mary’s and Pepperdine are beginning to challenge Gonzaga for conference supremacy. The 2005 team is very talented, but they have five seniors and a junior that will likely leave for the NBA draft after the season. After initially thinking their last few recruiting classes were pretty good, it turns out for Gonzaga that they were strictly average. If Gonzaga can’t make that next step and get into the Final Four this season, the team could be headed for a downward turn. There is a lot of pressure on the upperclassmen to get it done this season.

The last time Gonzaga faced Maryland was in the 2003 BB&T Classic. And the Terps put on their usual BB&T performance. The Terps handled the ball poorly and shot even worse in an easy 82-68 win for the Bulldogs. Those Bulldogs were a much different team, as Ronnie Turiaf, Blake Stepp and Cory Violette were still there.

This year, the Zags are going to rely on Steve Nash/Jack White look-a-like Adam Morrison. Morrison is a pre-season All-American; a first for Gonzaga. The 6-8 Morrison averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists a game last year. Along with J.P Batista, a 6-9 senior from Brazil and point guard Derek Raivio, the Zags have a lot of weapons to choose from amongst their starting five.

After their starters, the talent level drops off for Gonzaga. Despite being a potential powerhouse school, the Zags still suffer from a lack of depth that plagues most mid-majors. In their season-opening 69-60 win over Idaho, only two players off the bench saw more than two minutes of playing time. Gonzaga uses a simple seven-man rotation.

That rotation is going to hurt Gonzaga today. Maryland will use as many as 10 players. If Batista gets in foul trouble, and he is foul prone, the Zags have no replacement for him off the bench. Despite Morrison’s talents, he needs a foul-free Batista in the game to keep the offense moving. When the Terps have the ball, they need to attack Batista early with their five-man front court (Garrison, Ibekwe, Bowers, Gist, Caner-Medley). Get him off the court and Gonzaga becomes a one-dimensional team. The Bulldogs will then be forced to beat Maryland from beyond the arc. They are a good three-point shooting team, but they are much better when they have an inside presence to help alleviate pressure on the perimeter. Translation: if Maryland makes Batista a non-factor with foul trouble, they will have an easier time guarding Morrison and the outside shooters like Raivio.

Morrison is going to get his points. Maryland isn’t going to have a defensive answer for a player with Morrison’s talent, shooting ability and height. Caner-Medley will probably be assigned to him, but Morrison should be able to shake Nik enough to be a major factor in this game. At the other four positions on the court, Maryland matches up pretty well. Add in the better and deeper bench, and the Terps should have the edge. Allow Morrison and Batista to play well with each other, Maryland might as well grab their surfboards and hit the beaches early.

Like most college basketball fans, it is hard for me to root against Gonzaga in March. They are always an underdog, but unlike most mid-majors, they actually stand a chance against some of the major programs. The Zags have their typical brutal schedule (with games scheduled against Washington, Washington State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Saint Louis, Memphis and St. Joseph’s looming). They will be around in March. Maryland needs to win games like this to prove that they belong in March as well.

Maryland 81
Gonzaga 75

Raiders at Redskins: Another Swashbuckling Adventure

Oakland Raiders (3-6) at Washington Redskins (5-4)
1:00 p.m. FedEx Field
There are plenty of story of lines coming into this game. The Redskins need to ignore all of them and get on track with the first of back-to-back home games. After a crushing loss to the Buccaneers last week, the Oakland Raiders come to town to try and become the first road team to take one at FedEx Field this season. The Skins simply end up trading one pirate team for another. Seriously, what’s with all the pirates? I haven’t seen this many pirates since vacationing off the coast of Somalia. (How has this story been ignored by the mainstream media? Why do we still have to deal with pirates? This is 2005. The biggest oceanic threats shouldn’t be tsunamis, hurricanes and pirates. This story brings up so many questions. How many pirates are there left? What secret cove do these pirates hang out at? Are parrots still the animal of choice? How does one become a pirate? Could I become a pirate? What kinds of qualifications are necessary? Is a high school degree good enough, or do I need a bachelors in piracy with a minor in plunder and pillaging? Can 3 to 5 years of pirating experience be substituted for a degree? Does Keira Knightly hang out on the boats in skimpy clothing?)

Pirates not withstanding, the big story line is the return of Norv Turner. You know, that coach who replaced Joe Gibbs here in Washington after he up and left for NASCAR (Yes, I realize that technically Richie Petitbon was the coach who replaced Gibbs. But no one counts that season, not even Petitbon). For awhile, it actually looked like Turner, who inherited a horrible team in 1994, was making progress. After a 3-13 season, the team went 6-10, then 9-7. Not only that, Turner exceeded at beating his former team and Redskins arch-rival Dallas.

Then came the 1997 season. It was the most mystifying season since I’ve been following the team. The Redskins were expected to take the next step. Instead, the Skins lost a bunch of games they shouldn’t have, and their quarterback missed the second half of the season after purposely banging his head against a concrete wall to celebrate a touchdown. The Redskins ended 8-7-1 that year under Turner. Most fans blamed him for the close loses, and rightly so. The Skins were out coached, not outplayed, down the stretch in several key games.

The 1998 season was a disaster (another 6-10 finish). Dan Snyder was officially given control of the team after ’98, but he kept Norv in place. Turner and the Skins had their best season since the first Gibbs era, going 10-6. After crushing the Lions in the first round of the playoffs, the Skins missed a spot in the NFC Championship game because of one ill-advised Brad Johnson pass and one miraculous Shaun King pass in a 14-13 loss to Tampa.

That’s when Snyder decided to pull out the New York Yankees approach and buy a championship in 2000. We all know how that story ended. After a promising 6-2 start, the Skins tanked in the second half of the season and Turner was fired with three games left to go. This was followed by the coaching carousel of Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer (more on Marty next week), Steve Spurrier and finally Joe Gibbs for the second time.

Turner was given a horrible team in his first three seasons, and he overachieved with them. He was then given every chance to win in his last four years, and failed miserably. So, what to make of the Norv Turner era? His overall record speaks for itself (50-58-1). He only had one playoff appearance in seven tries. One could argue that three or four of his teams could have made the playoffs (along with the ’99 team, the ’96, ’97 and ’00 team should have been in). Basically, Turner was a failure during his tenure here. He never really had a horrible season, but he never inspired any hope with the fans either.

It looks like Norv is up to his old tricks in Oakland. He coaches for an owner who is giving him all the chances to succeed. Yet, Turner has had two sub par years. And like in Washington, the problem with Turner’s team is the defense. With the Skins, his defenses routinely ranked in the bottom half of the league. This year in Oakland, his defense is giving up 335 yards a game and is 24th overall. That includes 116 yards per game on the ground. Most importantly, they give up 24 points a game.

Like all those Redskins teams, no one really knows what to make of the 2005 Raiders. Their offense is very good. They equal the defenses 335 yards per game. They score nearly 23 points per game. The Raiders have Randy Moss, Joey Porter and Lamont Jordan as their offensive weapons. They have played several close games. They have lost two heartbreakers to the Chiefs, one to Dallas and one to the Eagles. The players are doing everything they can. It seems, that for some reason, the Raiders have been out-coached in the fourth quarter. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

The Redskins have seen a team like this before…the Giants. When the Skins played the Giants, no one knew what to really make of them. Their offense was good, but their defense was 31st in the league. But everyone around the league had an inkling that the Giants defense wasn’t that bad. And they proved it against Washington. I have a feeling that the Raiders defense isn’t as bad as the stats show.

The main difference between the Giants and the Raiders? Coaching. While I don’t think that Tom Coughlin is much of a coach, when it comes down between him and Turner, the choice is obvious.

To add to the intrigue this week, Randy Moss didn’t exactly give his coach a vote of confidence in an interview earlier this week (how many malcontent receivers are the Redskins going to run into…first it was the T.O. saga, last week it was Joey Galloway complaining about his lack of catches, now it’s Moss). While Randy Moss didn’t pull a T.O. and throw his teammates and coaching staff under a bus, the way he talked left much to be desired.

On paper, this should be a win for the Redskins. The Raiders are basically done in the AFC West, and the AFC in general. They’re playing a team that they have an overwhelming coaching advantage over. They get Oakland at home. West coast teams rarely travel across the country and play well. Sean Taylor is back from injury, which will help considerably when it comes to covering Moss. Everything is aligned for the Redskins to keep pace in the NFC East while the two teams ahead of them get easy wins this week.

So why am I so nervous about this one? As I said before, the Fightin’ Norvs play a lot of close games. They have lost just about every close game. The more close games you play, the better chance you have to win one. The Raiders are going to hang with the Redskins. Cornelius Griffin will miss his third straight game. Without him, the Skins are struggling to get pressure on the quarterback. If you give Kerry Collins time to throw to Moss and Porter, it is going to be a long day for your secondary. Plus, the Redskins will be looking ahead to next week’s game against a tough San Diego team. They can't afford to overlook the Raiders.

Offensively, the Redskins need to run the ball (I know, I say that every week). But against a team giving up 116 yards a game on the ground, it is really important that they establish the running game early. They also need to run to keep possession of the ball and keep the Raiders offense off the field. Defensively, the Redskins have to throw away the delay-blitzing scheme. Take the reigns off of Lavar and Marcus Washington and let them go after Collins. No more stunts, no more switches, no more delays. Just straight out blitzes. The more time Collins has to throw, the more likely it is that he will find Moss. If the Redskins accomplish these two objectives, hold on to the football and avoid the general area around the East Coast of Africa, this should be a victory. Turn the ball over and give the Raiders a short field with Moss and Company, it will result in a .500 record.

Maryland Basketball Preview: The Terps and Me

In a slight departure from my normal ramblings about the Redskins on Fridays, I’m going to write about college basketball (surprise, the moron is actually going to talk about something other than Clinton Portis’ weekly costume and the absolute failure that is Walt Harris).

I just finished school at the University of Maryland. Way before that, I was obsessed about Maryland hoops. I have been going to games since I was eight. I remember going to games at Cole Field House during the ugly and forgettable 1990-91 season. The first game I ever attended was a 104-100 Maryland win over NC State. Walt Williams went shot for shot with the Wolfpack’s Tom Gugliotta. The Wizard had at least 30 with a broken left arm (I remember the yellow cast very vividly). Throughout the 90’s, I watched all the great players come and go. Joe Smith, Exree Hipp, Keith Booth, Sarunis Jasikevicius, Laron Profit, Johnny Rhodes, Obinna Ekezie, Terrell Stokes, Steve Francis, Terrance Morris. All these teams were so promising, but almost all the seasons ended in failure. The ugly upsets against College of Charleston in ’96 and Santa Clara in ’97. Close calls against Arizona in ’98 and St. John’s in ’99. Both of those losses came in the Sweet 16. The 35 point drubbing by UCLA in the second round in 2000. I had to watch all of these.

Then came the 2000-01 season. This turned out to be one of the most exciting, and ultimately, the most crushing season in Maryland history. It was my senior year in high school. At the beginning of the season, no one knew what kind of team Maryland was going to be. A win against Louisville would be followed by a loss to Dayton. But from mid-December to late January, the Terps won 13 of 14. The only loss was a 86-83 defeat at the hands of a pretty good UNC team.

It was around this time that I finally accepted my invitation to Maryland. For awhile, I seriously considered taking my scholarship offer from the University of Miami. But on January 27, 2001, I sent my acceptance form back to College Park and became a part of the University of Maryland.

That night, some of my friends (who had also enrolled at Maryland) and I settled down to watch the 2nd ranked Duke Blue Devils visit Cole. Any Maryland fan knows what happened in this game. The Terps blew a 10-point lead in the final minute, thanks to Drew Nicholas and some questionable refereeing. I was officially indoctrinated to the culture of heartbreak that was Maryland basketball.

The Terps would obviously go on and blow another game to the Dookies in the ACC Championship game and the Final Four (it was tough for Maryland, seeing how they played the entire second half five against eight). But everyone except Morris would be back the following year.

I thought I was horrible luck, considering that Maryland’s season turned south, then went back to promising, and ultimately ended in another failure, ever since the day I enrolled. These fears that I was a bad omen to the program were put to rest the following season. The Maryland Terrapins became national champions my freshman year. They went 15-0 at home in what would be the final season at Cole Field House. This included a game in February against the #1 Dookies. My friends and I waited two and half days for tickets. We survived the bitter cold and a last minute stampede to get them. Our patience and diligence were rewarded. We saw one of the greatest one-sided performances in basketball history. The #3 Terps manhandled Ratface’s overrated Dook team from start to finish. The Terps never trailed, led by as many as 25, and won 87-73. It was a win that would only be matched in importance by the 64-52 victory on April 1st, 2002 against Indiana. Ah, it seems like it was only yesterday that I took a whiff of that glorious victory pepper spray on Route 1.

The next year I started working a few of the Maryland games for WMUC radio. I attended the majority of games as a fan, but I got my first behind the scenes look into a major college program. Over my final two years at UMD, I went to most of the games as a broadcast journalist. I ended up broadcasting many games from the Comcast Center. I also broadcasted games at the MCI Center, UVA’s University Hall, NC State’s RBC Center and Wake’s Lawrence Joel Coliseum. I even got a chance to broadcast a women’s game at Cameron Indoor. I've seen the players at their highest highs, and their lowest lows. I've partied with Rashad McCants and Sean May at UNC. When the Terps went to the NCAA’s in Denver two seasons ago, I was there, at midcourt, broadcasting the games against UTEP and Syracuse. I was sitting there within whispering distance from Gary and Roy Williams, Jim Boehiem, Rick Barnes, John Thompson III and Billy Gillespie. And despite Maryland having a poor season last year, I got to broadcast a game from Madison Square Garden, which is something I will never forget.

Unfortunately, the last two years, my love for Maryland basketball has waned. And it has nothing to do with the diminishing results on the court (I am not a fair-weather fan…I followed this team during the probation years, I followed the Redskins during the mid-90's and I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan for some reason, I forget why). Covering the team day in and day out for the better part of two years showed me a side of the program that I didn’t want to see. I found out that Gary Williams really is a jackass. I always thought his on court demeanor and his off court attitude would be different. It turns out, they are one in the same. He treats his players horribly. He treats the media worse. He is grumpy, grouchy and moody…and not just on game day. He even has a penchant for going to the local bars and getting drunk almost every night. This wouldn’t be a problem if he wasn’t flirting and trying to pick up underage coeds while drinking. In Gary's defense, he isn’t married and he isn’t drinking at the local frat houses, so he hasn’t reached the Larry Eustachy plateau yet.

Also, I discovered that the term student athlete really doesn’t apply in most major athletic programs. I knew going in that school was a distant third place to the players behind the sport and picking up girls. But I found out that school usually was sixth or seventh on the list. Hitting on girls and drinking was the number one choice of most of these guys. Then comes hitting the bong (I know of at least three current players who have serious problems with this). Then comes basketball. Close behind comes sleeping. Then lounging around the cafeteria. Then maybe, if there is time, a class or two. For a normal student, there is nothing wrong with this priority list. In fact, mine looked a lot similar. But these players are on scholarship representing the university. And it was disgusting how they took advantage of their status as basketball players. When it came down to it, very few players on the team even cared about basketball. That was the most disturbing aspect of all of this. Some were only on the team to coast with their free ride. And the one player who really did care had other mental problems and hurt the team last season (obviously talking about John Gilchrist…try and keep up).

I guess I’m comparing (get ready for a horrible metaphor) the basketball program to a hot dog. What red-blooded American doesn’t like going to a ballgame and having a hot dog with a nice cold beverage? But do you want to know what goes in to making said meat product? Obviously not. That’s what I’ve seen the past two years with Maryland basketball. I’ve seen the process of putting together a somewhat competitive basketball team. And it wasn’t pretty. I loved going to the games and watching on TV as a fan. But when I started covering them as a member of the media, I realized that Maryland basketball is made up of the parts of a cow or pig that no one in their right mind would normally eat. Or something to that affect.

Hopefully now that I am away from the program, I can begin earnestly rooting for them again. It may take a couple of years, especially to get rid of the players that I couldn’t stand talking to or interviewing, before I start blindly following the Terps again. But, I'll obviously still root for them through thick and thin this year, I just won't care as much as I used to if they lose. With that disclaimer out of the way, here is a brief scouting report and preview of the Maryland Terrapins this season:

GUARDS

Mike Jones
Pros: Best shooter on team. When he is on, he can hit from anywhere on the floor at anytime. Doesn’t even have to set his feet (in fact, rarely sets his feet). Loves to run and play in transition. Despite being a guard, loves to play above the rim. Not afraid to go inside and grab rebounds. Excellent free-throw shooter
Cons: Horrible defender. Often times, it looks like he loses interest on the defensive end. Won’t see consistent playing time until he learns to defend better. Very streaky shooter. Without consistent playing time, he struggles to get into a shooting rhythm. Frustrated by Williams’ half-court “flex” offense, so he usually is out of position.

Sterling Ledbetter
Pros: Good ball-handler. Can run transition game really well.
Cons: Average to poor defender. Afraid to make tough passes. Will be asked to play point guard but not a true point. Can’t run efficient half-court offense. Afraid to take shots. Not a great shooter either. Struggles from the free-throw line.

Chris McCray
Pros: Most consistent player on the team last year. Team leader that leads by example, not necessarily by his mouth. Good defensive player. Rarely gets out of position. A solid shooter that can shoot his way out of a dry spell. Excellent free-throw shooter
Cons: On a team devoid of emotional leaders, he failed to be one. Needs to be more vocal. Sometimes he is afraid to take open shots, especially beyond the arc. Also afraid to bang inside or drive inside if he needs to. Rarely plays above or near the rim.

DJ Strawberry
Pros: Tenacious defender. Perhaps the best defensive player in the ACC. He has great speed and uses it to his advantage on the defensive end. Also is very versatile. Can play point guard, shooting guard, or even small forward if need be. Very coachable. Listens well in practice. Emotional leader on a team that desperately needs one.
Cons: Coming off a serious injury. While he can play three positions pretty well, excels at none of them. Not a true point guard, but will be asked to play there. Struggles moving the offense in a half court set. Horrible shooter, especially as a guard. One of the worst free-throw shooters on team.

Others: Parrish Brown

FORWARDS/CENTERS:

Will Bowers
Pros: Height is a huge advantage (7-1). Has a big body and not afraid to throw it around. Runs very well for someone his height. Good stamina. Very coachable
Cons: Often times awkward and uncomfortable in half-court sets. Serious problems with his footwork. Has a tendency to pick up dumb fouls in bunches. Many times he does not go up for a rebound with two hands. Non-existent vertical. Plays like the smallest 7-footer in the country. Often gets out rebounded by players five inches smaller and 25 pounds lighter.

Nik Caner-Medley
Pros: Versatile offensive player. Can play inside or outside. Not afraid to attack the basket. If he squares up and gets set, can hit a three from anywhere. Good rebounder. Great defender on the perimeter. Runs in transition real well.
Cons: Rushes his shots too much. Too predictable on the offensive end. Only likes attacking basket from the baseline, almost never attacks from the top of the key. Also has tendency to play wild and out of control. Forces too many shots. Poor passer. Often gets lost on the defensive end when he has to cover someone inside.

Travis Garrison
Pros: Great touch for someone who is 6-8. Can step outside and shoot the three. Silky turn-a-round jumper. Decent fade-away shot. Good rebounder on the defensive end. Runs well and plays smart in transition. Fights for loose balls. Great free-throw shooter.
Cons: Afraid to use his body inside. Has real problems playing with his back to his basket. Doesn’t attack the rim when he has the ball. Can’t grab an offensive rebound to save his life. Beats himself up when he makes mistakes. Very inconsistent.

James Gist
Pros: Excellent rebounder and shot-blocker on the defensive end. Has an amazing vertical. Attacks basket when he has the ball. Good but getting better with his back to the basket. Great footwork for a freshman last year. Major upside.
Cons: Can’t shoot more than 10 feet away from the basket. Horrible free-throw shooter. Often has stretches with severe mental lapses. Could be an even better rebounder if he learns how to box out properly.

Ekene Ibekwe
Pros: Best shot-blocker on team. Has a very long wingspan. Helps real well in backside and recovery defense. Like most Maryland big men, runs court real well and loves transition game. Attacks basket on offensive end, goes to the foul line a lot because of it.
Cons: Name is hard to spell (haha). Worst free-throw shooter on the team. Picks up dumb fouls early in the game and minimizes his effect on the game. Can’t shoot well away from the basket, but tries anyway. Very uncomfortable playing in flex half-court offense

Others: Gini Chukura, David Neal

Maryland will once again be a very deep team. They will use at least nine, maybe even ten players a game. They are also a senior heavy team with McCray, Garrison, Caner-Medley and Ledbetter. Maryland should be an exciting team to watch because they are going to play up-tempo basketball. Gary Williams loves to push, and the return of DJ Strawberry should help get the transition game started with plays on the defensive end. The front court should be better this year as well. Garrison, Ibekwe, Bowers and Gist all got another year of experience. As long as Garrison and Ibekwe stay out of early foul trouble, they should be fine. Hopefully this will be the year that Garrison learns how to play with his back to the basket. Gist should be tremendously improved and that should also help the front court.

The problem for Maryland and for many other ACC teams will be at point guard. Strawberry and Ledbetter will be the main point guards, and neither one of them looks great in a half-court offense. Teams that stop Maryland from running and frustrate Strawberry and Ledbetter early in the game are going to kill the Terps (see North Carolina and Wake Forest last year). This will be an ongoing drama the entire season unless relative unknown Parrish Brown steps up.

Mike Jones will continue to struggle to see minutes. Reports are that he has not improved defensively at all during the off-season. I see a starting lineup consisting of Strawberry/Ledbetter, McCray, Caner-Medley, Ibekwe and Garrison. Jones won’t even be the sixth man on this team.

Despite all the dangerous scorers, there are going to be plenty of times this year when the Maryland offense looks sluggish and struggles. They should be one of the best defensive teams in the conference. With the exception of Jones and Ledbetter, most players who will see major minutes are good to great defenders. That is part of the game that many analysts are overlooking. If Maryland’s defense leads to transition opportunities…look out.

The team to watch out for in the ACC is not Duke, but Boston College. They are my early favorite to win the conference. I don’t like the Devils point guard situation with Sean Dockery and the freshman Greg Paulus splitting time. Before we anoint Paulus as the second coming, remember that he is a freshman that is playing in a league that is traditionally very rude to rookies. More on that as the season wears along and football is out of the way. But that’s why BC is my favorite, with Dook a close second. I believe Maryland will win about 22 games this year and finish with a 10-6 conference record. That should be good enough for fourth place in the conference. Maryland may not be much better from last year, but UNC, Wake, Georgia Tech and NC State all lost significant parts of their teams from last year, so that will help the Terps. Again, I’ll get to the rest of the ACC later in the season.

With that said, Maryland should get victory number one tonight against Fairleigh Dickinson. It won’t be as easy as many think. I won’t go into much detail about FDU. The Knights come off a great season where they won the NEC and made it to the NCAA tournament (which is more than you can say for Maryland). They gave Illinois all they could handle in the first round, but lost 67-55. They return three of their starters and two of their top three scorers from a year ago. This will be a good opening test for Maryland, but one they should win. Maryland 74, FDU 57.

Tomorrow, I preview the stimulating Moss vs. Moss battle as the genius formerly known as Norv Turner takes his Raiders to Landover.

NFL Week 11: Seeing Triplets

Another week, another good performance. I finished week 10 with a 9-4 record picking the games straight up, and a 9-4 record with/against the spread (thank you Texans). So on the season, I’m now:
Straight up: 93-48 (66%)
Spread: 79-60-2
Now with all the bye weeks taken care of, it’s back to picking 15 games a week (not counting the Redskins, obviously). Despite my continuing success, please do not use these picks for your own gambling purposes.

Carolina Panthers (7-2)(-3) vs. Chicago Bears (6-3)
1:00 p.m. Soldier Field
This is just one of many interesting games on the NFL schedule for week 11. The Panthers are still far and away the best team in the NFC. The Bears are still the best team in a horrible division. And I realize that all the teams from the NFC North won last week. So what?
I’m going to go with odds-makers on this one. Rarely do you see a 6-3 team an underdog at home. Especially at a home stadium that can generate nasty weather and can put the visiting team at a disadvantage. Las Vegas thinks that the Panthers are still “that good”. I’m inclined to agree with them.
Pick: Panthers

Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3)(-3) at Tennessee Titans (2-7)
1:00 p.m. Adelphia Coliseum
The Jags continue their march to a wild card spot. But Jacksonville must be careful. Tennessee still has a decent team despite the 2-7 record. I have a feeling that the Titans are going to be much better in the second half of the season then they were in the first. If Jacksonville truly is a playoff caliber team, they should have no problem. But the Jags have struggled in games against the Texans, Rams and Jets. They never seem to do anything easy.
Pick: Jaguars

New Orleans Saints (2-7) at New England Patriots (5-4)(-9.5)
1:00 p.m. Gillette Stadium
As good as I think the Titans are going to be in the second half, I think the Saints are going to be much worse. With the exception of Joe Horn and a few other role players, the Saints have quit on Jim Haslett. Just watch a Saints game and it’s easy to tell (although, I wouldn’t actually encourage anyone to watch a Saints game). This has nothing to do with the hurricanes and the nomadic season. It has everything to do with a bad coach finally losing his ability to lead a team.
Pick: Patriots

Arizona Cardinals (2-7) at St. Louis Rams (4-5)(-9.5)
1:00 p.m. Edward Jones Dome
I had the Cards as my upset pick of the week against Detroit. They let me down. I can’t go with them again. The Rams are finally getting healthy (just in time for their game against the Skins in a couple of weeks…fantastic). Marc Bulger and Torry Holt are both back and they looked pretty good last week against Seattle. Plus, it was a good week in St. Louis. Their coaching staff got through an entire week without having anymore heart related problems.
Pick: Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) at Atlanta Falcons (6-3)(-6)
1:00 p.m. Georgia Dome
Ok. Chris Simms had one decent game. Unfortunately it was against the Redskins. Still, odds are he can’t have two solid performances in a row. Can he?
Pick: Falcons

Detroit Lions (4-5) at Dallas Cowboys (6-3)(-8)
1:00 p.m. Texas Stadium
Before these two teams host their annual Thanksgiving game, they face-off against each other. While the jury is still out on Chris Simms, the verdict has already been reached on Joey Harrington. Just because he went off on the Arizona Cardinals, it does not make him a good NFL quarterback. It will be a long fall back to Earth for Joey and the Lions this week.
Pick: Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles (4-5) at New York Giants (6-3)(-8)
1:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
The Giants get ready to play their 16th home game of the season against the dangerous Philadelphia Eagles. What’s that? Donovan McNabb won’t play? Terrell Owens is suspended (when did that happen, I certainly didn’t hear about it from ESPN…you’d think that ESPN would cover something as important as Owens getting suspended)? The Eagles are in last place?
I have never seen a team fall apart as quickly as the Eagles. And I’d like to give props to myself for calling it. Go back to my Week 8 picks (posted October 27th). Here is an excerpt from it:
“I just have a feeling the Eagles are going to implode sooner or later, with the emphasis on sooner... This McNabb-Owens thing still hasn’t boiled over yet (and it will, trust me). It has been way too quiet in Philly so far, look for problems in this feud in the next few weeks.”
Not more than six days after I wrote this, did it come true. Man, I love being right.
So Owens and McNabb won’t play and it will be up to the deadly Mike McMahon-Reggie Brown combo. Scary. At least we won’t have to hear about Donovan’s weekly injuries. Was anyone else tired of hearing about that? There are tons of players each week, including other quarterbacks, that play seriously injured. McNabb is just one of them. But the media made excuses for McNabb because he’s a freaking poster boy. They even made excuses for him after his head-slapping throw against Dallas on Monday. Enough. That was McNabb’s fault, plain and simple. It wasn’t Owens’ fault. It wasn’t his other receiver’s fault. He didn’t make a bad throw because he was hurt. He committed an inexcusable mistake and cost the Eagles their season because he is an average quarterback. Even more so without his buddy T.O.
The Giants are another story. Despite the NFL giving them extra home games and a rather easy schedule (ie: Saints, Vikings, Cardinals, 49ers, etc…), they are only 6-3. They could and should be better. Now they actually have to play some decent teams in the last seven weeks. They are also scheduled for some road games, but look for the NFL to change that if possible.
Pick: Giants, Eagles cover

Miami Dolphins (3-6) at Cleveland Browns (3-6)(-2.5)
1:00 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium
As I said at the beginning, there are a lot of interesting games this weekend. This is not one of them.
Pick: Dolphins

Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2)(-4) at Baltimore Ravens (2-7)
1:00 p.m. M&T Bank Stadium
Speaking of bad games. An exciting Tommy Maddox-Kyle Boller match-up that is sure to thrill only Steelers fans and what remains of the bandwagon Ravens nation. As bad as Maddox is, I can’t pick Kyle Boller.
Pick: Steelers

Indianapolis Colts (9-0)(-6) at Cincinnati Bengals (7-2)
4:05 p.m. Paul Brown Stadium
This game better be on in the Washington area. We better not get the crappy Ravens game. No one wants to see that. Everyone wants to see the Colts and Bengals.
As much as I want to pick Carson Palmer, I just can’t do it. I’m going to have a hard time picking against the Colts until someone beats them. Despite both teams having talented triplets on the offensive side of the ball, the difference in this game are going to be the defenses. Cincinnati’s defense has a great turnover ratio, but has accrued that margin against sub par offenses. Those turnovers usually lead to easy Cincinnati points. Peyton Manning and the Colts are much better at protecting the ball, and they don’t need turnovers and a short field to score. The Colts defense should minimize Rudi Johnson, and force Palmer to trade touchdowns with Manning. Palmer isn't that good...yet. Look for big game from Palmer anyway, but a better game from the Manning-James-Harrison combination. I expect this game to be close and entertaining, but I got to go with Indy.
Pick: Colts

Seattle Seahawks (7-2)(-12) at San Francisco 49ers (2-7)
4:05 p.m. Monster Park
How many touchdowns will Shaun Alexander score in this one? I’ve got the over/under set on 3.5. I’m taking the over and Seattle.
Pick: Seahawks.

Buffalo Bills (4-5) at San Diego Chargers (5-4)(-10.5)
4:15 p.m. Qualcomm Stadium
J.P Losman = Kyle Boller. Unless Willis McGahee out runs LaDainian Tomlinson, it is going to be a long day for Buffalo.
Pick: Chargers

New York Jets (2-7) at Denver Broncos (7-2)(-13)
4:15 p.m. Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium
The Broncos really have a chance to go 8-2? How did this happen? They get a team in the Jets with real injury problems (unlike the Eagles, who have one injured player). The only weapon left standing for the Jets is a rapidly aging Curtis Martin. Still, Denver hasn’t played many bad games this year, and most teams play one or two stinkers. Look for Denver to struggle a bit.
Pick: Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)(-7) at Houston Texans (1-8)
8:30 p.m. Reliant Stadium
If there was ever a week for Trent Green to get going, this is it. The Chiefs desperately need a win this week. Their schedule gets much tougher after their game at Houston. Meanwhile, the Texans continue to play inspired, but futile football against much better teams. The last four games for Houston have all been close (for the Texans’ standards), and this one should be no different.
Pick: Chiefs

Minnesota Vikings (4-5) at Green Bay Packers (2-7)(-5)
9:00 p.m. Lambeau Field
Let me understand this. The Packers have one decent week against an overrated Falcons team. Now they are favored by five. Why? Did Brett Farve suddenly get seven years younger and get back Sterling Sharpe, Dorsey Levens and Antonio Freeman in their primes? Enough with the Farve idolizing.
On a side note…do the Vikings have to list Mike Tice on their injury report this week?
Pick: Vikings

Come back Saturday for the eagerly anticipated Redskins-Raiders preview as The Norv makes his return trip back to D.C. Tomorrow I preview Maryland basketball.

Off The Mark: NFL Week 10 in Review

For the first time this season, the Redskins lost a game they shouldn’t have. Not only that, they invented a new and exciting way to lose. As a Redskin fan, it is hard to imagine that the Skins could come up with a new way to lose each season. The past seven or eight years, they have blown more games than most franchises (except perhaps the Saints and the Seahawks). From quarterbacks butting their heads against a wall, to the giving up of 13, 14 and 21 point fourth quarter leads (all against Dallas) and countless missed field goal attempts, the Redskins have done it all. Add this game to the list.

First of all, I’m not going to be the typical Redskin fan and blame the refs. I thought Mike Alstott was in on the two-point conversion. The Redskins had him stopped, but he lunged forward for the extra half-yard that got him in. You need to finish that play. I also thought the Redskins were clearly offsides on the blocked extra point attempt that led to the two-point conversion. The only play that Joe Gibbs has been complaining about that the refs actually missed was the early 34-yard completion to Joey Galloway. Galloway was clearly out-of-bounds, but the Redskins couldn’t challenge because the refs ruled that Galloway had been forced out-of-bounds, which was also wrong. But, I thought Ladell Betts stepped on the sidelines during his kickoff return touchdown. So had that play been called correctly, the Bucs wouldn’t have needed the two point conversion attempt late in the game. The calls evened out.

How many bad plays is Walt Harris going to give up before the Redskins bench him? Harris gave up the last second touchdown to Edell Shepherd (who is Edell Shepherd…I’ve never heard of this guy. Are we sure it isn’t Leslie Shepherd trying to make a comeback?). Harris also was the player who jumped offsides on the extra point attempt. Many are saying that Shawn Springs was the one who jumped, but he actually timed the snap perfectly. And it’s a shame that Harris jumped, because Springs blocked the PAT, and if Harris hadn’t jumped, the game would have been over. If you are going to be offsides on an extra point, at least be the one to block the kick. I’ve been calling for Carlos Rogers to start for the past month…maybe this will be the game that wakes up the coaching staff.

Chris Simms obviously played better than I expected. But can everyone in the media settle down a bit. It wasn’t like he scored 35 points by himself. In fact, the first three Tampa touchdowns were set up by the bad call by the refs on the Galloway catch, and Mark Brunell fumble, and the Tampa running game respectively. Simms didn’t do anything until the fourth quarter. Of course when Simms did wake up, the Redskins couldn’t stop him.

This game also showed a fundamental flaw in Greg Williams’ defensive play-calling. He isn’t blitzing enough. When Williams does send the blitz, he often sends a delay blitz. I hate these delay blitzes. They rarely work. You don’t see Pittsburgh or Dallas or Chicago doing these crappy delays. Those teams let you know the blitz is coming and they get through anyway. Why can’t Lavar and Marcus Washington just go straight in? They are phenomenal athletes and they don’t need stunts and delays and fancy packages to hit the quarterback. These guys just need the right play call.

Finally, great call by Jon Gruden. Like I said last week about Dick Vermeil, I love a coach who isn’t afraid to go for the win…even if in doing so he can cost his team the game. There are too many conservative coaches in the NFL. Gibbs had a chance to be aggressive and was predictably conventional. With the Redskins facing a third and three with about 2:30 left, Gibbs called Portis’ number up the middle. Everyone in the stadium knew it was coming. The Skins got a yard, punted it away, the Bucs got the ball back, and the rest is history. A three or four yard swing pass to Chris Cooley or Mike Sellars would have been the better call. If the Skins get the first down, the game is over. Instead, they suffer a costly loss.

Oh well. Back-to-back home games should help the Skins get back on the right track.

Elsewhere around the league:

What happened to everybody predicting that sexy Colts-Giants Super Bowl? All it takes is one game I guess. If you colorless, gutless analysts on ESPN predict something, one week’s result shouldn’t change your opinion (*cough* Sean Salisbury *cough*). Just because Tampa won with Chris Simms this week doesn’t mean I think that they’ll make the playoffs. They are still going to collapse. Why does every analyst run away from a prediction if one week’s game proves otherwise? Have some guts and stand by your call.

Speaking of the Giants, they have clearly been overrated. Unlike most, I saw no chance of a Colts-Giants Super Bowl occurring this year. What is so great about the Giants? Their offense doesn’t excite me. Their defense is nothing special. They can’t win on the road (and they certainly aren’t going to have homefield advantage if they make the playoffs). And now, they lose to a Vikings team that had six total yards from scrimmage in the first half. And this was a home game. Yeah, this is a Super Bowl quality team…

I’ll keep saying it because no one else is…the Seahawks are for real, the Seahawks are for real, the Seahawks are for real…

The Chiefs could be in real trouble. They couldn’t afford that loss to a hapless Bills team without their starting quarterback. Now Kansas City is two games behind Denver with a tough schedule coming up. After their game this week against Houston, they play New England, Denver, at Dallas, at the Giants, San Diego and Cincinnati. What’s worse is Trent Green is finally starting to look his age. He has really struggled this season. With the exception of his 347-yard performance at San Diego, Green hasn’t been close to throwing for 300 yards in any other game. Including the game against the Chargers, Green has topped 250 yards only twice in nine contests…

Brett Farve’s cheering section (otherwise known as ESPN) has something to get excited about. Until next week…

Because Green Bay won, and the Texans played the Colts tough for the better part of their game, the worst team in the NFL now resides in the great state of Maryland (no, not the team in Landover). The Ravens got thumped 30-3 by Jacksonville, in a game that the Washington metro area was subjected to. We here in Montgomery County, while waiting for the Redskins tilt at 4:00, saw the Ravens get manhandled in every aspect of the game. It was kind of entertaining for a while. By the third quarter, it was more pathetic than amusing. Resident Baltimore genius Brian Billick will try and rally the team to a 4-12 record…

Nice throw last night Donovan. Roy Williams couldn’t have been more open…

Check back in a couple of days for another set of amazing picks.

Redskins at Bucs: Mr. Simms' Wild Ride

Washington Redskins (5-3)(-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-3)
4:15 p.m. Raymond James Stadium
After a big division win, the Redskins get the chance to further their playoff push by facing the Buccaneers. There are similarities between the two teams. Both are 5-3. Both play in a very tough and competitive division. Both teams are being led by quarterbacks who where not the opening day starters. And both teams, despite having a good offensive line and several offensive weapons, rely on their defenses to win ballgames.

The similarities end there. While both teams are 5-3, the teams seem to be headed in opposite directions. The Redskins appear to be on the way up. After starting 3-0, the Skins lost three of their next four, including an ugly loss to the Giants. But a huge win at home against the Eagles last week, in front of a national audience, has put some spring in the step of the players out at Redskins Park.

The Bucs, on the other hand, started the season 5-1. But they have lost two in a row. Two weeks ago they went to San Francisco and helped the 49ers get only their second win of the year. Last week, in a big division game at home, the Bucs were embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers.

What did last week’s games mean? I think last week’s results were more telling for Tampa. The Bucs defense, which is still the 1st ranked defense in the NFL, allowed 34 points to a team with one serious threat. Other than Steve Smith, who on the Panthers can put a scare into most teams? Stephen Davis isn’t going to bust out a long run. He is only effective in the red-zone. DeShaun Foster has been almost non-existent this season. Are you telling me that the Bucs were worried so much about Keary Colbert and Rod Gardner (yes Redskins fans, he is still in the NFL) that they failed to keep a close eye on Smith? Of course not.

In fact, Smith and the Panthers offense didn’t have a great day. They only had two real scoring drives. They had a 5-play/90-yard drive (set up by a big Jake Delhomme-Smith reception) that culminated in a touchdown. And a 6-play/77 yard drive that finished with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Delhomme finished with only 216 yards passing. Davis had 48 yards on the ground; Foster only 23. The reason the Bucs gave up 34 points was because of their offense.

The Bucs offense has been horrendous the past two weeks. Last week, despite having the ball for roughly 32 minutes, Tampa managed under 300 yards of total offense. By not moving the ball, and turning the ball over four times, the Tampa offense gave the Panthers great field position. The Panthers had scoring drives of only 32 and 16 yards (ending in a Davis touchdown and John Kasay field goal respectively). The Carolina defense even took advantage of Tampa’s offense, and scored a touchdown on a 61-yard interception return by Chris Gamble.

When the Bucs started 5-1, their offense wasn’t flashy, but it was effective. With Brian Griese on pace for a career year, and rookie Cadillac Williams running the ball successfully, the Bucs moved the ball well, scored their fair share of points, and didn’t commit many turnovers. Injuries then started to pop-up for Tampa. The Caddy suffered injuries after three weeks of continuous beatings. His backup, Michael Pittman, also suffered numerous bumps and bruises. And in Tampa’s win over Miami on October 16th, Griese tore his ACL and is finished for the season.

Which leads me to Chris Simms. Despite bashing him in this blog, I personally have nothing against Simms. He is just another case of someone getting to where he is because his father was famous. This happens all the time, and not just in sports. In fact, sports are the one place it rarely happens. Usually, it doesn’t matter what your last name is…what matters is if you can perform in the games or not. Jarrett Payton (son of Walter) doesn’t get any special treatment. He has had to earn every minute of playing time with the Titans this season. So why has Simms been allowed to cruise through an unremarkable career to a place where he can earn (or not earn) millions have dollars? I wish I had the answer.

Simms was recruited by some of the big time universities. Not because he was anything special. Only because his father was Phil Simms. Other colleges knew not to go anywhere near Simms. Tennessee, where Phil played college ball, didn’t bother recruiting Chris. They knew he was no good. If he had any talent, you can be sure that Tennessee would have made a serious push for Phil's heir apparent

Simms went to Texas under the leadership of Mack Brown. Some said this was a good match. I say it was a case of the blind leading the blind. Mack Brown has wasted more talent at Texas than any other college coach. Brown is an decent recruiter (seriously, how hard is it to recruit in the state of Texas), but a horrible coach. So here comes this no-talent quarterback with a famous last name. Brown certainly can’t make him better. Simms doesn’t get any better himself. So instead of letting Simms waste away on the bench, Brown decides to make him the starting quarterback during his sophomore year.

Complicating the situation was another quarterback at Texas named Major Applewhite (great name by the way). While Major had no real chance of ever making a NFL roster, he was a quality college quarterback. But Simms starts and does well. Of course, Simms is playing against the sister’s of the poor (aka, Rice, Baylor, etc…). Then comes the Oklahoma game. Oklahoma kills UT. Simms is dreadful. He also gets hurt. Applewhite comes in and looks great. He wins games against real Big 12 teams. What happens the next year? Simms is named the starter. The whole process repeats itself. Texas fans routinely call for Applewhite to start, Simms to be benched or cut and Brown to be fired.

So after a below average college career, you figure that the Simms saga is over. Not by a long shot. The Bucs take a chance with Simms in the 2003 draft. But they don’t take him with a sixth or seventh round pick that is usually reserved for “reach picks”. They take Simms with their third rounder. The Bucs took Simms ahead of players like Domanick Davis, Asante Samuel, Brandon Lloyd, Robert Mathis (currently leads the NFL in sacks), Cato June and Justin Gage. They took Simms because of his last name. It certainly wasn’t because of his high school or college success…because he didn’t have any.

Fast forward three years and the Bucs are forced to put Simms under center. With Griese out for the year, Tampa traded for Tim Rattay from the 49ers. But he hasn’t learned the offense yet and is still a few weeks away from seeing playing time. So the Bucs are stuck with Simms as their starter, down the stretch, in the middle of a playoff race. And despite putting up decent yard statistics in his two games, Simms has also thrown four interceptions, been sacked ten times, lost two fumbles and been the main cause for the two straight losses. Ah, sweet cosmic justice. Tastes good, doesn’t it?

As for the Redskins, they are facing the Bucs at the right time. This is clearly a team struggling for some offensive production. Tampa will be facing a defense that is finally getting healthy and is finally starting Lavar Arrington. If only they’d bench Walt Harris and put Carlos Rogers in (please, for the love of God do this).

At any rate, this is a game the Redskins should take. But because it is on the road, I’m sure that means we will see the patented Redskins mistakes (dumb penalties, untimely turnovers, dropped passes, missed tackles, etc…). Just how many of these mistakes and when these mistakes occur will determine the game. Unless Chris Simms finally starts playing like his dad, who routinely killed the Redskins, the Bucs are going to have trouble putting any points on the board and should give the Skins some great field position and easy scores.