November 21, 2008

Maryland-FSU Pregame Thoughts


I can't wait for the Maryland-FSU game tomorrow night. If Wake beats Boston College Saturday afternoon, the Terps can clinch a berth in the ACC Championship Game with a win.

The last time the Terps had a home game this important was November 10, 2001, when the Terrapins beat Clemson to move one step closer to their surprise ACC Championship.

That was also a sold out night game. In fact, J-Red and I somehow neglected to get tickets before the students had claimed their entire allotment. In those days, the tickets were just black ink printed on card stock, so we spent an entire day driving all over Prince George's county looking for a store that sold the same color card stock. We photocopied Jeremy's ticket onto the card stock, carefully cut out the tickets and perforated the stub with a knife. That was the only time I've committed a crime to get into a Maryland football game.

After two games of horrible, wet weather, I hope Terps fans brave the cold and come out to support the team. Although the team has been frustrating to watch at times this year, they've shown a lot of heart in tough games and are now in a position to record the best season since 2003. Attendance has been underwhelming so far this year, but if fans can't make it out to a night game against FSU with the ACC title in play, then they're not real fans.

I have no idea how good the Seminoles are, and I don't know which Maryland team will show up. All I know is I'll be there cheering on the Terps.

Testudo Times has a good scouting report on the Noles.

8 Responses:

Number Three said...

I'll be there. Back in black! Go Terps!

"ben" said...

Haha. You got stomped. It must suck to have your team utterly trashed. I wouldn't know anything about that. I'm an Oklahoma fan. Boomer Sooner!

J-Red said...

When BC won I knew we were going to lay an egg.

Number Three said...

That was a heart breaking loss. The Terps showed a lot of promise at moments this season--Cal, at Clemson, Wake--but looked awful at other moments--MTSU, UVa. The question going into the home finale was, "which team will show up?" It was clear, pretty quickly, which team had, and a huge crowd at Byrd had to divest themselves of ACC championship thoughts all at once.

This was a great chance to win the ACC. Next year is likely a down year, and who knows after that?

big tuna said...

I don't get the Terps. At least Michigan is predictable this year. This team must drive you guys nuts.

Nikhil Verma said...

I'm disappointed more in the fans who left at halftime. However, look at the bright side. The Terps have more wins this year than either Notre Dame or Michigan.

Number Three said...

I wouldn't blame the fans who left at the half (I didn't). The previous two home games were very wet, and cold as a result. This one was colder, air temps at least. The previous two games resulted in close wins for the Terps, but it was clear at the half that it wasn't going to happen.

We stayed, against hope. But if you suffered through the NC State and UNC games, maybe it was time to cash 'em in at the half.

Nikhil Verma said...

I'm not blaming the fans. Just saying I'm disappointed in some of them. Keep in mind that this is college football, where fan support is arguably one of the most important components you need to build a truly great program.

I went to the nc state and unc games as well. I stayed for both of those games. Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, etc... have all had disappointing years, at least by their standards. Yet their fans stay throughout the game, even when the weather isn't that great in the Midwest. If Maryland wants to build a program that is a perennial top 25 team, we can't be having fans who leave at halftime just because we are getting crushed.

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