*Spring Football*
It was a good day for football. 50 degrees or so, drizzle and quite chilly with a breeze. A cool day for late March and spring football practice. The gang of 3 arrived at the practice fields behind the Gosset team house around 11:30a. One of the rules of being allowed to attend a Maryland football practice is that you can not really report on what happened.
What we can say is that the field turf was surrounded by big name high school coaches and potential recruits. Many of them stood on the sidelines taking in practice for three hours. We moved from station to station. New defensive coordinator Don Brown worked the defensive backfield and linebackers in coverages. Kenny Tate, now wearing #12 was very impressive. If you could get Terrell Skinner (#1) on the field with Kenny, they look like two extra linebackers.
Another favorite station is watching the huge Terrapin tight-ends try to block each other. A lot of physical play there. The Oklahoma drill was cool and really gets the team pumped up. This is a miniature short yardage drill that is true test of wills.
The team looks good, Maryland football is heading in the right direction.
*Lady Terps Vanderbilt*
Wow, what a game by Marissa Coleman! We left football practice early, hit the student union for lunch and then home to watch the Sweet Sixteen. Once again, we are talking girl’s hoops. Two of the gang of three (not me) really wanted to see the whole game. I could have done without seeing the Terps get outplayed for the first 15 minutes.
I wrote down that somehow the Terps would win the game. They got down by 17. Vandy is a great example of a team first group. They did not woof or preen for the cameras. Just played harder than the Terps.
Then Marissa Coleman started to score. She had one of the best basketball games I have seen from a Maryland player in 5 years. Guys or girls. She can hit the three, post up and head to the rack. A true All-American. She got 40 points and 15 rebounds.
Finally, the other All-American, Kristi Tolliver started to heat-up. She is a shoot-first point guard. Tolliver was in foul trouble most of the game. To make a long story short(er), Maryland finally caught Vanderbilt with 2 minutes to go. Coleman got the last few baskets and Vandy came up short.
Maryland plays Louisville next to go to the Final Four.
*UVA wins in 7 overtimes 10 -9, Beats Terps*
The game we did not go to, Maryland (#9) at UVA (#1) was an all-time classic. It is the longest game in NCAA history. We figured the game was over. There was a cut-in from the basketball game. We switched to the lax. I thought the Will Yeatman (resembles one of those giant tight-ends from the football story) would finally bull his way to the goal and end it. It was not to be.
It is good to see the Terps getting closer to the top of the lax world again.