Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

Well in 24 hours from now we will be underway.  Actually check that, our game will be over, so this could be one of the last posts of the season.  At least the part of the season we are alive for.  Anyway, since there is no real news this would be a good time to reflect on the season that was.  To call it a roller coaster, which seems is a phrase we have used to death over the last two months, is probably an understatement.  This season has seen from the lowest points a program can stoop, to the pure adrenaline rush of seeing our named called on Selection Sunday.

The Low Points:

One low point came extra early this year.  Though there were a couple December games I’d rather not get into, the game I’m speaking of is the loss to Morgan State.  Boy that hurt.  To lose to a team in your own state is just terrible (at least in a state of this size!), couple that in with the fact that the WJZ banner on our site ran a Morgan State ad for what seemed to be 3  years and it’s like ripping open a scab every 6 hours.  I guess we can take some satisfaction in the fact that Morgan made the tournament (unlike Georgetown).  Maybe they can take care of Oklahoma and really make that loss seem not as bad.  But at that point of the season you had to think we just added a terrible loss to our resume that would come back to haunt us.  It almost did.

The next low point had to be the UVA loss.  That was the nail in the coffin.  Everyone new it.  We had a bid in hand and like the chef from Seasame Street who falls down the stairs with all the cream pies (that was Maryland Alum Jim Henson by the way) we dropped the perverbial ball. 

Honorable Mention Low point was the Washington Post expose on the program.  Look we know we were struggling, but that just really aired all the dirty laundry we had.  Looking back though, that could have been the circle the wagons moment, so maybe that should in a way be a high point, but at the time it felt pretty bad. 

The High Points:

Beating UNC was definitely one.  We all know every year this team pulls out a game from out of nowhere and makes us all believe that these guys can do it.  Usually we don’t wait until as late in the year for it, but fortunately it did come, and the timing couldn’t have been better.  It happened as the season was winding down so you could tell that it was still on peoples minds come selection time.  Also Greivis getting a triple double in that game added the extra positive attention we were lacking.

Selection Sunday, if you weren’t nervous then you aren’t a Terps fan (But thanks for checking out the blog anyway, please keep visiting).  The moment our name was pulled I jumped up and hugged my wife and she game me one of those looks that said “I really don’t know why this is such a big deal to you, but I can tell your happy so I won’t make fun of your behavior”.  I don’t know how many texts I got in the following 5 minutes but they came from at least 4 different sources.  That was a good moment

Honorable Mention- Whatever happens in this tournament, we are all going to be bitter if we don’t beat Cal tomorrow, but the truth is Gary got more out of this team than any coach could have.   We are not really that good and for this squad to make the dance, we should all be proud regardless of what happens tomorrow (check back tomorrow for my fire Gary rant if we happen to lose!).

So that does it.  The year had it’s ups and it’s downs, but we are ending on a high note and that is pretty important.  If we can land Lance Stephenson and get one more year out of Greivis, who knows we may be able to have higher expectations than just getting in, but that is for another time to worry about.  For now, lets enjoy the pagentry that is March Madness.

Extra Droppings:

McDonalds on route 50 right before the bay bridge on the Western Shore side, I’m calling you out.  Today was the 2nd time in 2 months that you forgot my hashbrowns!  Once, hey we are all human, but twice, well there is a problem.  Maybe it is my fault for not checking the bag, but excuse me if I don’t want to hold up the rest of the morning commuters.  Also let’s take a leap of faith here and assume if I ordered either a hash brown or french fries that I want ketchup.  I know what they say about assuming, but lets go out on a limb with this one.  I get tired of asking each and every time.  At this time I would like to point out the McDonalds on Forest Drive in Annapolis, and the one in Denton, you guys rock and not only are fast, but accurate as well.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Maryland Terps Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.