Maryland Madness 2008
It's just around the corner, or rather it started last night. NCAA Hoops is back. The Maryland Terrapins Men's and Women's teams kicked off their seasons last night with the annual Maryland Madness. Thanks to members of the Spirit Squad who stopped to let The Sports Freak take this picture outside Comcast Center after the festivities.
It's always a treat to watch this event. As alumni of the University of Maryland at College Park, both the Sports Freak and I attended the event. The events are the same every year, but after going 4 or 5 straight Madnesses, and the couple I attended during my 4 1/2 years there, it's always entertaining. The night starts off with the Gary Williams Look-A-Like Concest. Next was the Alumni game. Former Terps in attendance included Tony Massenburg, Johnny Rhodes, Byron Mouton and current Terps staff members Chuck Drissell and Keith Booth.
The game was all Mouton in the first half. The second half proved much more interesting. In the last 2 minutes, Mouton challenged Booth by charging to the basket for a dunk that he would have missed by a foot anyways. Both hit the floor in what even NBA officials would have called an offensive foul. The final shot was Booth taking it up the court. After a few moves, it was Mouton and Booth again face to face. No shot was taken, but both ended on the floor again, as Mouton wasn't giving up ground and Booth was only going to take that path. If the 2008 team plays as hard as they did, this will be an aggressive and heavily fouled team.
Next came a dance performance from the Women's team. I gotta admit, I can't name two songs from their routine, except for one of the many hip-hop versions of "Jump", but the dance moves were great and entertaining.
Then came the best of the night. The Gymkana team did their routine. I'm always impressed how athletic this group is with their better than circus routines. The ring of fire comes out to end their routine where members of the team literally jump through a fire-lit hoop.
The men's team dance routine (not as entertaining as the women's) was next with more songs I couldn't recognize. The women's team then went through formal introductions and took the floor for a scrimmage. Watching, I can see why Brenda Frese has this team in contention yet again after a 2006 National Championship and a good run last season.
The night ended with the formal introductions the men's team and their scrimmage. As an alumnus of the Robert H Smith School of Business, I had access to the school suite. Which was great for the player intros as a few players ran right next to the box down the stairs. The Sports Freak had a short conversation with lone senior Dave Neal. He asked Neal if he would dunk it. The noise was deafening, but Neal waved his arms and mumbled something. I guess he didn't think that would be a good idea. Gary came rolling in with an Under Armour SWAT like vehicle. Love his entrances.
All said it was a good night. The Men's team is not projected to do well and hopefully will prove analysts wrong. The Women's team should be in the rankings all season and may contend again for another National Title.
Comments
It was another fun filled night at College Park with a theme night rich in history dating back to 1970 when Lefty started Midnight Madness.
Out of the four contestants impersonating Gary Williams, the ultimate winner sported the worst wig ever seen but did a great Gary impression.
Almost as much fun as watching the alumni game is waiting to see which players are participating this year. It's always good to see the Lewis brothers, Cederic and Derrick, at the event. Mouton was a special treat this year. In years to come we may see Wilcox, Blake, and Dixon. If we see Broadnax, McLinton, Burns, and Walt we should all applaud extra loud for the players that helped keep Md basketball alive when Gary first started. You'd also think this event would be up Mario Lucas' alley. The joke was that he never received a ball he didn't like to shoot and he had a smooth shot, too.
As far as the women's bball dance team, I pointed to two elderly fans sitting near by and mentioned that they know as much about this music selection as we do.
The Md dance team performed followed by the spirit squad and competitive cheer team. Oh, the National Champion Competitive Cheer Team, who will be performing later this year and asked fans to attend. Oh, if only Duke had a spirit squad or cheer team with as many bright beautiful and cheerful smiles as Md's (see pic above) maybe the fans would stop and pay attention to the high flying acts instead of a constant frenzy of (cameron) crazies. Duke cheerleaders must feel like Will Ferrell and Cheri O'teri on SNL - is anybody listening to or watching them?
As for my brief chat with Dave Neal before he ran down the steps for his introduction, I (jokingly) asked if he was going to throw the ball off the board for a big dunk. He had a good sense of humor as he waved his hands across his body shaking his head no and laughing. The noise was so loud he mentioned something about his dunk that could hardly be heard before it was his time to dunk.
If I was one of the players, I'd ask Gary to change my number to #20. Who wouldn't want someone cheering for you wearing your jersey? It's just smart thinking.
And a special thanks to the Spirit Squad for allowing two MD grads to add a nice picture to the article!
Posted by: The Sports Freak | October 18, 2008 12:33 PM