The Heart of a Turtle

My expectations for Maryland's basketball team this year were as low as they've ever been in my lifetime, thanks to this guy. I was hoping that at the very least the team would learn from their experiences this year, and the young Terps would mature into more rounded players.
They've had their ups/downs so far through 6 games, but I've been very impressed with the maturation of the team. Coach Turgeon has been a pleasant surprise, and his coaching style slightly echoes that of Gary Williams. He's intense, smart, and best of all..the team seems to be buying into his ways.
The Terrapins will be offensively challenged this year (outside of Terrell Stoglin) but I'm more concentrated on the effort they give on defense, and rebounding.
Pleasant surprises so far this year have been the emergence of James Padgett..especially on the offensive side, and Ashton Pankey, the redshirt freshman who missed all of last year with an injury. A couple players to keep an eye on are Nick Faust (frosh), and Mychael Parker (soph)...they need to be sound on both sides of the court because they'll have a huge impact on our guard situation the next few years.
This team has a lot of fight in it, and I believe it starts with their coach. It may be hard to watch this team this year, especially against Duke and UNC...but with my expectations low, I'm finding it fun to watch them improve every game win or lose. The coaches and players knew it could be a brutal year, but they're showing one thing you can't teach...heart.

Fight On Colli Park!

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The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly on TV Tonight

There's plenty to look forward to tonight in the DMV, and I've broken the most important events to watch into 3 categories.

First off, the ugly...

For some reason a genius at ESPN thought it would be a good idea to put this years Terps on national television @ 7:30pm/est vs. Illinois. Doesn't sound too promising...but may be a good way to kill the intermission time during the Caps game!

Prediction:     Maryland  55  -  Illinois  74

Now, the bad...

The reason this is considered "the bad" is because right now, well, the Caps suck. Pretty excited to see Dale Hunter behind the bench tonight though vs. St. Louis. Definitely worthy of my Tuesday evening.

Prediction:     Caps  4 - Blues  2

And finally, the good...

You can't go wrong with the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at 10pm/est on CBS. Just in time to flip over after watching my man Alan May break down the Caps first win with Coach Hunter in charge on CSN.

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Randy Edsall...Drop and Give Me 10

For a team that finished last year with 9 wins, and in the top 25...this year was nothing short of an embarrassment. Randy Edsall took over in January for Ralph Friedgen, and immediately started to implement his militaristic coaching style.
At first, when reports came out that players wanted to transfer, or quit..all I thought was that these kids need to grow up and maybe they had it too easy with The Fridge. But the more and more I take a look back at this season, I can't help but wonder what exactly Edsall is trying to do. Having a military type mindset is fine...when you're winning, but when you lose 8 straight in your first year, and there's anarchy in the locker room..maaaaybe it's time to change it up.
There is absolutely no way that MD will let him go after one year, they have too much invested in him...plus the fact that they bought out Ralph's hefty a$$...I mean contract.
I'm not a fan of AD Kevin Anderson for many reasons. Most notably, the hiring of an average coach (at best) to lead the football program to the next level..doesn't make sense. Not to mention he just cut 6 different sports programs (8 teams) all in his first 2 years. Congratulations! Now go back to Army!
Someone needs to put Randy Edsall in line..not only has he embarrassed the entire state of Terp nation, but he doesn't seem to think any of it is his fault. Needless to say it's going to be an interesting offseason. Keep an eye out for player transfers, recruiting, and Edsall's take on the changes needed for the upcoming season.

Here's a clip of the Terrapins new recruiting video to show High School recruits the typical football practice run by Edsall: Enjoy!


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