You’d be hard pressed to find a walk-on that isn’t the student section hero of any college basketball program, but the Maryland Terrapins make a special point of cultivating off-the-street talent.

And filtering it into significant roles off the bench.

As we’ve discussed at nauseam, the Terps are very thin in the front court.  With Steve Goins injured and Dino Gregory out for the foreseeable future, Gary has three guys to play at the four and five spots: Landon Milbourne, James Padgett, and Jordan Williams.

If one of those three gets in foul trouble, the next “big” off the bench is Jin Soo Choi.  If two guys get in foul trouble, the next “big” off the bench is Ersin Levent.

Dave Neal couldn’t be more proud.

Technorati Tags: James Padgett, Jordan Williams, Maryland Terrapins

There are very few people born after 1975 with ties to the DMV that don’t have an emotional reaction to the name Len Bias. To many, he was the representation of what Maryland basketball could be at it’s best; a homegrown talent with ability harnessed from the outer regions of athletic imagination.

But to kids growing up in the 80’s in the Washington-Metropolitan area, Bias was simultaneously a triumph of the spirit and a tragedy of the heart. Seeing your father and guys in the neighborhood talk about Len Bias was the kind of thing that stirred you to boldly dream amongst the asphalt and hardwood. You could gloat that you knew somebody that knew somebody that knew Len Bias, and still be unafraid to imagine that his moves in Cole Field House were as effective and as graceful as your own in your backyard or neighborhood court.

And then he put his face into a plate of cocaine and died. Just as short and as painful as that sentence was to read and write is as painful as it was to hear in the summer of 1986.

The documentary “Without Bias” has awakened much of the sorrow and remembrance of Len Bias in basketball fans across the country, but it’s difficult for me and countless other DMV kids to not monopolize the gut-wrenching sadness that we carry about Bias, even today. It’s one thing for you to gain perspective on Bias’ death and the impact on federal drug laws, social awareness amongst athletes, etc. But if you aren’t from here, if you haven’t been in gyms and malls and churches where Bias has been, you’ll never know what it’s like to see a dream die.

Literally die.

The D.C Metro area is not like New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, where the roots of the city commonly bear fruit of fame and celebrity across multiple venues of sports and entertainment. The DMV has had it’s fair share of rags-to-riches stories, but none of been as riveting and so resonant of the moments of celebrity hubris that cost so much more than a river of tears and a boatload of ‘what if?’ headlines. Countless musicians and entertainers have died, but there’s only one Marvin Gaye.

And perhaps it is the immediacy that plagues us. We’re from an are where red tape, long Metro lines and waiting for parking are common everyday occurrences. We don’t do too well with the spontaneously tragic; we don’t react with composure to instant tragedies that rendered no prior symptoms or signs.

The most adequate way to describe the feeling is worrying about a sibling in trouble. The entire world can logically wrap its mind around why your sibling will be okay, and why you shouldn’t trouble yourself with what is far too beyond your scope of control. But it’s your sibling; someone you grew up with, someone you respect and value. Your anxieties aren’t assuaged by exterior sympathy.

And there are some that say that people die everyday, that the world is filled with self-destruction and wastes of talent that are far more severe that that of Len Bias. And it is illogical to invest so much into one example of poor decision making and association, when there is an entire culture to take down.

But that’s the thing about bias; logic doesn’t matter. The bigger picture stays in the corner. All you can focus on is the one fleeting image of a life and a passion you’ll never be able to reenact. You put the sadness in a box and when the conversation or time is right, you bring it out for people to try and share your grief.

But they can’t. You don’t want them to. Because in the end, for all they think they know and understand, they’ll never be Biased enough to feel your pain.

Technorati Tags: Len Bias

Yeah, Wizards guard Mike Miller might have worsened his shoulder injury unnecessarily in last night’s loss to the Miami Heat, but isn’t that what macho, tough athletes do?

Not in this city they don’t. Which is why it was refreshing to see that a newly-acquired Miller, known for shooting and good rebounding,  injured and compounded the injury while fighting through a pick and driving to the basket. And after the injury, he made a key and-one and picked up a beautiful assist; all with one arm.

I don’t know about you, but on a team that is, by rule, minus at least two starters at all times, it was refreshing to see one of those starters try and tough it out in a meaningful game. Not meaningful in the sense of playoff or rivalry implications, but meaningful in making an impression on fans and observers around the league.

So yeah, Miller is injured. That means more terrifying shooting and defense from DeShawn Stevenson, and a likely dip in the rebounding advantage the Wizards have enjoyed through five games.

But dangit, he sure looked tough out there.

Technorati Tags: Mike Miller, Washington Wizards

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos

How ironic is it that the capital of our great nation, the brick and mortar embodiment of “Of the People, By the People and For the People,” is just just now permeating the myopic brains of Redskins fans fed up with Daniel Snyder?

It escapes me that it has taken this much time, this much media coverage and this bad of a display for Washington Redskins fans to realize that the team is not worth any form of investment – emotional or financial.

There are talks of walkouts on the heels of Snyder admitting embarrassment by the team’s performance, but stopping well short of taking responsibility.  I’m surprised that “Let’s Give Snyder Another Shot” posts and email blasts haven’t sprouted up around the region, from fans quenched by even the smallest admission of bad football from the proprietor of the gridiron horror.

I wish I haven’t bashed the Redskins and their fan base so often, because I’d love to ask the question, “What took so long?” Why now instead of when the team hired the inexperienced Jim Zorn? Why not when Marty Schottenheimer was fired? Why not during the ticket brokering fiasco, or the drama about tailgating?

Maybe Redskins fans just needed another set of eyes to see what has been clear for so long.

Snyder has been all too eager to provide fuel for the revolutionary fires, and Redskins fans have pump faked with matchbooks for the last seven seasons. But staring down another coaching a move, an exiled quarterback and a potential 2-14 record, the people are just now deciding that they prefer democracy with their high-priced concessions at FedEx?

Technorati Tags: Daniel Snyder, Washington Redskins

There is optimism in College Park for the 2009-10 installment of Maryland Terrapins basketball. Where the promise of improvement fell flat on the gridiron, the basketball team has a legitimate chance of restoring fans’ faith in their ability to be among the 20 best teams in the nation.

But first, they have to learn how to step on inferior opponents. Overall physical talent accounted for about 10 of the points in the Terps’ 21-point victory over Indiana(Pa.) last night.  This team has to show they can match athleticism with skill and execution if they want to be taken seriously by pollsters and dubious Maryland fans.

If there’s one thing to cheer about their performance last night, it was the offensive balance they showed against an overmatched IUP squad. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne were comfortable taking shots and not deferring to Greivis Vasquez when things became hairy in the first half.

If there’s something to jeer, it was the absence of forward Dino Gregory, who violated a team rule and missed this game with his future status in question. You can only hope that this isn’t the latest installment of “Terrapins Gone Stupid;” an episodic comedy of immaturity which starred previous Maryland busts Chris McCray and Travis Garrison. Gregory is the most experienced option in the post, and will be much needed in ACC competition if the Terps are to keep up with the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels.

In all, the most balanced commentary you can make on the Terps is that they didn’t blow and didn’t look like they had a chance of blowing it against lower-level competition. That’s an improvement for this squad, and Terrapin Nation should be all too willing to take improvement over implosion from this team.

Technorati Tags: Dino Gregory, Greivis Vasquez, Maryland Terrapins, Sean Mosley

I can completely understand what LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers hope to preserve by downplaying the team’s rivalry with the Washington Wizards. Usually in a rivalry, it’s two good teams that meet regularly for the rights to something larger. Pittsburgh counts the Baltimore-Washington area as rivals in hockey and football, and rightly so when it comes to divisional or conference championships.

But the Cavaliers-Wizards drama has amounted to little more than an entertaining playoff series over the last several years. And usually, injuries have derailed the Wizards from having any real shot at paying the Cavs their comeuppance.

But what bites at James and the Cavaliers is that, as the better team over the duration of the rivalry, they can’t claim responsibility for it’s birth. They’ve made no caustic comments, never played as the underdog, and don’t keep the same personnel long enough for hard feelings to build over years.

The Wizards? Yeah, they’ve done all of that.

So you can understand why, as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs don’t want to admit that they play intense and meaningful games against a franchise that is not among the elite. The last thing they want us to believe is that they care about a team that is not ready made for a title run.

We get it; they aren’t the Lakers or the Celtics.

But the Washington Wizards are a team that brings out the best in the Cavaliers, no matter what court they meet on, or what juncture in the season. When these teams meet, there is far more a stake than a win.

It’s the latest chapter in one of the league’s growing and meaningful rivalries. Even if the King is too high up on his throne to acknowledge it.

Technorati Tags: LeBron James, Washington Wizards

A.J. Francis, I commend you sir. And I shudder to think what kind of hot fire the paper is going to catch on his next mixtape.

Technorati Tags: A.J. Francis, Diamondback Newspaper, Maryland Terrapins

It may not be Mike Holmgren, but eventually, someone is going to take a lot of money to be the head coach of the Washington Redskins, and if the pile of cash is sitting on top of a contract reading “I won’t interfere” signed by Daniel Snyder, it would be wise for someone to take the job.

But, in its current state of weakness and influence, being head coach of the Washington Redskins should be the last job anyone should want, for any amount of cash for any amount of time. The compromise between dollars and sense is hard for anyone to negotiate, specifically someone with the opportunity to live and work in the shadow of the nation’s capital.

But there are two positions in D.C.-area sports that absolutely no one should covet; the head coach of the Washington Redskins, and to be the starting quarterback of the Washington Redskins. All of that isn’t because of Daniel Snyder; much of that has to do with the success of Joe Gibbs, and the brief-but-fruitful tenures of players like Joe Thiesmann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.

Snyder came of age as a Redskins fan in the heyday of the first Joe Gibbs era and witnessed what a Washington franchise could be. He’s been chasing that model for the past ten years, oblivious to the notion that the Redskins are a football franchise first, and a lucrative business model second. He has heavy-handed where light touches were needed, tarnished reputations and alienated fans, not in a quest to improve the team or win the Super Bowl, but to exact a sweet revenge to those who openly challenge his business acumen.

The coaches have classically taken the fall under Snyder’s impatient and petulant dictatorship. When coaches can’t integrate the players that Snyder covets into a system for which they aren’t conditioned, the easiest person to blame is the one that doesn’t wear his name on a jersey.

Maybe its the money, maybe its the arrogance that induces coaches to believe that they can provide the antidote to Snyder’s cancerous leadership of the franchise. But the hope is that league-wide, at some point, coaches realize that they can’t trump Daniel Snyder on either account.

And if you can’t beat him, why join him in the first place?

Technorati Tags: Daniel Snyder, Washington Redskins