World Cup Deals USA Lethal Blow, but Americans Continue Forward; A Sublime Day in D.C.; New NBC Poll: Huge Majority Does Not Believe Obama Can Govern America; Orioles Take 2 Out of 3 in New York, With AL East and Wild Card Standings

WASHINGTON, D.C. June 23, 2014 - Soccer is a sport designed to break the heart of the toughest of humans. Outstanding play may mean absolutely nothing. Effort to the point of absolute and total exhaustion often gets you nowhere. You can completely dominate a team, outshoot them, out-hustle them, and, at the same time, lose to them. And then you can win when you should lose. Don't ever let anything go to your head. Work endlessly hard, and then work harder. Plan, sweat, give up your body, throw your head into the path of a leather ball moving at fantastic speeds. Fall behind in a contest against great athletes, then spend endless amounts of time giving it all just to catch up while at the same time trying to keep the great athletes from getting even further ahead. Finally, in the heat and humidity of a tropical rain forest, finally, you do manage to catch up after being frustrated at least a good dozen times. On one of these unsuccessful efforts, your guys beat the other teams keeper only to have the shot kicked out by another player. But now you've caught up and everything is going to be alright. But now that you've finally caught up you realize you are now beyond exhaustion and the other team of great athletes, that was ahead, now really starts pushing forward. More offensive players are brought in, and, while you should be able to attack this more offensive team with greater ease, you really can't because your midfielders can barely move. Your team substitutes, getting fresh legs on the pitch. One of them makes a run down the right side, centers the ball but it is kicked off line, but right to one of your players, who passes it to the middle and one of your other guys runs through the ball like they teach in little league soccer and the ball goes in and with time running out, miraculously, you have taken the lead on a most unlikely goal. You allow yourself to think that you have survived this "Group of Death" you were stuck in, you will come out of it and enter the final phase of the World Cup, the one where your team and 15 other national teams will play for the World Championship. Except that soccer is so cruel, so needlessly cruel, cruel to the point of making you ask time and again why it is that you do this or watch this and even take an interest in it. You thought after all that you did, after all the sweat and pain you endured, after you shut down the greatest player in the world, you thought you had won. You were ahead at the end and the game really should have been over. Just a couple of final seconds to get through. Just a couple. A couple of lousy seconds. Your guy has the ball in the other team's end and what could go wrong even in this cruelest of games? Then a player on the other team fouls your guy, who happens to be the smallest guy on the pitch, but the referee, probably in view of the fact that you have taken the lead on a play where a really really sadistic ref might have called offsides, well, the ref doesn't make a call and what could it matter? The other team doesn't have a fast break. Your guy has matched up with this world's greatest player and he's out on the wing which is a good place for him, somewhere where he can't score. Not this time, anyway. A bunch of your guys are dead tired but they are making a final run into the box and the final whistle, well, it should be sounding. Shouldn't it be sounding? Shouldn't it? It should be sounding! Sound the bloody whistle. Sound the bloody whistle! You're so sick from the heat and humidity that you are about to give it up, your guts that is. World's greatest player is way out on the wing and he lays into the ball but it isn't a shot and we know one thing: he isn't in to assists so we are going to win. The ball that the world's greatest player kicked is kind of curling away from the goal and our great keeper is in position so we are going to win. Time is about up and the whistle, well that ole whistle should be sounding. I do now see one of their other good players sprinting faster than our dead tired defender. He is going to get to that curling kick from the world's greatest player but the ball won't be a goal because it just can't. It just can't. That will be the whistle, won't it? The final whistle, meaning the game is over and we won. And how great will that be? The other good player ran fast and at the last he bent over, even as he ran so fast, and his forehead met the ball. That's the whistle isn't it? The final whistle? It has to be, because we can't lose this game now. Well, we can't lose, we can only tie, even if they did get a goal. But they can't. It wouldn't be right. It would be cruel for us not to win. We've done so much and out great goal keeper, he is there where he should be. Right where he should be. Silly of that other team of great athletes to expend so much energy in a game we are going to win. Just silly. Even though the other good athlete met the curling ball and sent it toward our goal. We can't not win. We can't. It wouldn't be right. That's the final whistle. Finally, the final whistle. And why is our great keeper back in the net, picking up some soccer ball?

So now, the USA and Germany each have four points. Ghana and Portugal have one point. The first tiebreaker is not what it should be - in my most humble opinion - head-to-head. If the USA ends up tied with Ghana in points, the USA will not automatically advance instead of Ghana even though the USA beat Ghana. The first tie-breaker is goal differential. The German goal differential is four because in their two games they tied Ghana and beat Portugal, 4-0. The USA goal differential is +1, since we beat Ghana, 2-1, and tied Portugal. Right now, Ghana's goal differential is -1 and Portugal's is -4. If the USA either beats Germany or ties Germany, they advance to the final round because they will have either 5 or 7 points, and neither Ghana or Portugal can accumulate that many points with only one game left. Germany will also advance by beating or drawing with the USA. The USA will advance even if it loses to Germany under the following circumstances: If Germany beats the USA, 1-0, and Portugal beats Ghana, 3-1, the USA and Portugal would each have four points. Then it comes down to goal differential. Under those results the USA's cummulative goal differential would be even or 0, while Portugal would have a differential of -2. The USA would advance. A scenario in which the USA would not advance would be if Germany beats the USA, 2-0, while Ghana defeated Portugal, 3-2. Again, the USA would have 4 points and a cummulative goal differential of -1. Ghana would have four points and a cummulative goal differential of 0 or even. Ghana would advance because their goal differential is one greater than the USA. If the USA cannot beat or tie Germany, then you want to route for two things: one, that the USA loses narrowly, by one goal and not much more. You also want to route for Portugal to beat Ghana but narrowly, by a goal or two or three, if the USA only lost by one. Going into the final game our goal differential is 1 better than Ghana's and 4 better than Portugal's. What is the tie breaker if you are tied with a team have the same goal differential? Well, the second tie breaker is total goals scored. Right now Germany has scored six goals, the USA 4, Ghana 3 and Portugal 2. If two teams are tied in points and tied in goals scored, the third tie breaker is, finally, head-to-head. What is the fourth tiebreaker? Picking names out of a hat, and I am not kidding.


Last Thursday I went to Washington - hence the location change - with my two daughters. Jennifer is 28 and Allison is 15. You cannot imagine how wonderful such a day is for a father. My two daughters are a father's dream: wonderful people, very smart, complex beyond all belief, and unwilling to concede anything to anybody. And it is quite apparent that we all love each other very much. That being said, when I am with them I have to fight the urge to just kind of sit back and listen to them talk to each other. I cannot believe all that they know and say. Is every parent like that? We set off Thursday with an agenda of things we wanted to do and in the end didn't get much of anything done. In truth, we didn't try too hard to get any of it done. We walked and we talked. We ended up at the Library of Congress, which is the second place I inevitably go to when here, and I am here a lot. We found a parking place, at length, and started walking. We headed first in the direction of the National Gallery of Art. When I go to Washington, that is where I head first. If the federal government has done one thing absolutely right through the years of my life, it is the National Gallery. There are two great buildings, one classical, one modern, but inside they have one thing in common, and that is the absolute devotion to art. The classical building, generally, houses the National Gallery's permanent collection, a collection which emphasizes paintings of all of the ages. It is a collection so rich and vast and stunning that no amount of exposition or description by me will do it justice. The modern building is devoted to revolving shows, and with four floors of space and a massive feel, there is no show that will not work in these galleries. There are almost always four, five or six different shows or exibits going on at any given time. Sadly, almost always did not include Thursday. I was completely unaware that the modern gallery is closed temporarily for wholesale renovations. Technically, I should say, the building itself is open and a ground floor shop, one of many thoughout the galleries, was also open. I suspect that the powers that be wanted to continue to operate the moving sidewalk that runs in a tunnel between the two buildings. On the classical side of the tunnel and sidewalk is the largest restaurant of the ones at the National Gallery, and even though it is actually below ground, you do not have that feeling at all. A fountain above the restuarant runs down cascading steps that are completely visible to the restaurant and walkways by a huge set of windowns. I know that I.M. Pei, the great architect, designed the modern gallery but I do not know if his work included the design of the Fountains between the galleries or the open steps under the fountain that allow a lot of light to stream in to the ground floor restaurant. For all their complexity, my two daughters are not as enamored by the galleries as I am. I have read about the artists and I have read art history, and I know that makes my devotion to the work there more intense. Jenny and Allison are both voracious readers also, but these days they read fiction and only fiction except for Allison's school reading. Jennifer reads so much that she puts me to shame, and I think I read a lot. When she is in to what she is reading she will read several books in a week, week in and week out. Right now she is working hard and she isn't reading as much as she once did. In the roughest of times Jennifer and Allison bring so much joy to me that I count myself as rich with out anything else. And I apologize for such schmaltzy writing.

Poll says Obama incapable of leading the United States
Most Americans do not need to be told of this conclusion. They know it by the headlines. Not only are there an unusually large number of crisis boiling, but almost every one is tinged by the United States abject failure to do its duty, to lead, to save. Most Americans know that in most cases this does not mean using military force. It means leading from a position of strength, and leading from a standpoint of moral sureness that it is both our heritage and history. No, we aren't always right; we are told that daily by a lot of people who have no right to say anything. Take any world crisis: Ukraine, Iraq, the right thing to do. Whatever you thought of the multiple invasions of Iraq, most Americans knew that in all cases our intentions were good. You don't see American soldiers leaving with the spoils of war packed in their duffle bags. But Obama has turned all of this around. He apologizes for everything America does. When evil arises and threatens, Obama cowers, not because he fears the evil, but because he doesn't want America seen as the knight in shining armor. America cannot play that role anymore because it is not a good thing. This is a central far left belief and like so much of far left dogma, it is nonsense. And yet people who believe and accept it combine that with a moral smugness that says they are better and smarter and everybody else should shut up. It is stunning to me how terrible of a President Mr. Obama has been. I say stunning, because I never imagined that he would stick so absolutely to his leftist beliefs when they were obviously not working and would devastate the party at the midterms of his second term. I have gone on at length about the moral outrage of Obama even running for a second term, and of the moral outrage of an electorate that would elect him a second time despite his miserable term. I don't know if, objectively speaking, his second term is actually worse than the first term, or if the press and citizens have finally woken up enough to realize how inept he is. A Leftist to the core, he had no chance to succeed. A leftist is charge of these United States is a definite prescription for abject failure and Obama has not disappointed those who thought he would stick to his Leftist Anti-American beliefs. I thought once it became apparent he was failing miserably he would change, that his ego would demand it. But he is incapable of being an American and a President simultaneously.

After losing Friday night in the most gut-wrenching fashion: a walkoff homerun, I thought it would be a long weekend for the Orioles in New York, and I was 100% wrong. They won Saturday and Sunday with ease, getting outstanding starting and relief pitching and moving back into a tie with both the Yanks and Blue Jays in the loss column. Here are the up-to-the-minute American League East Standings:

1. Toronto Blue Jays: 42 wins, 35 losses, .545 pct
2. Baltimore Orioles: 39 wins, 35 losses, .527 pct, 1.5 games behind
2. New York Yankees: 39 wins, 35 losses, .527 pct, 1.5 games behind
4. Boston Red Sox: 35 wins, 41 losses, .461 pct, 6.5 games behind
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 31 wins, 46 losses, .403 pct, 11 games behind

American League Wild Card Standings:
1. Los Angeles Angels: 41 wins, 33 losses, .554 pct, +2 games ahead
2. Baltimore Orioles: 39 wins, 35 losses, .527 pct, even
2. New York Yankees: 39 wins, 35 losses, .527 pct, even
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3. Seattle Mariners: 40 wins, 36 losses, .526 pct
4. Kansas City Royals: 39 wins, 36 losses, .520 pct, 0.5 game behind
5. Cleveland Indians: 37 wins, 39 losses, .487 pct, 3 games behind
6. Minnesota Twins: 36 wins, 38 losses, .486 pct, 3 games behind
7. Texas Rangers: 35 wins, 40 losses, .467 pct, 4.5 games behind
8. Boston Red Sox: 35 wins, 41 losses, .461 pct, 5 games behind
9. Chicago White Sox: 35 wins, 41 losses, .461 pct, 5 games behind
10. Houston Astros: 33 wins, 44 losses, .429 pct, 7.5 games behind
11. Tampa Bay Rays: 31 wins, 46 losses, .403 pct, 9.5 games behind

USA Wins Thriller in World Cup; Last Gasp Goal by John Brooks, who headed in Graham Zusi's Picture-Perfect Corner Kick, Gives USA the Win After Ghana Scored in 82nd Minute to Draw Even

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 16, 2014 - A word about John Brooks and another word about Graham Zusi. On Monday night the World Cup Soccer Match between the United States and Ghana was tied, 1-1; there were only a few moments left, the United States was beat up and exhausted and, worse yet, had just surrendered Ghana's game tying goal. Brooks had entered the game at halftime to replace Matt Besler. Besler had played very very well against Ghana's tall and talented front line, but was grabbing at his hamstring near the end of the first half. With Josey Altidore already lost in the first 45 minutes with a pulled hamstring and with the hot humid weather placing tons of stress on that fragile part of the human body, USA Coach Jurgen Klinsman decided to protect Besler and use Brooks, who only turned 21 in January. He was born in Germany of an American Military Father and German Mother. He plays for the German Club Team Hertha, which is in Bundesliga 2, having been relegated from the top flight after the 2012 season, the season before Brooks joined the senior team. Having substituted for Altidore with Aron Johannsson and with Brooks for Besler, Klinsman only had one precious sub left and 45 minutes still to play. Klinsman has a reputation for being hard to predict - its part of the formula for his success. Now the lived up to that reputation in choosing his last substitute. Instead of adding a defender or replacing one of the exhausted defenders, he inserted Zusi, who is a midfielder with a reputation for energizing the offense. Zusi helped Maryland win two National Championships, and has played extremely well for Sporting Kansas City in the MLS. He has also been a key sub in many of the most recent USA National Team Games. Experts say he brings energy when he comes on for the United States, and heaven knows the USA needed energy in the last moments Monday night.

Minutes after Zusi entered Ghana finally scored. They had been behind, 1-0, since the match was 30 seconds old. That's when Clint Dempsey took a picture perfect pass from Jermaine Jones and deeked left, then right, then zipped a shot past Ghana's keeper, Adam Kwarasey, to put the USA ahead. It was the sixth fastest goal in the history of the World Cup. Not long after that, however, the USA became the almost full time defender, bunched up in front of their great keeper, Tim Howard, and working like there was no tomorrow to keep Ghana's multi-talented, ceaselessly energenic front line and midfield off the scoreboard. Ghana probed and passed, lifted and shot, but couldn't beat Howard. But they had the USA on their heels and wouldn't let them up. Then Ghana inserted Kevin-Prince Boateng, and they really really had the USA on its heels. For over 80 minutes, however, the USA stood resolute, and many believed they would be able to keep Ghana off the board despite their growing fatigue. And then Ghana scored so suddenly it seemed as if a mistake had been made by the referee. But there was no mistake, just superbly talented Ghana and exhausted USA and finally Ghana got one home. Now it seemed like the only question with only about seven minutes left was whether Ghana could score again, win the match, and deny the USA even one desperately needed point. But a funny thing happened after Ghana scored. Some energy returned to tired American legs. Michael Bradley, who wasn't playing well at all and seemed lost without Altidore, suddenly began playing like Michael Bradley. The USA started making some deft passes inside of
ghana's defensive perimeter, and Ghana was suddenly forced to defend. Then the ball went past the endline after a Ghana touch. Corner Kick: USA! Zusi, with his fresh legs, hustled to the corner to take the kick, and he had a plan. His kick didn't look like the normal corner kick. Normal corner kicks are high arching affairs that, hopefull, will land in the penalty box about ten or fifteen yards from the goal line. Zusi's kick had a curl to it, and wasn't all that high. It looked more like a pass than a free kick. In fact, it was a pass. The receiver in Zusi's plan was John Brooks. Why Brooks, a defender? Because he is 6'4" tall, and leaps like a basketball player. On this night, Brooks timed his leap perfectly, and Zusi's kick came right him. The Ghana Keeper, Kwarasey, had too many bodies between him and where the ball would land, and only a scant half a second, at the very most, to elect his move. He stood his ground on the goal line. Brooks elevated to the ball, and with his height, it was only him that would meet the ball. Soccer players are told that whenever possible, shoot down when shooting with the head, and shoot hard and quick, as hard and as quick as you are able. Brooks did all of this in that flash of a second when the whole world was his audience, and the ball zipped past Ghana's keeper Kwarasey for the second time in 90 minutes. The huge crowd, mostly pro-American, celebrated joyously. Brooks also celebrated, but only briefly; he appeared legitimately overcome with this dream-like moment. He ran with his hands both up, one just outside each ear. The look on his face was of shock and overwhelming emotion. He ran to a place where he could lay down and bury his head in the lush green grass. His team came to him but didn't jump on top. They could tell he wasn't putting on a show. In a second he rose to his knees and looked to heaven, thanking the Lord for such a moment as this. It was a moment he would never forget. Suddenly a precarious tie that felt like a dismal loss now looked like and felt like an amazing win. There were still long minutes of add-on time to negotiate, and they were awful minutes with Ghana back on the offense and the USA still exhausted and worried sick that this amazing result could still be lost. But finally, finally(!), the final whistle finally sounded. The real celebration started. And this was only Game One for the United States, with supposedly tougher games still ahead. After over 100 incredible minutes of soccer in an equatorial sweat shop, a team emerged on the pitch in Brazil on this Monday night, a team representing these United States, and doing it quite well, quite well indeed. Wonderfully well!

The United States and Ghana are in Group G at the World Cup, and it is called, with good reason, the Group of Death. Also in Group G are Germany and Portugal. Germany is ranked No. 2 by FIFA. Portugal is ranked No. 4. The United States is ranked No. 13, and Ghana is No. 37. None of the other seven groups boasts rankings like that, although Group D, with England, Italy, Uruguay and insurgent Costa Rica are close. Now that the USA has finished with Ghana - its absolute nemesis - it can prepare for Sunday's showdown with powerful Portugal, which, despite its mighty ranking and fearsome reputation, managed to get swamped in its opening match by Germany, 4-0. Portugal will be desperate against the USA, and it depends totally on how that desperation plays out on the field for the USA to determine what it will have to do to overcome the Europeans. Germany and Ghana play on Saturday. Ghana is now in the same situation as Portugal: having lost their first game, a victory in Game 2 is seen as imperative, and they have the mighty Germans, one of the Greatest Teams on the face of the Earth, waiting to play them. The Germans are not only talented, they are real technicians. They watched the game with the United States and will be ready for Ghana's relentless attack. They will also have seen the porous nature of Ghana's defense. I see Germany beating Ghana, 4-2. I also see the United States regrouping and somehow beating Portugal, 2-1. If that happens, the Group's ticket to the finals will be all but punched, and mighty Portugal will not be going to the finals. You will learn that predictions rarely come true.

In Group D, England lost to Italy in the first match, 2-1, while Costa Rica stunned Uruguay, 1-0. On Thursday, June 19, the two first round losers will play what will amount to an elimination match, with only the winner still having a chance to advance. On Friday, Costa Rica and Italy collide. England, the real home of soccer, had the same kind of trouble with the intense heat and humidity as the USA, and it showed at the end of the match when they needed a goal to tie the Italians. The game-winning goal was just one piece of perfect soccer, Balotelli used his unworldly athleticism and soccer skills to get a head on the lifted ball and somehow get it past Joe Hart, the English Keeper, in the 50th minute. Now England must play a South American team just as highly ranked and just as desperate as they are.

There is Nobleness is Admitting Mistakes, There is Greatness is Admitting Mistakes and Learning from Them; Our President Still Hasn't Made that Leap; What Must Be Done Now, and By 'Now' We Mean Immediately

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 16, 2014 - For the average American, the idea of giving away, without so much as an angry whimper, a country thousands of USA Soldiers gave their lives for, is a pure anathema. It strikes to the core of our souls as purely and simply wrong, really wrong, wrong to the point of being perverted. A patriot who disagrees with the initial incursion in Iraq fights the good fight until the decision to incur is made, until troops are on the ground, until lives are lost, but then the Patriot backs off and honors the eternal sacrifice of the brave. At any rate, we learned that even if Iraq wasn't the best choice to incur against 9/11's evil, the evil picked up and came to Iraq to fight us there. The battle between good and evil ended up being fought in Iraq.

The Patriot does what needs to be done to continue that course. When he - and we speak here of Obama - withdraws at what he deems the end of the fight, and leaves no contingent behind to maintain the final victory he claims, when he dares to call what we left Iraq as one of the great accomplishments of his first term, he makes a pact with the brave to do what must be done to ensure he was correct. He rejected good advice that told him that the souls of the brave would be trampled by evil if no one was left behind to protect it, he pledges to right the wrong if it turns out to be the wrong that was predicted all along. In fact, the wrong that has actually occurred in Iraq is far worse than the wrong predicted; the wrong that has occurred sees pure evil unleashed again over Iraq, butchering and murdering the innocents again and again, with no sign or hint of stopping until all that resist it are extinguished. The evil unleashed over Iraq and trampling over the souls of the brave was dispatched directly from Hell's center hall. And yet our President, true to his far far left core, does nothing but contemplate options which no longer exist. Many in attaining the maturity that comes in living a life realize that the good predicted by utter far left dogma does not exist. There is no utopia at the end of the far left rainbow, only crushed promises, crushed dreams, stale realities. The mature, given the opportunity to see, first hand, the utter failure of far left dogma, understand that the far left rainbow never existed.

But Obama has shown time and again that he is not prepared to tamp down his eqo enough to permit learn life's hard lessons to take root in his being. He has seen far left dogma put to the test of actual implementation, not from afar but firsthand, by him, in his own presidency. He has witnessed its failures first hand. He has lived the failures of far left dogma up close and personal. But despite life's most intense and direct teaching, he will not even attempt to comprehend the inevitable truth. He has refused to acknowledge reality. Now, in the face of pure evil in Iraq, the hanging and murdering, raping and torturing of innocents, Obama cannot bring himself to act. Back home, in America, he has seen first hand what happens when far left economic policy is implemented. It does not work. In fact, it cannot work. It can never work. But despite direct hands-on witness, he has not learned.

He is one of the sorry few that refuse to learn, refuse, in fact, to even acknowledge reality. He steadfastly refuses to acknowledge that he has been wrong. He will not look his failures in the eye, courageously call them what they are, learn and move on. And so the people who elected him, and then elected him again - proving conclusively that the litany of failures is by no means confined to the Oval Office - suffer, predictably, yes, even certainly, for their duplicated mistakes. There is no shame in failure. There is no shame in saying that I failed, I was wrong. But I have learned and now I will change course so that I - We - can succeed. There is pure nobleness in admitting mistakes so long as the admission is genuine and joined with new and improved approaches to the tremendous problems at hand.

This harsh reality check still leaves the question of Iraq. This is how I see it and I admit I probably and not correct in each conclusion.
Was the initial incursion a mistake? To this day I cannot say for sure. There had been a evil done to America. Over 3000 innocents had been senselessly extinguished, and the intended toll was far higher and would have been were it not for a vast array of brave Americans who risked and gave their own lives to save thousands more from certain death. They ran back into skyscrapers about to fall, helping thousands to escape who would not have. They attacked armed hijackers, bringing down a jet that had become a flying bomb, thereby saving thousands of more lives. They attacked the incubation rooms of the evil, ending more attacks and murders before they started. Whether the attack on Iraq was the best place to incur is debatable. This much is true, however: once the incursion began, evil Islamic Radicals from throughout the Middle East Descended on Iraq so that they could do battle with the free world and, especially, America. If the fight wasn't in Baghdad and Mosul and Tikrit, it would have been in other locations and there is no telling what those places would have been. They could have been in America if the fight wasn't taken to them. This much we have certainly learned.

Once the battle in Iraq was joined, it had to be won. The first years were difficult and discouraging. Democrats, including the ludicrous Harry Reed, said the was had been lost. Dick Durbin, the Senator from Illinois, compared American Soldiers to Pol Pot. But President Bush and his commanders came to grips with their errors and announced and implemented a new battle plan called The Surge. His detractors, including Obama, screamed louder still, but in the end the plan was brilliant and the victory was all but won. Free elections were held and held again and each time Democracy took a deeper hold in Iraq. Women, the bane of the Islamic Radical Movement, voted in the thousands and dipped their fingers in Ink to prove to one and all that they wanted to be free of repression. All that remained was consolidating the victory. President Bush began to draw down our forces. But then President Obama cam to power and he expedited the draw down. When the elected Iraqi leaders would not agree to Obama's terms Obama removed all American Forces, leaving a vacuum of just power. Military leaders warned against this, some so openly that it ended their careers. But in America we place the authority of our elected leaders over that of our military leaders, and President Obama got what he wanted. He and his Vice President said that Iraq was fully capable of taking care of itself. Evil poured back in to fill the vacuum left by the departing American power. We in America, at least those of us without access to real intelligence, feared Iran would fill this void. If only that were true. Instead, the vacuum was filled by Islamic Radicals so violent and so lacking in any moral character that even the evil organization Al Qaeda denounced it and refused to be part of it. This was said to have been known by Obama many months ago, but he did nothing. Instead, the evil swept up large portions of Iraq, butchering and murdering, torturing and wasting humanity at every turn. Now, at the eleventh hour, when Iran has dispatched military forces and the Kurds have dispatched military strength, but neither has shown signs of abating evil's debauched march, Obama continues his public vacillation. Over the weekend he let it be known that he went golfing and then fundraising on the West Coast, even as the pillage of Iraq continued all but unabated.

Steps to take in Iraq: Today, now, immediately, launch unmanned attacks (Drones and Cruise Missle) on the Radical Islamic Forces on the march in Iraq. At first, the emphasis should be buying time, debilitating the evil's ability to advance, and, if possible in some places, pushing it back. The prize in the fight, publicly if not actually, is Baghdad. When we attack with unmanned weapons, we will learn if they have any ability to resist air attacks. If we can destroy any such ability we can bring actual air power to bear. Be ready to rescue any downed plane without hesitation. Prisoners would be catastrophic. If the effort to prevent the fall of Baghdad is successful, hard decisions would then have to be made as to what, and by whom, will happen next. Do we want Baghdad protected by Iran? The point is, at this juncture, negotiation and diplomacy has a real purpose and place. Now, if we watch Baghdad fall to Islamic Radicals, with all of the concomitant evil that would go with it, we will have shown the world that in this day and age we are helpless in the face of evil. Is this an admission we are prepared to make?

Baseball: the Orioles and Blue Jays Split a Weekend Series
The Orioles and Blue Jays split their four game series in Baltimore over the weekend, surprising the wag at ESPN who said the Blue Jays were running away with the Division Race. It's isn't that it can't happen. The Blue Jays have stronger starting pitching than even they could have hoped for, while the Orioles starting pitching has been up and down. Here are the standings in the American League East, up-to-the-minute:

1. Toronto Blue Jays: 41 wins, 30 losses, .577 pct
2. Baltimore Orioles: 35 wins, 33 losses, .515 pct, 4.5 games behind
2. New York Yankees: 35 wins, 33 losses, .515 pct, 4.5 games behind
4. Boston Red Sox: 31 wins, 38 losses, .449 pct, 9 games behind
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 27 wins, 43 losses, .386 pct, 13.5 games behind

American League East Schedule for Monday, June 16
Toronto Blue Jays are idle, June 17: Toronto at New York Yankees, 7:05 pm
Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 pm
New York Yankees are idle, June 17: home v. Toronto
Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 pm

Maryland Announces Initial Big Ten Soccer Schedule; Terps Open at Louisville on August 29; First Big Ten Match at Michigan on September 12

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 13, 2014 - Maryland has revealed its initial Big Ten Season Soccer Schedule, and the 2014 slate features home matches with Conference foes Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State, as well as a non-league home schedule that features UMBC, Georgetown, Santa Clara and Hartwick. The overall schedule is so strong that Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski will know conclusively just how good Maryland is before post-season play begins in early November. The Terps - defending national runner-up after losing the title game to Notre Dame in a match peppered with poor calls by the game official that robbed the Terps of victory - open the regular season schedule at Louisville on August 29. The Cardinals are replacing the Terps in the ACC, and have been a strong national power in their own right in recent years, having ousted Maryland from the NCAA tournament two years ago. The Terps will also tangle with Northwestern, Michigan, Indiana and Rutgers in Big Ten action on the road. The non-league home slate includes soccer powers Coastal Carolina, UMBC, Dayton, Georgetown, Virginia Commonwealth, Lehigh, Santa Clara and Hartwick. Of that list, only Dayton has not been a school with an impressive record of accomplishment in the NCAA's Soccer Wars. Besides Louisville, Maryland will play only one other non-league opponent on the road, and that is Navy, which was 1-1 in the NCAA Tournament last season, and can be counted on to give Maryland a real battle in Annapolis when the two schools collide on Monday, September 8 at 7 pm.

The Terps will play two exhibition games that will not count in their overall record and will give Cirovski an opportunity to vet his team against real competition before the actual season starts. And Cirovski is always looking for the best teams to play. He opens the exhibition season at Akron, a team that won the national championship in 2010 after finishing as runner-up in 2009. The Terps exhibition at Akron is set for Monday, August 18, at 7 pm.

Maryland will find several big changes as it enters its first year of Big Ten play. For all of the conference's notoriety, soccer is not one of its most popular sport. In fact, before both Maryland and Rutgers joined the conference this season, the Big Ten had only six soccer-playing schools. That probably explains why there isn't a post-season tournament. While the ACC Soccer Tournament is often a barn-burner because so many of the schools are among the sport's elite, the Big Ten season ends on Wednesday, November 5 with Maryland at Rutgers. Maryland has no other games scheduled after that. In 2013 the NCAA Tournament began on Thurssday, November 21, and Maryland's first game wasn't until the second round on Sunday, November 24. If something similar happens this season, Maryland would have 19 off days in between its last regular season game and its first NCAA Tournament game. Last season, Maryland had seven days off, but only because it avoided the NCAA first round because it was one of 16 seeded teams. The NCAA has not publicly announced when the Championship Tournament will start in 2014. Another change for Maryland will be the proliferation of daytime matches. Maryland had no regular season daytime matches last season, home or away. The Terps did not play a daytime game until the NCAA quarterfinal match at Berkley, California agaisnt the University of California, and that was in December. The only other daytime match was the NCAA Championship Game against Notre Dame, a match played in Chester, Pennsylvania. The national semi-final game, a win over Virginia, was also played in Chester, Pennsylvania, but under the lights on a cold December night. In the Big Ten, conference games are often played on Sunday during the afternoon. Maryland has three such matches, and one of them is at Ludwig Field in College Park against Penn State. Here is the entire Maryland schedule:

University of Maryland Terrapins 2014 Soccer Schedule
EXHIBITIONS:
Monday, August 18, 7 pm, at Akron
Saturday, August 23, 7 pm, Delaware at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland

REGULAR SEASON:
Friday, August 29, 7 pm, at Louisville
Monday, September 1, 7 pm, Coastal Carolina at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Friday, September 5, 7:30 pm, UMBC at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Monday, September 8, 7 pm, at Navy in Annapolis, Maryland
Friday, September 12, 5 pm, at Michigan*
Friday, September 19, 7:30 pm, Michigan State* at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Monday, September 22, 7 pm, Dayton at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Friday, September 26, 7:30 pm, Wisconsin* at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Tuesday, September 30, 7 pm, Georgetown at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Sunday, October 5, 1 pm, at Northwestern*
Wednesday, October 8, 7 pm, Virginia Commonwealth University at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Sunday, October 12, 2 pm, Penn State* at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Wednesday, October 15, 7 pm, Lehigh at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Sunday, October 19, 2 pm, at Indiana*
Saturday, October 25, 7 pm, Santa Clara at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Tuesday, October 28, 7 pm, Hartwick at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Saturday, November 1, 7 pm, Ohio State* at Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland
Wednesday, November 5, 7 pm, at Rutgers*

Too Violent for Al Qaeda Extremist Militia Steam Rolls Iraq, Baghdad in Danger; News on Missing Malaysian Jet; Orioles Win, Gain on East-Leading Blue Jays; Burnley Announces Pre-Season Schedule

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 13, 2014 - Too violent for Al Qaeda. Imagine that.

Irag Being Given Away
Too violent for the people who blew up the Pentagon and took down the Twin Towers, killing over three thousand Americans in the process. The people who fit that description are the ones said to be in the process of overrunning Iraq as I write this (Friday morning, 8:35 am). USA Intelligence has known that this group was on the move for at least the last four months, sources say, but President Obama says his administration is "studying" the situation. Large Iraqi cities such as Mosul and Tikrit have already been run over and occupied by a group too vicious for Al Qaeda, which has broken ties with the group because of its sadistic treatment of people it conquers. The forces loyal to this Islamic Extremist group are said to be less than 70 miles from Baghdad. In the afternoon, yesterday (Thursday), Obama said that "all options" are "on he table." That statement was refined and defined this morning by Pentagon sources, who told Fox News that "all options" do not include United States troops on the ground. The options may include United States Air Power and Drone Strikes.

If the United States joins the battle in Iraq, it will become allies of Iran. Iranian military forces have entered Iraq and are doing battle with the Extremist forces. Kurd military forces are also in on the battle against the Extremists. The Extremist Forces have been so overwhelming that Iraqi Military Forces are surrendering in wholesale fashion, dropping their weapons and fleeing. The Extremists are said to have taken over the former United States military base at Tikrit. In addition, many United States vehicles, including tanks, have been taken by the Extremists, although some sorces indicate that the Extremists are having difficulty operating some of the equipment - for now.

Old political battles have been rekindled by the situation in Iraq. Democrats say that this would not be taking place if the United States avoided invading the country and deposing and executing Sadam Hussein (the United States says that the Iraqi Government executed Hussein). The GOP is said to be livid that Obama did not leave any kind of residual force behind when he withdrew all American forces early in the Obama administration. It is customary and prudent in the wake of such military actions to leave behind a competent and able force to discourage a re-igniting of the hostilities that caused your nation to enter the battle to begin with. The United States still has forces in Korea and Germany. In places where no residual force was left behind - Vietnam - the original enemy now rules absolutely. There is also the important matter of the blood shed to gain the ground. The United States is said to have lost over 4,000 soldiers to the fighting, with thousands of others badly wounded.

Update on Missing Malaysian Airlines Jet With 239 Persons Aboard
There is news on the missing Malaysian jet, but most of it is in the nature of backbiting about the places searched so far and the places still to be searched. As far as hard news is concerned, there is this: (1) According to the respected aviation blog, "Planetalking," authored by Australian Journalist Ben Sandilands, who has been on this story from the moment the plane disappeared, the unmanned submersible Bluefin-21, owned by the United States but launched off of an Australian Royal Navy Ship, was only able to search the bottom of a certain area up to depths of 6,000 meters. In other words, it is possible the plane is in areas already said to have been searched, but in an area of the ocean that has a depth in excess of 6,000 meters. Were there areas in the area already searched with such great depths? The answer is yes; one of the first dives of the submersible had to be cut short because it had slipped to a depth greater than 6,000 meters; (2) Going forward, Malaysia and Australia have agreed to split the cost of future searches. That might not sound like big news, but the truth is that there might not be any future searches if such an agreement is not in place. And even with that agreement, rest assured the viability of any future search will be closely scrutinized by both countries since neither is exactly overflowing in cash. As stated above, there is still much bickering by everybody about the math used to determine where to search, whether the facts that presuppose the southern turn of the long flight are certain, and whether the variables that went into figuring where to search are valid. Also being discussed is whether the idea of re-creating the original flight is viable. See Mr. Sandilands current column on line, and scroll down to his June 10 column for the news that has made its way here. See, also, the comments section, where this writer has made a contribution. Here is the site: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2014/06/10/mh370-costs-and-search-opinions-become-more-divided/#comment-26490

Orioles and Blue Jays Square Off in Big Series in Baltimore
The first place Blue Jays and the tied-for-second-place Orioles are squaring off in Baltimore in a four-game series that will give all concerned a peek at the two teams and their viability as season-long contenders. In game one, last night, the Orioles sent the Blue Jays reeling to their third straight loss, winning 4-2 behind the outstanding pitching of young Kevin Gausman. In his second call up this season, the 23-year-old showed that his first start against the Western-Division leading Oakland Athletics was no fluke. He held the Blue Jays to one run and five hits over six innings before turning the game over to the Orioles revitalized bullpen. Toronto Manager John Gibbons called Gausman's fast ball "overpowering." The Oriole offense turned on Delmon Young's two-run home run in the first inning off of Toronto Ace Mark Buehrle, who came in with a 10-2 record and ERA around 2.30. The Orioles also got an RBI single by catcher Caleb Joseph, which brought home Manny Machado, who had doubled to lead off the Oriole second inning. The fourth Oriole run scored when Nick Markakis' double brought home Jonathan Schoop, who had also doubled, in the Oriole Seventh. Gausman was the winner and is now 2-1, while Buehrle took the loss to slip to 10-3. Zach Britton got the save, his sixth. Because the Yankees beat the Mariners in Seattle, 6-3, they remain tied with the Orioles in second place. Here are the up-to-the-minute American League Eastern Division Standings:

American League East
1, Toronto Blue Jays: 39 wins, 29 losses, .574 pct
2. Baltimore Orioles: 34 wins, 31 losses, .523 pct, 3.5 games behind
2. New York Yankees: 34 wins, 31 losses, .523 pct, 3.5 games behind
4. Boston Red Sox: 30 wins, 36 losses, .455 pct, 8 games behind
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 25 wins, 42 losses, .373 pct, 13.5 games behind

This is also my second mention of the Wild Card Race. Remember, the top two non-division winners are the Wild Card teams qualifying for the playoffs. In the standings, the second place team is the "standard" by which games behind, and, in the case of the number one team, games ahead, are figured.

American League Wild Card
1. Los Angeles Angels: 36 wins, 29 losses, .554 pct, +2 games
2. Baltimore Orioles: 34 wins, 31 losses, .523 pct, even
2. New York Yankees: 34 wins, 31 losses, .523 pct, even
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Seattle Mariners: 34 wins, 32 losses, .515 pct, 0.5 game behind
4. Kansas City Royals: 33 wins, 32 losses, .508 pct, 1 game behind
5. Chicago White Sox: 33 wins, 34 losses, .493 pct, 2 games behind
5. Cleveland Indians: 33 wins, 34 losses, .493 pct, 2 games behind
6. Texas Rangers: 32 wins, 34 losses, .485 pct, 2.5 games behind
7. Minnesota Twins: 31 wins, 33 losses, .484 pct, 2.5 games behind
8. Houston Astros: 31 wins, 37 losses, .456 pct, 4.5 games behind
9. Boston Red Sox: 30 wins, 36 losses, .455 pct, 4.5 games behind
10. Tampa Bay Rays: 25 wins, 42 losses, .373 pct, 10 games behind

In the American League East, today and tonight, the Blue Jays continue their series in Baltimore against the Orioles at 7:05 pm EDT, the Yankees are at Oakland to play the Athletics at 10:05 pm EDT, the Cleveland Indians are at the Boston Red Sox at 7:10 pm EDT, and the Tampa Bay Rays travel to Houston to play the Astros at 8:10 pm EDT.

Burnley Announces Pre-Season Schedule
Burnley has announced the rest of its pre-season schedule. The club, preparing to return to the top Club League in the world, the Premier League in England, had already revealed a match in Austria at FC Grossklein (FC Großklein), which will come after a week of training in the mountain country. Here, now, is the complete slate:

Sunday, July 20, 2014: at FC Großklein (Austria), 5 pm*
Saturday, July 26, 2014: at Accrington Stanley, 3 pm*
Tuesday, July 29, 2014: at Preston, 7:45 pm*
Saturday, August 2, 2014: at Blackpool, 3 pm*
*all times are Lancashire local time

Wednesday Morning Blues: Six Soldiers Trashed by Obama Administration for Speaking Honestly; Hilary Speaks About Benghazi, but not truthfully; Maryland's Brave Drive in NCAA Baseball Tournament Comes to an End

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 10, 2014 - Tuesday morning dawned gray, still, warm, humid, sticky, close, breathless. I don't believe that I suffer from depression, but if I did, this is the kind of weather that would surround a condition like that. It dawned with the reality that six American soldiers who volunteered to serve their country, were deployed to Afghanistan, and while deployed there witnessed one of their fellow soldiers pick up and leave, apparently defecting to the other side, and then, when contacted by reporters about the defector, volunteered their opinion, were being trashed by the administration and its operatives in the media. The defector, Timothy Bergdahl, is the one and only American to do that among all the tens of thousands of Americans sent to Afghanistan by their government. Immediately upon that incident taking place the United States government had these six, and others, sign a statement that they would not discuss the incident, i.e., the defection, publicly for fear that it might jeopardize the soldier who defected. The six adhered to that promise to the letter until word came that he had been freed. All six were angered by the fact that the administration was acting like Bergdahl was a hero instead of a defector. Those on the uber left, those like President Obama, are really ticked off when somebody points out that there is another side to the story they are spinning. Now I understand that it isn't absolutely certain that Bergdahl defected. But all of the evidence points in that direction. He mailed his valuable stuff back to the United States before defecting. He left a letter saying he was defecting.

At this juncture let me say this: I don't have a whole lot of animosity for Bergdahl. God knows what was going on in his head when he went wandering off all those times. We all know a free spirit like that, one who moves to the beat of his own drummer. Maybe we're all like that to a greater or lesser extent. But it's one thing if you leave your fellow soldiers because you don't want to be a soldier anymore, it is another if you leave for the purpose of joining the other side. There is evidence that Bergdahl did just that. Was he tortured first? During the Vietnam era a lot of people went to Canada rather than serve in southeast Asia. I don't remember too many people joing the North Vietnamese Army. President Obama would have had a realistic picture of how his countrymen would react to Bergdahl if he would have conjured up the way America reacted to Jane Fonda tripping over to North Vietnam. How can you be sympathetic to the Taliban? They don't want you to be sympathetic. And God knows how awful Bergdahl was treated once he got where he wanted to go. Some of the stories of how Bergdahl was treated are pretty awful. On the otherhand, of all the Americans sent to Afghanistan, he is the only one to have defected. The New York Times, true to its mission of propping up the Uber Left Obama Administration, has been trashing the six soldiers without any evidence to back it up. In other words, par for the course. The six soldiers were the ones left behind and they were stuck with the just awful job of cleaning up Bergdahl's mess. In America we don't like to think about stuff like that. I was against the War in Vietnam. But I felt pretty rotten about that stand when I found out what happened when we left. The people who support total withdraw should be just as liable for what happened to the people left behind as the people who believed we should go there to begin with. What happened to a lot of the people left behind in Vietnam when we picked up and went home? It was awful. We were heartless. Whether it was a good idea to go to Vietnam or help the Vietnamese people was a fine philosophical debate. But we needed to be realistic when we had the debate. Leaving Vietnam caused countless thousands of ugly murders and directly resulted in some terrible, despicable people being left in charge of running what passed for the government. Can you say Pol Pot? Same thing is going to happen in Afghanistan. How will those villagers from the Last Known Survivor Movie do once all of the Americans have left? What bugs the you know what out of me is that the folk on the Uber Left do not care. War is bad, they announce. So is the end of the war for a whole lot of really good people. It is not okay, morally, philosophically, or in any other forum or context you want to couch your argument in, to pick up and leave without accounting for what is going to happen for the indigenous people who supported you or even just tolerated you while you were there. I wonder how much Bergdahl thought of them when he went wandering off to jihadsville. Cleaning up his mess means that every mission from then on had a second goal tacked on: finding Bergdahl or finding out stuff about his whereabouts. More than one soldier was killed during these efforts. The six soldiers that Obama and the New York Times are trashing are the ones who have been damaged. Imagine that, you are a soldier, you volunteered to be a soldier, you go through the hell of becoming a soldier, you are deployed to war, you serve admirably and are discharged honorably, years later you are asked your opinion about a guy who deserted and, true to the tradition of the United States for free speech, you provide that opinion, which is the same opinion a whole lot of Americans would have in the same situation, and for that you are publicly humiliated by the President of the United States and the so-called national newspaper of record.

What gets me angry at the President - and, I take it, a whole lot of other Americans are with me on this - is his willingness to completely trash the six soldiers who served in the unit with Bergdahl for merely stating their opinion. Did anyone from the administration think to get in contact with these fellows? They were easy to find. If they had, they would have known what they were going to say when Mr. Obama started acting like he was liberating St. Peter.

In my column on Bergdahl a few days back, I opined that things happened the way they did because President Obama and his inner circle are all Uber Leftists. They love people like Bergdahl who don't like the military, who do things that discredit the military, and who act like the military is not a necessary presence in our lives. It is an extreme minority opinion, but it is the opinion of the people on the uber left, like our President. People on the uber left are also at least sympathetic to Islamic Radicals. Obama wrote a column right after 9/11 that stated the attacks on the United States were justified, at least in part, by the way we acted in the past. He was 100% wrong about that. The attacks on 9/11 were directed against citizens, people, innocents. If the 9/11 monsters had a legitimate point of view, they needed to get their government on board and handle it that way. What kind of the world would it be if any person in the world could launch an attack on a foreign government for perceived wrongs? If you can imagine a world like that, you would have imagined a world like the one dreamed about by Al Qaeda and by the blood-thirsty evil getting ready to take over Iraq (completely, they've already taken over half the country). This, now, is our world in the raw: the United States is governed by an Uber Leftist cabal. When the rest of the world is attacked, undermined, plotted against, run over by far left radicals or jihadists, they turn to the United States for help, only to learn that the United States they knew, the one that tried to do the right thing, is no longer in business. Were actual liberals or actual conservatives running the government, they would still find a sympathetic ear. But that is not now the case.

Then I saw a part of a video interview with Hilary. In it, the interviewer says that it seems like Hilary's recollections about Benghazi are quite detailed and, you know, did you - Hilary - keep a diary? "I kept a lot of notes," Hilary replies. "Would you make them available to the [Select] Committee?" the interviewer asks. "They can read about them in the book," she replies. In other words, her notes about the entire Benghazi Massacre, including the details about the incident itself, her attempt to cover up her failure to sufficiently defend the American consulate in spite of repeated pleas from the people there who are on to the Islamic Jihadist build up in and around the Consulate, and her notes about "tamping down" the desires of military types on the night of the incident to send in the marines (so to speak) are all mixed together. Hilary can't give up notes like that because if she did she might not get to be President.

I had a chance to see the Sole Survivor movie over the weekend, the one that tells the true story of four Navy Seals sent deep into Taliban territory in Afghanistan to kill a Taliban operative who had masterminded operations that had left many Marines dead. In the movie the Seals are on site and have the "bad guy" under direct surveilance when, suddenly, a herd of goats, a shepherd and two young boys happen upon them. They take the humans into custody and enter into a debate about what to do with them. Complicating matters to the nth degree is a break down in their ability to communicate with their commanders. One of the seals believes they have to kill the shepherd and two boys or many more marines will die. But the Seal in charge won't go for it. They merely release the people and head up the mountain, counting on their ability to contact their base and evacuate before they are overrun by the Taliban. It doesn't work. The Taliban catch up to them and a fierce gun battle ensues. Three of the Seals are killed, one by the Taliban after he is discovered while badly wounded. One, Marcus Latrelle, survives, barely, thanks to a village of Afghan people who - because they are caring for Latrelle - then become conflicted with the Taliban. The Taliban attack the village and capture Latrelle when, in the nick of time, the Marines arrive. When we are gone from there, I wonder how that village will do? I'd be interested in President Obama's answer. I assume he has thought about stuff like that after what happened in Vietnam when we pulled out.

Maryland lost the NCAA Super Regional to Virginia in three games. For the season, Maryland and Virginia split four games, but no one will remember that except people like me. You won't hear the Cavaliers say it, but the Terps did them the biggest favor an opponent can. Maryland made them play up to their potential. Before Virginia went down in Game 1, even though their "Lights Out" starter, Nathan Kirby, was on the mound, they were acting like all they had to do was show up and Maryland would lay down and lose. Virginia had superior players, but until Maryland whacked them twice - once in the ACC Tournament, costing them a shot at the ACC title, and once in the Super Regional - the Cavaliers were playing like nine or ten individuals wearing the same uniform. By all rights, the Cavaliers should win the College World Series. They clearly have the talent. They need to learn to bunt when it is to their advantage. It's all wonderful to high five a player after a play, but how about bunting him into scoring position in a tight game. Virginia lost to Maryland on Saturday and left 14 men on base in the process, and not once, in a one run game, with 14 runners left on base, did they move a runner up. Not once. And in Omaha, they will not be hitting home runs. The fences and walls are in Kansas while home plate is in Nebraska.

Two other comments arising from the Super Regionals: One, the NCAA still has all kind of trouble with umpires, just as in soccer they have lost control of referees. Actually, I'm not sure if they lost control or can't be bothered by exerting control. They won't want the CWS marred by the same ridiculous nonsense that went on in the Division I Championship Soccer Game, when the supposedly elite referee missed two intentional hand ball calls in the space of a minute, thereby handing the game to Notre Dame in the process. The umpiring in Lafayette for the series between Mississippi and Louisiana - Lafayette was atrocious, especially in Game One. I am assuming the four men in blue got a phone call after that because things did improve after that first game, but it can't start in Omaha like it did in Lafayette, when the umps were all wrapped up in the fervor of the moment, brought about by the wide outpouring of support by the home town fans. They were cheering and hollering and hooting and carrying on, tailgating like it was a football game and it was, really, wonderful. In some parts of the United States college baseball is ignored and it's a shame because it is really exciting and American and part of our heritage and all of that. But the umps have to be neutral. The four guys in Lafayette didn't get the word on that last part, especially in game one. The one play no one who saw it will forget was, I suppose, some kind of balk call. The pitcher threw a pitch, which the batter hit, the fielder played and threw to first, and when the ball arrived at first, the first base umpire said, um, wait a minute, you know, the pitcher balked. Not before this, not when the pitcher threw the pitch, not when the catcher would have caught it but for the fact that the batter hit the ball, not after the ball was hit, not after the shortstop fielded the ball, not when he threw to first, but when the first baseman caught the ball and the crowd, players and coaches looked to the first base ump to see if the runner was safe or out, that's when the ump decided to bring up the fact that the pitcher balked. The replay showed that nothing like a balk ever happened, so who knows what this fellow actually saw. The crew in Charlottesville wasn't nearly that bad, but the difference in the strike zone from one ump to the other was almost jaw-dropping. On Saturday, when Kirby faced off with Maryland's superb Jake Stinnett, the strike zone was so small that both pitchers were left to throw the ball right over the plate or face walk after walk. Kirby, who controlled hitters throughout the season, compiling a 9-1 record with a 1.36 ERA, was chased from the game by the fourth inning by the Terps. Stinnett, who walks nobody, was in trouble throughout his start because the strike zone was the size of a baseball card. And I won't even begin to talk about the call at first base that cost Maryland a big rally on Sunday. One of the Terps was caught off base on a line drive, but the throw pulled the Cavalier firstbaseman off the bag, obviously. The ump missed it. I missed his apology after the game. And since he obviously wasn't looking at that part of the play, I also missed him asking for help from the other three, who, together, couldn't have missed a call like that completely. Or, maybe they did. And the fine folk in Charlottesville couldn't have been proud of the fan who was caught on the crowd mike on Monday night. Maryland's Tim Lewis fouled a ball off his foot and was in obvious pain. He stepped out of the box briefly when some Neolithic nitwit yelled out, "you're not hurt! Get back in the box!" What makes people act that ignorant?

The second point to be made was the broadcast duo. When I saw that Mike Patrick was going to do the play-by-play I was delighted. He is such a great man and can call any sport with aplomb. Unfortunately, he and color commentator Doug Glanville got all tied up with how great everybody at Virginia was. I hate to think it was because Maryland is leaving the ACC after this season, but in the end that had to be it. Like I said above, even with the win Monday Night, Virginia and Maryland split four critical games. Maryland whacked Virginia in the ACC Tournament, and won the first game of the best of three. Only when they were pushed all the way back against the wall by a bunch of superbly coached over-achievers did the Cavaliers start playing somewhere near to their potential. Maryland hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1971, and their all-time record in the NCAA Tournament before this season was 1-6. I'd have liked to know how that could be possible at a school where every other sport is superbly representative of the school. Not one word. John Szefc didn't just takeover a poor program. He took over a terrible program. The ACC stopped inviting every conference team to the conference baseball tournament in 2006. Maryland hadn't even played in the conference tournament once after that change was made. In other words, Maryland hadn't crawled off the bottom of the standings in the last eight years. Except it is longer than that. They hadn't had a winning record in conference play since 1971. Maryland set an all-time school record this season for wins in the conference. They went 15-14. These 2014 Terps weren't in good shape to make the ACC Tournament as April ended. They were 25-19 over all, under .500 by 5 games in the ACC, and coming off four games in which they were swept in a weekend series in Boston against the Eagles of Boston College, one of the lowest finishers in the ACC, then came home and lost to James Madison. But baseball is a redemptive game. Suddenly, Maryland caught fire. The difference between this year's team and those from the past are twofold: first, John Szefc is a wonderful coach who has been around the block more than once and learned something at every stop. And two, his first recruiting class is out on the field this season to join the couple of lads he brought in last season despite starting late. All of this began to kick in full speed ahead as May rolled around. They swept Notre Dame in College Park to open the month. Two days later they took the bus down to Richmond and squashed a good VCU team. The next night they headed north to Aberdeen, Maryland, to Cal Ripken's stadium, and edged always tough Towson, 4-3. Two days after that they went to Pittsburgh for a weekend series and swept the Panthers, winning Friday night, 21-1, winning Saturday in a game that was scheduled for 2 pm but started at 9 pm because of lightning, and winning a tight game on Sunday. Finally, two days after that series they beat West Virginia in College Park, the same West Virginia that the NCAA said was the next team that would have made the NCAA Tournament field if they could've taken one more team. Then they went to the ACC Tournament and on back-to-back days beat Virginia and Florida State. They won 11 straight. They finally lost to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament because they had clinched a berth in the ACC Championship and Szefc wouldn't use a pitcher against the Tar Heels he would consider using in the Championship game. Plus, UNC, though they had no chance to make the ACC Title Game, knew they were right on the edge of the NCAA and needed to beat Maryland. And still it was a great game. UNC led, 7-2, going to the 8th, but Maryland rallied to tie the score. I heard none of this during the three games in Charlottesville. But I did here that color announcer Doug Glanville had tweeted the MLB team that drafted Virginia's Mike Pappi, telling them that they were getting an outstanding player. Wow. What other tweets, Doug? Any about the lads on Maryland? Never mind, I don't want to know. In fact, I heard so much about how great Virginia was that I thought they'd won the last three CWS. I mean, they had to be that good. Doug and Mike said so. In fact, in the nine years that Virginia Coach Brian O'Connor had headed that program, they have made two trips to the CWS without winning. There is no doubt that Virginia is an elite program and talking about that in proportion was fine. My complaint is that this was all that was talked about for three days, when the truth is that the teams have split four games. What did they say about Maryland? That John Szefc had done a remarkable job. Great. Anything else? Well, John Szefc has done a really remarkable job. Great! And you see, I know Mike Patrick is better than this. I still remember his incredible call of the Maryland v. North Carolina basketball game when the great Len Bias rallied the Terps from well behind in the waning seconds to beat UNC in the Dean Dome, a place where the Tar Heels had never lost up to that moment. Even though he is on ESPN a lot - he was the Monday Night Football Play-by-Play man for years - his big break came with the ACC. I suppose somewhere in his brain Maryland sold the ACC out. But the lads and the coaches on the field had nothing to do with that. The alumni didn't have anything to do with it. I'd have been against it, if I was asked. I love the Big Ten. It will be an honor to play in the Big Ten. But it is a conference for the middle of the country. In the ACC, the weather in the fall is warm enough to play soccer at night deep into November. It isn't warm enough to play home baseball outside in February, but we do it anyway because we are the northern outpost in a southern conference (OK, I know, nowadays, that Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame are futher north. Good for them.) There was an incredible story there during the three days of that really good David v. Goliath matchup. The Saturday game, where Maryland's over-achievers went out like David and took down Goliath - again - was as good as college baseball gets. Most of America didn't know how much of a story it was. Nobody told them.

NCAA Baseball Super Regional: Maryland Chases Kirby in 4th, Beats Virginia, 5-4

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 7, 2014 - On this seventh day of June, the University of Maryland's Baseball Team added another new and breathtaking chapter to its magical journey through the elites of College Baseball. After not making the NCAA Baseball Tournament for 43 long years, the Terrapins last week won the NCAA's Colombia Regional by going 3-0 and beating national power South Carolina twice in 27 hours, breaking the Gamecocks' mind-boggling 28-game home winning streak in NCAA play in the process. The wins at South Carolina's home stadium in front of two roaring sell-out crowds, earned the Terps a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals against powerful Virginia, a team that spent many weeks ranked number one in the nation, and a team that never slipped out of the top 5 in any major poll. The Terps, on the other hand, were never ranked by the major polls. Today, this Maryland Baseball team took on the man most experts think is the best pitcher in the land, Sophmore Nathan Kirby of Virginia, who took a 9-1 record and 1.36 ERA into the start. It didn't matter to these Terrapins. Kirby was chased in the fourth inning, and Maryland beat Virginia, 5-4, behind Senior Jake Stinnett and a bullpen that only does one thing well: win.

The victory put Maryland ahead in the best of three series one game to none. The winner gets a berth in the College World Series. Game two is Sunday at noon on ESPN2. The Terps struck first today in front of a sell-out crowd on a sun drenched Charlottesville baseball field that affords fans a view of Thomas Jefferson's legendary mountaintop home known as Monticello. The game's very first hitter, Maryland's Charlie White - drafted today by the New York Yankees - laced a double to the opposite field. Lamont Wade then put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to get White to third. Brandon Lowe got White home when he hit a Baltimore Chop, a batted ball beaten into the dirt in front of home plate, which then takes a high time-consuming bounce while the runner, White, races home with the game's first run. Virginia tied it in their half of the first, but one of the best defensive plays you will ever see prevented the Cavaliers from turning their at bat into a big inning. The run scored when Stinnett hit a batter with the bases loaded. After that, the inning continued to evolve for Virginia until the bases were loaded again with one out. Virginia's Casey Townes now drilled a line drive into the right center field power alley. White sprinted full bore into that alley, and, throwing all caution to the wind, dove head-first, glove outstretched, and somehow, someway managed to catcg the ball a inch above the rich green turf. Cavalier star Mike Pappi was the runner at third and, convinced Townsend's drive would fall in for a hit, wandered down the base path as White moved on the batted ball. When White made his miraculous catch, Pappi rushed back to third base, tagged up, and headed home. White, meanwhile, stopped his head-long slide on the grass and rose to his feet to throw to a cutoff man, shortstop Blake Schmit. Schmit caught the throw and wheeled around to fire the ball to catcher Kevin Martir. Martir took the throw and slap-tagged Pappi as he flew by. The umpire gave an emphatic out call, causing Martir, overcome with joy, to slam the ball down on homeplate in celebration. The double play left the game tied at one and the crowd in awestruck silence. When you look back on it, it was a game winner in every sense of the word.

Maryland executed perfectly in every scoring chance, scoring runs on a safety squeeze play, two infield ground balls, and one solidly hit double by Anthony Papio. Kyle Convissar wowed the huge crowd when he battled Kirby through a stunning 16 pitch at bat. Jake Stinnett beat one of the best teams in America on a day when he had absolutely nothing. He hit two batters in a row to force in one of Virginia's runs. He threw 117 pitches in 6 innings before giving way. The Cavaliers continued their assault on the Maryland bullpen, and every inning featured bases packed full of Virginia runners. When it was over, 14 frustrated Cavaliers were left stranded on base.

Bobby Ruse followed Stinnett and kept the Cavaliers at bay until there were two out in the 8th. Then, Maryland Coach John Szefc went to his closer, Kevin Mooney. Mooney got out of a big jam in the 8th and got the first two hitters in the 9th before the Cavaliers mounted yet another rally. When the game ended, there were two Cavaliers on base. Maryland will go for the Super Regional victory Sunday when they send 11-game winner Mike Sharawyn, a freshman, to the hill. If the Cavaliers prevail on Sunday, the deciding game would be Monday at 7 pm. All games will be televised nationwide on ESPN2.

Putin Meets With Poroshenko at Normandy Observance; Obama's Speech was Arguably his Finest Hour

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 6, 2014 - At the observation of the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, at Normandy, the new President of Ukraine met with Russian Strong Man Vladimir Putin. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes, according to Le Monde, the French Newspaper Giant.
Both men "agreed" that the hostilities still going on in the eastern part of Ukraine must end, although, to be honest, both implied that the other had to do the stopping. Putin wants Ukraine's military to leave the Separatists alone. Petro Poroshenko, the newly elected Ukraine President, has said he will not leave Separatist Forces in control of any of Ukraine's cities or government facilities.

But Poroshenko has said he is all for increased federalization of Ukrainian districts, meaning more autonomy for the east within the framework of a united Ukraine.

On Russian Television, Putin remarked: "The approach seemed fair overall, I liked it, Ukraine must show goodwill. The repressive operation must be stopped."

As the two men met, they were closely watched by German Chancellor Angela Merkle and French President Francois Hollande. The meeting was not accidental. Afterwards, the French President conceded that it was planned well in advance. Interestingly, Hollande dined Thursday night with both Putin and President Obama, but not at the same time.

According to Le Monde, Poroshenko and Putin also discussed economic issues and other subjects. There was no immediate announcement of a more prolonged meeting.

Your writer must admit that Obama's speech at Normandy on Friday morning was the best he has ever made. With the hallowed ground as a backdrop, he emphasized over and over the unbelievable sacrifice made by the men who came to Normandy that June morning 70 years ago. Some of the few soldiers still alive were in attendance at the commemoration, and Obama humbly showered them with praise. The thought, however, that he left everyone with was this: everytime you think the world is a bad place, remember the men who came to Normandy. Everytime you are depressed, remember the men who to Normandy. I was barely awake - I'd woke in the middle of the night with indigestion, and turned the TV on Red Eye - when Fox News broadcast the address live. It was sunny and breezy at Normandy, not the cloud shrouded morning of 1944. And Obama rose to the occassion; as a President, it was his finest hour, in my humble opinion.

Updates on Everything: Bergdahl for Five Taliban, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, and Baseball

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 5, 2014 - Understanding the Bergdahl Prisoner Exchange from Obama's Perspective: Theories and opinions abound on what caused the Obama administration to exchange five extremely dangerous Taliban Officers - apparently you are very close to being correct if you say that the five men turned over the Qatar authorities were the most dangerous men who were at the Cuban detention facility - for one American Desterter. Some describe it as a terrible mistake born of simple incompetence. Some say it was not a mistake but simply a matter of an administration not wanting to leave a soldier behind as it winds down the Afghanistan War. I think the explanation is far more base. I think you have to remember who our President is. He is an über Leftist; that is, an "over" or "beyond" Leftist. Try: Super Leftist. His orientation as an über Leftist defines so much about him, especially his actions. As an über Leftist, he dearly wants to close Camp Guantanamo is Cuba, because that camp houses only Hardcore Islamic Radicals, a group he has amazing sympathy for. The exchange reduces the number of Hardcore Islamics at the camp. The exchange shows express sympathy for someone who became anti-U.S. Military. When you add this up, there was only good things about the deal as far as Obama the über Leftist is concerned. At the very same time, with just one decision, he shows express sympathy for Islamic Radicals and Anti-War Anti-Military Americans. Add to this the fact that, as a Lame Duck, not up for an election ever again, he doesn't care a bit about what the average American thinks about the deal. Add to this the fact that he is also a quintessential elitist, He knows better than you, always. He knows this is a good deal because it advances a whole list of über Leftist goals. As he said today, he has no intention of apologizing.

This is where there is a huge disconnect for the average American trying to understand this administration. You read about something like this and think, "is he so isolated there in the White House that he didn't vet Bergdahl, didn't know his own Pentagon had long ago concluded that he was not only a deserter, but quite probably a collaborator with the venemous Taliban?" Of course not. He knew exactly who Bergdahl was. He knew exactly what the father was up to with the beard and the anti-Gitmo language. He is sympathetic to the same things. He leaves it up to his functionaries couch his actions in whatever language they can to sell it to the people. And he has the mainstream media to ease the sell job.

The people who have a real tough job with Obama's über Leftist tendencies are Democrats who are not nearly as far left as the President is. One is Baltimore County Democratic Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. I was livid at Ruppersberger when he knuckled under to Obama and Nancy Pelosi and voted for Obamashame. Now, he knows what he is up against with Obama and Company, and, at least on this issue, he has come out front and expressed his anger at the deal. He told Channel 13, WJZ in Baltimore that the deal sets a “dangerous precedent that puts all Americans at risk throughout the world.” And be certain about what he says: it does. Any American the Taliban or Al Qaeda can get their mits on is fair game for a prisoner exchange. At some point Obama will have to say that the Bergdahl deal is "different" from the kidnappings that will follow. I wouldn't want to be his out-front operatives when they start.

Despite Ukraine Elections, Violence Rising and Crisis Far Fram Over, Swiss President Tells Economic Forum The President of Switzerland, Didier Burkhalter, told the opening meeting of the 18th Swiss Economic Forum today that the crisis in Ukraine is far from over and despite recent elections, violence, especially in the eastern part of the bleaguered nation, is on the rise. Burkhalter has an insiders view of the situation as the acting leader of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the group which supplied observers for much of the recent crisis and also served as international observers at the recent Ukraine Elections. At one point, nearly one half dozen OSCE observers were captured and held hostage by pro-Russian Separatists. There is no international group that has been closer to the events in Ukraine than has the OSCE. The leadership position of the OSCE is rotated among its 57 member states. This year, Burkhalter is the acting leader.

He has high praise for the OSCE's ability to function in the extreme pressure of the Ukraine crisis. Speaking in Interlaken, Switzerland, Burkhalter said "The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was established with the consensus of the 57 participating States in March. This is significant as it demonstrates that cooperation among all main international actors remains possible despite diverging views on the causes of the crisis. The 238 monitors (from 41 nations) currently in the country are doing important work. They provide unbiased and verified information about security incidents and human rights violations and are tasked with supporting the government in implementing de-escalation measures. These civilians personify the impartiality of the OSCE and its commitment to Ukraine".

Burkhalter told the gathering that he will be in Kiev on Saturday to meet with the newly elected President, Petro Poroshenko. He says that the election, conducted in the glare of intense international scrutiny, gives Poroshenko a tremendous opportunity to implement reforms in a country where corruption is said to be rampant.

Obama visited Poland this week and spoke to some 6,000 Warsaw residents on Wednesday. He intends to tell Poroshenko - who he is meeting with today - that Poland is a great example of what Ukraine can be if it stays the course, roots out corruption, and follows a path to an open democracy. In Poland, Obama commemorated the 25th anniversary of Poland's first free (or partially free, depending on which publication you consult) election. The information on Burkhalter's address to the Swiss Economic Forum is from the Kuwait News Agency. It's web page is at http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2381116&language=en. Information on Obama's visit to Poland is from the Christian Broadcasting Network. It's web page is at https://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/June/Obama-Meets-with-Ukraines-Newly-Elected-President/

In another fascinating development in Poland, the citizens of Krakow have voted overwhelmingly not to seek the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The vote was held May 25, and according to the Krakow Post, some 70% of all voters said "no" to the question of whether the City should make a bid to host the games. Krakow, among all European Cities, is one of the few to be spared extensive damage in World War II.

The Mayor of Krakow, Jacek Majchrowski, was an out-front supporter of seeking the Olympic Games, but he confirmed earlier in the week to the Post that the City will now withdraw its formal bid for the games. Despite the high stakes involved in the referendum, the turnout was only 34 percent, just 4 percent over the 30 percent minimum needed for the referendum to be dispositive of the issue. Voters in Poland's second largest city approved three other ballot questions: 55 percent were in favour of building a metro system in Krakow. 70 percent supported an increase in public security camera monitoring and a striking 85 percent agreed that Krakow should build more cycle paths. The results are all courtesy of the Krakow Post. It's web page is at http://www.krakowpost.com/article/8063

The Orioles have now won four straight games, but the condition of its starting staff is in question today. Miguel Gonzalez was scheduled to start tonight's series finale in Arlington, Texas, but was scratched due to pain in his right side that may be from a strain of his right oblique. He underwent an MRI that showed nothing too serious, but Oriole Manager Buck Showalter said on the club's web page that if Gonzalez cannot make a start on Saturday, he will be put on the disabled list retroactive to his last start. He has made four consecutive "quality" starts = in baseball talk, that means pitching at least six innings and giving up three or fewer earned runs - before this injury was reported. To make matters worse, Starter Bud Norris had to be removed from last night's start - a 6-5 Oriole victory, after he was hit on the right forearm by a line drive hit by the Rangers' Mitch Moreland. The initial news is that the injury is not serious and may not even cost Norris a start, but that was last night.

Last night the Orioles continued to get an outstanding run of offensive firepower and outstanding pithing from their bullpen in a 6-5 win over the Rangers in Texas. It was their fourth straight win. Nevertheless, their spate of poor play prior to this winning streak has allowed the suddenly hot Toronto Blue Jays to open up a lead in the AL East. Here are the up-to-the-minute AL East Standings:

American League East Standings
1. Toronto Blue Jays: 36 wins, 24 losses, .600 pct
2. Baltimore Orioles: 30 wins, 27 losses, .526 pct, 4.5 games behind
3. New York Yankees: 29 wins, 29 losses, .500 pct, 6 games behind
4. Boston Red Sox: 27 wins, 32 losses, ,458 pct, 8.5 games behind
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 23 wins, 37 losses, .383 pct, 13 games behind

And, on June 5, 2014 we will take a first look at the Wild Card Standings. The top two non-division winners in each league will make the playoffs and play each other in a one-game playoff. The three division leaders will not be listed in the wild card standings.

American League Wild Card Standings
1. Los Angeles Angels: 31 wins, 27 losses, .534 pct, +0.5 games ahead of base line
2. Baltimore Orioles: 30 wins, 27 losses, .526 pct
3. Seattle Mariners: 31 wins, 28 losses, .525 pct
4. Chicago White Sox: 31 wins, 30 losses, .508 pct, 1 game behind
5. Cleveland Indians: 30 wins, 30 losses, .500 pct, 1.5 games behind
6. New York Yankees: 29 wins, 29 losses, .500 pct, 1.5 games behind
7. Texas Rangers: 29 wins, 30 losses, .492 pct, 2 games behind
8. Minnesota Twins: 28 wins, 29 losses, .491 pct, 2 games behind
9. Kansas City Royals: 28 wins, 31 losses, .475 pct, 3 games behind
10. Boston Red Sox: 27 wins, 32 losses, ,458 pct, 4 games behind
11. Houston Astros: 25 wins, 35 losses, .417 pct, 6.5 games behind
12. Tampa Bay Rays: 23 wins, 37 losses, .383 pct, 8.5 games behind

American League East Scores from Wednesday, June 4:
Toronto Blue Jays 8, Detroit Tigers 2
Baltimore Orioles 6, Texas Rangers 5
Oakland Athletics 7, New York Yankees 4
Cleveland Indians 7, Boston Red Sox 4
Miami Marlins 5, Tampa Bay Rays 4

American League East Schedule for Thursday, June 5:
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers, game now in progress at 2:30 pm, EDT
Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 8:30 pm
New York Yankees at Oakland Athletics, game now in progress at 2:30 pm EDT
Boston Red Sox are idle
Miami Marlins at Tampa Bay Rays, 4:10 pm EDT

The University of Maryland Baseball Team is in completely uncharted waters. No Maryland Baseball team in history has ever gone this deep into an NCAA Baseball Tournament. Saturday at noon, EDT, the Terps begin a best of three Super Regional Showdown with the powerful Virginia Cavaliers. The winner advances to the College World Series. Even writing that seems totally improbable. Maryland and College World Series do not belong together in the same sentence. And yet, here they are. Game two will follow at noon on Sunday. If a game three is necessary, it will be played at 4 pm on Monday. All three games will be televised on ESPN2.

There are a total of eight Super Regional Series this weekend. Some start Friday and some start on Saturday. Here is the schedule for all of the games in each series"

Super Regional Games Friday, June 6, 2014
Stanford at Vanderbilt, 1:00 pm, EDT
Houston at Texas, 4:00 pm, EDT
Kennesaw State at Louisville, 6:30 pm, EDT
University of California at Irvine at Oklahoma State, 9:30 pm, EDT

Super Regional Games Saturday, June 7, 2014
Maryland at Virginia, 12:00 pm, EDT
College of Charleston at Texas Tech, 1:00 pm, EDT
Texas at Houston, 2:00 pm, EDT
Stanford at Vanderbilt, 3:00 pm, EDT
Pepperdine at Texas Christian, 4:00 pm, EDT
Kennesaw State at Louisville, 7:00 pm, EDT
Mississippi at Louisiana - Lafayette, 8:00 pm, EDT
University of California at Irvine at Oklahoma State, 9:30 pm, EDT

Super Regional Games Sunday, June 8, 2014
Maryland at Virginia, 12:00 pm, EDT
College of Charleston at Texas Tech, 3:00 pm, EDT
Pepperdine at Texas Christian, 6:00 pm, EDT
Mississippi at Louisiana - Lafayette, 9:00 pm, EDT
Stanford at Vanderbilt, if necessary
Houston at Texas, if necessary
Kennesaw State at Louisville, if necessary
University of California at Irvine at Oklahoma State, if necessary

Super Regional Games Monday, June 9, 2014
Maryland at Virginia, 4:00 pm, if necessary
College of Charleston at Texas Tech, if necessary
Pepperdine at Texas Christian, if necessary
Mississippi at Louisiana - Lafayette, if necessary

Incidentally, this was a banner headline, not in Maryland or someplace comparatively close, but, on Monday morning, right after the Maryland victory, in Miami, Florida: "Maryland stuns South Carolina to win NCAA regional."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/06/01/4152415/maryland-stuns-south-carolina.html#storylink=cpy

In fact, the game was headlined all over the United States. I googled the phrase "Maryland Stuns South Carolina," and got over 1500 hits, including many from the largest newspapers and TV Stations, Networks, Blogs etc.

Maryland Routs South Carolina to Claim NCAA Regional Title; Terps to Face Virginia in Super Regional Showdown; Berth in College World Series at Stake

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 2, 2014 - Who would ever think that mentioning Maryland's Baseball Team and College World Series in the same sentence would make good sense?

Guess what? On June 1, 2014 it makes perfect sense. That's the day Maryland routed powerful South Carolina, 10-1, to claim an NCAA Regional Title and a berth in next weekend's Super Regional in Charlottesville, Virginia against the very powerful Cavaliers. Except Maryland already knows they can beat Virginia. They just did it last weekend at the ACC Tournament, a tournament they didn't win only because they lost the Championship game.

The win over the Gamecocks was the second in as many nights for these most unlikely Terrapins. Maryland had not played in the NCAA Baseball Tournament since 1971. Before this weekend, Maryland had the grand total of one victory in that tournament in the history of the program, and that one win was in 1970. Playing in one of the very best baseball conferences in the USA, Maryland has set records for futility that will never be challenged. All of that changed two years ago when the school hired veteran coach John Szefc and, at the same time, began an upgrade of the baseball program. Now in his second season at the school, Szefc very quietly recruited the kind of players he needed to compete in the powerful ACC. Last season, Maryland began to make in-roads in the baseball-crazy conference, but still failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament, which, since 2006 did not invite every baseball-playing school in the conference. Maryland hasn't played in the tournament since that change was made. Even this year Maryland needed an incredible final run to make the ACC Field in this, the school's last season in the ACC. Maryland moves to the Big Ten next season, and while that will be an upgrade in many NCAA sports, baseball isn't one of them. The ACC sent seven schools to this year's NCAA Tournament, while the Big Ten sent two.

This year's Maryland team tripled the number of NCAA Tournament wins the school has in just one weekend. They beat Old Dominion on Friday and then they defeated South Carolina on consecutive nights in front of a packed house of over 8,000 roaring fans at the Gamecock's new baseball stadium. Before Saturday's game, South Carolina had won 28 straight home NCAA games in a streak dating back to 2002. Maryland has never hosted an NCAA game. Saturday night, Maryland pushed across four runs in the first two innings, then held on for dear life in a 4-3 victory. Sunday night the Terps showed they wanted no part of a nail biter. After falling behind, 1-0, in the first inning, the Terps broke through and scored twice with two outs in the fourth inning on a single by Blake Schmit. They then proceeded to score in virtually every at bat until the score stood at 10-1 going to the bottom of the ninth and South Carolina's last at bat. Five different Terps knocked in runs, and Schmit knocked in three.

Five Maryland players were named to the All Regional Team, including center fielder Charlie White, who was named it Most Outstanding Player. Joining White were Schmit, Lamont Wade, Kevin Martir and Mike Shawaryn.

The most astounding part of the win was Maryland's ability to hold South Carolina to a single run even though its two best pitchers, Shawaryn and Senior Jake Stinnett - who pitched eight innings on Friday - were not available. Szefc used number three starter Jake Drossner and two bullpen pitchers to stymie the Gamecocks. Drossner went three and two-thirds, followed by Taylor Stiles, who went two innings, and Bobby Ruse, who pitched the final three and one-third. Stiles, a freshman, picked up the win and it was his second of the Regional. He was also the winning pitcher Friday against Old Dominion. Ruse earned the save.

NCAA Baseball Tournament In-Game Update: Maryland Comes to Bat in the 8th, leading South Carolina, 6-1

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 1, 2014 - Maryland come to bat in the 8th inning in Colombia, South Carolina, leading the Gamecocks, 6-1. Maryland fell behind, 1-0, when South Carolina scored in the bottom of the first on Maryland starter Jake Drossner. But since then the Gamecocks have stranded nine men without scoring another run. Maryland, meanwhile, broke through in the fourth on a two-out two run single by Blake Schmit. They scored one run in the fifth, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Anthony Papio had a two-out single to score one of the runs. Another run scored when Charlie White was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The run in the seventh inning scored on a wild pitch.

NCAA Baseball Tournament In-Game Update: Terps bat in the 6th, leading South Carolina, 3-1

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 1, 2014 - Lamont Wade drove in a third Maryland run in the top of the 5th, and Freshman Taylor Stiles retired the Gamecocks without a run in the bottom of the inning, and Maryland now leads the Gamecocks, 3-1, with the Terps at bat in the top of the 6th inning. Maryland loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on singles by Anthony Papio, Kevin Martir and Charlie White, and Wade hit a ground ball to second that looked at first like a potential double play, but Wade beat the relay throw to first, allowing Papio to score. In the top of the sixth, the Terps have two men on with one out and South Carolina has made a pitching change with Maryland's Nick Cieri due up.

NCAA Baseball Tournament In-Game Update: Maryland Rallies to Lead South Carolina in the 4th, 2-1

BALTIMORE, Maryland June 1, 2014 - Blake Schmit's two-out single plated two Maryland runs and the Terrapins have taken a 2-1 lead on No. 1 Seed South Carolina in a potentially deciding game of an NCAA Baseball Regional at Colombia, South Carolina. If Maryland wins they are the Regional Champ and would move on to next weekend's Super Regional, almost certainly at Charlottesville, Virginia against the Cavaliers. If South Carolina wins tonight, both teams will play again tomorrow night in a winner take all championship. South Carolina must beat Maryland twice since the Terps beat the Gamecocks in a key game Saturday night. Jake Drossner has held the potent South Carolina offense to one run through three innings. Maryland was scoreless until Schmit's hit in the top of the fourth.