BALTIMORE, Maryland March 30, 2016 - One of the teams in this two game, home and home series came in with a winning record. One came in with a losing record. But you would not have figured out which team was which based on the results of these two games. Or maybe you would've, since, when it was all over, both teams had winning records. On Tuesday Night in College Park, Maryland the Terrapins beat the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, 8-1. On Wednesday night the scene was moved to Richmond, Virginia and the home field of the Rams. Not much else changed.
Zach Jancarski homered, Anthony Papio led a 12-hit Maryland attack with two runs batted in, and Freshman Hunter Parsons scattered four hits over nearly five innings of work as the University of Maryland Baseball Team moved over .500 for the first time this season with a second consecutive trouncing of Virginia Commonwealth. The final score was 7-1, but the game was never close (after the first inning) and Maryland never trailed. The Terrapins improved to 13-12, while the Rams dropped to 16-9.
Only one Terrapin starter ended the game without a hit and only two starters ended without a run batted in. Anthony Papio knocked in two runs, Zach Jancarski homered and three Terps - Jancarski, Nick Dunn and Kevin Biondic had multiple hits in Maryland's 12 hit attack. Biondic actually had three hits. Freshman Hunter Parsons made the start and pitched into the fifth inning, scattering four hits and striking out four. For now, he is being given the win even though baseball scoring rules usually require a starter to last five complete innings to earn a win. Parsons lasted 4 and two-thirds before giving way to fellow freshman Andrew Miller. The real pitching star for Maryland in this game was top-line relief pitcher Ryan Selmer, the 6', 8" sophmore right-hander. Selmer hurled 3 and one-third innings of no-hit, no-run relief, throwing merely 27 pitches in the process. Parsons, by comparison, needed 70 pitches to complete his outing. (In the official Maryland Box Score, the win was awarded to Ryan Selmer, raising his record to 2-1.) After Selmer, Mike Rescigno pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Like
After an off day on Thursday, the Terps swing back into action in College Park on Friday when High Point comes a calling for the first in a three game weekend set. The Panthers are off to a great start and will bring an 18-7 record into the series.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Two Victories Worth Crowing About: Valparaiso Defeats Gamely BYU to Gain NIT Final; United States Routs Guatemala to Regain Control of Drive to World Cup; Maryland Gets 5 Runs in Second inning in 8-1 Rout of VCU; Taylor Stiles Throws 7 Shutout Innings
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 30, 2016 - The United States National Soccer Team exploded for 4 goals - really 5 - and routed Guatemala, 4-0, to regain control of its own destiny in its drive to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Clint Dempsey scored only 12 minutes from the opening kickoff - and in typical Dempsey style - and the USA never looked back. Then, in the 35th minute, Geoff Cameron also scored for the United States to double their lead to 2-0. That was the lead the USA took into the half. In reality, Guatemala never came that close to scoring. Its best chances lacked a solid finish. Its leading scorer, Carlos Ruiz, didn't enter the game until halftime after arriving in Columbus too close to match-time to start.
In basketball, Valparaiso built up a 16-point second half lead then held off charging BYU to defeat the Cougars, 72-70. The Crusaders - denied a berth in the NCAA Tournament by a boneheaded NCAA Selection Committee - is now a mind-boggling 30-6 on the season. Valparaiso will play upstart George Washington in the NIT Title Game Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Colonials defeated San Diego State to advance to the title game. For the first time in ages, the argument can be made that the best college team in the country is playing for the NIT Championship and not the NCAA Championship.
USA Soccer Coach Jurgen Klinsmann made five line-up changes and moved two other starters to positions they are more comfortable in after losing to Guatemala, 2-0, last Friday night in Guatemala City. The most significant change was the decision to recall and start Graham Zusi, the former University of Maryland star, who played a huge role on the USA's 2014 World Cup Team. Zusi shared taking set piece kicks with Team Captain Michael Bradley and generally energized the USA offense. He also scored what proved to be a decisive goal immediately after halftime to put the USA up, 3-0, and end whatever hope Guatemala had of mounting a comeback. Late in the match, Jozy Altidore scored a fourth USA goal to provide the final margin of 4-0. Another USA score was taken off the scoreboard when the linesman wrongly ruled that the scorer, substitute Ethan Finlay, was offsides. Replays showed Finlay wasn't even close to being offsides.
Dempsey's opening goal in just the 12th minute of play seemed like it lifted a huge weight from the USA's shoulders. The loss on Friday at Guatemala City had put Klinsmann's squad in extreme danger of not qualifying for the World Cup that is still two years off. A win was essential to put the USA back on track for qualification, as a tie would not have reversed the significant damage of Friday's loss. On the play, Cameron ran onto a ball in the middle of the field just inside the midfield line, and sent a precise pass to Gyasi Zardes, also in the middle and moving past the 18 line toward the net. Zardes was closely marked by two Guatemalan defenders, but Cameron's ball deflected off of Zardes' upper arm and shoulder and rolled free in the box. Dempsey was running at the goal from behind the play and arrived in the box just as the ball came free from Cameron's deflected pass. He rifled a shot that Guatemalan keeper Paulo Motta had no chance on. Motta, in truth, really never made any kind of effort to block. Dempsey, always intense, was visibly thrilled by the play as his teammates crowded around him to celebrate. The capacity crowd of over 20,000 in Columbus also cheered wildly. The USA remained on the attack throughout the first half and Cameron's score about 22 minutes later was no surprise. It came on a free kick by Bradley, which he sent across the mouth of the goal. Cameron ran onto the kick and headed it strongly past Motta, who again had no chance to block it. Both of these scores and the other two American scores may be viewed at the USASoccer web page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA05L8b0Rq0&feature=youtu.be.
In winning, the USA moved into second place in their Group. Providing they can hold onto this position, the USA team will qualify for the fifth and final round of World Cup Qualifying for the 2018 games, scheduled for Russia. At present, Trinidad and Tobago - victorious last night against last place St. Vincent - Grenadine - is in first place with 10 points. The United States is in second place with 7 points. Guatemala is third with 6 points and St. Vincent is last with 0 points. Each team has two games remaining, both in early September. The USA will visit St. Vincent on September 2 and host Trinidad on September 6. The USA will be heavily favored in both matches, having already routed St. Vincent, 6-1, in St. Louis, and tied Trinidad in Trinidad. If the USA does win both matches, it will advance no matter what the other teams in the group do.
In the NIT, Valparaiso built up a 14 point halftime lead, expanded it to 16 points after the half, then held off a spirited charge by BYU to defeat the Cougars, 72-70. A critical three-point shot by Croatian David Skara with 17.7 seconds left to play proved the back-breaker for the Crusaders, now 30-6 on the season.
Valparaiso - in what looks more and more like one of the most boneheaded decisions ever made by an NCAA selection committee, was not invited to play in the NCAA tournament despite its incredible won-loss mark and strong preseason schedule. In one stretch, the Crusaders travelled to the west coast of the nation and took on Oregon and Oregon State in close order. Valpo handily beat Oregon State - an NCAA at-large team - and lost a very close game to Oregon State despite leading for much of the game. Oregon was a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Valpo led by 44-30 at halftime and expanded its lead to 16 before BYU rallied. With the score deadlocked, Sophmore David Skara put the Crusaders ahead to stay with a long three-pointer. Down by three points, the Cougars nonetheless worked the ball inside. Valpo's Vashil Fernandez blocked a layup attempt by Chase Fischer of BYU, but Fischer grabbed the loose ball and put it back in to cut the Crusader lead to 71-70 with 7 seconds to play. Three seconds later, Crusader Junior Shane Hammink of the Netherlands was fouled. He made one of his two free throws to expand the Valparaiso lead to two points, 72-70. Hammink then blocked Fischer's long three-point shot just before the final buzzer to secure the Valparaiso win. BYU finished its season with a record of 28-11.
George Washington then routed San Diego State, 65-46, to earn its berth in the NIT title game. The Colonials have also defeated Hofstra, Monmouth and Florida to earn its title game berth. Before last night, George Washington had not played in Madison Square Garden, one of college basketball's "meccas", since 2001.
Tyler Cavanaugh led the Colonials with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over San Diego State. George Washington is now 27-10 and winners of 9 of their last 12 games. San Diego State finished the season with a record of 28-10.
Finally, in baseball last night the University of Maryland won its second straight game and evened its record at 12-12 by beating back VCU, 8-1. The Terps scored a single run in the first inning and five more in the second in College Park to put the game away. Taylor Stiles evened his record at 2-2 with 7 shutout innings. Stiles struck out only two Rams, but walked just one and needed but 93 pitches to get the job done. John Murphy and Zach Guth each pitched an inning in the win. Murphy surrendered the only VCU run and two hits, but he also struck out two during his inning. Guth also notched a strikeout and threw just ten pitches in his inning. He did not get a save because the Terps were too far ahead when he entered.
Maryland Coach John Szefc made an interesting line-up switch for the game, moving freshman outfielder Madison Nickens from second to first in the batting order and dropping shortstop Kevin Smith from leadoff to second in the batting order. In the first inning, Nickens struck out to leadoff, but Smith singled. Nick Dunn then followed with a single, and both runners advanced - Smith to third and Dunn to second - on a VCU error. Smith then scored when Nick Cieri, last night's catcher, grounded out. The Terps put the game away in the second inning. With one out, Anthony Papio walked and Dan Maynard, Maryland's Freshman Reserve Catcher who was the DH last night, followed with a single. Both runners moved up on a double steal, and Papio scored when Andrew Bechtold reached on an infield hit. After Nickens lined out, Maynard scored on a single by Smith. On that play, Bechtold raced from first to third. The Freshman, Dunn, then followed with a double, scoring Bechtold and sending Smith to third. When Cieri then singled, Smith and Dunn were able to score, making it a five run inning and leaving the Terps ahead, 6-0. Maryland made the score 8-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Papio smashed a two-out triple to score Dunn, who had led off the inning with a double, and Kevin Biondic, who drew a two-out walk on a full count pitch. VCU pushed across its lone and meaningless run in the top of the 8th.
The home and home series with the Rams continues today in Richmond beginning at 6:30 pm. The game is scheduled to be televised by the Atlantic 10 Network and can be heard on the Maryland Radio Network.
In basketball, Valparaiso built up a 16-point second half lead then held off charging BYU to defeat the Cougars, 72-70. The Crusaders - denied a berth in the NCAA Tournament by a boneheaded NCAA Selection Committee - is now a mind-boggling 30-6 on the season. Valparaiso will play upstart George Washington in the NIT Title Game Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Colonials defeated San Diego State to advance to the title game. For the first time in ages, the argument can be made that the best college team in the country is playing for the NIT Championship and not the NCAA Championship.
USA Soccer Coach Jurgen Klinsmann made five line-up changes and moved two other starters to positions they are more comfortable in after losing to Guatemala, 2-0, last Friday night in Guatemala City. The most significant change was the decision to recall and start Graham Zusi, the former University of Maryland star, who played a huge role on the USA's 2014 World Cup Team. Zusi shared taking set piece kicks with Team Captain Michael Bradley and generally energized the USA offense. He also scored what proved to be a decisive goal immediately after halftime to put the USA up, 3-0, and end whatever hope Guatemala had of mounting a comeback. Late in the match, Jozy Altidore scored a fourth USA goal to provide the final margin of 4-0. Another USA score was taken off the scoreboard when the linesman wrongly ruled that the scorer, substitute Ethan Finlay, was offsides. Replays showed Finlay wasn't even close to being offsides.
Dempsey's opening goal in just the 12th minute of play seemed like it lifted a huge weight from the USA's shoulders. The loss on Friday at Guatemala City had put Klinsmann's squad in extreme danger of not qualifying for the World Cup that is still two years off. A win was essential to put the USA back on track for qualification, as a tie would not have reversed the significant damage of Friday's loss. On the play, Cameron ran onto a ball in the middle of the field just inside the midfield line, and sent a precise pass to Gyasi Zardes, also in the middle and moving past the 18 line toward the net. Zardes was closely marked by two Guatemalan defenders, but Cameron's ball deflected off of Zardes' upper arm and shoulder and rolled free in the box. Dempsey was running at the goal from behind the play and arrived in the box just as the ball came free from Cameron's deflected pass. He rifled a shot that Guatemalan keeper Paulo Motta had no chance on. Motta, in truth, really never made any kind of effort to block. Dempsey, always intense, was visibly thrilled by the play as his teammates crowded around him to celebrate. The capacity crowd of over 20,000 in Columbus also cheered wildly. The USA remained on the attack throughout the first half and Cameron's score about 22 minutes later was no surprise. It came on a free kick by Bradley, which he sent across the mouth of the goal. Cameron ran onto the kick and headed it strongly past Motta, who again had no chance to block it. Both of these scores and the other two American scores may be viewed at the USASoccer web page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA05L8b0Rq0&feature=youtu.be.
In winning, the USA moved into second place in their Group. Providing they can hold onto this position, the USA team will qualify for the fifth and final round of World Cup Qualifying for the 2018 games, scheduled for Russia. At present, Trinidad and Tobago - victorious last night against last place St. Vincent - Grenadine - is in first place with 10 points. The United States is in second place with 7 points. Guatemala is third with 6 points and St. Vincent is last with 0 points. Each team has two games remaining, both in early September. The USA will visit St. Vincent on September 2 and host Trinidad on September 6. The USA will be heavily favored in both matches, having already routed St. Vincent, 6-1, in St. Louis, and tied Trinidad in Trinidad. If the USA does win both matches, it will advance no matter what the other teams in the group do.
In the NIT, Valparaiso built up a 14 point halftime lead, expanded it to 16 points after the half, then held off a spirited charge by BYU to defeat the Cougars, 72-70. A critical three-point shot by Croatian David Skara with 17.7 seconds left to play proved the back-breaker for the Crusaders, now 30-6 on the season.
Valparaiso - in what looks more and more like one of the most boneheaded decisions ever made by an NCAA selection committee, was not invited to play in the NCAA tournament despite its incredible won-loss mark and strong preseason schedule. In one stretch, the Crusaders travelled to the west coast of the nation and took on Oregon and Oregon State in close order. Valpo handily beat Oregon State - an NCAA at-large team - and lost a very close game to Oregon State despite leading for much of the game. Oregon was a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Valpo led by 44-30 at halftime and expanded its lead to 16 before BYU rallied. With the score deadlocked, Sophmore David Skara put the Crusaders ahead to stay with a long three-pointer. Down by three points, the Cougars nonetheless worked the ball inside. Valpo's Vashil Fernandez blocked a layup attempt by Chase Fischer of BYU, but Fischer grabbed the loose ball and put it back in to cut the Crusader lead to 71-70 with 7 seconds to play. Three seconds later, Crusader Junior Shane Hammink of the Netherlands was fouled. He made one of his two free throws to expand the Valparaiso lead to two points, 72-70. Hammink then blocked Fischer's long three-point shot just before the final buzzer to secure the Valparaiso win. BYU finished its season with a record of 28-11.
George Washington then routed San Diego State, 65-46, to earn its berth in the NIT title game. The Colonials have also defeated Hofstra, Monmouth and Florida to earn its title game berth. Before last night, George Washington had not played in Madison Square Garden, one of college basketball's "meccas", since 2001.
Tyler Cavanaugh led the Colonials with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over San Diego State. George Washington is now 27-10 and winners of 9 of their last 12 games. San Diego State finished the season with a record of 28-10.
Finally, in baseball last night the University of Maryland won its second straight game and evened its record at 12-12 by beating back VCU, 8-1. The Terps scored a single run in the first inning and five more in the second in College Park to put the game away. Taylor Stiles evened his record at 2-2 with 7 shutout innings. Stiles struck out only two Rams, but walked just one and needed but 93 pitches to get the job done. John Murphy and Zach Guth each pitched an inning in the win. Murphy surrendered the only VCU run and two hits, but he also struck out two during his inning. Guth also notched a strikeout and threw just ten pitches in his inning. He did not get a save because the Terps were too far ahead when he entered.
Maryland Coach John Szefc made an interesting line-up switch for the game, moving freshman outfielder Madison Nickens from second to first in the batting order and dropping shortstop Kevin Smith from leadoff to second in the batting order. In the first inning, Nickens struck out to leadoff, but Smith singled. Nick Dunn then followed with a single, and both runners advanced - Smith to third and Dunn to second - on a VCU error. Smith then scored when Nick Cieri, last night's catcher, grounded out. The Terps put the game away in the second inning. With one out, Anthony Papio walked and Dan Maynard, Maryland's Freshman Reserve Catcher who was the DH last night, followed with a single. Both runners moved up on a double steal, and Papio scored when Andrew Bechtold reached on an infield hit. After Nickens lined out, Maynard scored on a single by Smith. On that play, Bechtold raced from first to third. The Freshman, Dunn, then followed with a double, scoring Bechtold and sending Smith to third. When Cieri then singled, Smith and Dunn were able to score, making it a five run inning and leaving the Terps ahead, 6-0. Maryland made the score 8-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Papio smashed a two-out triple to score Dunn, who had led off the inning with a double, and Kevin Biondic, who drew a two-out walk on a full count pitch. VCU pushed across its lone and meaningless run in the top of the 8th.
The home and home series with the Rams continues today in Richmond beginning at 6:30 pm. The game is scheduled to be televised by the Atlantic 10 Network and can be heard on the Maryland Radio Network.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
In-Game Updates: Dempsey, Cameron Each Score as USA Grabs 2-0 Lead Over Guatemala in Critical World Cup Scrape; Valparaiso Hits 7 of 12 Three Point Shots to Take 44-30 Halftime Lead Over BYU in NIT Semifinal
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 29, 2016 - In a match that was a must win if ever there was one, the USA has taken a decisive 2-0 lead over Guatemala mid-way through the first half at Columbus, Ohio. The USA trails both Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago in their Group, after losing, 2-0, in Guatemala on Friday night. Trinidad has 7 points, Guatemala has 6 and the USA has 4. Each team in the Group, which also includes St. Vincent - Grenadine, has played three games and has three to play. The first and second place finishers will advance to the fifth round of qualifying along with the first and second place finishers in the other two groups. If the USA can win this game, it will overtake Guatemala and move into second place in its group. The remaining games for the USA after tonight are both in early September: at St. Vincent and home against Trinidad. It has drawn with Trinidad on the road and routed last place St. Vincent in St. Louis before over 43,000 Missouri faithful. St. Vincent has 0 points after three games.
Meanwhile, In New York's Madison Square Garden, Valparaiso has hit seven of twelve three-point shots to take a 44-30 lead over BYU. The Cougars average 84 points per game and hence, are well under their scoring average.
Meanwhile, In New York's Madison Square Garden, Valparaiso has hit seven of twelve three-point shots to take a 44-30 lead over BYU. The Cougars average 84 points per game and hence, are well under their scoring average.
Media Coverage of USA Presidential Election is a Study in Grotesque Bias; Sports: Valparaiso in NIT Semifinal v. BYU; USA Soccer in Critical Match v. Guatemala
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 29, 2016 - Hillary Clinton and her former henchmen (henchpeople?) at the USA State Department are about to have sit down chats with the 147-Agent Task Force about to seek criminal indictments against her. He alleged lead in the Democratic race for President is on a down-bound train. Her opponent, a dithering old Marxist who has no foreign policy ideas at all despite a long membership in the Congress of These United States. Yet he is bearing down on Hillary almost solely because of Hillary's violations of USA Espionage Laws, a penchant of public fabrications and an untrustworthy reputation that would make Richard Nixon blush with pride. Is anybody surprised?
You shouldn't be. For years, the far left teachers' unions have controlled education in USA Public Schools. Many of these teachers of shockingly limited intelligence have extolled socialism and openly despised democracy and capitalism, even though even a moron realizes that both are about the best man can do to escape despotism. Am I wrong? I don't think so.
Today, if you are a democrat you can almost count on blathering positive news coverage so long as you give lip service to stupid far left ideas that have never worked anywhere on Earth. Barack Hussein Obama has been elected twice to the office of President. He is pro-Islamic Terrorist, pro-Islamic Anti-Feminism, pro-Islamic anti-Semitism, anti-capitalistic and anti-American. If you are surprised about the Democratic race and the polls that show that either candidate will beat the Republican Front-Runner, Donald Trump, you don't know the half of it. You really don't. And why would you if you regularly read the mainstream American media or watch your news on CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC or NBC? If you watch Fox, you'd have about a half of a clue as the what is going on. If you listen to Rush Limbaugh or Mark Levin, even if you disagree with every word they say, you would at least know what was going on. Really, you would. Even if, like I say, you hate their every word.
I confess I have grown to agree with most of what they say. This, even though I am a writer and a trial lawyer and a Democrat.
Bernie Sanders has this approach to reality that calls for the government to give everybody everything. He plans to pay for it by taxing the rich. First, it will be a hop, skip and jump to a time when there will no longer be any rich folk. Second, if we take all of the rich's money, it won't begin to pay for the stuff Bernie wants to give people. This means he will also have to tax the living hell out of the middle class. Soon enough there will not be a middle class. They are doing very poorly under Obama, or haven't you noticed?
Hillary Clinton is a thief and one of the most corrupt people ever to run for President, as a person, she is a total narcissist. She is pompous. She is also achingly shallow, to the point of being mindless in her conception of the world society. She never does anything, ever, unless it will benefit her, personally. Her husband, whom she detests personally - imagine someone as totally narcissist as her being married to a rube like him - is a lot like her in his approach to life. They both are in it for what they can get out of it. If you support them and don't see that, shame on you. But if you support them and are smart enough to see the truth about those two, what kind of person are you? Hillary was fired from the Democratically controlled Watergate Commission because she couldn't control her penchant for telling lies. Hillary voted for the Iraq War. Hillary and Bill are the subject of the late, great Christopher Hitchen's book "No One Left to Lie To."
Before you vote for Hillary again, you owe it to yourself to read that book. Would you know any of this by reading the New York Times? If you read the New York Times every day, or watch NBC every day, you think Hillary is an honest feminist running to be the first female president of These United States. Quick! What part of that previous sentence is not true? You don't know, do you?
In the Democratic race, Hillary supposedly has more delegates than does Bernie. Hillary, according to the highly biased Associated Press, has 1,712 delegates, including 469 so-called "Super-Delegates" who are unelected delegates appointed by party bigwigs. Bernie has 1,004 delegates, including a mere 29 Super-Delegates. If you eliminate the super delegates (and they are under assault by people sympathetic to Bernie), Hillary's lead over Bernie is dramatically smaller: 1243 to 975. Not only that, but Bernie is surging and has all of the momentum. A number of western primaries and caucuses were held this past week and Bernie not only won almost all of them, he won by mind-blowing margins. My late grandfather always said there was something in the water out west. Just so you know, 2,383 delegates are needed for official nomination. There are still 943 delegates available. A number of real nightmares lurk for the Democrats:
1. Hillary is indicted. She should be. There is no doubt about that. Even if you merely follow the mainstream media, you should have reached that conclusion with even a fair reading. If you follow Catherine Herridge at Fox News, who should win a Pulitzer for her coverage of the story, you know in your heart that she should be indicted. Do not assume that Hillary will withdrawal from the campaign if she is indicted. If she has already "won" the nomination, she will dig in and merely run a really vicious campaign. If she is indicted before the primary season ends, Bernie will surge. If the primary season ends with Hillary ahead but without enough elected delegates to secure the nomination, there will be infighting galore over the super-delegates. You must know in your heart that some of these have exacted promises of one sort or another from Hillary, promises which will lead to all manner of backroom shenanigans. A lot of pundits predict that an indictment at any stage will lead to Joltin' Joe Biden as a candidate. Just sayin' So in a race between the thief and the old nut, Biden rides to the rescue. And the GOP has problems? It is the country that has problems.
2. The FBI recommends indictments, but Obama or his functionary Attorney General, quash it. This leads to a series of the most damaging leaks by the FBI. It is more than possible that the public might learn more about Hillary's malfeasance if this is what happens. The FBI will want the really bad stuff out there if there is not an indictment to be had. If there is an indictment, it will have to keep the best evidence under wraps of a sort until the trial. If the GOP candidate has even one-half of a brain, they will jump on this information and ride it home.
3. There is more. On his best day, Biden is a public relations nightmare. And with him entering the race at the last, he will be mostly unprepared and prone to the most egregious kind of screw-ups. Take the screw-ups you know about and double them. Biden and Obama have been shielded from tough questions by the far left media cabal. But if Hillary, Biden or even Sanders get dropped in front of Trump or even Crews in some kind of debate, and start having to answer for Obamacare and some of Obama's pro-Islamic nonsense, well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that it will get ugly real fast. Even if you hate Trump, a debate with him against HIllary will be worth the price of admission. How would you prepare Hillary? If she zings him, and it is certainly likely that she could, he gets madder and drops the gloves. What will she do? Leave? Run from trouble?
To conclude, the AP says that to get the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 2,383 delegate votes at the party convention this summer. Right now, Hillary leads with 1,712 delegates, including 1,243 delegates earned in primaries and caucuses and 469 super delegates. Bernie has 1,004 delegates, including 975 delegates earned in primaries and caucuses and 29 super delegates. The AP says 2,049 delegates are still available. The folk in Wisconsin vote on April 5, followed by Wyoming - Democrats only - on April 9. A huge number of delegates are up for grabs on April 19 when New York State voters weigh in. On April 26 the whole election will hang in the balance when some five states go to the polls on the same day: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. If the matter remains undecided - and there is every indication that it might - there are a number of huge elections in the final days of the primary season. California votes on June 7. Indiana votes on May 3. West Virginia votes on May 10. Oregon votes one week later on May 17. The Democratic vote in the nation's capital is on June 14.
One day soon I will bring you up to date on what is actually happening in the GOP race. Right now, if you are only reading the New York Times you probably think Donald Trump is the son of Adolph Hitler. I feel compelled to tell you that he is not. He is nothing like Hitler. Is Hillary? I have never said that she is the son of any person.
Sports On The Short: Tonight in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the NIT will play its two Final Four Games. At 7 pm, Valparaiso (29-6) collides with BYU (in a wonderful match-up of two proficient teams that score, score, score. The Crusaders are well-balanced. Their success often turns on how long they can keep their agile center, Vashil Fernandez, out of foul trouble and in the game. Fernandez is an outstanding shot blocker who literally keeps other teams off the boards. If you watched Valpo's game against St. Mary's in the NIT Quarterfinals, you saw Vashil Fernandez literally intimidate an entire team. The Gaels are an offensive team for the ages, a team that runs on an offense that is a testimony to the excellence of its coach, Randy Bennett. (I suppose that Bennett really really loves his job there at St. Mary's, because there is no other reason for him not to have been hired away by another school.) Yet on that night in northern Indiana, the Gaels were "shooshed" out of the lane by Fernandez. They stopped even attempting to drive the lane. St. Mary's was ahead at the half because Fernandez picked up two early fouls and Crusader Coach Bryce Drew - another genius of a coach - decided to keep him on the bench through the remainder of the half rather than risk a third foul. Once Fernandez got back in the game, the Crusaders took over and the game ended up as a blow out. Final score: Valparaiso 60, St. Mary's 44. Valpo is lead by Alec Peters on offense. The Senior, who stands at 6', 9" and weighs some 228 pounds, averages 18.5 points per game and was the Horizon League MVP. Another reason for Valpo's habitual success is point guard Keith Carter, who scores over ten points per game, plays a very tough on-ball defense and runs the agile Crusader offense. BYU, 26-10, is an exciting offensive-minded team that seems oblivious to the crowds and the pressure of the situation, all of which is a tribute to their genius (there is that word again) of a coach, Dave Rose. Because it is a largely Mormon team, most of its players have served a two to three season "mission" in which a player picks up and moves to often far away locations and, once there, does missionary work for their church. The lads live a rather spartan life during these missions. The missions mean they are three years older than a similar player on another team. The star of the Cougar team is Senior Kyle Collinsworth, a 6'6" guard who averages 15.2 points per game, which is only third on the team. Collinsworth, who rebounds like a junk yard dog, just never quits. He reminds this writer of former Maryland All-American Greivis Vasquez. BYU is also led by Chase Fischer, who scores over 18 points per game, and Nick Emery, who scores over 16 points per game, on average. Twenty minutes or so after Valparaiso and BYU finish, the second semi-final game will begin. It will pit George Washington against San Diego State. These are two great match-ups, and considering all of the major conference schools that got bounced from this tournament, it again brings up the wisdom, or, more accurately, the lack of wisdom of the NCAA Selection Committee. How Valparaiso was kept out of the Big Show is a Big Wonder. And don't think some of us were fooled by the fact that St. Mary's - another team that deserved the NCAA - was kept out of the New York portion of the NIT because they had to play Valparaiso in order to get there. So let me see, the conventional "wisdom" was that Gonzaga had to beat St. Mary's in the WAC tournament title game to qualify for the NCAA. St. Mary's had beaten Gonzaga twice in the regular season. The Gaels' record at the end of the WAC Tournament was even more gaudy than that of Valpo. But only one WAC team made the NCAA. And what conference does BYU play in? You guessed it: the WAC.
It is hard for World Cup Soccer fans to get their arms around this, but the chances of the United States qualifying to play in the upcoming World Cup in Russia hinge on a game tonight against Guatemala in Columbus, Ohio. There are four teams in the group that the USA plays in. They are in the Fourth Round of Qualifying. The four teams are the USA, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and St. Vincent-Grenadine. Each team plays a home-and-home against every other team with the first and second place teams moving on to Round 5. The USA lost at Guatemala a few days ago. Presently, the USA has a 1-1-1 record and 4 points. They are in third place. Trinidad leads with 7 points, followed by Guatemala with 6, the USA with 4 and St. Vincent with 0 points. There are three games remaining for each team: tonight and then beginning in September. Both of the teams ahead of the USA - Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago - must come to the USA to play. The only road game remaining is at last place St. Vincent, a squad even the struggling Americans whacked hard earlier on. The final score was 6-1. As poorly as things have gone, a win tonight would vault the USA ahead of Guatemala and into second place. They could even be tied for first with Trinidad, but only if Trinidad loses to St. Vincent. The game is scheduled to be played in Guatemala, so don't hold your breath. In preparation for the game tonight, USA Coach Jürgen Klinsmann has activated former Maryland star Graham Zusi and Christian Pulisic, a 17-year-old up and coming star now playing in Germany.
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You shouldn't be. For years, the far left teachers' unions have controlled education in USA Public Schools. Many of these teachers of shockingly limited intelligence have extolled socialism and openly despised democracy and capitalism, even though even a moron realizes that both are about the best man can do to escape despotism. Am I wrong? I don't think so.
Today, if you are a democrat you can almost count on blathering positive news coverage so long as you give lip service to stupid far left ideas that have never worked anywhere on Earth. Barack Hussein Obama has been elected twice to the office of President. He is pro-Islamic Terrorist, pro-Islamic Anti-Feminism, pro-Islamic anti-Semitism, anti-capitalistic and anti-American. If you are surprised about the Democratic race and the polls that show that either candidate will beat the Republican Front-Runner, Donald Trump, you don't know the half of it. You really don't. And why would you if you regularly read the mainstream American media or watch your news on CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC or NBC? If you watch Fox, you'd have about a half of a clue as the what is going on. If you listen to Rush Limbaugh or Mark Levin, even if you disagree with every word they say, you would at least know what was going on. Really, you would. Even if, like I say, you hate their every word.
I confess I have grown to agree with most of what they say. This, even though I am a writer and a trial lawyer and a Democrat.
Bernie Sanders has this approach to reality that calls for the government to give everybody everything. He plans to pay for it by taxing the rich. First, it will be a hop, skip and jump to a time when there will no longer be any rich folk. Second, if we take all of the rich's money, it won't begin to pay for the stuff Bernie wants to give people. This means he will also have to tax the living hell out of the middle class. Soon enough there will not be a middle class. They are doing very poorly under Obama, or haven't you noticed?
Hillary Clinton is a thief and one of the most corrupt people ever to run for President, as a person, she is a total narcissist. She is pompous. She is also achingly shallow, to the point of being mindless in her conception of the world society. She never does anything, ever, unless it will benefit her, personally. Her husband, whom she detests personally - imagine someone as totally narcissist as her being married to a rube like him - is a lot like her in his approach to life. They both are in it for what they can get out of it. If you support them and don't see that, shame on you. But if you support them and are smart enough to see the truth about those two, what kind of person are you? Hillary was fired from the Democratically controlled Watergate Commission because she couldn't control her penchant for telling lies. Hillary voted for the Iraq War. Hillary and Bill are the subject of the late, great Christopher Hitchen's book "No One Left to Lie To."
Before you vote for Hillary again, you owe it to yourself to read that book. Would you know any of this by reading the New York Times? If you read the New York Times every day, or watch NBC every day, you think Hillary is an honest feminist running to be the first female president of These United States. Quick! What part of that previous sentence is not true? You don't know, do you?
In the Democratic race, Hillary supposedly has more delegates than does Bernie. Hillary, according to the highly biased Associated Press, has 1,712 delegates, including 469 so-called "Super-Delegates" who are unelected delegates appointed by party bigwigs. Bernie has 1,004 delegates, including a mere 29 Super-Delegates. If you eliminate the super delegates (and they are under assault by people sympathetic to Bernie), Hillary's lead over Bernie is dramatically smaller: 1243 to 975. Not only that, but Bernie is surging and has all of the momentum. A number of western primaries and caucuses were held this past week and Bernie not only won almost all of them, he won by mind-blowing margins. My late grandfather always said there was something in the water out west. Just so you know, 2,383 delegates are needed for official nomination. There are still 943 delegates available. A number of real nightmares lurk for the Democrats:
1. Hillary is indicted. She should be. There is no doubt about that. Even if you merely follow the mainstream media, you should have reached that conclusion with even a fair reading. If you follow Catherine Herridge at Fox News, who should win a Pulitzer for her coverage of the story, you know in your heart that she should be indicted. Do not assume that Hillary will withdrawal from the campaign if she is indicted. If she has already "won" the nomination, she will dig in and merely run a really vicious campaign. If she is indicted before the primary season ends, Bernie will surge. If the primary season ends with Hillary ahead but without enough elected delegates to secure the nomination, there will be infighting galore over the super-delegates. You must know in your heart that some of these have exacted promises of one sort or another from Hillary, promises which will lead to all manner of backroom shenanigans. A lot of pundits predict that an indictment at any stage will lead to Joltin' Joe Biden as a candidate. Just sayin' So in a race between the thief and the old nut, Biden rides to the rescue. And the GOP has problems? It is the country that has problems.
2. The FBI recommends indictments, but Obama or his functionary Attorney General, quash it. This leads to a series of the most damaging leaks by the FBI. It is more than possible that the public might learn more about Hillary's malfeasance if this is what happens. The FBI will want the really bad stuff out there if there is not an indictment to be had. If there is an indictment, it will have to keep the best evidence under wraps of a sort until the trial. If the GOP candidate has even one-half of a brain, they will jump on this information and ride it home.
3. There is more. On his best day, Biden is a public relations nightmare. And with him entering the race at the last, he will be mostly unprepared and prone to the most egregious kind of screw-ups. Take the screw-ups you know about and double them. Biden and Obama have been shielded from tough questions by the far left media cabal. But if Hillary, Biden or even Sanders get dropped in front of Trump or even Crews in some kind of debate, and start having to answer for Obamacare and some of Obama's pro-Islamic nonsense, well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that it will get ugly real fast. Even if you hate Trump, a debate with him against HIllary will be worth the price of admission. How would you prepare Hillary? If she zings him, and it is certainly likely that she could, he gets madder and drops the gloves. What will she do? Leave? Run from trouble?
To conclude, the AP says that to get the Democratic nomination, a candidate needs 2,383 delegate votes at the party convention this summer. Right now, Hillary leads with 1,712 delegates, including 1,243 delegates earned in primaries and caucuses and 469 super delegates. Bernie has 1,004 delegates, including 975 delegates earned in primaries and caucuses and 29 super delegates. The AP says 2,049 delegates are still available. The folk in Wisconsin vote on April 5, followed by Wyoming - Democrats only - on April 9. A huge number of delegates are up for grabs on April 19 when New York State voters weigh in. On April 26 the whole election will hang in the balance when some five states go to the polls on the same day: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. If the matter remains undecided - and there is every indication that it might - there are a number of huge elections in the final days of the primary season. California votes on June 7. Indiana votes on May 3. West Virginia votes on May 10. Oregon votes one week later on May 17. The Democratic vote in the nation's capital is on June 14.
One day soon I will bring you up to date on what is actually happening in the GOP race. Right now, if you are only reading the New York Times you probably think Donald Trump is the son of Adolph Hitler. I feel compelled to tell you that he is not. He is nothing like Hitler. Is Hillary? I have never said that she is the son of any person.
Sports On The Short: Tonight in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the NIT will play its two Final Four Games. At 7 pm, Valparaiso (29-6) collides with BYU (in a wonderful match-up of two proficient teams that score, score, score. The Crusaders are well-balanced. Their success often turns on how long they can keep their agile center, Vashil Fernandez, out of foul trouble and in the game. Fernandez is an outstanding shot blocker who literally keeps other teams off the boards. If you watched Valpo's game against St. Mary's in the NIT Quarterfinals, you saw Vashil Fernandez literally intimidate an entire team. The Gaels are an offensive team for the ages, a team that runs on an offense that is a testimony to the excellence of its coach, Randy Bennett. (I suppose that Bennett really really loves his job there at St. Mary's, because there is no other reason for him not to have been hired away by another school.) Yet on that night in northern Indiana, the Gaels were "shooshed" out of the lane by Fernandez. They stopped even attempting to drive the lane. St. Mary's was ahead at the half because Fernandez picked up two early fouls and Crusader Coach Bryce Drew - another genius of a coach - decided to keep him on the bench through the remainder of the half rather than risk a third foul. Once Fernandez got back in the game, the Crusaders took over and the game ended up as a blow out. Final score: Valparaiso 60, St. Mary's 44. Valpo is lead by Alec Peters on offense. The Senior, who stands at 6', 9" and weighs some 228 pounds, averages 18.5 points per game and was the Horizon League MVP. Another reason for Valpo's habitual success is point guard Keith Carter, who scores over ten points per game, plays a very tough on-ball defense and runs the agile Crusader offense. BYU, 26-10, is an exciting offensive-minded team that seems oblivious to the crowds and the pressure of the situation, all of which is a tribute to their genius (there is that word again) of a coach, Dave Rose. Because it is a largely Mormon team, most of its players have served a two to three season "mission" in which a player picks up and moves to often far away locations and, once there, does missionary work for their church. The lads live a rather spartan life during these missions. The missions mean they are three years older than a similar player on another team. The star of the Cougar team is Senior Kyle Collinsworth, a 6'6" guard who averages 15.2 points per game, which is only third on the team. Collinsworth, who rebounds like a junk yard dog, just never quits. He reminds this writer of former Maryland All-American Greivis Vasquez. BYU is also led by Chase Fischer, who scores over 18 points per game, and Nick Emery, who scores over 16 points per game, on average. Twenty minutes or so after Valparaiso and BYU finish, the second semi-final game will begin. It will pit George Washington against San Diego State. These are two great match-ups, and considering all of the major conference schools that got bounced from this tournament, it again brings up the wisdom, or, more accurately, the lack of wisdom of the NCAA Selection Committee. How Valparaiso was kept out of the Big Show is a Big Wonder. And don't think some of us were fooled by the fact that St. Mary's - another team that deserved the NCAA - was kept out of the New York portion of the NIT because they had to play Valparaiso in order to get there. So let me see, the conventional "wisdom" was that Gonzaga had to beat St. Mary's in the WAC tournament title game to qualify for the NCAA. St. Mary's had beaten Gonzaga twice in the regular season. The Gaels' record at the end of the WAC Tournament was even more gaudy than that of Valpo. But only one WAC team made the NCAA. And what conference does BYU play in? You guessed it: the WAC.
It is hard for World Cup Soccer fans to get their arms around this, but the chances of the United States qualifying to play in the upcoming World Cup in Russia hinge on a game tonight against Guatemala in Columbus, Ohio. There are four teams in the group that the USA plays in. They are in the Fourth Round of Qualifying. The four teams are the USA, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and St. Vincent-Grenadine. Each team plays a home-and-home against every other team with the first and second place teams moving on to Round 5. The USA lost at Guatemala a few days ago. Presently, the USA has a 1-1-1 record and 4 points. They are in third place. Trinidad leads with 7 points, followed by Guatemala with 6, the USA with 4 and St. Vincent with 0 points. There are three games remaining for each team: tonight and then beginning in September. Both of the teams ahead of the USA - Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago - must come to the USA to play. The only road game remaining is at last place St. Vincent, a squad even the struggling Americans whacked hard earlier on. The final score was 6-1. As poorly as things have gone, a win tonight would vault the USA ahead of Guatemala and into second place. They could even be tied for first with Trinidad, but only if Trinidad loses to St. Vincent. The game is scheduled to be played in Guatemala, so don't hold your breath. In preparation for the game tonight, USA Coach Jürgen Klinsmann has activated former Maryland star Graham Zusi and Christian Pulisic, a 17-year-old up and coming star now playing in Germany.
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Polar Vortex Heading to Midwest, Atlantic Seaboard Early Next Week; Snow and Bitter Cold Likely; Crops, Opening Day Will Feel Impact
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 29, 2016 - The Cherry Blossoms of early spring have come and gone in our Nation's Capital. Plans in Baltimore are centering on next week's Orioles' Opening Day. While cool and even cold mornings are still part of the usual weather in these parts, winter has lost its tenacious grip and all thoughts, even those belonging to the not-so-young, have turn assuredly to spring. As it turns out, the turn, this year at least, is way too early. Winter still lurks. Oh, does it ever! The new winter-scary word for the weather profession is being used to describe next week's weather: "Polar Vortex."
A Polar Vortex is coming to the Midwest and Atlantic Seaboard early next week. If you have succumbed to wishful thinking and already planted back yard tomatoes, dig them up and re-pot them. Even so-called cold weather crops like cabbage and broccoli will be in dire jeopardy.
According to the commercial weather service Accu-Weather, the frigid weather will sweep through the upper Midwest of These United States on Friday and early Saturday. Night temperatures in northern Minnesota will hit single digits. The cold will be in Chicago by Sunday and states like Ohio and West Virginia by early Monday. All of the Atlantic Seaboard north of North Carolina will plunge into the deep freeze by Monday night.
The Baltimore Orioles are heading north by Friday and will play a final pre-season game against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday night. The first regular season game - Opening Day - is Monday in Baltimore against the Twins, beginning at 3:05 pm. After a scheduled off day on Tuesday, they play the Twins on Wednesday and Thursday night, with games starting at 7:05 pm. Then Tampa Bay comes to Baltimore for a weekend series Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
Accu-Weather's Forecast for Saturday and Sunday in International Falls, Minnesota calls for snow and a high of 26-28 degrees and a low of ten degrees. In Middlebury, Vermont, which is in the east-central part of Vermont just east of the high peaks of the Green Mountains, the forecast for Sunday calls for high winds, a high temperature of 30 degrees and a low of 13 degrees. Obviously, up in the Green Mountains the temperature and wind velocities will be far worse. Right now, Accu-Weather says the weather on Monday in Baltimore will be Sunny with a high of 50 degrees. By Monday night, lows of about 40 degrees are called for. The National Weather Service says the termperatures on Monday will not make it to 50 degrees. It is virtually certain that temperatures for the period Sunday through Tuesday will be "far" below normal.
If you have put you winter coat away already, I can tell you that you haven't lived in Baltimore all that long. I have vivid memories of sitting through snow in Baltimore in April at the ballpark. I remember a day before opening day seeing a six-inch snow storm. Opening Day was then postponed even though almost all of the snow was gone by gametime. The game was played the next day.
A Polar Vortex is coming to the Midwest and Atlantic Seaboard early next week. If you have succumbed to wishful thinking and already planted back yard tomatoes, dig them up and re-pot them. Even so-called cold weather crops like cabbage and broccoli will be in dire jeopardy.
According to the commercial weather service Accu-Weather, the frigid weather will sweep through the upper Midwest of These United States on Friday and early Saturday. Night temperatures in northern Minnesota will hit single digits. The cold will be in Chicago by Sunday and states like Ohio and West Virginia by early Monday. All of the Atlantic Seaboard north of North Carolina will plunge into the deep freeze by Monday night.
The Baltimore Orioles are heading north by Friday and will play a final pre-season game against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday night. The first regular season game - Opening Day - is Monday in Baltimore against the Twins, beginning at 3:05 pm. After a scheduled off day on Tuesday, they play the Twins on Wednesday and Thursday night, with games starting at 7:05 pm. Then Tampa Bay comes to Baltimore for a weekend series Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
Accu-Weather's Forecast for Saturday and Sunday in International Falls, Minnesota calls for snow and a high of 26-28 degrees and a low of ten degrees. In Middlebury, Vermont, which is in the east-central part of Vermont just east of the high peaks of the Green Mountains, the forecast for Sunday calls for high winds, a high temperature of 30 degrees and a low of 13 degrees. Obviously, up in the Green Mountains the temperature and wind velocities will be far worse. Right now, Accu-Weather says the weather on Monday in Baltimore will be Sunny with a high of 50 degrees. By Monday night, lows of about 40 degrees are called for. The National Weather Service says the termperatures on Monday will not make it to 50 degrees. It is virtually certain that temperatures for the period Sunday through Tuesday will be "far" below normal.
If you have put you winter coat away already, I can tell you that you haven't lived in Baltimore all that long. I have vivid memories of sitting through snow in Baltimore in April at the ballpark. I remember a day before opening day seeing a six-inch snow storm. Opening Day was then postponed even though almost all of the snow was gone by gametime. The game was played the next day.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
IN GAME UPDATE: Maryland and Kansas in Thriller; Jayhawks up a bucket at the half. Officials? Can they be replaced at halftime?
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 25, 2016 - Maryland and Kansas are in about as thrilling a college basketball game as you could hope to see. At the half, Kansas is up by two points. Sadly, the three guys officiating the game have no clue about what is going on. Three referees. Six eyes and probably hundreds of games officiated. Yet they miss a 'middle of the floor' double dribble by Maryland's Jake Layman, then make it far worse by calling a technical foul on Layman for trying to save a hellacious back injury by holding on to the rim for an extra second, something that is perfectly legal unless the officials are trying to rule that the player is showing off, something too ridiculous to think about on that play. Three referees. Six eyes. Not one got it right. You know and I know that two of the officials - unless they are handicapped in some unannounced way - saw the call correctly. So how screwed up are they to allow the horrible view stand? Explain that.
Then there is the play with Devonte Grahm, the one when he elbowed Maryland's best player, Melo Trimble, in the face. It was obvious and vicious and in the middle of the floor. None of the three refs even noticed the play - how can that be? - then looked at the replay and said play on. If no penalty is called on such an obvious and vicious hit, why have the rule? Are they inside of the head of the Kansas player and decided he didn't mean to do it? Isn't one of the purposes of the rule to curb vicious play? So it is OK to play with your elbows flying all over the place because the refs know what a nice person you are? The replay makes the play look very vicious. Trimble made one brief effort to poke the ball away from Grahm has he moved past Trimble on his way to the basket. But except for getting hit in the middle of his face with Grahm's elbow, the replays show Trimble made no contact with
Grahm. Suddenly, Grahm's elbow flies out and hits Trimble in the middle of the face. Trimble's head flies back and he slumps to the floor.
In the end, the officials do not need to apologize, except to the players. Maryland did not play well in the second half.
Kansas plays on, at least for one more game. Maryland goes home, and when they next take the floor, it will be without Layman and Sulaimon and who else?
This is about the worst officiated game I've seen this season. It would be extremely interesting to have a real sports journalist interview these guys to see how they have mangled so many calls.
The really awful officiating has continued in the second half. They are talking a lot about what Stone "almost" has done. They show a replay of Stone's miss. The replay shows the hard foul on Stone right after the shot, that wasn't called. Seconds later, the same Kansas player takes a dive and Stone is called, on a play where the contact was only about half of what they overlooked on the first play, the one where Stone was hacked but it wasn't called.
Then there is the play with Devonte Grahm, the one when he elbowed Maryland's best player, Melo Trimble, in the face. It was obvious and vicious and in the middle of the floor. None of the three refs even noticed the play - how can that be? - then looked at the replay and said play on. If no penalty is called on such an obvious and vicious hit, why have the rule? Are they inside of the head of the Kansas player and decided he didn't mean to do it? Isn't one of the purposes of the rule to curb vicious play? So it is OK to play with your elbows flying all over the place because the refs know what a nice person you are? The replay makes the play look very vicious. Trimble made one brief effort to poke the ball away from Grahm has he moved past Trimble on his way to the basket. But except for getting hit in the middle of his face with Grahm's elbow, the replays show Trimble made no contact with
Grahm. Suddenly, Grahm's elbow flies out and hits Trimble in the middle of the face. Trimble's head flies back and he slumps to the floor.
In the end, the officials do not need to apologize, except to the players. Maryland did not play well in the second half.
Kansas plays on, at least for one more game. Maryland goes home, and when they next take the floor, it will be without Layman and Sulaimon and who else?
This is about the worst officiated game I've seen this season. It would be extremely interesting to have a real sports journalist interview these guys to see how they have mangled so many calls.
The really awful officiating has continued in the second half. They are talking a lot about what Stone "almost" has done. They show a replay of Stone's miss. The replay shows the hard foul on Stone right after the shot, that wasn't called. Seconds later, the same Kansas player takes a dive and Stone is called, on a play where the contact was only about half of what they overlooked on the first play, the one where Stone was hacked but it wasn't called.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Maryland Earns Sweet 16 Spot With Win Over Hawaii; Refs Do Number On Stephen F. Austin in Loss to Notre Dame; Baseball: Shaffer's Complete Game Shutout Gives Maryland Series Win At Cal State - Fullerton
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 22, 2016 - Trimble, Stone Lead Terps Past Hawaii and Into Sweet 16
It has been 13 long years since Maryland last played in the Sweet 16. Now, the wait is over. Maryland got 24 points from Melo Trimble, 14 from Diamond Stone, including 10 in the first half after Hawaii had jumped out to a 13-6 lead, and a dominant defensive performance from Rasheed Sulaimon to emerge victorious from the Spokane, Washington regional and earn the right to play No. 1 Kansas on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.
Notre Dame Gets Officials' Assistance in "Win" Over Stephen F. Austin
The three men with the most Irish Spirit on Sunday were the three referees, and that spelled defeat for upstart Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks had the lead late when the officials went to work, bailing out outplayed Notre Dame and handing them a most undeserved victory. The problem was evident throughout the game, and the three Notre Dame Officials did what Bob Huggins and West Virginia could not do on Friday night: get Lumberjack Star Thomas Walkup in foul trouble. But Walkup and Brad Harwood, the Lumberjack coach, handled the problem deftly and Walkup remained on the floor for most of the game. Twice, however, he was forced to stand by while Notre Dame players shot lay-ups.
Baseball: Shaffer Complete Game Shutout Gives Maryland Weekend Series Win
Brian Shaffer threw a Complete Game Shutout and Madison Nickens' double in the power alley in the sixth inning plated Justin Morris, who had walked, enabling Maryland to beat back Cal State - Fullerton, 1-0, and win the weekend series, two games to one. With the Big Ten Season set to begin next Friday, Maryland won the series against the No. 23 Titans despite losing the opening game on a walk-off homerun in the tenth inning. On Saturday, Taylor Bloom threw a second straight complete game and Freshman Marty Costes homered twice to pace the Terps to an 8-4 win.
Shaffer struck out five and scattered seven hits in a start he needed but 99 pitches to finish. Maryland improved to 9-10. They now return home for a single game against Liberty on Tuesday evening, before leaving for Iowa and the three game series with the Hawkeyes beginning Friday.
Once Stephen F. Austin took a five point lead late, the officials really went to work. First, they overlooked an obvious double-dribble that allowed Notre Dame to maintain possession and score a pivotal basket. Then they called an over the back foul on SFA that wasn't a foul at all. Both calls were embarassing and wrong. In neither case did the two officials not making the call discuss the call with the official who blew the call.
The game was very close throughout. Notre Dame held the lead longer than did the Lumberjacks, but the jacks rallied late behind Walkup. Up five, Walkup took a long three shot to attempt to put the game away, but missed. He also missed late when the game was in the balance.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Obama Acts in Bad Faith Again With Supreme Court "Nomination;" Sports: Terps Lose to UC-Irvine, 9-5; Brighton Moves Into Second Place in English Championship, 6 Points Behind Idle Burnley
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 16, 2016 - "Emminently qualified." Do you like that phrase? I hope so, because you will be deluged with it in the coming weeks and months by those on the far far left who want the United States Senate to confirm President Obama's latest ultra far left Supreme Court nominee, Merrick B. Garland. Right now, Garland is the Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia. Everybody, it seems, agrees with the premise that Mr. Garland has all of the qualifications to be a Supreme Court Justice. Good for him!
Sadly for him, being emminently qualified is merely a basic qualification. Another necessary qualification for someone being nominated is fidelity or, remembering the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John 'Benedict' Roberts, seeming fidelity to the political views of the President doing the nominating. Obama and his minions want you to believe the President has nominated someone who is not an ultra far leftist. They want you to believe that Judge Garland is a moderate. If you are stupid enough to buy into that hogwash, I have some wonderful real estate up in New York City that I would like to talk to you about.
Obama said the Senate would be abdicating its duty if it didn't give Garland an up or down vote. Does that mean that the Senate also shucked its duty all those times Harry Reed prevented that august body from voting on some measure that the House of Representatives had passed?
Obama said that Garland is just so eminently qualified that it would be just wrong not to give him a confirmation vote. Well, Mr. President, if Judge Garland is so bloody perfect, why are you only now getting around to nominating him? Why wasn't he your first nominee when an opening occurred on the Court? Instead you nominated two women who you also described as moderates but in fact have been little more than far left rubber stamps. Both have made statements that indicated a profoundly un-intellectual understanding of some of the major issues facing the country - and the court - today. One wonders what kind of vetting both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor have received from those fine folk in the Obama inner sanctum. Apparently, the only necessary qualification for both is the ability to follow orders in a very unimaginative way. Someone has suggested that one or the other of these two justices was the one who alerted Obama to the fact that Obamashame (i.e., ObamaCare) was in big trouble during the Court's first deliberation on the bill. Obama and his minions reacted by launching a very public campaign to intimidate the Court into coming up with some way to rule that the debauched legislation was constitutional. It worked, to the eternal shame of Chief Justice Roberts, who bolted to the four leftists to save the legislation, as horrible as it is.
Now, Obama is at it again. Only it is the Senate he is trying to intimidate. For once, Senate President Mitch McConnell is indicating he will not budge. If he doesn't and succeeds in keeping his side in line, Garland's nomination is at least postponed until after the November Presidential Election. If the GOP candidate wins that election, Garland will be done for good. If Hillary wins, especially if the Senate turns Democratic (possible but not likely), Garland could be brought back up. Don't hold your breath.
I heard a recording today of Senator Schumer's diatribe about President Bush's nominations to the Supreme Court. Schumer said that after being fooled about the moderate characteristics of Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts, he would not consider confirming or even considering a third Bush nominee.
What is the old saying? "Turn about, fair play."
SPORTS: Maryland Loses to California-Irvine Anteaters, 9-5
Another good baseball team lighted up Maryland's pitching staff Wednesday, with the result being another Maryland loss. The UC-Irvine Anteaters beat back the Terps, 9-5, in Irvine, California. The Anteaters improved to 11-6 while Maryland dropped to 7-9.
Taylor Stiles gave up 9 hits and 6 runs - although only 2 were earned - in 4 and two-thirds innings of work. He took the loss and fell to 1-2. Maryland's two front line relievers also threw, with mixed results. Ryan Selmer pitched just two-thirds of an inning, but gave up two hits and two walks, along with 2 earned runs. Robert Galligan went the final two and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits and one earned run.
The Anteaters broke on top in the bottom of the third inning when they scored an unearned run. Maryland tied it in the top of the fourth. Nick Dunn singled and went to third when Nick Cieri doubled. Dunn then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Freshman Marty Costes.
UC-Irvine regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when they erupted for three runs. But the Terps came right back to tie the score in the top of the fifth. The big blow was a two RBI triple by Freshman Madison Nickens. Nickens then scored on an RBI ground ball by Dunn.
The Anteaters got the lead right back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth, knocking Stiles from the game in the process. Maryland got one of the runs back in the sixth on a Kevin Smith single, but that was it for the Maryland offense. UC-Irvine scored two more times in the bottom of the sixth and added an insurance run in the eighth.
The Terps have one day to recuperate before beginning a three-game series in Fullerton, California against California State University at Fullerton.
Soccer: Brighton Moves Ahead of Middlesbrough Into Second Place in Championship League; Burnley Lead at 6 Points
Burnley has a new 'closest pursuer' in the English Championship. It is Brighton and Hove Albion, which beat back Reading on Tuesday night, 1-0. The victory allows Brighton to move one point up on idle Middlesbrough, but leaves them still six points behind idle Burnley. Burnley has 74 points after winning six straight matches and going undefeated in 2016. Brighton stands in second with 68 points. Middlesbrough is third with 67 points, followed by 4th place Hull City with 66 points. Derby County is fifth with 61 points and Sheffield Wednesday is sixth with 59 points.
The first and second place finishers are automatically promoted to the Premier League for next season. The third through sixth place finishers enter a tournament, with only the winner gaining promotion to the Premier. The other three teams return to the Championship for the following season. As we post this, Cardiff and Ipswich are tied for seventh place with 58 points.
Sadly for him, being emminently qualified is merely a basic qualification. Another necessary qualification for someone being nominated is fidelity or, remembering the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John 'Benedict' Roberts, seeming fidelity to the political views of the President doing the nominating. Obama and his minions want you to believe the President has nominated someone who is not an ultra far leftist. They want you to believe that Judge Garland is a moderate. If you are stupid enough to buy into that hogwash, I have some wonderful real estate up in New York City that I would like to talk to you about.
Obama said the Senate would be abdicating its duty if it didn't give Garland an up or down vote. Does that mean that the Senate also shucked its duty all those times Harry Reed prevented that august body from voting on some measure that the House of Representatives had passed?
Obama said that Garland is just so eminently qualified that it would be just wrong not to give him a confirmation vote. Well, Mr. President, if Judge Garland is so bloody perfect, why are you only now getting around to nominating him? Why wasn't he your first nominee when an opening occurred on the Court? Instead you nominated two women who you also described as moderates but in fact have been little more than far left rubber stamps. Both have made statements that indicated a profoundly un-intellectual understanding of some of the major issues facing the country - and the court - today. One wonders what kind of vetting both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor have received from those fine folk in the Obama inner sanctum. Apparently, the only necessary qualification for both is the ability to follow orders in a very unimaginative way. Someone has suggested that one or the other of these two justices was the one who alerted Obama to the fact that Obamashame (i.e., ObamaCare) was in big trouble during the Court's first deliberation on the bill. Obama and his minions reacted by launching a very public campaign to intimidate the Court into coming up with some way to rule that the debauched legislation was constitutional. It worked, to the eternal shame of Chief Justice Roberts, who bolted to the four leftists to save the legislation, as horrible as it is.
Now, Obama is at it again. Only it is the Senate he is trying to intimidate. For once, Senate President Mitch McConnell is indicating he will not budge. If he doesn't and succeeds in keeping his side in line, Garland's nomination is at least postponed until after the November Presidential Election. If the GOP candidate wins that election, Garland will be done for good. If Hillary wins, especially if the Senate turns Democratic (possible but not likely), Garland could be brought back up. Don't hold your breath.
I heard a recording today of Senator Schumer's diatribe about President Bush's nominations to the Supreme Court. Schumer said that after being fooled about the moderate characteristics of Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts, he would not consider confirming or even considering a third Bush nominee.
What is the old saying? "Turn about, fair play."
SPORTS: Maryland Loses to California-Irvine Anteaters, 9-5
Another good baseball team lighted up Maryland's pitching staff Wednesday, with the result being another Maryland loss. The UC-Irvine Anteaters beat back the Terps, 9-5, in Irvine, California. The Anteaters improved to 11-6 while Maryland dropped to 7-9.
Taylor Stiles gave up 9 hits and 6 runs - although only 2 were earned - in 4 and two-thirds innings of work. He took the loss and fell to 1-2. Maryland's two front line relievers also threw, with mixed results. Ryan Selmer pitched just two-thirds of an inning, but gave up two hits and two walks, along with 2 earned runs. Robert Galligan went the final two and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits and one earned run.
The Anteaters broke on top in the bottom of the third inning when they scored an unearned run. Maryland tied it in the top of the fourth. Nick Dunn singled and went to third when Nick Cieri doubled. Dunn then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Freshman Marty Costes.
UC-Irvine regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when they erupted for three runs. But the Terps came right back to tie the score in the top of the fifth. The big blow was a two RBI triple by Freshman Madison Nickens. Nickens then scored on an RBI ground ball by Dunn.
The Anteaters got the lead right back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth, knocking Stiles from the game in the process. Maryland got one of the runs back in the sixth on a Kevin Smith single, but that was it for the Maryland offense. UC-Irvine scored two more times in the bottom of the sixth and added an insurance run in the eighth.
The Terps have one day to recuperate before beginning a three-game series in Fullerton, California against California State University at Fullerton.
Soccer: Brighton Moves Ahead of Middlesbrough Into Second Place in Championship League; Burnley Lead at 6 Points
Burnley has a new 'closest pursuer' in the English Championship. It is Brighton and Hove Albion, which beat back Reading on Tuesday night, 1-0. The victory allows Brighton to move one point up on idle Middlesbrough, but leaves them still six points behind idle Burnley. Burnley has 74 points after winning six straight matches and going undefeated in 2016. Brighton stands in second with 68 points. Middlesbrough is third with 67 points, followed by 4th place Hull City with 66 points. Derby County is fifth with 61 points and Sheffield Wednesday is sixth with 59 points.
The first and second place finishers are automatically promoted to the Premier League for next season. The third through sixth place finishers enter a tournament, with only the winner gaining promotion to the Premier. The other three teams return to the Championship for the following season. As we post this, Cardiff and Ipswich are tied for seventh place with 58 points.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Selection Sunday: Ridiculous Choices and Stupidity Rule the Day; Mediocrity Gets In While Very Good Teams With Fabulous Records are Kept Out; Just Ask St. Mary's and Valparaiso
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 14, 2016 - You see, the three cheeky boys out on the floor Saturday during the Maryland v. Michigan State Big Ten Semifinal were fully unprepared for Maryland shutting down the Spartan offense for the entire second half. The TV dunderheads kept saying, 'well, Maryland hasn't scored from the field in 87 minutes! That Michigan State defense is just incredible! I've never seen anything that even compares to this Michigan State defense! But, the problem for people like that is when reality keeps getting in the way. Michigan State was way ahead at halftime - way ahead - but for most of the second half, Michigan State's lead was, well, virtually nothing. In fact, when we were finally treated to a peek at the scoreboard, Maryland was, get this, ahead. Ahead? Ahead! And on another occasion when they inadvertently allowed us to see the bloody scoreboard, Maryland and Michigan State were tied. So when Melo Trimble brought the ball down the floor with just a few seconds left, the Spartan lead had swelled back to one. One. As in one point. Michigan State had rebuilt their lead to one whole entire point. During the timeout, there was this conversation between the cheeky ones (i.e., the referees) and "Tom".
Tom: What are you doing to me? We've gone over this. We've gone over this hundreds and hundreds of times. You jerks can't let this happen. If Maryland makes a shot here, we are going to lose.
Cheeky One (trying to go cheek-to-cheek with Tom): We are not going to lose, Tom. We will not lose! We have got it covered, Tom. We really do!
Tom: You idiots don't get it. They are better than us. We can't win if you don't do what you're supposed to do!
Cheeky Two (pushing Cheeky One out of the way): Tom! We've let your big louts do whatever they want to do. We've let them push. We've let them kick. We let them work that Trimble kid over but good. How about when your guy hit him in the face? Did you see all that blood? He was almost knocked out! Real referees would never have allowed that! We did good, didn't we Tom? Didn't we?
Tom: What are you going to do if Trimble drives? If the ball goes in, we're behind. But even if it doesn't, my guys don't know how to defense him. We'll have to pound him into the floor. We just will. What are you going to do? You sissies will call a foul. He'll get two free throws. Then what will you do? Call a lane violation? You'll be laughed out of the gym! You've got this all messed up. You really do. I'm finished with you three. I heard the ACC refs knew how to handle Maryland. I should've listened to Roy and Mike. They knew. They said real money talks. I wouldn't have had to humiliate myself with you three. This is the worst! The worst! It's the end of the world. We're going to lose! All because of you idiots.
Cheeky Three (giving Tom a real big bear hug): Just calm down, big boy. We will not let you down. We will not. I've talked to your big guys. We've got it covered. They will punch down when he gets past the foul line. They will use elbows. They will use knees. They will use feet. I talked to Wayne. He's OK with it. He doesn't want these interlopers either. He's starting to wonder why we let them in. But we can't do anything about that now. You watch, though. No foul. No basket. No nothing.
Tom: Alright, then. And remember, no fouls on the foul shots if they do miss and foul us.
Cheeky Three: Make sure you tell your kids not to try to block any full court heave. Wouldn't that be a mess?
Tom: What are you talking about? What kind of full court heave? I haven't said anything about that. What do you mean, 'full court heave?' What is it?
Cheeky One: I've got a bad feeling about this. I really do.
The Big Ten put the tip-off of Maryland's quarter-final game against a red hot Nebraska team at 10:00 pm on Friday night, then brought them back on Saturday afternoon to play the No. 2 team in the nation. The three Big Ten refs allowed Michigan State to beat the you know what out of Trimble and Diamond Stone for the whole game. In one instance, Trimble was openly pushed away from the man he was guarding as a cross-court bullet was thrown in the direction of his head. As Trimble stumbled backwards, he was hit flush in the face by the ball, sending blood flying in every which direction. No call was made. Michigan State was so brutal to Stone and Jake Layman in the second half - without any fouls being called - that the Spartan's designated enforcer, Matt Costello, was seen on national television laughing and rolling his eyes after one play in which he hacked Diamond Stone without drawing a call. In the first half, Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon was called for a technical foul. Imagine. On the first play of the game, Layman scored as he was punched in the face. There was no call, although the basket was allowed. Then there was that last play. The Spartans had just moved up three on two free throws by Denzel Valentine. The in-bounds pass, with just eight-tenths of a second left, came to Trimble, who pivoted as he put up a long shot from just past his own foul line. The replay shows Harris stepping into Trimble, then backing away after he made contact. Said Trimble: "I was very surprised. He clearly bumped into me.” Putting it plainly, when given the choice of national incredulity or Izzo's anger, the three cheeky refs will always take the national incredulity, which doesn't last long at all. Make that call and give Trimble a chance to send the game into overtime, well, it would be like a death sentence for the referees. After the game, Izzo told a TV interviewer that he "honestly" didn't see the play. I believe him. I mean, why bother to watch the last play of the game. It isn't like Maryland is going to win. His buddies had already taken care of that.
The rules of professional conduct for lawyers say they are to avoid even the "appearance" of impropriety. In college basketball, they don't bother trying. Izzo and the officials act like old fraternity brothers, with everybody else needing their permission to even take a step out on the court. The Big Ten has no problem with it. Turgeon was called for a technical for complaining about the game the officials were calling (or not calling) in the first half.. Imagine that. Someone had the audacity to complain. What does he expect? Fairness? Following the rules?
It is only Maryland's second year in the Big Ten, yet I am so conditioned to getting shafted by the officials that I didn't even expect a call on the final hack. Trimble was trying to shoot a full court heave when he was chested off his spot on the floor by the Spartan's Eron Harris. It was obvious, right out in the middle of the floor. No call. The explanation was that the shot had no chance of going in. Huh? This isn't football - I mean, it looks like football, but it is supposed to be basketball - and the idea that the shot has to have a chance of going in is irrelevant. A foul, like that, is a foul.
Turns out the NCAA was just getting started. This field of 68 was obscene. How does Oregon State get in but Valparaiso doesn't. Valpo beat Oregon State on the Beavers' home floor. Valpo came within a whisker of beating Oregon - a number one seed - on the Ducks' home floor. Valpo has a record of 26 wins and just 6 defeats. But they didn't get in. Congress should investigate. Who is the Congressman from Indiana for Valpo? Live right. Play fair. Win. Get screwed.
St. Mary's was another team that should be getting ready for the NCAA but won't be. St. Mary's whacked Stanford and lost a very very close game at California. Wouldn't it be nice if California came to St. Mary's once in a while. But they won't because if they did they would lose. St. Mary's cracked the Top 25 this season. St. Mary's won so often that losing was not something they thought about. Like any team coached and recruited by Randy Bennett, the Gaels have wonderful guards and are very exciting to watch. Dane Pineau, the point guard from Australia, is a wonderful player who is worth the price of admission. St. Mary's will host a game in the NIT against New Mexico State. Like Valpo, they have a good chance of advancing in the NIT. They could actually win. Watch out. If they do, it will make their demotion to the NIT even more of a joke. Most of the coaches are most upset by the moving target used by the Selection Committee. This year, the strength of schedule was said to be oh so important. Other years it was RPI. St. Mary's RPI is 37, way better than Wichita State, which got in with a 48. If St. Mary's could have just won at California. If I made the rules, I'd insist that every team from a major conference schedule three games at mid major schools. I'd insist that the RPI be re-calculated to put more emphasis on league games. And I would absolutely insist on the NCAA tournament taking the regular season champion of every conference, especially if they have 20 or more Division I wins.
What's the use? When it comes right down to it, the Selection Committee figures the smaller schools can't complain as much or as loud as the big schools, so they pick 7th place teams from the big conferences instead of the smaller schools that won their conferences but lost to a team in the conference tournament that they'd beaten twice during the regular season. These tournaments are not fair as a method of deciding the conference participant in the NCAA. Let the regular season champ get the automatic bid and the tournament champ do the sweating on Selection Sunday. Valpo beat Green Bay twice during the regular season including a thrilling win at Green Bay. Valpo was the first team in ages to win the Horizon League by three games. Not good enough. Like heck! More than good enough. Valpo and St. Mary's should've been no-brainers with the records they compiled. But they were screwed because the NCAA isn't fair enough. If all things are equal, why doesn't the NCAA decide what matters most in getting in the NCAA. If the Selection Committee says RPI is what matters, see to it that ut matters year in and year out on selection Sunday. Don't change the bloody rules just so Ding Dong State, which finished 7th in somebody's favorite league, gets in and somebody who won their league and beat everybody twice doesn't get in because they lost the third time they played somebody.
A guy on the NIT Selection Committee had a real interesting comment on Sunday. He said it was very late on Sunday afternoon before they found out that Valparaiso wasn't going to be in the NCAA. To me, that indicates a couple of things. One, the folk on the NIT Selection Group couldn't imagine a team as good as Valpo needing an NIT bid. Two, Valpo was in the NCAA until the last second. But that raises the question of why Wichita State got in and Valpo didn't, or why Oregon State got in and Valpo didn't.
Tom: What are you doing to me? We've gone over this. We've gone over this hundreds and hundreds of times. You jerks can't let this happen. If Maryland makes a shot here, we are going to lose.
Cheeky One (trying to go cheek-to-cheek with Tom): We are not going to lose, Tom. We will not lose! We have got it covered, Tom. We really do!
Tom: You idiots don't get it. They are better than us. We can't win if you don't do what you're supposed to do!
Cheeky Two (pushing Cheeky One out of the way): Tom! We've let your big louts do whatever they want to do. We've let them push. We've let them kick. We let them work that Trimble kid over but good. How about when your guy hit him in the face? Did you see all that blood? He was almost knocked out! Real referees would never have allowed that! We did good, didn't we Tom? Didn't we?
Tom: What are you going to do if Trimble drives? If the ball goes in, we're behind. But even if it doesn't, my guys don't know how to defense him. We'll have to pound him into the floor. We just will. What are you going to do? You sissies will call a foul. He'll get two free throws. Then what will you do? Call a lane violation? You'll be laughed out of the gym! You've got this all messed up. You really do. I'm finished with you three. I heard the ACC refs knew how to handle Maryland. I should've listened to Roy and Mike. They knew. They said real money talks. I wouldn't have had to humiliate myself with you three. This is the worst! The worst! It's the end of the world. We're going to lose! All because of you idiots.
Cheeky Three (giving Tom a real big bear hug): Just calm down, big boy. We will not let you down. We will not. I've talked to your big guys. We've got it covered. They will punch down when he gets past the foul line. They will use elbows. They will use knees. They will use feet. I talked to Wayne. He's OK with it. He doesn't want these interlopers either. He's starting to wonder why we let them in. But we can't do anything about that now. You watch, though. No foul. No basket. No nothing.
Tom: Alright, then. And remember, no fouls on the foul shots if they do miss and foul us.
Cheeky Three: Make sure you tell your kids not to try to block any full court heave. Wouldn't that be a mess?
Tom: What are you talking about? What kind of full court heave? I haven't said anything about that. What do you mean, 'full court heave?' What is it?
Cheeky One: I've got a bad feeling about this. I really do.
The Big Ten put the tip-off of Maryland's quarter-final game against a red hot Nebraska team at 10:00 pm on Friday night, then brought them back on Saturday afternoon to play the No. 2 team in the nation. The three Big Ten refs allowed Michigan State to beat the you know what out of Trimble and Diamond Stone for the whole game. In one instance, Trimble was openly pushed away from the man he was guarding as a cross-court bullet was thrown in the direction of his head. As Trimble stumbled backwards, he was hit flush in the face by the ball, sending blood flying in every which direction. No call was made. Michigan State was so brutal to Stone and Jake Layman in the second half - without any fouls being called - that the Spartan's designated enforcer, Matt Costello, was seen on national television laughing and rolling his eyes after one play in which he hacked Diamond Stone without drawing a call. In the first half, Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon was called for a technical foul. Imagine. On the first play of the game, Layman scored as he was punched in the face. There was no call, although the basket was allowed. Then there was that last play. The Spartans had just moved up three on two free throws by Denzel Valentine. The in-bounds pass, with just eight-tenths of a second left, came to Trimble, who pivoted as he put up a long shot from just past his own foul line. The replay shows Harris stepping into Trimble, then backing away after he made contact. Said Trimble: "I was very surprised. He clearly bumped into me.” Putting it plainly, when given the choice of national incredulity or Izzo's anger, the three cheeky refs will always take the national incredulity, which doesn't last long at all. Make that call and give Trimble a chance to send the game into overtime, well, it would be like a death sentence for the referees. After the game, Izzo told a TV interviewer that he "honestly" didn't see the play. I believe him. I mean, why bother to watch the last play of the game. It isn't like Maryland is going to win. His buddies had already taken care of that.
It is only Maryland's second year in the Big Ten, yet I am so conditioned to getting shafted by the officials that I didn't even expect a call on the final hack. Trimble was trying to shoot a full court heave when he was chested off his spot on the floor by the Spartan's Eron Harris. It was obvious, right out in the middle of the floor. No call. The explanation was that the shot had no chance of going in. Huh? This isn't football - I mean, it looks like football, but it is supposed to be basketball - and the idea that the shot has to have a chance of going in is irrelevant. A foul, like that, is a foul.
Turns out the NCAA was just getting started. This field of 68 was obscene. How does Oregon State get in but Valparaiso doesn't. Valpo beat Oregon State on the Beavers' home floor. Valpo came within a whisker of beating Oregon - a number one seed - on the Ducks' home floor. Valpo has a record of 26 wins and just 6 defeats. But they didn't get in. Congress should investigate. Who is the Congressman from Indiana for Valpo? Live right. Play fair. Win. Get screwed.
St. Mary's was another team that should be getting ready for the NCAA but won't be. St. Mary's whacked Stanford and lost a very very close game at California. Wouldn't it be nice if California came to St. Mary's once in a while. But they won't because if they did they would lose. St. Mary's cracked the Top 25 this season. St. Mary's won so often that losing was not something they thought about. Like any team coached and recruited by Randy Bennett, the Gaels have wonderful guards and are very exciting to watch. Dane Pineau, the point guard from Australia, is a wonderful player who is worth the price of admission. St. Mary's will host a game in the NIT against New Mexico State. Like Valpo, they have a good chance of advancing in the NIT. They could actually win. Watch out. If they do, it will make their demotion to the NIT even more of a joke. Most of the coaches are most upset by the moving target used by the Selection Committee. This year, the strength of schedule was said to be oh so important. Other years it was RPI. St. Mary's RPI is 37, way better than Wichita State, which got in with a 48. If St. Mary's could have just won at California. If I made the rules, I'd insist that every team from a major conference schedule three games at mid major schools. I'd insist that the RPI be re-calculated to put more emphasis on league games. And I would absolutely insist on the NCAA tournament taking the regular season champion of every conference, especially if they have 20 or more Division I wins.
What's the use? When it comes right down to it, the Selection Committee figures the smaller schools can't complain as much or as loud as the big schools, so they pick 7th place teams from the big conferences instead of the smaller schools that won their conferences but lost to a team in the conference tournament that they'd beaten twice during the regular season. These tournaments are not fair as a method of deciding the conference participant in the NCAA. Let the regular season champ get the automatic bid and the tournament champ do the sweating on Selection Sunday. Valpo beat Green Bay twice during the regular season including a thrilling win at Green Bay. Valpo was the first team in ages to win the Horizon League by three games. Not good enough. Like heck! More than good enough. Valpo and St. Mary's should've been no-brainers with the records they compiled. But they were screwed because the NCAA isn't fair enough. If all things are equal, why doesn't the NCAA decide what matters most in getting in the NCAA. If the Selection Committee says RPI is what matters, see to it that ut matters year in and year out on selection Sunday. Don't change the bloody rules just so Ding Dong State, which finished 7th in somebody's favorite league, gets in and somebody who won their league and beat everybody twice doesn't get in because they lost the third time they played somebody.
A guy on the NIT Selection Committee had a real interesting comment on Sunday. He said it was very late on Sunday afternoon before they found out that Valparaiso wasn't going to be in the NCAA. To me, that indicates a couple of things. One, the folk on the NIT Selection Group couldn't imagine a team as good as Valpo needing an NIT bid. Two, Valpo was in the NCAA until the last second. But that raises the question of why Wichita State got in and Valpo didn't, or why Oregon State got in and Valpo didn't.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Key Primary Votes Set for Tuesday Amidst Backroom Scheming; Maryland in NCAA Tournament; Will Play South Dakota State on Friday; Maryland Baseball Edges Bryant, 8-6; Burnley Expands Championship Lead to 7 Points
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 13, 2016 - Two days from now voters in a couple of pivotal states will go to the voting booths and make decisions that will go a long way towards making clear who the nominees of the respective political parties will be for the fall Presidential Elections. Especially in Florida and Ohio, where a lot of delegates are up for grabs and where the delegates are awarded on a "winner-take-all" basis, the decisions made may make clear who is going to be nominated by the Democrats and Republicans, respectively. As most Americans know by now, the GOP is scheming in the proverbial back rooms to deny Donald Trump the Republican nomination. The Democratic situaion is not all that different, except that the Dems did their scheming in advance, and awarded a sinful amount of delegates to HIllary Clinton, delegates that her schief rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, had no real chance to compete for. The result of this shameful nonsense was that, in Michigan, Sanders battled his way to victory in the popular vote, but Clinton received more delegates in defeat because she financially incentivised their votes for her before any of the real votes were cast. On the GOP side, a bunch of folk who know better than anyone else don't want Trump to be the candidate, even though it was the low brow and shameful leadership of these back room nabobs that led to Trump's strong voter support. Time after time GOP candidates promised to take certain actions if they were elected. Then, they were elected. Then, they went to Washington and did the polar opposite of what they promised the voters they would do. It doesn't get more shameful and low brow than that.
As I write this post, Trump leads the voting with 460 delegates, each of whom by rule must vote for him on the first ballot at this summer's GOP convention. If Trump or any other candidate can secure 1237 delegate commitments, they will be the GOP nominee. Senator Ted Cruz is in second place with 370 secured delegates. Senator Marco Rubio is a distant third with 163 delegates, followed by Ohio Governor John Kasich with 63 delegates. Rubio won the Saturday caucuses in Washington, D.C., followed closely by Kasich. But there are so few Republican voters living in the nation's capital that only one delegate was at stake, and Rubio and Cruz will split that delegate. In Wyoming, Cruz was the easy winner. There are 1401 delegates still to be awarded. Trump needs 777 of these delegates to secure the nomination. Cruz needs 867.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads the race with 1231 secured delegates, followed by Sanders with 576. Exactly 2,383 delegates are needed for nomination. There are 2,958 delegates still to be awarded.
The mainstream media was concerned over this past weekend with the minor violence that has troubled Trump's campaign stops. Agitators are trying to disrupt every campaign stop. Trump isn't taking kindly to their low-brow stunts. One wonders how the mainstream would be reacting if the exact same thing was going on at Clinton's appearances.
Meanwhile, the FBI probe of Clinton has taken a decided turn that leads to indictment of the candidate if such an indictment is not quashed by President Obama or his operatives in the Justice Department. Fox News and their outstanding covert operations reporter, Catherine Harridge, reported last week that ""Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton's] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,"
Other sources have indicated that a grand jury is already seated in the Clinton case and is hearing evidence. It has been confirmed that Pagliano has been given immunity by federal investigators.
SPORTS: Maryland in NCAA, But With Woeful Placement, Terps Will Have to be Magnificent to Advance
It is no fun being the University of Maryland. The Terps play by the rules and are politically correct to a T, for all the good it does them. After three woeful Big Ten basketball officials eased Michigan State past the Terps in the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final, the NCAA Selection Committee Made an Outstanding South Dakota State team a No. 12 seed and matched them up against Maryland in the first round by down-seeding Maryland yet again. The NCAA's own RIP had Maryland ranked No. 13 in the nation last week. Between then and now Maryland did fast work of surging Nebraska, then took Michigan State to the buzzer before having the decision go against them, so how. Do the math. The 13th best team should have been the first 4th seed, but Maryland was made a fifth seed. How? And South Dakota State had an RIP of 28. That makes them a No. 7 seed, but they were down seeded so they could be matched up against Maryland. After being No. 28 in the last RIP, the Jackrabbits won their conference tournament. That gets them a 12 seed. But things are all copasetic and on the up and ups. Sure they are. Just yesterday, those cheeky Big Ten Referees got together with the love of their respective lives, Tom Izzo, and even while the Spartans were throwing Maryland all over the floor, they were calling most of the fouls on Maryland. Then they sat back and allowed the Spartans to mug Melo Trimble. If that happened outside of the field house, there would have been arrests. But why bother? It happens every game of every year.
Baseball: Maryland Takes Weekend Set From Bryant, Two Games to One, by Winning Sunday, 8-6, behind Excellant Start by Brian Shaffer
Maryland's baseball team pulled itself together enough to defeat Bryant on Sunday afternoon to win the three-game weekend set, two games to one. Justin Morris, the Terp catcher, ripped a bases loaded double to plate three runs during a five-run Maryland fifth inning uprising to key the win. Brian Shaffer allowed only one earned run and five hits over seven strong innings to win his first game of the season. The victory helped ease the sour taste of Saturday's 2-0 loss to Bryant, which finished the weekend with an outstanding overall record of 9-4. Maryland improved to 7-8 as they prepare to fly west for a single game with the University of California at Irvine Anteaters and a three-game weekend set with California State at Fullerton. Both teams played in the NCAA Tournament last season, and the Anteaters, like Maryland, made it all the way to the Super Regional Round.
Soccer: Burnley Rips Huddersfield, 3-1; Combined With Middlesbrough Loss to Lowly Charlton Puts Claret 7 Points Up in English Championship League
Burnley won on the road again, this time at Huddersfield Town. Stephen Ward, Sam Vokes and Ben Mee all scored as the Claret won for the 6th straight time. Burnley has yet to lose in 2016, and their Championship Lead has now swelled to 7 points. Burnley has 74 points to 67 for second place Middlesbrough, which lost to Charlton Athletic, 2-0. Hull City and Brighton and Hove Albion are tied for third with 65 points each. Derby County is in fifth place with 61 points, while Sheffield Wednesday stands in 6th with 59 points.
As I write this post, Trump leads the voting with 460 delegates, each of whom by rule must vote for him on the first ballot at this summer's GOP convention. If Trump or any other candidate can secure 1237 delegate commitments, they will be the GOP nominee. Senator Ted Cruz is in second place with 370 secured delegates. Senator Marco Rubio is a distant third with 163 delegates, followed by Ohio Governor John Kasich with 63 delegates. Rubio won the Saturday caucuses in Washington, D.C., followed closely by Kasich. But there are so few Republican voters living in the nation's capital that only one delegate was at stake, and Rubio and Cruz will split that delegate. In Wyoming, Cruz was the easy winner. There are 1401 delegates still to be awarded. Trump needs 777 of these delegates to secure the nomination. Cruz needs 867.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads the race with 1231 secured delegates, followed by Sanders with 576. Exactly 2,383 delegates are needed for nomination. There are 2,958 delegates still to be awarded.
The mainstream media was concerned over this past weekend with the minor violence that has troubled Trump's campaign stops. Agitators are trying to disrupt every campaign stop. Trump isn't taking kindly to their low-brow stunts. One wonders how the mainstream would be reacting if the exact same thing was going on at Clinton's appearances.
Meanwhile, the FBI probe of Clinton has taken a decided turn that leads to indictment of the candidate if such an indictment is not quashed by President Obama or his operatives in the Justice Department. Fox News and their outstanding covert operations reporter, Catherine Harridge, reported last week that ""Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton's] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,"
Other sources have indicated that a grand jury is already seated in the Clinton case and is hearing evidence. It has been confirmed that Pagliano has been given immunity by federal investigators.
SPORTS: Maryland in NCAA, But With Woeful Placement, Terps Will Have to be Magnificent to Advance
It is no fun being the University of Maryland. The Terps play by the rules and are politically correct to a T, for all the good it does them. After three woeful Big Ten basketball officials eased Michigan State past the Terps in the Big Ten Tournament Semi-Final, the NCAA Selection Committee Made an Outstanding South Dakota State team a No. 12 seed and matched them up against Maryland in the first round by down-seeding Maryland yet again. The NCAA's own RIP had Maryland ranked No. 13 in the nation last week. Between then and now Maryland did fast work of surging Nebraska, then took Michigan State to the buzzer before having the decision go against them, so how. Do the math. The 13th best team should have been the first 4th seed, but Maryland was made a fifth seed. How? And South Dakota State had an RIP of 28. That makes them a No. 7 seed, but they were down seeded so they could be matched up against Maryland. After being No. 28 in the last RIP, the Jackrabbits won their conference tournament. That gets them a 12 seed. But things are all copasetic and on the up and ups. Sure they are. Just yesterday, those cheeky Big Ten Referees got together with the love of their respective lives, Tom Izzo, and even while the Spartans were throwing Maryland all over the floor, they were calling most of the fouls on Maryland. Then they sat back and allowed the Spartans to mug Melo Trimble. If that happened outside of the field house, there would have been arrests. But why bother? It happens every game of every year.
Baseball: Maryland Takes Weekend Set From Bryant, Two Games to One, by Winning Sunday, 8-6, behind Excellant Start by Brian Shaffer
Maryland's baseball team pulled itself together enough to defeat Bryant on Sunday afternoon to win the three-game weekend set, two games to one. Justin Morris, the Terp catcher, ripped a bases loaded double to plate three runs during a five-run Maryland fifth inning uprising to key the win. Brian Shaffer allowed only one earned run and five hits over seven strong innings to win his first game of the season. The victory helped ease the sour taste of Saturday's 2-0 loss to Bryant, which finished the weekend with an outstanding overall record of 9-4. Maryland improved to 7-8 as they prepare to fly west for a single game with the University of California at Irvine Anteaters and a three-game weekend set with California State at Fullerton. Both teams played in the NCAA Tournament last season, and the Anteaters, like Maryland, made it all the way to the Super Regional Round.
Soccer: Burnley Rips Huddersfield, 3-1; Combined With Middlesbrough Loss to Lowly Charlton Puts Claret 7 Points Up in English Championship League
Burnley won on the road again, this time at Huddersfield Town. Stephen Ward, Sam Vokes and Ben Mee all scored as the Claret won for the 6th straight time. Burnley has yet to lose in 2016, and their Championship Lead has now swelled to 7 points. Burnley has 74 points to 67 for second place Middlesbrough, which lost to Charlton Athletic, 2-0. Hull City and Brighton and Hove Albion are tied for third with 65 points each. Derby County is in fifth place with 61 points, while Sheffield Wednesday stands in 6th with 59 points.
Friday, March 11, 2016
In-Game Update: Maryland Leads Nebraska, 54-37 at Halftime: Layman Leads Way With 17; Stone, Trimble, Carter All Having Huge Games
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 11, 2016 - Maryland has hit 9 of 10 three-point shots, led by Jake Layman with 17 points, to jump out on Nebraska, 54-37 at halftime of their Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal Game. The winner will play Michigan State tomorrow afternoon at about 3:00 pm.
The Terps offense has been all but unstopable, and only a good performance by Nebraska on their offensive end has kept the game from being even more one-sided. Layman is 5 of 6 from three-point range, but Melo Trimble, Rasheed Sulaimon and Jarred Nickens have also drained three point shots. Trimble, in fact, is 2 of 2 from long range to go with several lay-ups. Nebraska is playing its third game in three days, but has looked fresh, so far.
The Terps offense has been all but unstopable, and only a good performance by Nebraska on their offensive end has kept the game from being even more one-sided. Layman is 5 of 6 from three-point range, but Melo Trimble, Rasheed Sulaimon and Jarred Nickens have also drained three point shots. Trimble, in fact, is 2 of 2 from long range to go with several lay-ups. Nebraska is playing its third game in three days, but has looked fresh, so far.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Burnley Comes Storming From Behind to Win at Fulham, 3-2; Vokes, Gray are Heroes; Burnley Extends Championship Lead to 4 Points; Maryland Baseball Team Loses Again to Delaware
BALTIMORE, Maryland March 8, 2016 - Burnley trailed Fulham on the road Tuesday evening, and with Middlesbrough just one point back and scheduled to take on relegation-threatened Rotherham, it looked like the Claret would lose the lead in the Championship by night's end. Sam Vokes and Andre Gray saw to it that Burnley did no such thing, and when the second place team slipped up at Rotherham, the lead of the Lancashire lads actually expanded to 4 huge points.
According to the Daily Mail, Vokes gave the road team an early lead, thanks in no small part to an assist from Scott Arfield. But the Claret then saw Fulham come back and grab the advantage at halftime on scores by Moussa Dembele and Ross McCormack. The Fulham fans at Craven Cottage wish the match ended at the half, because the second stanza was all Burnley. Tom Heaton was brilliant in the Claret net on a night that his defense had a rare off-night. After the half, Joey Barton was fouled in the box, and Vokes made the penalty kick count to tie the affair at 2. Then Gray struck again. Heaton made absolutely sure that there would not be another equalizer by the home team, and the final whistle sounded with Burnley ahead, 3-2.
Then word came that Middlesbrough lost at Rotherham, thanks to a late score by Lee Frecklington, leaving Burnley atop the Championship with 71 points. Middlesbrough remained in second with 67 points.
Delaware Scores In 7 of 9 Innings, Then Holds Off Frantic Maryland Rally to Defeat Terps, 10-8
The Delaware Blue Hens scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, then held on for dear life during a frantic Maryland 9th inning rally, to defeat the Terps for a second time this season, this time by a score of 10-8.
Delaware broke on top, 9-3, after they batted in the top of the sixth of the game played at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. HCC is about half-way between the two schools. Terp coach John Szefc was so determined to shut the Blue Hens offense down that he summonsed his top line reliever, Robert Galligan, to pitch the 7th and 8th innings. Andrew Miller, a 6'2" Freshman Southpaw from Stratford, New Jersey, then struck out the side for the Terps in the 9th inning, but by then the damage was done. Trailing 9-3, Maryland got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk to Nick Dunn and a hit batsmen. But the Terps came to bat in the bottom of the 9th trailing, 10-5. With one out, freshman Nick Browne came up as a pinch hitter and doubled. Brownne scored one out later while Papio was reaching on an error. Andrew Bechtold, the Maryland third baseman, then walked. Both Papio and Bachtold moved up a base on a balk call. Then Maryland's Freshman Catcher, Dan Maynard, plated both Papio and Bechtold with a double. The score was now 10-8, and Maryland was bringing the tie run to the plate. That batter was pinch hitter Jamal Wade. Wade was hit by the pitch. Now the tie run was on base and the winning run was at the plate in the person of Junior outfielder Madison Nickens. Nickens came to bat on a 1-2 afternoon. He was the second batter in the Terps starting line-up. Sadly, he struck out, ending the Maryland rally.
Maryland returns to action today (Wednesday, March 9) back in College Park against George Washington. The Terps are now 5-6 while Delaware improved to 7-4.
After the GW game, Maryland hosts Bryant in a three-game series this weekend, before leaving on a four-game, five-day West Coast road trip that will see them play a single game against the University of California at Irvine Anteaters one week from today and a three-game weekend set at California State at Fullerton. Then, after a March 22 game in College Park against Liberty, the Terps travel to Iowa City to open the Big Ten Campaign against the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 25. That game will be the first of a three-game conference set.
According to the Daily Mail, Vokes gave the road team an early lead, thanks in no small part to an assist from Scott Arfield. But the Claret then saw Fulham come back and grab the advantage at halftime on scores by Moussa Dembele and Ross McCormack. The Fulham fans at Craven Cottage wish the match ended at the half, because the second stanza was all Burnley. Tom Heaton was brilliant in the Claret net on a night that his defense had a rare off-night. After the half, Joey Barton was fouled in the box, and Vokes made the penalty kick count to tie the affair at 2. Then Gray struck again. Heaton made absolutely sure that there would not be another equalizer by the home team, and the final whistle sounded with Burnley ahead, 3-2.
Then word came that Middlesbrough lost at Rotherham, thanks to a late score by Lee Frecklington, leaving Burnley atop the Championship with 71 points. Middlesbrough remained in second with 67 points.
Delaware Scores In 7 of 9 Innings, Then Holds Off Frantic Maryland Rally to Defeat Terps, 10-8
The Delaware Blue Hens scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, then held on for dear life during a frantic Maryland 9th inning rally, to defeat the Terps for a second time this season, this time by a score of 10-8.
Delaware broke on top, 9-3, after they batted in the top of the sixth of the game played at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland. HCC is about half-way between the two schools. Terp coach John Szefc was so determined to shut the Blue Hens offense down that he summonsed his top line reliever, Robert Galligan, to pitch the 7th and 8th innings. Andrew Miller, a 6'2" Freshman Southpaw from Stratford, New Jersey, then struck out the side for the Terps in the 9th inning, but by then the damage was done. Trailing 9-3, Maryland got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk to Nick Dunn and a hit batsmen. But the Terps came to bat in the bottom of the 9th trailing, 10-5. With one out, freshman Nick Browne came up as a pinch hitter and doubled. Brownne scored one out later while Papio was reaching on an error. Andrew Bechtold, the Maryland third baseman, then walked. Both Papio and Bachtold moved up a base on a balk call. Then Maryland's Freshman Catcher, Dan Maynard, plated both Papio and Bechtold with a double. The score was now 10-8, and Maryland was bringing the tie run to the plate. That batter was pinch hitter Jamal Wade. Wade was hit by the pitch. Now the tie run was on base and the winning run was at the plate in the person of Junior outfielder Madison Nickens. Nickens came to bat on a 1-2 afternoon. He was the second batter in the Terps starting line-up. Sadly, he struck out, ending the Maryland rally.
Maryland returns to action today (Wednesday, March 9) back in College Park against George Washington. The Terps are now 5-6 while Delaware improved to 7-4.
After the GW game, Maryland hosts Bryant in a three-game series this weekend, before leaving on a four-game, five-day West Coast road trip that will see them play a single game against the University of California at Irvine Anteaters one week from today and a three-game weekend set at California State at Fullerton. Then, after a March 22 game in College Park against Liberty, the Terps travel to Iowa City to open the Big Ten Campaign against the Iowa Hawkeyes on March 25. That game will be the first of a three-game conference set.
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