I hope my kids don't hate me for this... On Baseball and Passing it On

Often before my son Ethan goes to bed, we curl up on the couch and watch a little baseball. Ethan, who will be 5 in September, likes baseball, and has begun to understand some of the nuances of the game. He gets, for example that there's 3 outs in an inning, 9 innings in a game, and daily opportunities to stay up past his bedtime watching games with his dad.

Ethan's favorite player is Brian Roberts, likely because he bats first, wears number one and his name is easy to say. Ethan also knows that Adam Jones bats second and wears number 10, and that Nick Markakis is number 21 and Aubrey Huff is 17. He knows that our team is the Orioles, but that grandpa (who lives on Long Island) loves the Mets.

Ethan surprised me the other day when his uncle Kenny asked him, "what number is Luke Scott?" and Ethan (who has a crazy memory) said "30," with the effortless confidence of a man bored by the question.

His 11-year-old cousin then piped in, "I definitely didn't know that. Ethan knows more about the Orioles than me!"

And I felt both satisfied and guilty, for I have passed down a love of the Orioles to my son. Make that my sons actually. I have an almost 2-year-old named Alec, who likes to watch baseball too. Alec will say before bed, "I want to watch Base-i-ball Daddy!" Actually he screams it while jumping up and down, up and down.

I thought about these things today as a I diverted my attention from work at various times in the afternoon to check online for the Orioles-Red Sox score. You see last night, the Orioles pulled off one of the all-time great comebacks, scoring five in the bottom of the 7th and five in the bottom of the 8th to steal a win in a game they were losing 10-1 after 6 and a half innings. Then today, they led 5-1 entering the 9th and inconceivably blew the game. Such pain. Such horror. Such torture. What have I done to my boys?

My sincere, and perhaps even attainable wish, however is that my sons don't have childhood memories of their dad inexplicably caring about a bad, not going anywhere, last place team.

I have two older brothers and each of them has a son who is 11. They were both born in 1998 and neither of them has been alive for a winning Orioles season. So Jake and Jordan and their younger siblings can be forgiven for not caring that much about the Orioles. After all, it has been specifically in their lifetime that the Orioles have not been very good. In fact they've been bad. Embarrassing even.

But I have a feeling -- actually I know for a fact -- that I kinda care about the Orioles more than my older brothers. 12 years into losing baseball, I watch at least some of just about every game. I read the box scores. I pay attention. I take pleasure in watching the emergence of a talented young player like Nolan Reimold or Brian Bergesen. I text during games to my friend Steve. "Are you WATCHING this?"

There's something comforting to me, even following a bad team, about the day-in and day-out nature of baseball, how there's a rhythm to the game and to the season.

I don't feel too guilty about romanticizing the game to my sons and getting them into it. I honestly believe, for the first time in a long time, that the team is on the right path. I have this feeling that my boys will have a different association than their cousins with the Orioles. In 3 or 4 years, when my guys are 5 and 8 and on up, I think the Orioles will be playing winning baseball. And guys like Reimold and Wieters and Jones and Markakis might just be for my kids what Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken and John Lowenstein and Rick Dempsey were for me.

And when their friends jump on the bandwagon they can say, "Where you been? We've been following these guys for years."

Preakness in Transition

I live about a mile or so from Pimlico race course in Baltimore's Mt. Washington neighborhood. We've been here since 2003 and have gotten used to (and even look forward to) the mayhem that Preakness day brings each year. Since our house is close enough for a reasonable walk to the track - but not so close that it's right next to the track - our street typically fills up with cars by late morning. Often neighbors will rope off areas in front of their homes to save their spot. This year our street didn't fill up at all. It was almost comical to see a few of our neighors with chairs and cones out to protect spots that no one needed or wanted.

No, with the Md Jockey Club changing its policy from BYOB to $3.50 per beer, the college students and their partying compatriots stayed away from the infield en masse. What an odd sight it was to see the overhead TV shots of an empty infield on Preakness day. What an odd feeling it was for Mt. Washington to feel much like any other Saturday in May (aside from the constantly hovering helicopters and blimp overhead, of course).

In past years, the infield transformed into a sea of people, many of them loaded. Preakness officials finally had it with the escalating levels of violence and ridiculous behavior, from the infamous running of the Spot a Pots, to the propensity of infield goers to chuck a full beer can into the air at no one in particular.

For some videos of the ridiculousness, check out this blog post from Baltimore radio host Nasty Nestor (scroll down for his choice videos, it's unreal).

I haven't been back to the infield in at least 15 years, I think. I used to go in college and then a couple times just after college, but even then, at the ripe old age of 23 or 24, I remember thinking, "whoa, this is a little too much." It's not that it wasn't fun to bring a few beers or 60 and hang out with your friends for the day, it's just that this is a toxic combination:

An endless supply of beer and booze, sun, a sea of humanity, plenty of meatheads looking for a fight, and about 10 hours for the entire boozy pot to stew. Yee-ikes.

On really hot Preakness days, you could just feel the air of violence and danger brewing, as obvious as the beet-red faces of the Marlboro-smoking, cut-off jeans-wearing, shirtless wonders who picked Preakness day to showcase the full aura of their dazzling personalities.

I honestly can't believe it took the jockey club this long to pull the plug on the Freak-ness. Out of towners would see what went on in the infield and think, 'what a bunch of dirt bags.' Still, a part of me misses the aftermath (and during-math) of Preakness day in Mt. Washington. A couple years ago a college-aged kid wandered down onto our block and peed not just in front of our house, but on my car. Another time, we saw two guys just wandering down our street and they asked us how to walk to the campus of Johns Hopkins, which is a good 4 or 5 miles away. I told them it wasn't really a walk, and even offered to drive them but they really wanted to hoof it, so I said, "OK, go to Northern Parkway and make a left..." College.

Back when my friends and I would go we were no different. We'd bring a few cases of beer, a bunch of sandwiches and find parking probably not far from where I live now. Then we'd hire one of the shopping cart kids to haul our supplies to the gate. Then we'd walk among the masses into the infield. Oh good heavens the infield, that hairy, sweaty armpit of a sports venue. We'd plop down our stuff and initially you would have a specific area to call your own, outlined with string or by the outline of your chairs. But the over the course of the day the lines would blur and blend from one camp to the next. By 2 or 3 o'clock, it was just one big field party. No rules, no lines, and quite often, no shirts.

Don't get me wrong, it was mostly a fun party, but you were always one bumped shoulder into the wrong guy away from a haymaker.

I guess the ultimate problem with the infield was that the people tended not to just get drunk, but to get COMPLETELY HAMMERED. People save the Preakness for a special kind of "I'm so drunk I can't see straight," experience. I always remember thinking it just went sooo long. We'd get there at 9 or 10 in the morning and by 4 in the afternoon you're like, "I can't believe we're still here. I can't believe we're still drinking." The lines for the spot a pots were really long and once you got in there, good lord. So we typically would try to hide behind a spot a pot and take care of business hunched into a corner. Classy.

By 5 or 6, forget it. Everyone is blind, fights are breaking out all over the place and you just want to make it out alive and with a representative portion of the people you arrived with 10 hours earlier.

One of my favorite Preakness stories was from a year I didn't go. Two of my friends went and just walked in with a 12-pack of beer each, a few chairs and a cooler. They both drank their 12 pack and passed out, then woke up hours later and all their stuff was gone, just 2 drunk guys lying on the grass amid 50,000 close friends.

A few years after that, a close friend came in town for the festivities and we partied all day. We were pretty wasted by the end of the day but coherent enough to join a group for dinner downtown. I'll never forget he fell asleep at the table so I ordered for him. I'm almost positive we were at Bandaloops in Federal Hill. Anyway, when the food came, I nudged him awake. He found his senses, saw the full plate of food in front of him and smiled before putting it away. Then he fell back asleep. That was the Preakness for us and a lot of people for a lot of years.

This year, they took the air out of the free-for-all party balloon. Time will tell if it was a good idea. But as the event got more violent and out of control by the year, I can't help but think it was the right call. The Preakness had to get through this year when no one came to the infield so that the event can transition from what it was, to what it will become.

A part of me will miss the stupefied revelers wandering our streets looking for their cars after it's all over. But it was time for a change. Let's hope the Preakness finds a new identity and that the hordes return. I'd love to go back and take a look around.

Orioles now just 160 games away from perfection

What could go wrong?
Two great wins against the hated Yanks, two quality starts by our 1 and 2 pitchers.

Hey, I just thought of a great slogan for the Orioles starting staff:

Guthrie and Uehara,
I hope it rains tomorra.

Go Birds.

buh bye Cal, Hello Memphis

We've learned two things about Maryland basketball this season:
1.) They are capable of beating anyone.
See UNC, Wake, Michigan State - and solid but incomplete performances at Miami and Florida State, home vs. BC, and home against Duke.

2.) They are capable of losing to (almost) anyone.
see Morgan, Vermont miracle escape, at UVa.

But wow, that was a FANTASTIC win yesterday against California. Maryland played confidently from the tip and Greivis was fantastic and got plenty of help. Interesting decision by Gary to keep Adrian Bowie on the court for nearly the entire game and play Mosley more sparingly (Bowie got 36 minutes, Mosley 15).

Tomorrow against Memphis Maryland will have to play at an exceptionally high level to win (obviously), but it's not impossible. In fact, I don't think it would be shocking at all. Maryland has played a much more rigorous schedule than Memphis, simply because the ACC is way better than Conference USA, which the consistently funny Sports Pickle renamed "Memphis."

I could not name one player on Memphis, so that either makes me a bad college basketball fan or someone who doesn't care much about who plays on Memphis.

Either way, what I do know about them is that they seem to go 27-3 every year and John Caliparri looks like a guy who would sell you a bad policy, OK?

Go Terps.

Happy for the Terps

It's a short attention span world out there, here are some quick hits on the Terps:
How can you not be happy for this group of players? They really fought hard to get some big wins and earn a bid.
That said, they have not been able to sustain an excellent level of play for any length of time this year, so the idea that they'll be able to turn it on now and make a run in the tournament is not realistic.
How much do you love Dave Neal? He's your favorite Terp right?
I'm tired of all of this being about Gary and redemption. It should be more about the players.
Two 10-6 SEC teams didn't make the tournament and Maryland got in with a 7-9 record in the ACC. Everyone should be thankful that we play in the ACC.

As it Should Be

Calling Maryland's season "a little eratic" is like calling Hummer sales a little slow and my hairline a little receding.

They have been alternately inspiring and wretched this season, with little in between. Who knows what to expect today, I'm just happy they're still playing and we get to watch, even if it is with one hand covering the other eye.

And here we are. Deep into March, with a date against Duke to go to the tournament. Sure, Maryland might make the field of 65 even without a win today, but it's not a lock.

Put it this way, if Maryland loses today, I don't think anyone can gripe, 'we got robbed.' Why? Well, at 7-8 in the ACC, needing to win one game a UVa, they couldn't get it done. 7-9 in the top heavy ACC ain't all that. Wins against Michigan State, UNC, and Wake look great, but Maryland also lost by 40 at Duke, lost at home to Morgan State, and got thrashed at Clemson. They also blew big second half leads to BC and Miami and needed a miracle three in the final 3 seconds to beat Vermont. OK? This is not a great team. It's a team that's fun to watch and capable of great things, but they are not great.

So anyway, I don't mean to be negative, I'm just saying that anyone who says "look what we did, we belong," isn't looking at the full picture. Then again, the full picture also includes the tournament resumes of a half dozen to 10 other bubble teams whose tournament worthiness is just as dubious or credible as Maryland's.

Bottom line - win today vs. Duke and a it's a stone cold lock. You can't keep out a team that has 4 wins against teams in the top 10 (and mabye you can't do that to a team with 3... maybe). So I'll be watching and hoping. I want it for Maryland because making the ACC finals would be a great acomplishment for this team and winning it would be amazing.

Couple other random notes:
Check out my brother-in-law Matt's blog post about Binghampton University hoops, then and now, great stuff.

I'm really tired of this exchange:
Play-by-play guy: And there's DAVE NEAL with the 3!
Color guy: Unbelievable. You know, this is a guy who wouldn't get picked in the the church league in the top 5. Ha ha ha
Play-by-play guy: ha ha ha that's so funny, ha ha ha. Yeah, he's a big fat white guy who doesn't look like a good basketball player, but it's so weird, he's actually pretty good.
Color guy: Yeah, yeah, what you said, if you would have told me he would average 8 and 4 for Maryland before the season, I would have told you, 'no way man,' he's way too big and fat and slow looking to be good on Maryland.
Play-by-play guy: yeah, yeah, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

You know what? If Dave Neal showed up at your church league or rec league on the JCC, you'd pick him first, because he's 6-6 and can shoot and people would say, 'hey, there's Dave Neal, he starts for Maryland.' OK?

ACC tournament schedule

See schedule below. Terps play NC State, then would play Wake, then would play winner of Duke vs. BC or UVa, then would play for the title on Sunday. A guy can dream, right?

Thursday, March 12
No. 8 Virginia Tech vs. No. 9 Miami, Noon (Raycom)
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m. (Raycom)
No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 NC State, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 6 Boston College vs. No. 11 Virginia, 9:30 p.m. (Raycom)

Friday, March 13
Game No. 5: No. 1 North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech/Miami winner, Noon (Raycom/ESPN2)
Game No. 6: No. 4 Florida State vs. Clemson/Georgia Tech winner, 2:30 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN2)
Game No. 7: No. 2 Wake Forest vs. Maryland/NC State winner, 7:00 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN2)
Game No. 8: No. 3 Duke vs. Boston College/Virginia winner, 9:30 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN2)

Saturday, March 14
Game No. 9: ACC Semifinals, 1:30 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN)
Game No. 10 - ACC Semifinals, 4:00 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN)

Sunday, March 15
Game No. 11 - Championship Game, 1:00 p.m. (Raycom/ESPN)

I guess we could still win the ACC tournament

I won't add to the stream of misery spewing from Terps followers. As you look back on this season, you see a team capable of great things, but also deeply flawed. They have an engimatic guard in Greivis Vasquez, a potential star playing out of position in Milbourne, some very nice role players and a coach who cares very deeply about the team and wants to win. But they aren't good enough.

7-9 in the ACC is about right. There's always the chance for a miracle in the ACC tournament, a la John Gilchrist in 2004, with the leading role occupied by Vasquez. More than likely, Maryland will return to the NIT and we will have to decide if we want to watch.

Burney's Done and Greivis is a Game-Changer

From the Maryland Sports Information Department:

Sophomore forward Jerome Burney will be out for the remainder of the season due to a broken sesamoid bone in his right foot. Burney appeared in nine games and averaged 0.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 7.6 minutes per game.

Greivis Vasquez’s triple-double and 35-point effort against North Carolina has been selected as a Pontiac Game Changing Performance. For more details, the following link is available: http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030509aab.html.

Gabe's Take

Here's my buddy Gabe's take on last night's game. I should note that after filing a running commentary during the first half of the ball game while seated on press row, I moved to a seat in the stands with big bro E and friend B Flaks for most of the second half. Had to cheer.

Here's Gabe's take in an email exchange from today, he always brings it strong:

Wake is big but they don't seem to have shooters. I see them as the #3 seed that goes down in the first or second round to Boise State or Evansville or Butler

Gary has been great...zone was a good idea and fortunately it works pretty much the last 12 minutes of the game. Neal was inspirational...missed the touch fouls early which is too bad he missed some minutes, but he was ready for the second half. The three at the end of the half was big, would love to know what he was barking at the Wake bench. (That one definitely came back to haunt him later, when J-Teague dropped the hammer on him, that was NASTY). Place must have been totally bonkers in the second half when he started raining them in. GA, your running blog was great in the first half, wish there was more but I can understand and appreciate that you were just into the game, I would have been. Your boy Dave Neal Sr got lots of air time - I would say at least 45 seconds total, mostly random donks from Bowie and Odenton running up and double high-fiving him. TV guys said when wake made their comeback run that someone needed to step up and help GV, and he did right on cue. Then they came with the trivia question when he got to 14...what is his career high. It was 18 vs Morgan State, not necessarily a good omen but I just KNEW at that point that he would drill a three at the buzzer to get to 19, which is exactly what happened. Hopefully it at least got the cover for some Terps-loving gamblers.

GV was great - dished the whole second half, including 2 or 3 to set up Hayes for wide open looks, he knocks down even one of those and I think we get it done. Gary postgame was classic....someone asked if they would be ready for the UVa game after a tough loss like this, he just stared him down and said "watch the game". I have done a 180, I am loving Gary and this scrappy can do team...GA I disagree on what it will take. There are less worthy mid majors than usual, and whatever happened to the days of 8-8 in the ACC gets you in? I think 8-8 and a first round win (vs someone like Miami or NC State) should be enough.. We have some quality wins, we are playing well down the stretch, and we are a name brand.

Good job on the radio (only heard the pregame)...the format is ridiculous, every time you start to get going on a topic the music comes on...half of Steinberg's interview was fighting with the music to be heard. Honestly, if it wasn't you I would have tuned out right away, nobody wants to hear a commercial every 3 minutes! (And ESPECIALLY when it is the same dumb Geico commerical twice in a row, but you probably don't hear that). I think Dave Neal Sr should have his own 30 minute hoops talk show, I loved his breakdown on how Jr guards the bigs.

We better beat UVa, it will be a tough on, nothing is easy on the road, but I like our chances.