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)