The End of the Road

Well now, this wasn't supposed to happen.

The really disappointing part of all of this is that Maryland didn't even play a bad game - on the contrary, they played pretty well. It just so happened that Stanford played out of their minds. Even after having seen lord knows how many games this season, including some of the marquee matchups featuring some of the best teams in the nation, the Cardinal may have played the best game I've seen all year. Period. Obviously it's tough to keep up the same momentum for another two games, especially with a week off in between, but if Stanford plays this way in Tampa, you've got your national champions. Nobody could have beaten them last night, and nobody will beat them if they play up to that level again.

There's no doubt that the Terps are left feeling unfulfilled - after all, the goal this year was a national championship, and nothing short of that. If anything, that shows the growth that this program has undergone in the last few years, because only a couple of teams in the nation can legitimately say that their seasons don't live up to full expectations if they don't win the whole damn thing. With that said, Maryland should still hold their heads high. A 33-4 record is nothing to scoff at, and all four losses were to teams who were among the final 12 teams still playing in the tournament.

Still though, we're all left wondering what might have been.

Obviously this marks the end of the road for us as well. One thing's for sure: It's been one hell of a ride. Scott and I are going to collect our thoughts and come back for an epilogue of sorts to completely cap off the season in a day or two.

Congrats to the 2007-2008 Maryland Terrapins for all they accomplished, even if it wasn't quite what they wanted the ending to be.

Final Chance to Pray to the Deity of Your Choice

The fans are starting to file in, the media has taken their places, the cheerleaders are warming up, the bands are playing for the crowd, the coaches are preparing their final strategies, and the players are shooting around. If there's anything left to be done, this is the only time left to do it.

Tip time has been moved to 6:42 local time - that's 9:42 for all of you back in Maryland. We'll be here. Make sure you are, too.

Judgement Day is Upon Us

In approximately four and a half hours, both Stanford and Maryland will be getting ready to head back to their respective campuses. One will head back overjoyed and preparing to head to the fun and sun of Tampa, as well as a bid to the Final Four. The loser will head back feeling rather disappointed and unfulfilled, having their dreams end one step short of the promised land.

Recent history is not on Stanford's side. The Cardinal have not made it to the Final Four since 1997, despite being in the tournament each of the years between now and then, including a trip to the Elite Eight every year since 2004 except for last season. In fact, no team further west than Oklahoma has made it to the Final Four since Stanford's trip in 1997.

While it's not because of the recent inability for western teams to make it further than this round of the tournament, Scott and I both seem to think that this game looks good for a Maryland victory, especially if they play like they did against Vanderbilt. Why? Well........you'll have to listen in for that. Hal DeCoursey, Dave Vatz and Rob Dawson start off the festivities at 8:30 ET/5:30 PT for an hour-long pregame show, with Scott and myself taking over at 9:30.

Giant Dessert 1, Scott Sudikoff 0

What you see above you is Red Robin's "Mountain High Mudd Pie," which is described as a "special creation of chocolate and vanilla gourmet ice cream, peanut butter cookie bits, chopped peanuts, fudge and peanut butter in a chocolate cookie crust; served in a pool of chocolate fudge and caramel sauce topped with whipped cream, chopped peanuts and a cherry." All for just $5.99! What you also see is Scott's hand behind said dessert, almost completely obscured. To put it simply, this thing was friggin' huge.

Credit has to be given here, because Scott really did a number on the.....thing......considering that he (and I) thought that the picture on the menu just made it look deceptively large. Save for a spoonful that I stole from him on the classic "hey, look over there!" trick, this was all that remained:


Scott described his feelings afterwards as "pain.......yeah, pretty much just pain. But I'd do it all over again if I had to."

As a side note, Maryland baseball SID and Friend of the Station Joey Flyntz also got the same dessert, and did a far better job of finishing it. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of this point.

It's just about bedtime here at the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau. We're going to get some sleep. So should you! After all, it's just under 19 hours until tipoff.

EDIT: Scott reports that he received no cherry on his dessert. The photos support this claim. Scott is pissed, and is currently preparing his lawsuit against the Red Robin restaurant chain.

The Only Analysis That Really Matters

You know, we can and have spent tons of time breaking down the matchups of each different game. What we haven't done yet, however, is take a look at the most important matchup of the Spokane regional.

That's right, folks: we're talkin' mascots!

Now this may come as a little bit of a surprise to some of you, that I'd be willing to discuss mascots at all, considering what happened during HokieGate a couple months back. For those of you who aren't in the loop, during the Terps' win at Virginia Tech, the Hokie Bird unplugged our equipment no less than three times during the broadcast. I've not had much of a taste for mascots since then.

Until now.

Let's take a quick look at each of the four mascots here representing the competing teams. Mascots will be judged on three criteria: creativity, energy when performing, and likelihood that it'll kill me in my sleep. You can also click each picture to get a larger view of each mascot.

Pittsburgh - Roc The Panther: Blah. Admittedly, you don't have much to work with when your nickname is the Panthers, but there's really not much here that's too terribly memorable about Pitt's mascot. Credit is due, however, in the energy category; Roc certainly does work for his......uh......what do panthers eat, anyway?

And let's also make it clear, Roc isn't some cutesy panther, either. Props to Pitt, whose mascot scores very high on the "holy crap, it's going to eat me" scale.



Vanderbilt - Mr. C: What the heck is this? An old man? Vandy's nickname is the Commodore; sirs Merriam and Webster define this as a captain in the navy in command of a squadron. I can see that with the hat, sure. But the warmup shirt and the shorts? Does anybody else see that and think of their senile grandfather who sits around talking about how much harder it was back in his day?

And what's with the nickname in general? What navy is Vanderbilt supposed to command in Nashville, Tenn.? Awful mascot, awful nickname, although I suppose it gets creativity points because nobody else is dumb enough to have an old man as their mascot.

Stanford - The Stanford Tree: Making a tree as Stanford's mascot actually makes some sense, since there is a big ol' tree in the middle of the "S" in Stanford's logo, but why is there a tree there to begin with? Oh well. The creativity here really soars off the chart, almost to a fault. Is it possible to look at this thing and not think that somebody had some......chemical assistance......when they designed it?

Where Stanford really scores high is in the energy category. The only reason I couldn't get a great shot of the Tree is because it was constantly moving around. Bravo, Stanford. Bravo.

Maryland - Testudo: If you don't know who Testudo is, you're not a Maryland fan. Period. The clear winner here in creativity, since it's original in a non-"what the heck were they smoking?" kind of way. Testudo also does pretty good in the energy category, pumping up the crowd without overdoing it.

Scott does, however, point out that Testudo could use a little bit more bulk on his frame. "Not steroid-ish, but just a little more flattering. A little more muscle mass. Meat."

Now I realize that Testudo looks so cute and adorably cuddly, but don't be fooled. Get too close to that beak (yes, it's a beak, not just a mouth), and you'll be one-handed for the forseeable future. Fear the turtle - literally.

And the winner is......: Call me biased, but Maryland's beloved turtle has to come out on top here. Roc and Mr. C lose out based on their lack of creativity and general suckitude, respectively. In the battle between the Tree and Testudo, the Stanford Tree is just simply too friggin' weird to come out on top here.

Will the actual game hold to form? We'll have to wait until tomorrow night to see, but I think I hear Testudo sharpening his axe as we speak......

Ya Gotta Be Kiddin' Me...

John and I awoke today inside the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau only to discover that there is another winter wonderland occurring outside. This is a joke right? What happened to spring? Can we please go to Tampa, now? This may be the most snow I have seen in a few years (and that is surprising because my home base is Massachusetts).

Now, I always get the comment/question from people: "Aren't you used to the snow/cold?" or "Don't you like the snow because you're from the northeast?" Simple answer to that is:

NO!

I don't like snow, I don't like the cold, I don't care if there is a white Christmas (note from John: Scott's Jewish). Being from Massachusetts doesn't make you automatically enjoy snow.

Getting back on point here, it looks like we won't be making any 15 minute walks to Sonic for any food today, which will break our streak of 2 straight days of Sonic in Spokane. We did have dinner at a great local placed called "ClinkerDaggers" last night after the game. It was delicious (artichoke and king crab dip, teriyaki beef tenderloin, lemon garlic prawns, kobe meatloaf sliders, spicy calamari), and we hope to go back on Monday night to celebrate a trip to a warmer climate next weekend.

This may be a surprise to you, but we do need to do SCHOOL WORK today. I know, right? So Sunday in Spokane will be very tranquil as we prepare for tomorrow night. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 (PT)/8:30 (ET) on WMUC Sports. Game time is scheduled for 6:35 (PT)/9:35 (ET) between the Terps and Stanford. Winner goes to the Final Four in Florida...

...and if the Terps win and we go to Tampa...and it snows...I will quit.

We Apologize For the Technical Difficulties

For those of you who were listening in last night, you may have noticed that our much-ballyhooed (underrated word) postgame interview with assistant coach Daron Park kinda didn't happen on-air. No, we weren't pulling your legs; it was simply a case of our connection dying at the absolute worst time. According to Hal DeCoursey, who was back in College Park in the studio (high above the South Campus Dining Hall!), it went out right as we were starting to go into the interview. Ain't technology great?

The worst part about this is that our hands are somewhat tied in the situation. We didn't notice the connection had gone out until after the interview was over, but even if we had, we still would have had to go on without being on the air, due to an NCAA regulation that strictly limits the amount of time the media gets with the coaches and players immediately after a game.

Luckily for you all though, we make a point of recording every single broadcast, and Saturday's game was no exception. The never-before-heard audio from the interview is available on the front page or, for those of you feeling particularly lazy, can be heard here.

As much as I'd love to talk more, it's nearly 1:30 a.m. here on the left coast, and since neither Scott nor myself has completely adjusted to the time change yet, it still kinda feels like nearly 4:30 a.m. We'll be back with you all tomorrow.

Langhorne to Vandy: My Better is Better Than Your Better

There were more than a couple of questions raised after the opening weekend of the tournament regarding the Terps' play. Were they actually worthy of that #1 seed? How could they let Coppin State and Nebraska hang around for so long? How could they be playing basketball this mediocre at this point in the season?

Guess what? They heard everyone. Loud and clear, it would seem.

Let's not beat around the bush here: Maryland has not looked this dominant against a team of Vanderbilt's caliber possibly since the win over LSU. I'm not going to jump the gun here and guarantee a trip to the Final Four here, but you cannot possibly read this and say, along with Stanford's struggles for much of their game against Pitt, that Monday's game against the Cardinal looks a lot more winnable.

Crystal Langhorne obviously led the way with 28 points, but here's what's the most impressive part: Vandy plays a matchup zone that, in theory, causes headaches for players down low. And give the Commodores credit, because they surrounded Langhorne all night long. Crystal did not, however, let it bother her, as she fought through the increased attention like an A-list celebrity working their way through Hollywood paparazzi.

That's not to say that she did everything for this team, though: Kristi Toliver had one of her better games as a point guard since fully assuming the duties this year, dishing out eight assists against just one turnover, and Marah Strickland finally seemed to come out of the shell she was in during the first two rounds, not being afraid at all to pull the trigger on her jumpers, along with solid performances from the other two starters.

The fact, however, is that against Vanderbilt, it was Crystal Langhorne's world, and we were all just living in it. She's so good, her spin move smells like French toast.

......French toast?

Less Than an Hour to Go!

As we sit here at Spokane Arena, the Terps are directly in front of us warming up and stretching, and there's about 41 minutes or so until the tip. We'd normally have some sort of fancy pictures here, but the wireless here in the arena seems to be kinda flaky, and the images aren't loading. Sorry. We'll try and get a bunch of pictures up later, once we get back to the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau.

We're going to take off our blogger hats and put on our broadcaster hats (note: we do not actually own these two hats). Not that you should be too terribly upset - the pregame is going on RIGHT NOW on WMUCSports.com. Go listen!

EDIT: We're back, photos are up. See? Fancy, shiny photography!

"All of them."

Interesting note that we found funny from checking into the hotel yesterday afternoon. (By the way the Red Lion Hotel at the Park is a fine establishment and a 10 minute walk to the Arena, as well as a 15 minute walk to Sonic.)

The gentleman that was getting us our keys to our room started asking us questions when he noticed our "Terps" gear. He must not have thought we were a part of the media, which is strange because this hotel is the "Official Media Hotel" of the Spokane regional. Anyways in a simple question he asked us:

"Do you guys know someone on the Maryland team?" My response to this could not have been any more deadpan and to the point:

"All of them."

Of course we then explained that we were the radio crew for the Terrapins and we were gearing up to call the action tonight (and hopefully Monday). We'll be back with more throughout the day so keep on refreshing this page!

"Happy Days" Icon Loves WMUC

The celebrities have begun to roll into Spokane for the 2008 NCAA Tournament Regionals. Henry Winkler, better known as "The Fonz" (or Barry Zuckerkorn for you Arrested Development fans), sought out John for a photo-op. You wouldn't believe the kind of response celebrities have when they meet a WMUC personality live and in person.

Henry didn't want to pay the special fee I charge for pictures and/or autographs, so unfortunately there is no visual evidence that I personally saw "The Fonz."

Apparently later on Winkler ran into the Terrapins at the team hotel and save for Emery Wallace, no one knew who this man was.

Well it is only 11:18 PM here in Spokane, but to us it feels like 2:18 AM after that whole time change phenomenon. We will check back in tomorrow, as we plan to wake up at 9 AM (PT) to watch North Carolina take on Jeff Walz's Louisville squad.

Be sure to check in for more from WMUC's Pacific Northwest Bureau.

Ode to Sonic

So if any of you reading out there know a WMUC broadcaster personally, you might know that Sonic (America's Drive-In!) has a little bit of a cult following at our station. Why? It's really simple, if you think about it.

First, consider that we are talking about college students here, and cheap food is always good food. And while it may not be gourmet cuisine, it's really freaking good for what it is. Besides, you haven't really lived until you've had a cherry limeade with your burger and tots (tots!).

Since there isn't a Sonic within an hour's drive of the WMUC Sports studios (high above the South Campus Dining Hall!), it's almost required that we make a stop at a Sonic whenever we take a road trip that takes us near one. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, we usually go all out. It's not unusual for us to eat two meals there during one day.

Imagine, then, how excited Scott and I were to discover that there was a Sonic within half a mile of the hotel (or, as it will now be known, the WMUC Pacific Northwest Bureau).

So, despite the elements, Scott and I trudged out in a driving snowstorm to eat at our beloved drive-in. I won't mince words here - it wasn't pretty. It was cold, wet, and pretty miserable. It was also completely worth it.

Even compared to usual Sonic standards, Scott was rather impressed by his Chicken Club Toaster Sandwich (as you can see from the picture to the right), which was washed down with his tots (tots!) and the always sublime Cherry Limeade. My Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster was just as tasty. Yeah, it's fast food, but I know I've paid more money for lower quality food in traditional sit-down restaurants.

Are we crazy for our devotion? Yeah, probably. OK, certainly. But hey, don't knock it until you've tried it.

The City that Spring Forgot

Don't adjust your monitors - that's snow. From where, you ask? Just outside Scott's and my hotel room here in Spokane, Washington. Meanwhile, the high in College Park was apparently 75 today.

Anyways, the two of us will be checking in multiple times a day during the weekend to bring you tons of analysis and amusing anecdotes from the weekend (and trust me, there will be plenty of both). All in all, it should be a pretty good time. Make sure to follow along, and of course make sure to listen in tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. on WMUCSports.com - or 5:30 p.m., for those of you also up here in the Northwest.