Maryland-Navy in 2010

According to Thursday's Baltimore Sun, the Terps will be playing Navy in 2010 and 2014 at M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens Stadium for those of you not familiar with Bodymore, Murderland)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/football/bal-sp.marylandnavy04oct04,0,6018239.story

I'm thrilled by this, especially in light of stories earlier last week that seemed to portray this series as being a lost cause. The game in 2005 was a fantastic, down-to-the-wire game. Now in retrospect, if we had lost, it would have been a really nasty start to the season, akin to the Northern Illinois loss. But the stadium was packed, and the sight of the Midshipmen marching in formation to the game brought something out of the Maryland student section that you don't normally see: class and respect. And normally I'm a big proponent of hooliganism and nastiness in the Terp student section, but I was really proud of the Terps for showing what they did... standing and applauding. Not exactly how Rutgers treated the Middies a few weeks ago.

But this is a game that should happen in a stadium where it should be taking place. Maryland and Navy are the only two 1-A football schools in the state. This should be a rivalry game. Baltimore is 26 miles up I-95 from College Park and about 30 miles up I-97 from Annapolis. The perfect location. M&T Stadium is a gorgeous stadium, and I'd pick that venue to watch a football game 100 times over FedEx Field (the ugliest thing to happen to the NFL since the Vet). Some will say that the Terps have everything to lose and nothing to gain from this matchup. However, those fans though who truly appreciate sports for the rivalries and the meaningfulness of games will grasp the importance of this game being played on a semi-regular basis.

And speaking of the Terps, way to hold on for that win against Georgia Tech. They did everything they possibly could to lose the game and you don't want it coming down to one of the best kickers in the conference since Janikowski. It was especially ironic watching the Georgia Tech guy miss the kick since I was sitting one seat over from Dan Ennis and Nick Novak. This Terp team is really going to miss Andrew Crummey on the offensive line. Fortunately they have two weeks to plug somebody in there and hope on the other side of the ball that Costa or Erin Henderson can recover and get healthy. I do think however that yesterday should have ended and quarterback controversy that may have existed. Chris Turner looked fantastic and when Ralph Friedgen actually didn't coach gunshy and allowed Turner to try to make plays, he was by-and-large good. He had the one stupid play that directly led to 7 points, but he was making throws up the field with pinpoint accuracy on third and fourth reads that Steffy never would have made. I like Steffy as a guy, he represents the university well, but I want the best QB out on the field, and at this point it's Chris Turner.

In two weeks we have J-Red's favorite ACC coach Al Groh coming into Byrd for Homecoming. J-Red actually talked screamed so much shit at Al Groh our senior year that Groh slipped to our level, came over to where we were standing, and pitifully attempted to talk smack to us by reminding us that he had been an NFL coach. J-Red reminded him in a very loud voice fortified by a few cans of Schlitz that his "ass had been fired as an NFL coach." Ahh... memories. Did I mention Terp students' class earlier in this post?