Late March means the beginning of spring football practice around the country, and today was the Terrapins’ first day.
Coach Ralph Friedgen kicked off the day with a long press conference, but it felt more like a classroom. Friedgen spent a half hour dictating about four pages of handwritten notes from a legal pad about the upcoming season. The local media got to hear about every player that is returning on both sides of the ball, among many, many other things. It nearly put me to sleep, but then Friedgen pulled out his bug gun: a powerpoint presentation.
No joke. Professor Friedgen paused from his lecture and turned his attention to a big overhead screen behind him. Lo and behold, the local media was then treated to a five-minute presentation that was the absolute highlight of the day.
It was a visibly stunning powerpoint that Friedgen apparently put together to tout his accomplishments since he’s been here. Friedgen isn’t exactly a technology wiz (he refers to Internet blogs as “bogs”) so I was impressed. In the presentation, he compared his current seven-year stint to the two decades of Terp football before he was hired; he showed us how well his athletes do in school; he promoted the expansion of Byrd Stadium; he poured his heart into on-field success, using the phrase “tradition of excellence.”
Remember, this is the local media gathering for this press conference. This isn’t boosters or the Maryland Gridiron Network or fans. It brought back memories of when I was a high school senior taking a tour of the campus.
Well, I wondered if Friedgen was doing this because questions of his job security have been raised after three losing seasons in four years. I figured this might be a chance for Friedgen to make a presentation with Athletics Director Debbie Yow in the room. So I glanced at Yow to see if she was as visibly stunned with what was going on as I was. Yow was on her blackberry.
You can’t make this stuff up.
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Tags: Debbie Yow, powerpoint, Ralph Friedgen, spring practice, terps