Posts Tagged ‘NCAA Tournament’

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April 1st, 2008 | 02:31 am

A disappointing finish

Well, that sucked.

Just when it looked like we’d all be heading to Tampa next week, the Terrapin women’s basketball season ended here in Spokane on Monday night.

The Terps played well in the 98-87 loss. But Stanford played one of the best games I have ever seen.

Candice Wiggins was ridiculous, scoring 41 points and showing incredible range.

After the game, Crystal Langhorne, Marissa Coleman, Kristi Toliver and Brenda Frese all had tears in their eyes when they walked into the press conference.

Langhorne started sobbing when she answered her first question, and Frese started crying again when Langhorne did.

Langhorne and Laura Harper sat consoling each other in a corner of the Terps’ locker room afterward, and nobody seemed willing to believe that the season was actually over.

After following them so closely for the past several months, it was definitely tough to see it all end.

The Terps had a good run. It’s too bad they couldn’t keep it going for one more week.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

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Posted in Women's Basketball | No Comments »

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March 31st, 2008 | 08:17 pm

Picking four No. 1 Seeds: Risky or Boring?

It’s eight o’clock here in College Park, and with Terp men’s basketball season done with, I figure I might as well hit the blogosphere. Usually I’d be watching Prison Break right now, but the writer’s strike assured that we’d get a shortened season.

Anyway, TV isn’t the real reason I am posting that. That’s not what this blog is for. At first I was going to write an entry about how sick to my stomach Tom Gordon makes me, but then I remembered, pro sports isn’t the point of this blog, either. So…I settled upon this food for thought…

What I want to know is whether I’m imaginative or boring for successfully picking all four number one seeds to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament? I did pick all four No. 1 seeds, and I feel pretty good about myself and my place in my “just-for-fun” pool. But when I have told people about this, they’ve laughed at me. Why? I just don’t understand. Isn’t picking something that’s NEVER happened before a risk? Daring. Bold. [Insert another synonym here]. Someone even called me lucky. I was like, “What??!! How is that lucky?”

So, what are your thoughts on this? Am I risky or boring for doing this? Post those comments below!

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Posted in Men's Basketball | No Comments »

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March 30th, 2008 | 01:24 am

A Big Win, Spokane’s Scenic Route and The Fonz

The Terrapin women’s basketball team dominated Vanderbilt tonight. The consensus among the assortment of media and the Terps themselves was that the 80-66 win was the Terps’ best all-around performance in a very long while.

Kristi Toliver mentioned games against Oklahoma and LSU that were played back in November as the last performances that were similar to this.

After Diamondback photographer Adam Fried and I left the rather generic Spokane Arena after the game, we decided to walk the mile or so back to the hotel instead of wait for a taxi.

It didn’t take long before we were extremely confused about where we were, and we ended up crossing the bridge over a large river, and crossing another bridge farther down going the other way over the river before we found the hotel.

It turned out we made a huge circle around a good chunk of Spokane. The hotel really wasn’t that far from the arena.

We did get to see some pretty nice scenery though, as the rapids in the river were pretty impressive, and since we’re on pacific time, we still made it back before 10 p.m.

And speaking of impressive sightings, there’s a rumor that Henry Winkler, a.k.a The Fonz is in town for reasons unrelated to basketball.

John Willmott of the WMUC radio crew took a picture with Winkler in the airport yesterday, and Fonzi is apparently staying at the same hotel as the Terps.

He is reportedly in town to make an appearance at some sort of show or event with the actor who played Ralph Malph in Happy Days and the actress who played Shirley in Laverne and Shirley.

Spokane is obviously the place to be this weekend.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

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Posted in Women's Basketball | 1 Comment »

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March 16th, 2008 | 06:40 pm

Breaking down the brackets

Columnist Mark Selig, deputy sports editor Adi Joseph and I were chatting online as the 2008 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed tonight. We were most surprised by not seeing “Maryland” pop up on the screen … err, nevermind, too easy.

Anyway, some quick thoughts amongst the three of us:

-UNC got hosed and has the toughest road of the No. 1 seeds to the Final Four. Indiana, Notre Dame, Washington State, Louisville and Tennessee in that bracket is brutal. We don’t understand how Tennessee has the top RPI in the country and is considered the worst No. 2? “East is so much stronger than the other brackets,” Adi says, “despite the No. 1 overall team being in it. Very unusual.”

-Butler as a 7 is ridiculous. The Bulldogs had just three losses and won the Horizon Conference (season and tourney). Why so low this season compared to a 5 last season?

-South Alabama a 10 seed playing in Birmingham? What is this, the women’s tournament?

-Wisconsin, Big Ten regular season and tourney champs, gets a 3 seed… Xavier, A-10 regular season but not tourney champs gets a 3 seed. What does that say about those two conferences? “I dont think they’re great, but what more could they have done?” Mark asks of the Badgers.

-All three of us agree Virginia Tech did not deserve to get in.

-I think Arizona State deserved to get in over Villanova, but other than that, I actually think the committee got it right with the bubble teams.

-Adi thinks Arizona as a 10 is “absurd” and Miami is “overseeded.”

-Mark says Georgetown got “too much love” and UCLA has “an absolute cakewalk.” I agree and would expect most of the country will pick UCLA to win it all because of its road to the Final Four.

zuckermandbk@gmail.com, ajosephdbk@gmail.com, mseligdbk@gmail.com

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Posted in Men's Basketball | 1 Comment »

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March 13th, 2008 | 04:08 pm

You ever been to Spokane? You’ll love it.

While writing my story for tomorrow’s paper about the Terrapin women’s basketball team likely headed to the Spokane regional, I was inspired to do some research about the city I might be visiting in a few weeks barring another catastrophic second-round upset (or a spot in a different region).

In case you didn’t know, Spokane is in Washington state. But it’s not in the cool part of the state on the coast near Seattle. It’s over here, kind of close to Idaho…and Montana.

The population of Spokane is approximately 195,000 Spokanians.

Spokane has an abundance of natural resources. Especially wood.

Spokane offers biking, boating, climbing, conservation, fishing, golf, hiking, sightseeing, and winter sports expeditions.

Some famous people from Spokane include Bob Crosby, Chad Little and John McIntire.

Spokane is the home of the 2006 arenafootball2 (minor league Arena League Football) champion, the Spokane Shock.

This monkey bit three people in Spokane and was euthanized. It did not have rabies.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

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Posted in Women's Basketball | 2 Comments »