The best game of the year is Maryland-Duke.
You can keep the Cowboys-Redskins. Nothing else in town even rates a comparison.
The Terrapins-Blue Devils on Sunday at Comcast Center was one unending thunderclap by 17,950 screaming. James Gist opened with a dunk and the stands swayed like RFK before a decade-and-a-half of mediocrity and a clueless owner conspired to harden Redskins fans.
Comcast Center is the state’s unofficial town hall. The one place Baltimore and Washington fans back a common team. They all agree on hating Duke. They’re the two games annually that mattermost to the Terps faithful, especially those born after 1980 who don’t know North Carolina was Maryland’s main nemesis in the 1970s.
Students shook “Terrapins Forever” newspapers during Duke introductions to ignore the Blue Devils. They sang “Rock and Roll Part II” a cappella after school officials banned the band from playing it during a semi-successful crackdown on profanity in 2004. With the winter semester beginning Monday, students returned with plenty of energy and a few signs that can’t be printed.
This isn’t one of the better teams in College Park, at least not so far. But beating No. 1 North Carolina on Jan. 20 showed Maryland can still factor this season with 11 games remaining. Losses to American and Ohio last month will be forgotten with a few big victories the ACC schedule regularly provides.
Maryland certainly scrapped with No. 4 Duke. The Terps entered with a recent 5-2 mark versus the Blue Devils. They usually win underneath while trying to contain Duke outside.
It went the same way in the latest rematch. Boom Osby and Gist dominated underneath for Maryland, but Duke kept scoring outside. It went back and forth, which is how a good rivalry game should go. Terps coach Gary Williams wore out another pair of shoes stomping the court to protest calls.
Too bad they only meet once a season in College Park — I could watch this rivalry every week.
