MSPA Journalism Camp

Hello everyone. For the rest of this week I will be at journalism camp so I won't have any blog posts for a while. You can follow my blog at the camp here.

One More Year!

Maryland's best basketball player, Junior Guard Greivis Vasquez, has announced that he will return to Maryland for his senior season. Vasquez lead the Terps in about every statistical category last season, leading the team in points (17.5 per game), rebounds (5.4 rpg) and assists (5.0 apg). Fellow Maryland fans, have a nice sigh of relief. After Vasquez flirted with the possibility of an NBA career for the past couple months, he has decided to get his degree and then enter the draft next year as a senior. This should have many Maryland fans excited, as he returns to lead a team that looks promised to make some noise this year. He joins Guard Eric Hayes and Forward Landon Milbourne to make up a strong senior class, surrounded by other talents such as Guards Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosely. Freshman big men Jordan Williams and James Padgett will be counted on to hold down the low block for the Terps after the departure of Dave Neal. Vasquez certainly will make it easier for these freshman, as all the attention will be on him now. I can honestly say that I think Maryland will be a Top 25 team next year. No worrying come March next year for the Terps, not with Greivis Vasquez in control. It has also been announced that Maryland will play in that Maui Invitational with Gonzaga, and play a tough non-conference game against Villanova at Verizon Center. Scottie Reynolds vs. Greivis Vasque, now that will be quite a sight to see.

College Football Preview

This next post comes from some inspiration. I was looking through the sports magazines at Borders today and my teams are getting no love. The redskins were predicted to finish last in the NFC East and the Terps were predicted to finish last in the ACC Atlantic Divison. Being the proud fan that I am, I cannot stand for this so I decided to make my own previews. Today I will assess my College Football preview and sometime next week I will do the NFL. SO here it goes, I'll start with Maryland since their my favorite team.

The terps have to replace 30 seniors from last years team, but that does not necessarily mean they are in a rebuilding process. The Terps will have many stars to build around, including Quarterback Chris Turner, running back Da'Rel Scott, and Wide Reciever Torrey Smith. On defense, Linebacker Alex Wujciak will lead the way, as he led the Terps in tackles in 2008 with 10.2 tackles per game. New Defensive Coordinator Don Brown will bring a more aggressive blitzing style of defense to Maryland, and will have an experienced secondary to work with. Now for a position by position breakdown

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Grade B
Senior Chris Turner is back for his third year as a starter for the Terps. This is the first year in a while the Terps knew who the unanimous starter was going into the season, and under Turner they should have more leadership. Turner threw for 2,516 yards and 13 TDs in 2008, and has a 5-1 all time record against ranked opponents. But Chris will have to be more consistent for the Terps to truly succeed this year. The big question is what happens if Turner gets injured. Jordan Steffy graduated and Josh Portis transfered, leaving only Jamarr Robinson behind him, who has never taken a college snap.

Running Back: Grade B+
The Terps are loaded at the running back position. Returning Junior Da'Rel Scott, Sophmore Davin Meggett, and Junior Morgan Green will all get plenty of carries this year to keep each other's legs fresh. Fullback Cory Jackson also returns to open up holes for these capable backs. Scott is the most explosive and quick of the three, he rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2008 and had a career game in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl where he rushed for 174 yards and 2 scores against Nevada, in just 2 quarters. Davin Meggett had a great Freshman season and stepped ug big time in Maryland's win over NC State when Scott got injured. Meggett is a good compliment to Scott, because he is more of a bowling ball power runner with deceptive speed compared to Scott, who can flat out fly. Scott is one of Maryland's fastest running backs since Bruce Perry. The Terps should have no problem running the ball this year if the O Line can block.

Wide Recievers: B-
The Terps will no doubtedly miss the depature of Darrius Heyward-Bey to the NFL, but there is a lot of young and unproven talent here ready to step in and fill his shoes. The lone returning wide out is Torrey Smith, who caught 24 passes for 356 yards and 2 TDs in 2008 as a freshman. He also is a dynamic returner, setting the ACC record for kick return yards in a season with 1,089 and scored in the Humanitarian Bowl on a long kickoff return. Behind Smith there are still contributors from last years' team. Ronnie Tyler, Emani Lee-Odai, LaQuan Williams and Adrian Cannon all made an impact on last years team. The Terps also have some youthful talents in Quintin McCree, Tony Logan, Kevin Dorsey, and Kerry Boykins. It has yet to be determined if Kenny Tate will see time at Wide Reciever for the Terps this season, but the highly touted recruit played that position at DeMatha before switching to safety.

Offensive Line/ Tight Ends: C
The Terps have many holes to fill in the line, with only Phil Coasta and Bruce Campbell returning. Costa will make the switch from Guard to center this year to replace Edwin Williams, while Campbell will retain his position at Left tackle. The other 3 spots will be filled by some unproven youngsters that must step up. Junior Paul Pinegar is the only other lineman to see any action before, and will start out at right tackle, but will have to battle to keep his spot. Sophmore Lamar Young and redshirt freshman Justin Lewis will start at left and right guards respectively heading into the season. It is imperative that these rookies get some experience quickly for the Terps offense to succeed. If they can block long enough for Scott to find holes and Turner to find recievers, the Terps will have one of the most explosive offenses in the ACC. At Tight end, the Terps lose Dan Gronkowski, whose spot will be filled by Senior Tommy Galt, a blocking tight end. Behind him is Landsford Watson, who had a big catch against FSU last season, which was promising.

DEFENSE

Defensive Line: C-
The Defensive Line looks relatively weak again this year, which could be a problem for the Terps. With the departures of Jeremy Navarre, Dean Muhtadi, Trey Covington, Mack Frost, and Olugbemi Otulaja, the Terps are lacking of any experience in the trenches. At nose tackle, senior Travis Ivey will have to anchor the line with sophmore Dion Armstrong beside him. On the ends, Derek Drummond and Jared Harrell will be counted on to put pressure on the Quarterback. Highly recruited players Masengo Kabongo and Deonte Arnett will also push for time and see the field as well.

Linebackers: B-
We lose Dave Philistin and Moise Fokou, but return arguably our best defensive player Alex Wujciak, who should be a beast in the middle this year. Beside him at the Sam spot will be Adrian Moten, a good pash rusher who has 7.0 sacks in his career, which leads the team. Freshman Demetrius Hartsfield will start at the Will Linebacker position. There is also plenty of depth behind them with Ben Pooler, Drew Gloster, and Avery Murray pushing for time.

Secondary: B
First year Defensive Coordinator Don Brown will be helped by a very expienced secondary with a plethora of talent. The only key loss is Kevin Barnes at corner, who was injured half of the season anyways. Terrell Skinner will return at Free Safety, with Antwine Perez backing him up. Jamari McCollough, who led the team with 4 INTs in 2008, will start at the Strong Safety Position this year with Kenny Tate behind him. At the corners we have speedster Anthony Wiseman, a returning starter, and Nolan Carroll, who saw signifcant time last year.

Special Teams: A
The Terps return one of the nations best punters in Junior Travis Baltz, who averaged 41.1 yards per punt last year. We also have Torrey Smith, the ACCs best returner. Obi Egekeze departs at kicker so Sophmore Nick Wallace and Senior David May will battle for the starting kicker position. Tony Logan will take over Punt Return duties for Danny Oquendo, who was very reliable in his time at Maryland.

So Here they are, my predictions for Maryland's 2008-2009 season:

@ California L
vs. James Madison W
vs. Middle Tennesse W
vs. Rutgers W
vs. Clemson W
@ Wake Forest W
vs. Virginia W
@ Duke W
@ NC State L
vs. Virginia Tech L
@ Florida State L
vs. Boston College W

Our Most important game will be the ACC opener vs. Clemson. If we can beat the Tigers and gain some momentum going into the game against Wake Forest, and then pull that one out, It will be smooth sailing until we meet NC State. But If we lose, it will make it very hard for us to scramble to find 6 wins to even make a bowl. Its pretty much a given that we will start out 3-1, so if we could pull off some big wins early in the ACC schedule it will give us momentum for the tougher games vs. FSU and VT late in the season. Overall I see us having a successful 8-4 season and then winning our bowl game.

Now For the Rest of the ACC Standings:

ACC Atlantic

1. NC State
2. Florida State
3. Maryland
4. Wake Forest
5. Clemson
6. Boston College

ACC Coastal
1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgia Tech
3. Miami
4. North Carolina
5. Duke
6. Virginia

ACC Championship Game: Virginia Tech vs. NC State
Winner: Virginia Tech

The Hokies just return so much with Tyrod Taylor and Darren Evans. Danny Coale and Jarrod Boykins developed nicely from the beginning of last season to the end and will give Taylor valuable options to throw too. Hybrid Tight End Greg Boone will also be a key factor in how the Hokies will perform this year, he is a freak of nature that can create mismatches for opposing defenses. Need I speak about the Defense? You already know Bud Foster's bunch will be unstoppable. They have all the making to win the ACC Championship, and maybe even more.

Now for my National Championship and Heisman Trophy Prediction:
(No Surprises here)

National Championship: Florida vs. Texas
Winner: UF

Nobody will be able to stop the Gators this year. This is the only reason Tim Tebow came back to school, and who wouldn't? Why not win another one? This guy has too much determination to be denied of his goals. He is one of the hardest workers the game has ever seen, its hard not to like the guy. But with returning all 11 starters on a ferocious defensive, and all you need to know is Tebow behind center and they'll be fine on offense. The only tests they will have will be @ LSU and vs. Ole Miss in the SEC Championship, but I don't see them losing. Theyre just too fast, too strong, and too determined. Florida will win it all, no doubt.

Heisman Winner: Colt McCoy, QB, Texas

I would say Tebow becuase he would be cementing his place as the Greatest College Football Player of All Time with 3 National Championships and 2 Heismans, but I think his numbers won't be as good as when he did as a sophmore because Florida will get production from other Playmakers. Colt McCoy, however, will be asked to do it all for the Longhorns, and he will do so. I think that Texas will beat Oklahoma in this year's Red River Shootout, and McCoy will come up big to lead them to the Title Game and earn himself a Heisman.

Well, that's it. Let me know what you think.

Something Magical is happening

As a Washington Wizards fan, you already know that I gave up on the NBA after the first two months of the season. You also know that I hate LeBron James. With good reason, he's knocked my team out of the postseason in its last 3 appearances. Now I do have respect for LeBron, he is a great player, one of the top 3 in the game, but not the best. I don't like some of the things he does, like complain when he gets "Fouled" to the refs. For a guy that takes more free throws than three pointers, he shouldn't be complaining. So around this time of the year when the Wizards are long out of it, I find a second favorite team: Anyone playing LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Maybe i've found something more than that, maybe even the eventual Champions, the Orlando Magic. They beat the Cavaliers 4-2 in a seven game series in the Eastern Conference Finals to meet the Lakers in the finals. I rarely watched the Magic play the whole regular season, I saw when they beat the Hornets on Christmas and probably whenever they smacked the Wizards. I didn't watch there series vs. the 76ers, nor did I watch the series against the defending champion Celtics. I started watching Game 3 of the series vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, and the NBA's best regular season record. And I tell you, I've pretty much fallen in love with this team. They have a GREAT coach in Stan Van Gundy, ever time I here the guy talk I agree with him more and more. Now that's the kind of guy that can get you a championship ring. They have a very well-rounded team too, with the perfect balance of inside-out. They have one of the most dominating big men in the league in Dwight Howard, who can draw a lot of attention down low. But they also have the number one three point shooting team in the league, so you can't focus on just Howard or Rafer Alston, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu will kill you from long distance. I also like the resiliency of this team. They came back from a 16 point defecit in game one to beat the Cavs, a 23 point defecit in Game 2 in which the "King" won it with a lucky buzzer beater, and Game 5 they came back from a 22 point defecit to take the lead, only to surrender it to a hungry Cavaliers team. If It weren't for James's lucky, incredible, amazing, whatever your take is on it, shot, this series would have been a sweep. Ever since I've started watching this team since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals and they seem to show no signs of stopping or slowing down. There's something magical happening down in Orlando, and it's not done yet.

Music

So this weekend on my usual car ride to Virginia, I decided to listen to a CD i hadn't in a while: Green Day's "American Idiot". It was so overplayed that I never really had given it much attention since everyone else hopped on it many years ago. Then I got an idea for a good article: Artists that change their style and how their fans react. Green Day is a perfect example of this. They started out as a punk rock band in Berkeley, California. After much success from 1994 album "Dookie" which is clearly punk rock at its best, Green Day seemed on their way. Many other albums were relased afterward trying to live up to the precedent set by "Dookie." Then in 2004, Green Day completely broke away from their roots and released a punk rock opera in "American Idiot". They An album with two 9 minute songs, developing characters such as "Jesus of Suburbia", "st. Jimmy" and "Whatsername", and really having nothing that relates to "Dookie", one could say Green Day was completely a different band. But they were still good. Name another band that can make a nine minute rock opera and get radio play from it. Simply put, Green Day is one of a kind.

Many other bands have changed styles and found success, such as Papa Roach. They started out as a rap metal band in the late 90s and now continue to make rocking music but have also implemented some ballads, such as "Scars" and "Forever". This was a successful transformation, as much as I love the song "Last Resort," I wouldn't want to hear them make 30 more songs sounding exactly like it. Incubus, one of my personally favorite bands, has also foregone a transformation that makes them a truly amazing band. They grew from a psychedelic funk metal band that could jazz, rock, and pop all at the same time and blend it perfectly. Now, the band still can change styles like clothes and sound awesome, but they are basically an established alternative rock band. One can see the band's growth from the songs "A Certain Shade of Green" (1999) to "Anna Molly" and "Dig"(2007)

However, some bands, such as Linkin Park, have not seen as much success while switching styles. The bands first two albums, "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora" really could relate to the teenage angst of their fan base. Behind Chester Bennington's screams and Mike Shinoda's hard core raps, LP made it to the top. But then they released Minutes to Midnight. The first hit, "What I've Done" is sort of a wimpy ballad in the eyes of previous LP fans, and other songs like "Bleed It Out" and "Given Up" are just too whiny and not like the good songs of old. Many fans wish they would just go back to the days of "One Step Closer" and "Faint".

Why do bands change? Why do fans criticize when their favorite band does not release the music they've used to know and love? The answer is: People grow and change. A musician spends about 2-3 years between albums, and in that time they may have a life changing experience, or a premonition that will affect their outlook on music. One cannot expect that bands will produce the same music over and over year after year until they break up. Eventually it will get bland and grow old with fans and they will lose them anyways. The answer is musicians are creative, which is why they are professionals and the best at what they do, and it stunts his/her creativity to be making the same music over and over again. SO think twice before you criticize an artist that changes and maybe you can learn to change too.

Good Riddance Braxton Dupree

Today Maryland Sophomore Center Braxton Dupree has recieved his release and intends to transfer from the University of Maryland. Dupree, a 6'8, 245 center has just not lived up to the hype coming out of high school. He was a four-star recruit from Calvert Hall, but due to his inability to make layups and 12 inch vertical, Braxton well...sucked. He averaged 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in his career, and made the right decision becuase he probably would not see the floor next year with the front court of Dino Gregory, Landon Milbourne, and Jerome Burney returning, as well as four-star recruits James Padgett and Jordan Williams. In other news, the Terps have announced that they will play at Indiana December 1st for the Big Ten/ ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers went through a rebuilding season last year, and it should pay off this upcoming season. This should be a good game.

What!?! Why?? But.. Oh.. Yeah you're right

*Sigh*
why must the redskins have the worst organization in all of sports? Can we ever be content with the players we have? I guess not. Just recently, rumors of the Redskins trying to acquire Broncos quarterback Jay cutler in a trade surfaced. The redskins were willing to give up current quarterback Jason Campbell in order to complete the deal. The Broncos instead accepted a deal from Chicago sending Cutler to the Bears. So the Redskins were left with Campbell, a big armed young quarterback from an SEC school with a 16-20 record as a starter. Wait...doesn't that sound a lot like Jay Cutler? (almost exactly, except for Cutler's 17-20 record). Luckily, Campbell was classy enough to realize that Daniel Synder and Vinny Cerato are complete idiots, and is glad to be the Redskins quarterback. Things could have turned out exactly as they did for Cutler, who felt hurt by the Broncos after they tried to trade him for Matt Cassel. Honestly, grow up. Football is a business, and until you can man up you will never be a championship quarterback, just one big cry baby. Its quarterbacks like Jason Campbell that win rings, guys that when something like this happens, it just motivates him more. The Redskins organization doesn't deserve a Jason Campbell, maybe thats why we tried to get him. Our organization deserves a Jay Cutler, a primadonna. It seems as though the Redskins aren't following the mold of other successful NFL franchises by DEVELOPING talent, instead of impatient buying any big name free agent possible. Which reminds me, rumors have surfaced that the SKins tampered with DL Albert Hanyesworth before he became a free agent. This is probably true. Now when I read these things in the paper or see them on TV, Am I really that surprised? I've pretty much became accustomed to the stupidity and lack of common sense with out franchise. Until we start making wiser decisions, we will never be a championship team. By the way, mad props to the terps for beating both teams in the national championship.