Maryland Fans

The debut of Maryland center Alex Len tonight against Albany brings to mind other first games for former Terps. Coming into College Park, most were more celebrated than 7-footer from the Ukraine, but few were as important as Len could be to this season's Maryland team. Len is something of a mystery, but there are well-respected coaches and scouts who believe that Len could become a first-round NBA draft choice. First-year Maryland coach Mark Turgeon has done his best to downplay Len's potential,  and probably won't start him right away to allow him to get acclimated.    But Len's debut certainly has Terps fans buzzing, and has Turgeon hoping that the freshman will help his young team continue to grow.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland basketball and football. As Maryland's nonconference basketball schedule comes together , are there enough challenges to test the Terps before the league season begins in earnest?  Jeff Barker: There's Kentucky in Brooklyn on Nov. 9, followed by a game at Northwestern later in the month. The Terps will participate again in the BB&T Classic at Verizon Center, likely against George Mason.    Maryland fans have been known to wince when they examine the team's early-season schedules.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke freshman Nate James knows the kind of reception he will get tomorrow afternoon from Maryland fans at Cole Field House. It won't be the kind usually reserved for visiting players, whether they be stars or stiffs.In James' case, that he chose the Blue Devils over the Terrapins will make it even worse."It was a pretty hard decision," James said recently, sitting at his locker in the Duke dressing room at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "A lot of people wanted me to go to Maryland, but you always have to decide what's best for yourself."

One of the top available college basketball transfers has Maryland on his short list. Evan Smotrycz , a 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward from Reading, Mass., is leaving Michigan after two seasons. He told Scout.com this week that he's considering Baylor, Colorado, Clemson, Maryland, Providence and Xavier . "As of right now, I'm going to Providence this upcoming weekend," Smotrycz said. "Then to Maryland the following weekend, then possibly Colorado the next weekend.

The TV anchors are using it in their banter, it's all over sports-talk radio, and University of Maryland fans are shouting it across crowded sports bars as they clink their bottles of Bud Ice and watch their team's improbable run to the Final Four of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. We're talking here about the unofficial slogan of Terrapin fans - "Fear the turtle!" surely the hippest, funniest, most ironic in big-time college hoops today. Question: What do you do when your school has the gentle, plodding, smallish terrapin as its mascot, while seemingly every other team in the land has a larger, swifter, fiercer-looking one?

North Carolina@Virginia Tech 7 p.m. [ESPN] The Hokies are bubbling right along with the Terps, so Maryland fans should be rooting for Carolina. Plus, another victory for the Tar Heels makes the Terps' victory over them that much better. I think. To me, RPI still stands for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

For the next six weeks, Mondays are joining Wednesdays as "simulcast-only" days on the weekly horse-betting menu at all Maryland wagering outlets.Mondays formerly were darks days, but the change is being made so that Maryland fans can wager on Monday cards at the popular Saratoga, N.Y., and Del Mar, Calif., summer meets as well as on Monday cards from Philadelphia Park and Arlington International Racecourse.Maryland Jockey Club officials had said last week that the network would stay dark on Monday this summer, but changed their minds to accommodate fans who want to bet on the signals.

For the next six weeks, Mondays are joining Wednesdays as "simulcast-only" days on the weekly horse-betting menu at all Maryland wagering outlets.Mondays formerly were darks days, but the change is being made so that Maryland fans can wager on Monday cards at the popular Saratoga, N.Y., and Del Mar, Calif., summer meets as well as on Monday cards from Philadelphia Park and Arlington International Racecourse.

COLLEGE PARK -- What do Derrick Mercer, Tyrese Rice and Eric Maynor have in common? Maryland fans probably know all too well that each is a speedy guard who scored 18 or more points as his team - American, Boston College and Virginia Commonwealth, respectively - beat the Terrapins this season. Delaware@Maryland Tonight, 6, Comcast SportsNet, 1300 AM

Western Carolina (1-0) at Maryland (1-0)Site: Byrd StadiumTime: 6 p.m.TV: noneRadio: WBAL (1090 AM), WTTR (1470)Outlook: The time has come for the Maryland football team to put together an impressive offensive show against anybody. If it happens tonight against the Division I-AA Catamounts, that will be OK. The Maryland fans are tired of trying to explain away the likes of last week's 6-0 victory over Temple and two other close calls with the Owls in the past two seasons, along with a 23-15 win over Division I-AA James Madison last season.

When the Maryland men's basketball team won its national championship 10 years ago, it was uniquely different than a lot of those won during that era. The Terps , who finished 32-4 in 2001-02, had no superstars on the roster, and three of the starters - center Lonny Baxter, guard Juan Dixon and forward Byron Mouton - were seniors, a rarity then and even more so now. It was a collection of role players led by the gritty, veteran trio...

The success of football programs -- which are commodities in the business of selling themselves -- relies partly on perception. That -- among other reasons -- is why it would be hard to overstate the importance of Maryland's successful recruitment of standout wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who signed a national letter of intent Friday Maryland eagerly wants to turn the page. It hopes to turn fans' gaze away from the players departing to the ones arriving.  It wants its followers to look forward to 2012 instead of backward to 2011.

The debut of Maryland center Alex Len tonight against Albany brings to mind other first games for former Terps. Coming into College Park, most were more celebrated than 7-footer from the Ukraine, but few were as important as Len could be to this season's Maryland team. Len is something of a mystery, but there are well-respected coaches and scouts who believe that Len could become a first-round NBA draft choice. First-year Maryland coach Mark Turgeon has done his best to downplay Len's potential,  and probably won't start him right away to allow him to get acclimated.    But Len's debut certainly has Terps fans buzzing, and has Turgeon hoping that the freshman will help his young team continue to grow.

If a team builds a pair of nine-point leads in the first half, does that count as an 18-point lead? Maryland did that against Illinois tonight at Comcast Center, but after the first nine-point lead (29-20)  disappeared in a quick 9-0 run, the Terps took another (34-25) before going into their lockerroom ahead by four, 35-31. Actually, the Terps played some of their best basketball of the season early on, showing patience against a physical Illini defense and getting the ball inside to James Padgett, who scored his team's first six points and finished the half with nine.

Several weeks ago, Maryland kicker Nick Ferrara said he vividly imagined himself kicking the winning field goal against Miami and sending his coach, Randy Edsall, home a winner in his Terps debut. In his detailed daydream, Ferrara anticipated his kick coming from about 41 yards. The yardage in Ferrara's fantasy was a bit off, but his kick wasn't. The third-year kicker booted a 32-yarder Monday night with 1:39 left to give the Terps the lead for good. A minute later, Maryland cornerback Cameron Chism -- whose earlier defensive holding penalty had proved costly -- stepped in front of a sideline pass and returned the interception 54 yards for the clinching touchdown in Maryland's 32-24 win over the Hurricanes.

COLLEGE PARK - Given the early hour and the sleepy spectators, this clearly wasn't the Maryland football team's answer to Midnight Madness. But as the team's Fan Appreciation Day workout wore on early Saturday morning inside Byrd Stadium, the small crowd woke up. By the time the Terrapins finished their two-hour session with four 100-yard gassers, many of the few hundred fans were up on their feet cheering and encouraging the players. At least half the crowd remained to chat with and get autographs from first-year coach Randy Edsall and his team.

Several weeks ago, Maryland kicker Nick Ferrara said he vividly imagined himself kicking the winning field goal against Miami and sending his coach, Randy Edsall, home a winner in his Terps debut. In his detailed daydream, Ferrara anticipated his kick coming from about 41 yards. The yardage in Ferrara's fantasy was a bit off, but his kick wasn't. The third-year kicker booted a 32-yarder Monday night with 1:39 left to give the Terps the lead for good. A minute later, Maryland cornerback Cameron Chism -- whose earlier defensive holding penalty had proved costly -- stepped in front of a sideline pass and returned the interception 54 yards for the clinching touchdown in Maryland's 32-24 win over the Hurricanes.

Like many sportswriters, I've covered the range of organized athletics, from high school through college and now, usually, the pros. And when covering student-athletes, a different sort of accountability is at work. A 16-year-old kid might wind up reading about his disappointing moment on the field in a news account, but it would be a hard-hearted sports journalist indeed who would judgmentally harp on such miscues. In contrast, the NFL or major league player who commits those same sins can expect the sting of criticism for the obvious reason: That player is getting paid to perform.

The Maryland football team began practicing this week, and the debut of Randy Edsall's Terps is less than a month away. Besides their new coach, whom Maryland lured away from Connecticut, the Terps have a pair of new coordinators, new uniforms, new standards of conduct, even a new football designed by Under Armour. That's a lot of change for one summer, which might explain why the ACC media picked the Terps to finish fifth in the Atlantic Division this season even though the Terps went 9-4 under Ralph Friedgen in 2010.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with some reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine. Running it back: Matt Wieters' two-out RBI base hit in the 13th inning capped off a comeback against the Mariners on Tuesday night and gave the Orioles a much-needed 7-6 win . ... J.J. Hardy, activated from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, homered in his return to the Orioles lineup . ... Former Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon will be introduced as Maryland's men's basketball coach on Wednesday.