Vasquez

COLLEGE PARK -With their most indispensable player suddenly dispensed to a spectator role, the Terps were a team with no options. Fouls handcuffed Greivis Vasquez to the bench, and the Terps' hopes were suddenly shackled to an unfortunate, inescapable reality. Despite the best efforts of players like Adrian Bowie, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, in the waning moments of last night's 78-67 loss to Duke, Maryland needed a leader, not a cheerleader. The Terps flirted with the possibility of winning without their star player; they winked an eye and played footsie with a chance at upsetting the No. 7 Blue Devils.

COLLEGE PARK - Some people travel to Mediterranean spas to find their mojo. Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez prefers a bandbox filled with howling, undulating, body-painted Duke University partisans. Vasquez, who has been in a shooting slump lately, said he can't imagine a better place to regain his stroke than Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium - from which he draws inspiration, energy and focus. Maryland (13-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) visits No. 2 Duke (17-1, 4-0) for the third time in Vasquez's career at noon today.

On the Maryland men's basketball team The Terps have an extremely weak senior class with no direction or a consistent go-to guy. ... Gary Williams has allowed the program to sink to a low level; it's time to say, `Thanks, Gary, but a new direction is needed now.' The senior class has been a definite bust, but the bigger issue is Gary Williams' future. I favor moving him out now but I doubt the administration will act for at least two more years. The obvious hope are the freshmen and the incoming recruiting class, which seems strong.

COLLEGE PARK -- Illinois was in possession against Maryland at Comcast Center on Wednesday night when the ball swung to Greivis Vasquez's man. Priming himself to play defense, Vasquez leaned forward, slapped both palms on the court and howled. The sophomore guard was posturing neither for the television cameras nor his opponent. Maryland vs. VCU Tonight, 7:30, Verizon Center, Washington, MASN, 1300 AM Line: Maryland by 3 1/2

GUATEMALA CITY -- Lucrecia Vasquez wavers from one day to the next about whether her brother is dead or alive.The last time she saw him was in April 1984, a few months before he was to finish medical school. The phone rang, she recalled, and a moment later Omar Dario Vasquez rushed out the door. He yelled something about a medical emergency and said he would be back soon.But the 23-year-old was never seen again. And this week, his sister received what may be the first real evidence about his fate.

Last season, Morgan State football coach Stump Mitchell watched in horror as his kickers missed important short field goals and extra points during a 3-7 season.In one instance, against South Carolina State, the poor kicking game turned a would-be victory into an overtime contest, which Morgan lost. In another, lack of kicking skill meant a loss in regulation against North Carolina A&T, when both teams scored one touchdown but Morgan couldn't get the extra point.So it was no surprise that on media day at Hughes Stadium yesterday, one of Mitchell's favorite topics was his new place-kicker, K. C. Vasquez.

'Growing Through the Ugly,' by Diego Vasquez Jr. Norton. 224 pages. $21.An aspiring writer once submitted a short story for the perusal of Isaac Bashevis Singer. The novice promised the old master a fantastic tale about a severed head that talks. To which Singer answered: "Isn't it amazing enough that a head which is not cut off can talk?"For Diego Vasquez Jr., like so many of his brethren in the lush fields of Chicano literature, it is not enough. And it can be wearisome.In this debut novel by Vasquez, something mystical falls down with every dusting of cayenne pepper; poetry breaks out whenever someone gets drunk or peeps through a forbidden window; and the only thing more abundant than rueful tears is Spanish, which interrupts the narrative far too often for even a reader, like me, with a poor but passing knowledge of the language.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Former junior middleweight champion Carl Daniels, who lost his World Boxing Association title to Julio Vasquez last December, had little difficulty in stopping journeyman Tim Dendy on a sixth-round technical knockout on the undercard of the Terry Norris-Vincent Pettway championship card at the Richmond Coliseum last night.Actually, Dendy's corner tossed in the towel after the fifth round when a left hook by Daniels (36-2, 23 KOs) floored Dendy and took the fight out of Tennessean.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Officially, George Foreman was stripped of his World Boxing Association heavyweight title yesterday and, unofficially, Pernell Whitaker simply walked away from his WBA junior middleweight belt.Whitaker (35-1-1) waited only a few minutes Saturday night after he captured a unanimous 12-round decision from Julio Cesar Vasquez -- a verdict Vasquez endorsed -- to say, "I'm giving Julio back his belt."Whitaker isn't angry at anyone. He just liked the idea of joining an elite crew that has captured world titles in four different weight classes.

PHILADELPHIA -- San Diego rivals Terry Norris and Paul Vaden turned what was billed as a "grudge match" into a 12-round sleepwalk last night in the junior middleweight unification appetizer to the Mike Tyson-Buster Mathis main course.All 12 rounds were sluggish and the estimated 9,000 fans at the Spectrum derided the lack of action. But Norris, who forced the issue throughout, did what little fighting there was and won a lopsided decision.Norris, who owned the World Boxing Council crown, added Vaden's International Boxing Federation belt to his collection.

A Howard County man charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found floating in an underground cable vault under a Northeast Baltimore street Friday was pronounced dead Monday night after being found unresponsive in his jail cell, said a State Department of Corrections spokesman. Mark Vernarelli, the spokesman, said the state medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy on Victor Hernandez Cruz, 40, to determine the exact cause of death. A Howard County homicide detective made a connection between the suspect and the victim while reading a newspaper account of the finding of the body; it may have solved the mystery of Elda Ardornio Vasquez, a 30-year-old Columbia woman missing since early 2008.

Sure, it's 90 degrees out. But what is stopping us from looking ahead for a moment to the hoops season? Absolutely nothing. So let's proceed. What do you think of coach Gary Williams' recent tweet? The one in which he said: "With Greivis [Vasquez] back and our '09 class and the rest of our team improving every day, I truly believe we have the chance to be top 25 next year." Here's my take: Maryland could be a Top 25 team, but some things would need to happen. Vasquez coming back for his senior season is welcome news for Maryland, but it still needs more offense.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez, who led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists last season, said Monday that he has opted to return for his senior season. The decision means Vasquez, who spent the past month performing workouts and drills for NBA teams, has withdrawn his name from the June 25 NBA draft. Coach Gary Williams met with Vasquez on Monday afternoon in the coach's Comcast Center office. Vasquez left after the meeting was over, then returned a short while later and enthusiastically shook hands with the coach he has often defended.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -Maryland's NCAA tournament run became the Greivis Vasquez reality show yesterday. The excitable junior guard is expected to be the focus of the Memphis defense today when the Tigers (32-3), who have won 26 games in a row, play the Terrapins (21-13) in a second-round game. Memphis coach John Calipari yesterday called the 6-foot-6 Vasquez "crafty" and "multidimensional" and named four Tigers - including 6-9 forward Robert Dozier - who might guard him. But the attention the Tigers devote to Vasquez will pale in comparison to the interest he drew from the media after Maryland's closed practice at Sprint Center.

Before yesterday's Maryland-California NCAA tournament game on CBS, if you had said the word vivacious, I likely would have pictured an actress such as, say, Isla Fisher (Confessions of a Shopaholic). But now, thanks to Tim Brando, that word has been carved into my memory as applying to the Terps' Greivis Vasquez, henceforth to be known as "The Vivacious Venezuelan." CBS' cameras and announcers Brando and Mike Gminski loved Vasquez, and the junior guard gave them plenty to love. For one thing, he made Brando look brilliant.

ATLANTA -Entering the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last night, the Maryland Terrapins were playing for time. They were like a pickup team needing a win to stay on the court for another game. The seventh-seeded Terrapins' 74-69 victory over North Carolina State not only secured their goal of hanging around Atlanta another day - they face second seed Wake Forest tonight - but it also allowed them to cling to their season-long hopes of advancing to the NCAA tournament. One more win might do it. "I'm really excited I get another chance to play tomorrow," said junior guard Greivis Vasquez, whose Terps had been eliminated in this tournament's first round the previous two seasons.

ATLANTA - There's a reason Greivis Vasquez will take the court at the Georgia Dome tonight determined to scratch, claw and sweat his way through 40 minutes. There's a reason they'll have to drag him off the hardwood if the scoreboard isn't tilting in Maryland's favor when the final buzzer sounds. There's a reason he vows to play tonight's game against North Carolina State as though it's the last time he'll ever wear a Maryland jersey. That reason? "It could be," Vasquez said yesterday.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -Here are the Terps, heading back to College Park with just a couple of days to lick their wounds and make one last desperate push for the NCAA tournament. They'll roll into Atlanta on Tuesday night for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, tasked with a tall order: "We might have to make something impossible possible," junior Greivis Vasquez says. That's what the season has come to: A team that showed again and again that it struggles with probable must now make the impossible possible.

COLLEGE PARK -Gary Williams didn't need long to respond. Has there been another Terrapin, the Maryland coach was asked yesterday, who can match Greivis Vasquez's versatility? "Walt Williams," the coach quickly replied, referring to the man who holds the school record for points in a season (776). As Maryland (18-11, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) tries to strengthen its case for an NCAA tournament bid today against Virginia (9-17, 3-12), Vasquez is nearing a milestone. The junior guard can become the sixth player in ACC history to lead his team in scoring, rebounding and assists.

COLLEGE PARK -With their most indispensable player suddenly dispensed to a spectator role, the Terps were a team with no options. Fouls handcuffed Greivis Vasquez to the bench, and the Terps' hopes were suddenly shackled to an unfortunate, inescapable reality. Despite the best efforts of players like Adrian Bowie, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, in the waning moments of last night's 78-67 loss to Duke, Maryland needed a leader, not a cheerleader. The Terps flirted with the possibility of winning without their star player; they winked an eye and played footsie with a chance at upsetting the No. 7 Blue Devils.