Living in Northern Virginia, when it comes to college teams the news focuses on mainly on the Maryland Terrapins and the Virginia Cavaliers. There are plenty of Terps and Wahoos in the area and they like hearing about their teams. That is completely understandable. What I can't understand, however, are the unbelievable claims people will make for their teams. Many may think this is true for all area teams, but it really goes above and beyond when it comes to UM and UVA. Look at the Redskins. Nobody in town has trouble talking about how bad they are. Nobody claims that they are the best two loss team in the NFL because who cares? Everyone knows the Nationals are terrible. The Capitals get a lot of coverage, but three years ago when they were one of the worst teams in the league there were stories on whether they would even be able to remain in DC. Another somewhat local team, Virginia Tech, gets a lot of flack because the standards are set so high. A few weeks ago the Hokies were a national contender, then after losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina, the Hokies probably won't win the ACC. Terps and Cavs fans, however, seem incapable of logical thinking.
A few weeks ago the Washington Post wrote an article on how the hottest team in the ACC was from Virginia. Who would have thought that that team was from Charlottesville and not Blacksburg? That's right, the paper claimed that the 2-3 Cavaliers were the hottest team in the ACC after their win over Indiana. Not the Hokies who had a record of 5-1, were coming off a 48-14 win over Boston College and who had crushed the number 9 Miami Hurricanes. This claim is ridiculous on its face. Since then the "hottest team" has lost to powerhouse Duke. Watching a report on Comcast Sports Net on the preseason basketball polls, the anchor remarked that while Maryland was not ranked, we can all safely assume they are number 26. I thought it was a joke, but he was dead serious. It's this kind of thinking that makes everyone believe that regardless of how bad Maryland plays, they still deserve a spot in the big dance. I've got news for all you optimistic Terp fans, who you lose to is just as important as who you beat. This is a lesson that seems lost on the Maryland faithful year after year.
As a big sports follower, I get tired of seeing undless coverage on the mediocre twins of the metropolitan area. While people love to rip on the Redskins, the Hokies, the Nationals, the Caps, Georgetown, Navy, the Ravens, the Wizards, and everyone else, they still assume Maryland is sitting safely at number 26 and UVA is a hot team. Reality check for UVA: Virginia Tech owns the state of Virginia when it comes to football, period. They don't lose to teams like AA William and Mary. Reality check for Maryland: you are not a rival to Duke. You are a footnote to them. Playing Maryland is just another game for the Blue Devils. You do not compare in anyway to North Carolina. Why? Because your team's not that good. Sure you compete. Sure you won the National Title in 2002, but that was seven years ago not yesterday. Since 2002 Maryland has won the ACC tournament once and has made the NCAA tournament four times. In that same span Duke has won the ACC tournament four times and has made the NCAA tournament every year. Time to take off the rose-tinted glasses and wake up to reality. Maryland and UVA have pretty bad football teams and mediocre basketball teams.
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