So much for the holiday news cycle slowdown. As the world watches, health reform and Copenhagen are coming apart at the seams. In the sports world, Chris Henry falls out of a truck and dies, the Redskins fire and hire a GM (we’ll see if it makes any difference), and cocktail waitresses at VIP lounges nationwide gird their loins as Mrs. Tiger plans her exit strategy from Windermere.

And now, the Terps corner of the world gets rocked as well. The Washington Times’ Patrick Stevens, who may now officially be THE must-read Maryland beat writer, has discovered that Maryland is pretty low on the assistant coach pay scale. They’re last among the ACC’s public schools, lower than George Mason, and lower than their own freaking women’s team. How does that happen, by the way? How? How does that happen? “Arithmetic error” is the only thing that comes to mind.

Springing into damage control mode (which I understand they practice for two hours each day), the athletic department noted that the salaries were low because of a university-wide salary freeze, and that, oh yeah, right when Patrick called they were just about to unveil this super-generous new bonus structure that they had totally been working on for, like, months.

As may be expected, some people are making a pretty big deal out of this. The athletic department is incompetent, the athletic department is run by a bunch of ex-KGB agents, this university runs a third-class operation, the Terps will never be competitive again, and so on. For many fans, the only holiday songs that will be music to their ears this holiday are Debbie Yow’s hoarse and desperate screams as a demonic Hellbird pecks apart her ocular globes.

Now I admit that Yow and the AD don’t exactly live in the bright light of day when it comes to their decision-making, and perhaps Debbie baby needs to loosen up. I really have no idea, though, how that differs from other athletic departments. Also, the athletic department’s body of work by and large is pretty good. They made the right decision by keeping Ralph Friedgen (and, by and large, hiring him in the first place). They managed recent budget shortfalls without eliminating sports or making momentous cuts. Maryland has perennially elite programs in field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s (and arguably men’s) basketball, and wrestling. As of December 17, Maryland sits fifth among D-1 schools in the Sears Director’s Cup, which ranks schools based on the performance of all their teams combined.

So yeah, they did a bad job here, but I’m not gonna say the athletic department isn’t running a tight ship or doing a good job. They could stand to be a bit more accountable (to themselves, really), and could stand to cut out what seems to be a decent bit of internal backbiting and length-of-urination competition, particularly in relation to the men’s basketball team, but overall, I think we’re in decent hands. Good reporting by a good journalist will in this case lead to a real problem receiving a good fix. In my book, nothing more to it than that.

(Photo credit:  Washington Post…or is it HELL?!?!)

The Diamondback has the story. Ralph Friedgen is still the coach of your Maryland Terrapins.

The D-back may have gotten that scoop, but we got the ultra-scoop.  We’re the Maggie Moo’s of Ralph Friedgen news.  We’re the Better Batter, big daddy. With a Snickers mix-in. 

Ready?  Athletic Director Debbie Yow said they would make the decision “very fast.”  And so they did.  Here’s how it all went down yesterday…behind closed doors.

• Yow:    Greetings, Coach Friedgen. Thank you for coming in this morning.
• Friedgen:    How you doing, Debbie.
• Yow:  Please address me as Doctor Yow.
• Friedgen:  Sure, doc.  How ya doin, doc.
• Yow:   I’m fine, sir.   A little stiff, but fine.   Were you aware that if we fired you we would have to pay you four million dollars?
• Friedgen:   (Smiles.  He produces a beer from somewhere, cracks it open.  Takes long, satisfying swig.)  AHHHHHHHHHHHH.  MAN, is that good. Seriously though.  GOOD.  The first cold one of the offseason.  Does it get any better than that?  It’s like a little vacation in my hand.
• Yow:  So the buyout, then.
• Friedgen:   Oh, that.  Now that you mention it, yes, I believe I may recall seeing a mention of that somewhere.
• Yow:  The university’s not gonna cough it up.  And the boosters say they cannot collect that much.
• Friedgen:  (Wriggles hand down pants, takes another swig.)  Yeah, even for rich guys that’s a lot of money to piss away.  Can you imagine that?  You’re in the bathroom, trying to get your stream going, and you look down and see that it’s money coming out of your dong!  Oh, sorry about that, Deb.  It could be coming out of a verjayjay, too.  That’s totally cool with me.  Either way, though, liquid money!   And you want to put out your hand to catch it so it doesn’t go into the toilet, but it’s still pee, you know?  I’d imagine you’d just let it go.  It’s too gross to touch. 
• Yow:   Would you care to know what activities I partook of last weekend? I set up a donation pot and rang a handbell outside of a Safeway grocery story.  That is what I was reduced to.  All I could get was 17 dollars and 61 cents. Three million, eighty-six dollars and thirty-nine cents short. It’s like those grocery shoppers were carved out of stone.
• Friedgen: It’s tough around the holidays, Deb.
• Yow:  It’s the Salvation Army’s fault!  I kept telling the guy, “get your own territory!”   I kept leading him over to Mattress Discounters.  I thought all those indoor beds might mesmerize him.  But he kept finding his way back.   Surprising for a Salvation Army guy.  His apron was exceedingly shabby.
• Friedgen: (Cracks another beer, loosens belt.) We through here, Doc?
• Yow:  Yes. Just, you know, try to do better next year.
• Friedgen: (Stands up, salutes her.) Righty-o.  Because after 2010 it’s only a $2 million buyout, right?  (Shudders mockingly.)  Woooo!  I’m really on the hot seat now!  State employees are wiping their bee-hinds with leaves, and you’re gonna be Miss Football Accountability!  Or is it Mrs.?  Ms.?  I’ll just stick with Doc.  Keep it real, Doc!  Catch you at the “Terrapins Rising” preproduction meeting.  (Walks out, clicking heels and singing “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas”)

There you have it.   In far less interesting news, The Diamondback is also reporting that his retention is contingent on him expanding some kind of improvement plan that he gave to Debbie Yow during their meeting yesterday.  The plan will reportedly cover scheme changes, possible staff changes, and a new “recruiting philosophy.”

But again, that tells only half the story. That new recruiting philosophy they mentioned? We have the text. Word for word!

Stick gun in the barrell, start shooting.

And now you know…the rest of the story.

(Photo Credit: The Redshirt Senior)

Friedgen is now nine years into being head coach of his Alma mater, and his record stands at 66-46.  After a few hot years of winning and building a national reputation as a Top 20 team with a punishing defense, the Terps have cooled down considerably.  Last year, the Terps finished 8-5 and struggled to get selected for a bowl game.  This year was arguably the worst year in the history of the program, with the team finishing 2-10.

The front office faces a decision on whether or not to buy out Friedgen’s contract, which would cost $4M for the next two years.  Economically, it would be very hard to justify the buyout.  It’s unlikely that the program would recover the money it would cost to let him go.  I argue that it would also be a mistake from a programmatic standpoint.  I am generally the last person to make injuries an excuse for losing, but this season was an especially tough year on the injury front, with the Terps losing the better part of their defense and many of their offensive starters to injuries.  Inexperience on the offensive line also plagued the team.  I think that time off during the off-season would help Maryland heal these problems.  Ralph has given this program more success over the last nine years than it had seen in decades, and as a successful head coach and alumnus I believe he deserves a chance to finish out his contract.

Defensively, the Terps took a big turn for the worse under new coordinator Don Brown this year.  In 2008, the Terps gave up 22.5 pts/gm.  This year, that number increased to 31.5 pts/gm allowed.  That is an astounding 42% increase in points allowed year-over-year.  The Terps only managed to hold opponents under 30 pts three times this year.  The team gave-up 396 yds/gm this year on defense, which was a 12% increase over last year.  Brown’s super blitzing style often left the secondary in single coverage, and the Terps got burned for big plays over and over.  The team also seemed gassed at the end of games, and didn’t have the energy to close out teams they should have beaten.

The blame for Maryland’s poor defensive play this year has to go on Brown.  He was the major change on that side of the ball, and his results this year were untenable.  I believe that Yow has take action to show the alumni and boosters that she is serious about results.  Firing Friedgen doesn’t make financial sense, and I do not believe it would make tactical sense, either.  If something has to be done, I believe Yow should fire Brown and keep Friedgen.

I’m glad someone woke up John Feinstein. He must have finally finished his latest tell-all book about the William and Mary soccer team.  Let me guess: it’s a place where sports still mean something.

Just a couple weeks after making some waves by claiming rightly that ACC football is irrelevant on the national stage, yesterday Feinstein noted the growing swarms of Boo Birds at Maryland and Redskin games. More fans seem to be eating their “Boo Berries,” if you get my drift.  They’ve got a case of the “Boos.”  Their teams ”make them sick” to the point where they want to “lash out like Huns after a break-in at the meadery.”  If you take my meaning.  Because mead is an intoxicant.

Sometimes I hear a little too much talk radio in Feinstein’s columns, but he’s right. Terp fans are angry over what could be a dreadful season. And I’m not talking about the overreactionist “OMG SOMEONE NEEDS TO THROW ACID IN DEBIE YOWS FACE” contingent. A lot of the rank-and-file fans seem to be getting fed up, too, and they’re fighting back with their mouths and, more ominously, their wallets. Another Post story today notes that attendance is down at Byrd by nearly every measure: last Saturday’s MTSU game had the smallest crowd since 2002. Season ticket sales are declining. And that’s even before we bring up the luxury boxes.  These people, they just don’t know true poshness when they see it.  That’s REAL particle board, people!  That stuff doesn’t grow on trees.

Does the economy play a factor?  Surely.  But would the attendance dip be as bad if the team wasn’t also dipping like a bag of Scoops at an AA meeting?  (zing.)  No. Look at Michigan, one of the hardest-hit states economically. The Big House is packed every time.  Byrd could be, too.  The team doesn’t have to win the ACC every year — just be competitive.  Don’t embarrass your fans.  Is that too much to ask?  For instance, what about that Murfreesboro vacation I was planning?  You think I can still show my face there?  And I heard they just got a Mattress Discounters.

Bottom line:  we wouldn’t be having any of these conversations if the team was winning.  In many ways, sports is an easy business. 

(Non-topical final note:  If you think the Lions don’t have Sunday’s game circled on their calendar, you haven’t been watching the Skins. Booo, Snyder!)

The Terps athletic department is cutting $301,000 out of the football budget, according to the Baltimore Sun. That’s about a 3 percent reduction out of a $9.7 million overall budget.

So what are the ramifications. Well, the team now has to take the bus for some of its games, and the PR folks are sending out media guides on CDs instead of printing them. WHAT? Unacceptable. Oh wait…they won’t give a lowly blogger like me the time of day anyway. At least, I imagine they would not, if they knew I existed.

Lots of other sports are also affected. Men’s basketball, which has a $4.4 million budget, was trimmed $137,786, or about 3.1 percent. Women’s basketball saw its budget – about $2.6 million – cut $61,583, or about 2.4 percent. The “Olympic sports” of swimming and diving, track and field, gymnastics, tennis and other sports, are being cut by 9 percent (tennis is an Olympic sport?). Lots of Ramen noodles in their future, I’m afraid.

The good news is that it seems like no sports will be eliminated barring some catastrophe. AD Debbie Yow said “I’m pretty steadfast on the 27 [sports]. We’re just going to get through this period.”

So just a little general belt-tightening. It’s understandable. It could be worse. Besides, riding the bus builds character.

Following the big Georgia Tech victory — pop the champagne! tear down the goal posts! — the anti-Gary Williams mob has temporarily put aside its torches and pitchforks.  After it all came to a head with the public spat between Gary and the athletic department, there seemed to be a backlash against the backlash.  Suddenly, if you said anything bad about Gary on the discussion boards or wherever, you weren’t a real Terps fan, or something like that.

Either way, I’m firmly on record as saying he deserves at least one more season after this one.  And with a guaranteed three years and $4.2 million left on his contract — and with the cash-strapped university probably reluctant to pay two head coaches at once – he could stick around for a few more seasons regardless of what happens with the team.  So Gary lovers probably don’t have much to fear.

But love him or not, there’s still a lot of blood in the water.  The program is under a lot of scrutiny right now, and, on the national stage, it’s only getting worse.

Obviously, the infighting has added an extra layer to the intrigue. Yeah, Gary and Debbie Yow buried the hatchet at a news conference, but did anyone really buy it?  It might still be going on if the friggin Board of Regents hadn’t called for it to stop. It was like a dysfunctional couple who puts on their finery and throws a big lavish dinner party, but you can still see the woman’s black eye and the man hammering back martinis.  The cat is out of the bag. You can’t unblack the eye.

As evidence of this, stories exploring the behind-the-scenes drama, and attacking Gary on a more individual level, are getting more common in the mainstream media (USA Today for one) and the blogosphere (at The Big Lead among other places).  Just yesterday, Gary’s recruiting practices were highlighted in an interesting article on the Yahoo! Sports home page — it detailed a rather unimpressive recruiting visit by a local prospect who ended up signing with Carolina.  In other words, it’s not the same “What’s Wrong with the Terps?” articles that have cropped up periodically over the past few seasons.  The questions have become more pointed: “What’s Wrong With Gary Williams?” or “What’s Wrong With This entire Cockamamie Program?”   The media now has two openings to attack (the team’s record and the AD drama), and us readers are sopping it up with a biscuit.

Again, Gary is at least somewhat insulated from all this by loyal Terps fans who try to shout down or shame anyone with a negative opinion.  He even seemed to get a mulligan on the Carolina drubbing from the local media.  But unless he starts winning, these national voices are going to grow too loud to ignore – and you’re kidding yourself if you think the media’s opinion doesn’t matter.  I said before that Gary lovers don’t have much to fear, but that’s not entirely true.  Even if Gary doesn’t get the axe, without a turnaround his reputation, his recruiting, and the program will continue to grind against one another. And the farther away we get from the calming lubrication of 2002, and the more these articles appear, the worse that grinding is going to get.  Of course, the best cure is winning. Seven games left!

(Photo credit: Justin Kase Conder for USA Today)

Yes!

No!

 Time for some more Shell Games crack reporting.

Did you know that Maryland is the only D-1 school with FOUR team colors? It’s true, my friend.  And with all these colors come many opportunities for uniform sales designs. And ever since Nike took it over, everyone’s gotten a little more greedy inventive. Hence the gold and black alternate uniforms.

They’re both tight unis. No question. So the real question is, which one has better karma?

As you know, on Tuesday the Terps rocked the blacks at Carolina but got rocked 108-91 (nice word play, MASH,  hey, thanks, MASH, I appreciate that).  But did you know they first wore the blacks back in 2004, and lost a scrimmage to some Italian team?  That is not a good sign. Not hospitaliano as I know it. After that, a superstitious Gary Williams shelved the jerseys, supposedly forever. But back they came for the Terps’ 2006 ACC tournament game against Boston College, which the Terps promptly lost 80-66. And now there’s the Carolina game. The lesson here: get the hell rid of those black jerseys right the hell now. Burn them in the alley and watch the ghosts fly out.  They look pretty good, so maybe down the road break them out against Central Delaware Tech or something and try to build a new legacy. But for now, they need at least a few years of non-existence.

Now for the golds. Of course, these are a holdover from the Lefty Driesell years, but Maryland first wore the new-school golds last season in a 73-48 win over Holy Cross. They rocked the gold again a week ago in a big 73-68 win over Miami.

So by my count, they’re 0-3 in the blacks and 2-0 in the golds. There you have it. Case closed. Gold uniforms for every game. This is the answer we’ve all been looking for. We’re through the looking glass here, people.  You can mail the Pulitzer to my house.

(Photo credits: Gold uni: Jonathan Newton — The Washington Post; Black uni: The ACC)

Check it. Lombardi’s phrase isn’t just a random saying you can use to wow your buddies.  It’s applicable. Specifically?  To tonight’s game, between North Carolina and Maryland.  Word up.

I’ve seen every “House Party” movie eleven times.  If you ain’t hip, better ask somebody.  But in the meantime, just know that instead of saying “look at this” Kid n’ Play say “peep.”  So that’s what I say, too.  So yo yo, homies.  Peep this.

My Tar Heels are a massive 21.5-point favorite in this game. Hansbrough. Lawson. Ellington. Green. What else do you need to know? Oh, you want more? Peep this, kid. Carolina? They’ve only had three games this season decided by less than 15 points. Tops in the ACC in scoring. Second in field goal percentage. Cool as the other side of the pillow. And you know something? That’s the only really cool phrase I’ve ever used. Boo-ya!

But on defense? The Heels aren’t so jiggy. Second to last in scoring defense in the ACC. Where does Maryland rank? Third, kid. Mad props to the Terps, son. Walk this way, talk this way. Jam Master Jay’s makin out my sound. The turntables? They might wobble. But they don’t fall down. And that’s real.

The Terps have a one-game win streak. The Heels? They’re at five. You do the math. Can the Terps win? If Heavy D can find love, anything’s possible. But the question is, what are they gonna do with it. Gary Williams got mad love from Debbie Yow today. But yo. Actions still speak louder. And Maryland needs to speak a lot in Chapel Hill. They need to get hot. And I mean Laura Winslow hot. They need to be the hater in the house. They need to regulate AND get jiggy. At the same time. Possible? Sure. Probable? Hardly. Just one man’s take. A wise man once said, “don’t hate the player. Hate the game.” Think about that, people. Think about it.  And let me know.

Prediction: North Carolina 74, Maryland 60

Ye gods. You can tell a situation is getting bad when it shows up on the ESPN ticker. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw something to the effect of: “Maryland assistant athletic director Kathy Worthington says Gary Williams released recruits himself, contrary to Williams’ previous statements.” Then there was another line: “Maryland head coach Gary Williams states that ‘the next time I see her, Kathy Worthington will feel the back of my hand.’”

Well, maybe not. But he did tell reporters that “Kathy Worthingon has never won a national championship. She has never done anything.”  Jesus. Of course, Gary’s true target here is athletic director Debbie Yow, whose sister, Kay, just lost a very long and public battle with cancer.  This is beyond messy. The full transcript of Gary’s rather defensive comments are here.

This lash-out comes on the heels of the athletic department’s own rebuttal of Gary’s claim that he was not the one who prevented certain recruits from coming to Maryland, with the implication (for some, anyway) seeming to be that the athletic department, and not Williams, icksnayed the players. But then the AD went and drug out a paper trail on him, in a display that, as the D.C. Sports Bog points out, seemed precisely calibrated to inflict maximum damage and embarrassment on Gary.

If Gary was intending to get his team’s poor performance off the front pages, he has succeeded, at least for the time being. He has also sent a message to Yow, who is apparently his mortal blood enemy, that he will not be going quietly.

And make no mistake — given this war of words, Gary is gone after this year barring a dramatic turnaround. Like it or not, the writing is on the wall.  And with half of the team’s final 10 games against Duke, Wake, Clemson, and Carolina TWICE, and with the team needing at least seven more wins in general and a couple more “signature” wins to make the tourney, I’m not expecting said turnaround (hoping yes, expecting no). And Gary knows all of this. This is the basketball coach equivalent of stealing office supplies and peeing in the coffee pot on his way out.  Here’s hoping that he won’t need a letter of reference.

Fans, reporters, and bloggers are circling Gary Williams.

The sharks are beginning to circle around Gary Williams. But he’s not going to be churned up into chum that easily.  At least not until he can bring a few people down with him.  During a meeting with reporters yesterday, Gary took aim directly at athletic director Debbie Yow, implying that Yow had forced him to jettison key recruits, including Gus Gilchrist, Shane Clark and Tyree Evans.

We’ve had, um, people that were here for different lengths of time. The kid, (Shane) Clark, up at Villanova was turned down for admission here at Maryland. The guy starting at South Florida, (Gus) Gilchrist, was here for a year. He’d be playing now. You know, Tyree Evans would be playing now. And they’re all qualified to play at other schools. So, that’s part of it. You know, in basketball one player’s a lot. It’s not like in football where you’ve got 25 (recruits) every year. So we’ve been through that.

Gus Gilchrist (now known as Augustus) is averaging 11pts/5rb per game for USF, and has stepped it up to average 13pts/5rb in seven Big East games including going 6/12 from three.  The guy’s still a head case, but hey, he’s a big. We could use him right about now.

Clark is just starting to be productive at Villanova, averaging 4pts and 3rb per game in his senior year.  Although he is 6′7″, I do not think his size or production would have made a big difference for this team.  Tyree Evans had a checkered past that included multiple arrests, including one for drug dealing and another for assaulting a woman.  That is not the kind of guy Maryland wants on campus.  We don’t want to turn into [insert Florida school name here].

On the balance, judging by the stats I’d say we lost one impact player and two borderline guys.  Ultimately, the team represents the school and part of Yow’s job is to protect the school’s reputation.  The women’s basketball program seems to be doing great, and we recently won national championships in field hockey and soccer, so she’s obviously doing something right.

Losing players to academic issues, off-court issues, and other teams is, unfortunately, par for the course in NCAA basketball.  I’m not saying that Debbie Yow is making Williams’s job any easier, but I am saying he has to deal with it whether Yow is there or not.  In my opinion, Gary is off the mark here.