Bling Bling

On Sunday, the BasketCases returned to Comcast Center -- home of the National Champion Maryland Terrapins -- for the first time since the end of last season. What a joy to have the elevator doors open onto the concourse to this view:

This glitzy display of the Orbitz Trophy, presented to the Terps by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association on April 4, 2006 after they won the National Championship, was unveiled a couple of weeks ago at a small, invitation-only reception (the BasketCases would have thought that having the best blog about the Terps on the web would have been enough for an invite, but no!) and is now on permanent public display for ooohing and ahhing. The crystal basketball was crafted by Waterford, and the trophy is valued at $30,000! There is a great deal of very interesting info about the season on the base of the trophy, including the total points scored by Maryland in overtimes -- 75 -- versus the total scored by their opponents -- 37. Overtime truly was their time!

The actual NCAA National Championship Trophy (a piece of wood that looks as though it were crafted by the folks at Home Depot) is housed in a separate display case along with the trophy from the Albuquerque Regional (a similar block of wood); however, the Natty was missing the day we were there. We were told that it was away for "a photo shoot" (like a runway model?), but the BasketCases wonder whether TSA screeners have noticed anything fitting the Natty's description in Coach Frese's carry-on luggage when she's on her recruiting trips. (Or is that prohibited by NCAA rules?)

Final Floor

Another new addition to Comcast Center is a huge piece of the actual court (complete with authentic Crystal Langhorne scuff-marks!) on which the Final Four was played in Boston. "The Court" is hanging on a wall, along with a big blowup of the now famous photo of Kristi Toliver launching "the shot." Duke's Alison Bales's fingers are SO close to the ball, you realize that if KT had let go so much as a micro second later . . . well, all these goodies would be on display at Cameron, not Comcast!

Photo Credits: DC BasketCases