Cookin' With Gas!

Today began with the first Rebounders tailgate party of the season . . . an unqualified success! Not a single car was immolated! The boosters clearly took the BasketCases' warning to heart and decided to foreswear charcoal, firing up their gas grills instead. Thus, at the conclusion of the party, no hot coals needed to be disposed of . . . in car trunks or elsewhere. And the gas grill-work was indeed impressive: sausages, peppers and onions, soup, hot chocolate, veggie chili, baked beans, weenies galore . . . plus sides and desserts! (Tomorrow is a treadmill day for sure!) And add to that a chilly but beautiful fall day and the pleasure of hanging out with our fellow Rebounders . . . what a great start to a day of Maryland Basketball!

And the fun continued even after we all packed up and headed indoors. The players and coaches took over where the boosters left off . . . they, too, were cookin' with gas this afternoon! After a slow start by both squads, Maryland's offense -- and defense -- heated up, as the Terps dominated the UCLA Bruins throughout the first 20 minutes, taking a 41-22 lead into the locker room. Maryland gave back a little of that lead early in the second half, but an animated Coach B got her team refocused, as the Terps cruised to a 23-point victory, 88-65.

Kristi and Marissa each had another big scoring day, finishing with 25 and 22 points, respectively. (Marissa also had 9 rebounds, just missing out on a double-double.) Today's was a very physical game (for example, mugging Marissa at mid-court apparently is not a foul!), but KT and Marissa helped the team maintain their composure and fight through the physical play. With each passing game, the senior starters are quietly taking leadership of this team.

Speaking of composure, we're happy to report that Coach B is back to her old "enthusiastic" self! It must've killed her last season to be confined to The Big Chair. Today, she marched up and down the sidelines (note to NCAA: staying off the court and clearly inside the coach's box), waving her arms, calling plays, yelling encouragement to her players, "consulting" with the officials . . . in other words, being the fun, exciting, animated coach we Maryland fans have come to know and love!

The only un-fun part of the day came as we filed out of the arena wishing one and all a Happy Thanksgiving. That's when it hit us . . . not only will Thanksgiving come and go before we see the Terps again at Comcast, but so will Christmas! Too long for Terps fans, and definitely too long for bloggers! I guess we'll just have to go in search of some games at other local venues to fill the time while we wait for Maryland's return.

The Terps travel (unfortunately without the BasketCases) to Cancun for a fun-in-the-sun holiday tournament this week, then they take to the road for 4 games to start December. Finally, they return to Comcast for the annual Terrapin Classic on December 29th. We'll be there, and until then we'll be counting the days.

Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
Sausage Credit: Sharma Wright