"I'm Sad"

Tonight Kristi Toliver spoke for all of us when she was asked at the post-game press conference how she felt about having just played her final game at Comcast Center. "I'm sad," she replied. And that sadness was shared by the more than 10,000 fans in attendance, who not only saw KT's final home game, but Marissa Coleman's as well.

Of course, this evening's game wasn't all sad. Quite the opposite. For the fans -- and obviously the players and coaches -- a decisive win that advances you to the Sweet Sixteen was . . . well, sweet! And Marissa and Kristi made a point of leaving Comcast with a bang. Rissa scored 18 points and grabbed a career high 18 rebounds! KT added 17 points . . . and, as she proudly pointed out at the press conference, she also had 2 boards! LOL! Though the Utes had a couple of prolific scorers of their own, the Terps simply had more weapons, including Dee Liles, who, like Marissa, had a double-double (12 points and an astonishing 17 boards), plus strong supporting performances from several other teammates.

With a little over two minutes left in the game, as the two seniors left the floor and headed to the bench, they were honored with a thundering, standing ovation by the five-figure crowd. It was a bittersweet moment. We all knew that during the past four years, we had witnessed something very, very special. And though it was a week night, scores of fans stayed after the game and gathered around the TV monitors to watch and listen to the press conference. We saw many a teary eye as the seniors talked about what it was like to play their last home game. When Kristi said, "I'm sad," you could hear a collective sigh from the fans watching.

Fortunately for them -- and for us, Terps fans -- while it was the seniors' final home game, it was definitely not their final college game. Their victory over Utah tonight, 71-56, sends Maryland, as we said, to the Sweet Sixteen in Raleigh on Saturday, where they will play Vanderbilt, the SEC Tournament Champions.

And so, for the second time in three weeks, the Red Sea will once again flow down I-95 to North Carolina, and (we expect) turn the RBC Center into another Comcast South. For now, though, we are still reflecting on the joy -- and privilege -- of having watched two seniors whose record at Comcast (North) in four years was an unbelievable 65 and 3, without so much as a single home loss in the last two years! It may be a long time until we see anything like that again. So, yes, we are happy tonight, but we are also, like Kristi, a bit sad.

Good night . . .sea see you in Raleigh!

Photo Credit: DC BasketCases