Here are several articles up about Maryland, basketball, and behavior. The
first is an apologist point of view, basically for rioters, arguing that one
of the guys convicted is a really good guy, and that recent rioters are being
punished for the sins of past rioters.
Whatever. If you decide to riot, anywhere and anytime, be prepared to
pay a price.
The ban on Rock N' Roll Part II has apparently
been lifted. According to the Diamondback, it was banned largely because
Ralph Friedgen didn't like it and Gary Williams felt forced to go along with
the ban.
Yesterday, though, the ban was being talked about as if it were
permanent. So we're a bit confused. But the general argument that
cursing is not the issue is correct. Maryland was more embarrassed by
cursing on television than it was by the rioting, which is just bizarre.
Also, check out the classic Gary Williams quote, where
he supports Maryland fans because Maryland wins, a nice bit of circular
logic: "Our fans don't need to be educated, they're as sophisticated as any fans in the
country. We're not where we are [as a team] without having the fans. How can you lack tradition when you've been to 11 straight NCAA tournaments?"
Here's a bitter article by a grad who
thinks the attempted reforms are way off base. Stupid quote: "We are blessed with the knowledge that even though Duke owns the referees, we alone can beat them every year."
If we owned the refs, don't you think we'd pay extra to shut guys like this
up?
Every so often, articles which are searched come up with the wrong dates, and
this could be one of those times. But whatever. Many of the writers are either making excuses or actually taking pride in bad behavior. That's their right, but
they look pretty foolish. When fan violence at Maryland results in serious injury or death, perhaps meaningful reforms will happen. But our belief remains
that only a damaging lawsuit will force responsibility on some of these clowns.