SUPER BOWL 2012

If You Care Enough About the Terps to be reading this blog, then either you were at Comcast Center tonight for their NCAA 2nd Round game against Georgetown, or you watched it on ESPN2, or you streamed it on your computer. So there's really no need for us to revisit the play-by-play. Frankly, we would rather not revisit this one. Suffice it to say, tonight's game was a very disappointing end to Maryland's season.

Thanks to an almost-couldn't-miss first half by Georgetown and the team's disruptive press, plus a less than stellar offensive performance by Maryland, the Hoyas routed the Terps, 79-57, and Georgetown now moves on to the Sweet Sixteen. Congratulations, Georgetown. The Hoyas definitely own the local bragging rights for the 2010-2011 season.

For the Terps and their fans, this season is now in the books. When it started out -- way back last fall -- we didn't really know what to expect. Maryland was fielding one of the youngest teams in the nation . . . not a senior to be found, and a freshman class of 5 young prospects, plus a (soon to be crowd favorite) walk-on. As the season progressed, we soon learned we were in for a bumpy ride . . . full of ups and downs. That wasn't surprising with a team this young.

There were high points . . . notably the wins against Duke and Carolina. And there were low points . . . notably the losses to Boston College and Virginia, at home. But none was quite as low as tonight's loss. This one really meant something. The NCAA Tourney is a really special event. So it made losing -- the way the Terps did -- a particularly unfortunate way to end the year.

As fans, we're disappointed. But whatever we're feeling, we know the team and the coaches are feeling much worse. We care about them. So we wish that a season -- one that, for us fans, was more fun than not fun -- could've ended better, especially for their sakes.

But the good news is that everyone on the team will be back. (And, hopefully, Diandra T will have time for a full recovery from the knee injury she sustained tonight.) We can only hope and trust that the young Terps will have learned from all of their experiences this season, the highs and the lows.

And, as the saying goes: Every End is a New Beginning.