By Brian Kubasik
(Ed. note: We like to stay unbiased on this sight, but we’re both Terps fans and Brian even works at the university. That being said, Brian means every word of this.)
I know it’s not the most historic rivalry.
We play 279 miles away from each other.
We don’t compete for students.
We have nothing in common.
One side even feels the incessant need to tell the other they’re “Not our rival”.
But that’s what makes it great. The Maryland Terrapins have no reason to be rivals with the Duke Blue Devils other than what has happened on the court and since the new millennium began, no two opponents have met more often in big games that end with one delivering a crushing blow to the other.
Alex Len figures to be one of the new faces of the rivalry for however long he stays at Maryland.
It’s gone on since 2000 when Juan Dixon and his Terps ended Duke’s undefeated reign atop the ACC, all the way until Greivis Vasquez lead his senior laden squad past the Blue Devils as the two played for the 2010 ACC regular season title. In between everything that you could want in a rivalry happened, whether it was Duke rallying from 22 points down to ruin Maryland’s first ever trip to the Final Four or the Terps getting run off the court in Cameron Indoor eight years later. The intensity of this rivalry has brought out the best in great players like Dixon, Jason Williams, Vasquez and Shane Battier, but no two people personify it like Mike Krzyzewski and Gary Williams. These two coaches embodied everything that made their programs great, and also what made the two fan bases hate each other. First Krzyzewski, who is always under control but no matter what he says about your team you can’t help but feel like he’s talking down to you because he thinks him and his team are superior, which to be fair is most of the time the case. Then you have the recently retired Gary Williams who has always had a chip on his shoulder bigger than the entire state of Maryland. Gary was as passionate and fiery as any coach in America and if you weren’t with him you were against him. He would do anything in his power to beat you.
Maryland fans hate Duke. They hate that they think they’re better than everyone. They hate the choreographed chants and cheer sheets the Cameron Crazies use. They hate the flopping and the hacking and watching them get every call in every big game. Duke hates Maryland. While they respect the hell out of Carolina they don’t feel like the Terps are worth their time. They hate the vulgarity. They hate the battery throwing (might have a point on that one), but most of all they hate that Maryland just will not go away.
I could ramble on this subject for hours telling you about great games and players in this rivalry, but the two teams meet again in February so luckily you can read all about it then. Until then really all there is to say about tonight’s game is thank you Gary, I love you. And of course, F*ck Duke.
95North 