Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

An open letter to Ralph Friedgen

Dear Coach,

Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

Thank you,
Nic

Aside to Debbie Yow: Next time the kids from the University call to hit me up for a donation, tell them to remind me that Coach wants a raise. I'll probably cough up more money.

I know...it's a bit silly to get this excited over college sports. But I went to Maryland during the dark days after Lenny Bias, so I'm a little giddy seeing what Gary Williams and Ralph Friedgen have done with the men's basketball and football programs.

Joe Krivak coached football when I was there. (You either said "Who?" or cringed.) We did get to the Independence Bowl my senior year...with that steller 6-5 record...where we tied Louisiana Tech. The game was televised on a UHF channel. It was the high point.

My dad likes to remind me that I wasn't there during the worst of it. His first year of grad school the Terps were 0-9, and the only thing that prevented them from being 0-10 was that one of the teams on the schedule dropped their football program that season.

So it could always be worse. But it isn't worse now, it is better...even better, I think, than the Bobby Ross football I watched as a kid. And I am giddy with delight, and I thank Ralph Friedgen.