Published: January 26, 2008 11:10 pm         

Terps-Duke perfect bridge to Super Bowl

Does Tom Brady have a high ankle sprain, or not? Only the paparazzi know for sure.

As always, Ron Jaworski, high atop his Bristol, Conn. Observatory, has been feverishly studying game tape (and I don’t think I have a life?) and he believes Brady may have been injured in the first quarter of the AFC championship game, and again in the third quarter.

Bill Belichick isn’t saying, and Brady is nowhere to be found, at least not by the NFL writers. But then, NFL writers don’t comb the streets of New York at all hours looking for famous people limping around town with Brazilian supermodels.

The first official injury report is not due until Wednesday, with the second one due on Thursday when Brady will either not be listed, or listed as having missed practice or having been limited in his participation. On Friday, players must be reported as probable, questionable, doubtful or out of the next game, which, in this case, is the Super Bowl.

All of which would be playing out with a greater deal of urgency if there weren’t a two-week break between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, but nonetheless gives us something to plant in our minds so those of us who don’t live in New York or New England don’t completely forget about the Super Bowl.

One never knows what the Patriots are up to (other than Eric Mangini, of course, and a lot of good it did him), and with this Brady injury thing, the diabolical Belichick and the mysterious Brady are playing the media the way the Acme Explosives sales staff played Wile E. Coyote (See? No life. That’s the second cartoon reference this week, although I contend Looney Tunes has more social significance than NFL game tape).

Even though he is the only coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowls and go into his fourth one with an 18-0 record, maybe I give Belichick too much credit. But with the Patriots, I just never believe anything is as it appears, and I believe this because Belichick spent most of his life around the United States Naval Academy, and those people are there because they’re smart ... and sneaky. You saw how they lulled Notre Dame to sleep all those years just so they could sneak up on them this year, didn’t you?

Is Brady hurt? I don’t know, and that’s because Belichick doesn’t want me, or you, to know. Will Brady play next Sunday? Of course. Will he play at full efficiency? Until next Sunday evening when I have all of my numbers secured on the Mensa Cumberland Super Bowl board, I can’t be bothered with letting myself get into a guessing game with Bill Belichick, because, face it, I’m going to lose.

Frankly, there are more pressing matters at hand today. That’s right. Maryland-Duke. Tonight, 6:30, at the Comcast Center.

Terps fans don’t want to say it’s a must-win (Duke? A must-win? Nah. Never.), but given Maryland has already lost to American and Ohio University — at home — a win over Duke tonight would behoove the Terps in their quest for another NCAA tournament berth, provided, of course, they win out in the remaining games of the season that appear to be winnable.

Face it, the ACC just ain’t what she used to be. At the top, you’ve got a North Carolina team that, as the No. 1 team in the country, lost at home to a Maryland team that lost to American and Ohio and is made up of six freshmen and four sophomores. Although, granted, that can make for the argument that the ACC is that good. Then there is Duke, a team that wouldn’t be rated No. 3 in the land if those four magical letters were on some other team’s jersey. Although, to be fair, this is the best team Coach Kry has had in a few years.

After that? Boston College? Clemson? Maryland? Wake Forest? Florida State? Virginia Tech? Georgia Tech? Miami? N.C. State? Virginia? That isn’t the ACC of Jim Thacker and Billy Packer (before, of course, the pontificating Packer became such a mean old man), that’s the ACC of Tim Brant and Steve Martin (not even the wild and crazy one), meaning once again, the ACC just ain’t what she used to be.

For those of you keeping score, Maryland has beaten Duke five out of the last seven times and there aren’t many other schools, if any, that can say that. But that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans tonight, nor does the Terps’ wonderful victory over North Carolina last week. While some of us believed the ACC schedule tossed Maryland a curve with a week off between Carolina and Duke, it might not be a bad thing after all. Think about it. How would you like to spend a week with happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care Gary Williams without a game to play between your two most important rivals? I don’t believe visions of sugarplums were dancing in the Terps’ heads for too long after Chapel Hill.

Maryland has a lot of winnable games on the horizon, but none of them might matter without a win over Duke tonight since this could be the year the ACC might be lucky to have four teams make the NCAA tournament.

From top to bottom, this is likely the youngest team Gary Williams has ever coached, which makes for all kinds of exciting possibilities. Tonight would be the perfect time for them to materialize.

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.