Published: March 05, 2008 11:29 am         

There's no place like the road

COLLEGE PARK

Of all the gym joints in all the world, I had to walk into theirs.

Sunday night. Senior Night at Comcast Center. Maryland-Clemson, with a possible bye in the ACC tournament and a likely NCAA tournament lockdown at stake.

Maryland took a 20-point lead with about 11 minutes left, but thanks to a 34-11 run to close the game, and suck every bit of air out of Comcast Center, Clemson left in third place in the ACC and with a certain NCAA bid.

Afterward, Maryland's James Gist said, "It's hard to take away anything positive from this."

Well, actually, our group took a total of seven Ledo pizzas away from this, and that was certainly positive, although we do catch Gist's gist.

Ledo pizza is money in the bank, and it's always fun to eat there with somebody who has never eaten there before, because until they do, they really don't believe what Ledo needers tell them about the place: That it absolutely has the best pizza in the world.

How good is Ledo pizza? Put it this way: If I know I'm leaving this life for the great beyond on a Thursday at 4:30 p.m., I'm in Adelphi Plaza that Thursday at noon, and my arse is parked at a table brimming with Ledo pizza.

Mike Mathews didn't believe me in 1997, but he came home a believer. On Sunday, Ledo rookies Melanie and Ryan wanted to believe us going in, but it got to the point where all four of us had become worried we had overdone the pre-Ledo hype.

We didn't. Melanie took her first bite of the square crust (they don't cut corners, you know), and didn't hesitate: "This," she said in mid-chew (sorry, Melanie), "is great pizza." Her husband Ryan proceeded to inhale most of a medium pie himself, and Ledo mediums are not your average mediums. So in this regard, there was one small victory that will carry over for two more lifetimes.

But anymore, going to a Maryland basketball game is like going to a Lakers game sans Lakers, because there's always somebody somewhere to see. Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was at R.J. Bentley's before the game, then sitting with Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome during the game.

Buck Williams was there. Lefty Driesell was there. So was Boomer Esiason, and ESPN's Scott Van Pelt.

Basketball game? Who needed a basketball game? Well, Maryland did, actually, and they needed Sunday night's very badly.

If there is any good news here, it's Maryland doesn't play any more home games this season, and that's an unfortunate sentiment to have since the six-year-old Comcast Center is clearly one of the most beautiful arenas in the world, and should be a place where the Terps chew up victories. Yet this year, Comcast has been a virtual chamber of horrors for these Terps and their fans: American, Ohio University, Boston College, Duke, Virginia Tech, and now Clemson - six losses in all, with the Virginia Tech and Clemson losses being the most painful, not to mention the most costly.

The bad news? Oh, there's bad news? Well, the bad news is Maryland might only have two more games to play before that NIT bid is secured.

We've said it a million times this season that Maryland is a young basketball team. But 30 games into the season, the things that keep happening to Maryland just can't keep happening, no matter how young you like to believe you are. The truth of the matter is, even when Maryland had that 20-point lead, it should have been even more, but the Terps simply missed too many free throws - particularly front ends.

And did you say turnovers? There is no such thing as a good turnover, but a huge percentage of the turnovers Maryland has committed this season are unexplainable. Give Clemson credit for outstanding pressure defense Maryland had trouble with on Sunday, but entirely too many of the Terps' turnovers - on Sunday, and through the season - are unforced. It's like, "Hey, I'm tried of holding this thing. I think I'll drop it over here."

As the 17,950 fans filed out of Comcast for the final time this season to face the Sunday night Beltway rush alone, not a pin was dropped. If there had been, the sound of it hitting the floor would have been deafening.

A wiped out Gary Williams got on the public address system and asked the fans to stick with these Terps, and, no doubt, they will. But in doing so, it would appear it will be easier, not to mention more beneficial, that Maryland fans, for the remainder of this bizarre season, will not be sticking with the Terps in person in one of the most beautiful arenas, and what should be one of the most advantageous homecourts in the world.

The Terps have made themselves a long shot, but a shot still exists, because the rest of Maryland's games this season are on the road.

Who knew?

Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.