As a battered Maryland fan, Chris DiIonno found redemption this past weekend in the most unlikely of outcomes.

Don’t ask me how, but this past weekend I had to travel to Vermont to do some work related items. Never been to Vermont, and I can’t say anything bad about it, but ideally I wouldn’t visit there again in the middle of winter. Anyway, when I found out about this trip weeks ago, I instantly looked at the Maryland schedule to see if we had any games that weekend. It’s an old habit. Whenever I have to do something that would require me to be in the absence of my family room, I always check to see what I’m missing. It’s the masochist in me.

This time was different. I remember knowing even before I looked that I was missing something that was worth every nanosecond of my time.

February 11^th, 2007. The Duke Game

[ominous music plays]

For the past eight years or so, the Duke game has come to define Maryland’s season. In 2001 Maryland blew a 10 point lead in less than a minute and another large lead in the Final Four to the Blue Devils, but those losses would be the motivation needed to make a run at the national title the following year. In 2004, it didn’t matter that Maryland missed the NCAA tournament, it mattered that we swept Duke.

We look forward to Duke like Duke looks forward to North Carolina. We’re rivals (no matter how hard Duke tries to deny it) whose battles over the years jumped up a couple notches because we were both contenders, we played for something, and the games were always nasty. When North Carolina was going 8-20, Duke needed an important series and Maryland filled the Tar Heels shoes nicely. When Virginia took a noticeable leave of absence from the college basketball scene for the past five years, Duke became priority numero uno in the eyes of Terps fans.

Even this year, when it looks like Maryland will not make the tournament for the third straight year, this game means something. Both teams find themselves sliding toward the bottom of the ACC standings (not something either is used to) and the winners of this game could vault themselves back into league contention. In other words: biggest game of the year, and I was on pace to miss it. 

So here I was sitting in the Albany International Airport late on a Sunday afternoon thinking to myself two things:

1. Why are so many people traveling from Albany to Baltimore? Is there some major tourist attraction in Albany that I don’t know about?
2. Will Maryland at least show up tonight against Duke?

I was fairly certain that I would stumble across an answer to the first one before I could figure out the second. Hell, I’ve been asking the second question for the past two and a half years for every team Maryland’s gone up against. To say Maryland’s been more up and down than a Six Flags roller coaster is an understatement. No one has any idea which Maryland team is going to show up week to week regardless of the opponent. I guess that’s why the Duke game has taken on an added importance in the past couple years. We know that our team is too inconsistent to make a stabilized run at the end of the season, so the high point for Maryland fans becomes one victory over a good team. And if we can only win game a year, might as well be against Duke.

Needless to say, somehow, someway I talked myself into calling my father to ask him to tape the game. When he answered the phone, he seemed to know my question before I even asked him, but he didn’t say anything like he was trying to goad me into saying my ridiculous request out loud so I could hear how desperate I sounded.

Of course I was desperate. Name one Maryland fan that isn’t. But, the more I thought about it, the more I figured taping the game could be a good thing. If Duke wins than I don’t have to watch the tape, don’t have to get emotionally invested in the game and certainly don’t have to break another remote. On the other hand, if Maryland wins I can go home and watch a college basketball game in a calm state of being (which to my knowledge, I’ve never done before). That’s as close as win-win as I could get.

So I ended up asking him, he ended up laughing and that was that. I stood waiting for my plane to get in while hundreds of students waited for the Comcast doors to open. Instead of hearing Johnny Holiday, I heard my captain telling me to make sure my tray table was in its upright and locked position.

While on the plane I knew I was missing this. I knew from experience that the Comcast Center would be buzzing; I’ve been in attendance for a couple of these games before. While looking out the window, I tried to convince myself that this wasn’t that important. It was just a basketball game after all. It didn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

I had examined a lot of possibilities of how the game would turn out while gliding 15,000 feet above the Earth. What is Gist and Ibekwe both foul out in the first five minutes? Would it suck more to be beaten at the buzzer or blown out at home? What if Gilbert Arenas shows up, dresses as Mike Jones and takes his revenge on Coach K?

As my mind explored endless possibilities, my heart started racing and I grew increasingly paranoid as we neared BWI. I didn’t want to accidentally overhear the results from someone else. I needed to be the first to know, but I couldn’t get service until I got off the plane. Naturally, our flight set the record for most luggage stored in overhead compartments and I was sitting in the second to last row. This was making me very antsy for something I knew that was ultimately going to disappoint me.

I got off the plane and made the call.

I never imagined this.

I knew the scouting report on Duke. I think every college basketball fan does by now. It’s the disadvantage of being on national TV for every game you play. Everyone knows your strengths, but we also know your weaknesses.

Duke’s had trouble the whole year with two things. First they can’t score. When they lost Sheldon Williams and J.J. Redick last year, they lost about the 40-50 points a game those two provided. Now they were relying on a Redick knock off (Scheyer) and a guy who “oozes with upside” but quite frankly isn’t that good (McRoberts) to carry them.

Second, they have no rotation. I think they play six guys, and that’s including the three refs (Zing!). This leads to them getting extremely worn out against any team who plays anything close to an up-tempo game. Just look at the Carolina-Duke game. Duke threw all their haymakers in the first half and still only led by four. With seven minutes to go, North Carolina was just throwing waves of guys at Duke, daring them to try and keep up with them as they ran up down the floor for easy layups. And Duke couldn’t do it.

Of course, that’s never stopped Duke from doing it before. They always seem to play above their limitations when they play us. Especially coming off three heartbreaking last second losses, Duke was due. Against Maryland, in College Park, it seemed like a perfect time for karma to balance itself out. Driving home I still couldn’t believe what I heard:

Maryland 72, Duke 60.

Our season is complete.