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Happy Friday!

It’s a Happy Friday for me because…….

ummm……..

well………

I made it home just in time to be obliterated by 30 inches of white death???

Seriously, why WOULD I want to stick around in Ft. Lauderdale…

….when I could be right here in Baltimore, freezing my nuts off!!!!!

Ugh. We better not run out of booze.

Let’s see what everyone has to say….

1. The AP says late charge call on Michael Snaer (taken by Dino Gregory) helped Terps clinch 71-67 win at Florida State

And if you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here courtesy of Raycom Sports.

It was a huge play to basically finish off a huge win. It was a bit surprising because no one expected Karl Hess to make that type of call in front of the Donald L. Tucker Center crowd.

Worth noting even more than that is the fact that with his team up 3 in the closing seconds (Sean Mosley-you MUST hit free throws), Gary Williams decided not to take any chances-having his team foul any ‘Noles player before they could get a potentially tying shot off.

Mike Lonergan still wishes he would have done the same thing some 14 months ago.

2. WNST.net’s Luke Jones says Jordan Williams tallied 14 points for Maryland in win over ‘Noles

I got a message from listener Jason during the game last night saying “Jordan Williams is going to be a 1st round pick in the NBA Draft in a year or two.

He’s almost certainly right.

Jordan was AWESOME again last night, facing a tough team inside and having to play with serious foul trouble. He was tough at the rim, and was willing to flush the ball more than we’ve seen in the first months of his career in College Park.

The thing about Jordan is that NBA scouts are watching his growth and development to see if he’s powerful enough to be a 5 at the next level. If they determine he’s a 4, then he will probably have to stick around awhile to develop an 8-12 foot game. But he looks like he’s going to be tough enough to be a 5; and Gary Williams will be fortunate to have him in school for as long as he stays.

Fortunately, it will likely be at least one more year.

3. D1scourse’s Patrick Stevens says Greivis Vasquez overcame vicious taunts from Tallahassee crowd to score 23 in victory

I wish I could get the picture of the “Deport Greivis” sign that was at the Leon County Civic Center. That was actually very funny.

(11:27 Update….Mr. Irrelevant found it!)

Greivis will have to put up with this just about anywhere he goes in the ACC. He’s been there for years. He shimmies. He’s a bit arrogant. He’s really good. He’s just a target. JJ Redick could give him some advice.

Sure, it’s a bit racist to make Mexico jokes to someone who is from Venezuela, but it is also par for the course. Hopefully his play will stay at a level that will allow him to do this more often…..

4. The Sun’s Jeff Barker says North Carolina changed travel plans to today for Sunday’s scheduled contest in College Park

Which obviously is the right thing to do. The Tar Heels are going to be coming into this one just a bit more desperate, as their loss at Virginia Tech last night left them at 2-5 in the ACC, 13-9 overall. But this is still a team with a ton of talent, capable of surprising teams that think “the Heels can’t beat us.” They’ll be tough up front, but the Terps are more vulnerable against teams whose guards can score points in a hurry. I’m not sure that this particular UNC team is capable of doing that.

I’ll say Maryland 77, Carolina 71

5. Maryland Official Site says 2010 football schedule opens on Labor Day with Navy showdown at M&T Bank Stadium

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

What a happy birthday gift for me. The Terps and the Midshipmen right here in Charm City.

If you missed the first “Crab Bowl Classic” in 2005, I can’t possibly explain how cool it was that night….thanks mostly to Lance Ball…..

But this year will be on Labor Day, televised nationally on ESPN? Just awesome stuff. I’ll gladly skip Virginia Tech-Boise State for that.

As far as the rest of the schedule is concerned, Ralph Friedgen’s team will have tough back to backs on the road with Boston College and Clemson; then Miami and Virginia. But finishing the season at Byrd Stadium with Florida State and North Carolina State should help if the team is still in bowl contention.

6. The Diamondback’s Jonas Shaffer previews today’s battle for Terrapins women against Georgia Tech at Comcast Center

If you are ANYWHERE in safe range to travel to Comcast Center, please go support Brenda Frese’s crew today so this can feel like an actual home game for them. The good news for nerds like me is that there will be something besides round-the-clock local TV coverage to watch this afternoon as I drink the first couple of a likely 90-100 beers.

7. Loyola Official Site previews Greyhounds’ trip to Rider tonight

Jimmy Patsos’ team should be fortunate to get this one in, as they got out of town before the imminent white death. Of course, the weather is the least of the Hounds’ concerns, as their 3-9 record in the MAAC is a bit more concerning…

8. Ravens Official Site’s Ryan Mink says DB’s coach Mark Carrier leaves Ravens to join Rex Ryan with New York Jets

Personally, I liked Mark Carrier a lot; and I will really be rooting for him (although I will not in any way be rooting for the J-E-T-S). That being said, Chuck Pagano remains the secondary coach-and Carrier SHOULD be replaceable.

I don’t think Chris McAlister will be a candidate, myself.

However, I believe former Ravens CB Tommy Knight (who previously coached Defensive Backs at Wisconsin and Arizona-including Chargers CB Antoine Cason) would be a great candidate.

(Full disclosure: Tommy is a friend of mine. But he’d ALSO be a great candidate to work with these guys.)

9. Carroll County Times’ Aaron Wilson says former Ravens executive Phil Savage joined Eagles’ front office to help prepare for NFL Draft

If you missed Nestor Aparicio’s chat with Phil Savage from Radio Row yesterday, check it out in our WNST.net Audio Vault.

The role in Philadelphia is NOT full-time, which means Savage remains available to NFL teams moving forward. He currently has a job doing radio for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and that seemed to work pretty well last season in Tuscaloosa.

If Savage remains without a permanent NFL home, he would likely remain a candidate to return to Baltimore if Eric DeCosta were to depart for a future GM job, but that scenario remains unlikely.

Aaron also points out in his notebook that Troy Smith’s agent confirmed his desire to have Troy traded. That is all well and good, I just don’t necessarily expect Ozzie Newsome to part ways with a QB that he really likes and has under an inexpensive contract with little trade value.

10. MLB.com’s Spencer Fordin says O’s prospect Brian Parker suspended 50 games due to 2nd drug policy violation

Clearly, this isn’t really a big deal considering this is Brian Parker and not Brian Matusz. That being said, the Birds will need to do their due diligence to make sure that no one in Bowie knew this was going on and tried to cover it up or sweep it under the rug. As long as that’s the case, this kid will just have to serve his time and return to baseball in a few months.

11. The Sun’s Dan Connolly says Orioles signed former Dodgers top prospect Joel Guzman to minor league deal without invite to Spring Training

Hey, it worked with Rich Hill!

Oh, wait……….

(Edit from GMC: Please spare me the “Andy MacPhail took a shot on Felix Pie, and it looks like that is paying off” comments. Felix Pie is NOT paying off yet, even if he played well down the stretch last season. He still has to prove to be a capable role player to “pay off.” There really is no reason to not add a player like this, but these signings stink of “Orioles” type of acquisitions-knowing more capable players were/are available.)

12. “Winterpocolypse 2010″ forces TONS of schedule changes in the sports world

Here’s what we have so far….

*Towson-James Madison game scheduled for Saturday at Towson Center has been pushed back to Monday at 7pm
*Maryland-Georgia Tech women’s basketball game scheduled for tonight at 8:30 has been moved up to 4pm. Game will air on Comcast SportsNet at both times.
*Maryland lacrosse scrimmage against Cornell today has been cancelled.
*Randy Monroe told me this morning that the UMBC-Vermont game at RAC Arena tomorrow afternoon will be pushed back from 3pm to 8pm. The Retrievers’ Hall of Fame weekend events scheduled for this weekend have been pushed to April 3rd
*Loyola’s lacrosse scrimmage at Maryland Saturday is cancelled, their scrimmage with Drexel has been moved to Diane Geppi-Aikens Field TODAY at 11:30am
*Johns Hopkins’ lacrosse scrimmage with Harvard has been bumped up to 10am today at Homewood Field (I know the link says 11am, but an email from the Jays’ Athletic Department informed us the scrimmage would start at 10)
*There have been no schedule changes for Morgan State/Florida A&M (Saturday 4pm Hill Field House), Coppin State/Bethune-Cookman (Friday 7pm Coppin State Physical Education Complex live on ESPNU), or Maryland/North Carolina (Sunday 2pm Comcast Center live on Fox Sports Net nationally, CSN locally). As any changes come, we will announce them via our Twitter account (@WNST); MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW US!

-And finally, I leave you with this.

It pains me to say ANYTHING positive about the band 30 Seconds to Mars. I had a run-in with Jared Leto a few years back after a TERRIBLE set they played at 9:30 Club opening for Our Lady Peace. The mix of the dreadful show and unbelievably crappy way the lead singer treated the people who were his fans made me just say “this band will never make it.”

But something changed when I heard “The Kill (Bury Me)”  a couple years back. They CLEARLY improved. From record 1 to record 2, they were MUCH better.

And apparently, they’ve gotten even better since.

The NFL Network is using their new song “Kings and Queens” to promote their Super Bowl coverage this week; and I got to hear it about 300-400 times this week at the Broward County Convention Center.

I probably could have heard it 1,000 more times without getting sick of it to be honest. It’s THAT good…..

If you haven’t seen it, head over to the NFL Network today and watch it with the football highlights behind it. Gripping.

Talk to you this weekend.

-G