01/25 (Garyland) Quickie

Another day in my new life in DC, another big sports event here I won't be attending in person. This time it is tonight's Gary Williams court dedication at Maryland.Like all my rooting interests, I have a complicated relationship with Maryland. I grew up a huge Maryland basketball fan -- Len Bias was and will always be my favorite player ever. I was 13 when he died. The next few years were spent in the purgatory of Bob Wade, then the NCAA sanctions. Then Gary Williams arrived -- I was 16.By the time I was mostly through college, Williams had resuscitated the program, mining Baltimore for top prospects willing to bring Maryland back to glory: Booth. Rhodes. Simpkins. The unexpectedly sublime game of Joe Smith. The foundation of what would come a half-dozen years later, when Maryland would push Duke to its limits in 2001, the Terps forging themselves into the team that would, in 2002, win the school's first and only national title. It was Gary Williams' finest achievem...