On a lighter note, for some reason. Maryland Football

I get it, we have a much more attractive ratings hog and commercial corporate juggernaut in the tandem pro football entities so college sports from MD get the short end of the stick most of the time. After the unspeakable offering that Baltimore gave Indy and with the Redskins showing nothing to be envious of, I look forward to Maryland this weekend to put some spice back in my mid atlantic footbal swagger. Fridge can coach us to mediocrity, I firmly believe this. And no, that is not a knock on our lovable lineman it is merely an affirmation. Fridge has not had the talent to win. Every year around this time I look at the recruiting update and get excited that we might get at least one player out of the amazing class that comes out of the local area every year. Needless to say I often am disappointed but I really cant say Fridge is to blame. Recruiting is more than the coach these days, well more than the coaches personality and ability to recruit. Players want to play and they want to be noticed while they are playing. The coach is just a name and I am of the belief that the longer tenured your coach is the better that looks for a school. Makes sense, kids want to be sure the coach they have seen on tv and under the heat lamp will be the one serving them up 2 a days and making them run laps, not some no name that popped on the scene yesterday. I'll cut to the chase, here are the 5 star guys considering MD next year. LB Jelani Jenkins RB Tavon Austin QB Tajh Boyd Jenkins and Austin are from MD and Boyd is from VA. We have already gotten commitments from 2 4 star recruits in DE Deonte Arnett and RB Caleb Porzel. Porzel runs a 4.21 40 and is one of the fastest in the nation, his presence might scare away Austin but Porzel and Jenkins both go to Our Lady HS in Olney so there may be a teammate bump on the top 5 LB. Scouting and recruiting only go so far. That surprise underdeveloped gem has always been appreciated but having a human highlight reel straight out of HS is becoming more and more important. Freshman will be looking to play and may have the chance the next few years with the NFL talking about trimming up rookie paychecks and players wanting to get in the market before the bottom falls out. In the middle of this season the Terps are right back in position to just barely get the Callahan Brake Pad Bowl. College football should be a way to garner respect for the circus that is the NFL, unfortunately in MD it is slightly more marketable than Arena Football. MD is making football even more irrelevant this year. The stadium is under construction and the new ROE when it comes to fans is to make sure people don't gum up the parking lot by just coming to tailgate. Every game is set at noon when a big time network doesn't want the game so people don't get too drunk and accidentally have fun with the mediocre team they are paying to see. Hopefully this stick in the mud mentality doesn't continue to infect the entire athletics dept at MD. TKO