Is St. John's Our Rival?

[Biscuit King]

This question must be asked, now that the Red Storm has won 2 of its last 9 games against Duke, while Maryland has won just 1 of 9.

[anon]

Ha!

We've had a couple pretty memorable games against them, too: the no-call at half-court (at Cameron?) sticks out in my mind.

[Duvall]

Is our Terrapins learning?

As the final whistle blew on Wednesday night's game at the Comcast Center, the U-Md. students in the bars along Route 1 were in no mood to celebrate. There was no revelry, no flooding of the streets. Only dejected fans wondering whether this game is still even a rivalry.

"We feel like they're our rivals, but I don't think this game is more important to them than U-Va.," said Fernando Saltiel, 21, a senior studying economics. "I mean, it's pretty maddening that Maryland's not in it every year."

"To call it a rivalry, you need to have some sort of consistent competitiveness," added Ryan McCullin, 22, a senior English major. "We have the potential to be a top 10 program every year, and it just doesn't happen."

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Rivalries really do have to be two sided for them to be ongoing. Maryland is not our rival. They are a team we play twice, maybe three times, and occasionally four times a year in highly competitive games. OK, sometimes they are not so competitive and we beat the crap out of them! And sometimes we rip out their hearts in the last 53.5 seconds!

[-bdbd]

This question must be asked, now that the Red Storm has won 2 of its last 9 games against Duke, while Maryland has won just 1 of 9.

Really good question.

I'll ask a few of my Terp-fan friends up here in DC Thursday and get back to you...





P.S. Very funny that, in the Post article tonight that was linked above re. rioting, Terp fans are, ah, well, Terping ...regarding the POLICE being the ones who caused the riots. Well, as long as you have SOMEONE to blame for something (other than accepting responsibility yourself)... That's the important thing!

[cakerace]

In defining Duke’s rivals, I ask myself “At this point in time, would you rather beat this team, or one with a higher RPI?” If the answer is “yes, this team” then that team is a Duke rival. Example: a two-win season with both wins coming against unc is definitely better than a .500 season with no wins against the hated tarheels. Therefore, Carolina is definitely a rival.

Using this criterion, then, it has been several years since St. Johns was in the Duke rival discussion, going back to the time we moved comfortably ahead of them in all-time wins…

This takes me back to the rival-related question “Which teams would you most like to beat?” After careful consideration, my current list would be:

Positions 1 through 10 - Carolina
11 – Kentucky and 12 – Kansas (both for their position ahead of Duke on the all-time wins list)
13 – UCLA (an irrational hold-over from those two wonderful victories my freshman year)

[JohnGalt]

Rivalries really do have to be two sided for them to be ongoing. Maryland is not our rival. They are a team we play twice, maybe three times, and occasionally four times a year in highly competitive games. OK, sometimes they are not so competitive and we beat the crap out of them! And sometimes we rip out their hearts in the last 53.5 seconds!

I'm not sure I agree with that statement, Oz.

The Palmetto Bowl (for those living in SC) is about as heated as it gets and Clemson pretty much owns it. Sure, the Gamecocks have won the last two years (first time consecutively in 40(!!) years) but Clemson's won 17 or 18 of the last 25 and leads the overall series by about 30 wins. It really is pretty one-sided, even despite the pomp.

And though I lean to Clemson because of all my family ties, I've greatly enjoyed Carolina winning the last couple years. It's reinvigorating for the rivalry. Because, prior to 2009, Carolina had only enjoyed marginally more success (2-8) than the Terps have had recently against the Devils.

Anyway...back on topic. I get a tremendous amount of amusement letting Maryland fans know they aren't our rival, if only to see how much it irks them. Because, secretly, I enjoy the heck out of beating them...not on the level of the TarHeels or UCONN...but probably as much as Kentucky.

[SupaDave]

I'm not sure I agree with that statement, Oz.

The Palmetto Bowl (for those living in SC) is about as heated as it gets and Clemson pretty much owns it. Sure, the Gamecocks have won the last two years (first time consecutively in 40(!!) years) but Clemson's won 17 or 18 of the last 25 and leads the overall series by about 30 wins. It really is pretty one-sided, even despite the pomp.

And though I lean to Clemson because of all my family ties, I've greatly enjoyed Carolina winning the last couple years. It's reinvigorating for the rivalry. Because, prior to 2009, Carolina had only enjoyed marginally more success (2-8) than the Terps have had recently against the Devils.

Anyway...back on topic. I get a tremendous amount of amusement letting Maryland fans know they aren't our rival, if only to see how much it irks them. Because, secretly, I enjoy the heck out of beating them...not on the level of the TarHeels or UCONN...but probably as much as Kentucky.

Same goes for UGA and Georgia Tech football. UGA has dominated the last two decades...

[77devil]

I'm not sure I agree with that statement, Oz.

The Palmetto Bowl (for those living in SC) is about as heated as it gets and Clemson pretty much owns it. Sure, the Gamecocks have won the last two years (first time consecutively in 40(!!) years) but Clemson's won 17 or 18 of the last 25 and leads the overall series by about 30 wins. It really is pretty one-sided, even despite the pomp.

And though I lean to Clemson because of all my family ties, I've greatly enjoyed Carolina winning the last couple years. It's reinvigorating for the rivalry. Because, prior to 2009, Carolina had only enjoyed marginally more success (2-8) than the Terps have had recently against the Devils.

Anyway...back on topic. I get a tremendous amount of amusement letting Maryland fans know they aren't our rival, if only to see how much it irks them. Because, secretly, I enjoy the heck out of beating them...not on the level of the TarHeels or UCONN...but probably as much as Kentucky.

Same goes for UGA and Georgia Tech football. UGA has dominated the last two decades...

Not analogous to the Duke/Maryland rivalry debate IMO. Both are in state rivalries between large public institutions with a significant alumni base intermixed throughout the state that helps perpetuate the rivalry regardless of the relative competitiveness.

[JohnGalt]

Not analogous to the Duke/Maryland rivalry debate IMO. Both are in state rivalries between large public institutions with a significant alumni base intermixed throughout the state that helps perpetuate the rivalry regardless of the relative competitiveness.

I probably wasn't clear enough wrt the portion of Oz's post I disagreed with (I bolded it, but probably should have just deleted the rest).

I don't think in the least that Clemson/Carolina or UGA/Tech are comparable rivalries to Duke/Maryland. I just think they illustrate how two schools can be fierce rivals without much of an actual rivalry being present, meaning one side pretty much owns the other.

[4decadedukie]

Rivalries really do have to be two sided for them to be ongoing. Maryland is not our rival. They are a team we play twice, maybe three times, and occasionally four times a year in highly competitive games. OK, sometimes they are not so competitive and we beat the crap out of them! And sometimes we rip out their hearts in the last 53.5 seconds!

Ozzie is absolutely correct. Playing some competitive games does not a rivalry make.

[UrinalCake]

I think Florida State has beaten us at least two out of the last nine times. That doesn't really make them our rival though.

Did anyone see the segment at halftime where they asked a bunch of Maryland fans before the game why they hate Duke so much? Their answers were basically:

- I don't know
- I don't really know
- Everybody hates Duke
- I started hating JJ Redick, because he always destroyed us
- I don't know
- Ooh look, a shiny object!

Okay, I just made that last one up. But still, none of the fans seem to have a legitimate reason for WHY they hate Duke.

[CameronBlue]

I think Florida State has beaten us at least two out of the last nine times. That doesn't really make them our rival though.

Did anyone see the segment at halftime where they asked a bunch of Maryland fans before the game why they hate Duke so much? Their answers were basically:

- I don't know
- I don't really know
- Everybody hates Duke
- I started hating JJ Redick, because he always destroyed us
- I don't know
- Ooh look, a shiny object!

Okay, I just made that last one up. But still, none of the fans seem to have a legitimate reason for WHY they hate Duke.

In a related story, virtually the same answers were given by Egyptian pro-Mubarak protestors when asked why they hate Anderson Cooper so much. It was unclear whether any of them were Maryland grads.

[monkey]

I think Florida State has beaten us at least two out of the last nine times. That doesn't really make them our rival though.

Did anyone see the segment at halftime where they asked a bunch of Maryland fans before the game why they hate Duke so much? Their answers were basically:

- I don't know
- I don't really know
- Everybody hates Duke
- I started hating JJ Redick, because he always destroyed us
- I don't know
- Ooh look, a shiny object!

Okay, I just made that last one up. But still, none of the fans seem to have a legitimate reason for WHY they hate Duke.

Yeah - I saw that and laughed. I could almost hear that cartoon video saying "Duke sucks" as they showed the clip.

On the other hand ... I will give props to the guy they showed pregame who was dressed up as a golden hued Bender from Futurama. That was awesome.

[PADukeMom]

One word...NO! We don't play them enough for them to be our rival. Maryland wants to think their our rival but it's a figment of their imigination.

[Matches]

Anyway...back on topic. I get a tremendous amount of amusement letting Maryland fans know they aren't our rival, if only to see how much it irks them. Because, secretly, I enjoy the heck out of beating them...not on the level of the TarHeels or UCONN...but probably as much as Kentucky.

This. It's tons of fun to mess around with Terp fans' inferiority complex, but though we spend lots of time protesting otherwise, I do think they have become our #2 ACC rival. The game may not mean as much to us as it does to them, but there's no doubt in my mind - I take much more pleasure from beating UMd than, say, FSU or GT.

Really, NCSU or Wake should be our seconday rivals, but NCSU has been awful for 20 years and for whatever reason there's just not much shared animosity with Wake.

Duke is to UMd as UNC is to NCSU. UMd is the rival that we view as being beneath us. And they know it and resent it tremendously.

[ScreechTDX1847]

No. They are not a rival.

[hurleyfor3]

I think Florida State has beaten us at least two out of the last nine times. That doesn't really make them our rival though.

I think we are 7-2 in our last nine against VPI as well since they joined the conference. We won our first game against them in 2005, lost the second and I believe we have gone 7-1 since.

[Scorp4me]

Of course Maryland is our Rival. Didn't you hear Bilas, he said no matter what people say they are our rival before the game. I think it was based on the fact that the fans showed up at 5:20 for the game. Almost 4 hours before the game? Did you know they showed up 4 hours prior to the game? I didn't know they showed up 4 hours prior to the game. But I knew they showed up 4 hours prior to the game after they told me 27 times during the course of the game.

[Matches]

Of course Maryland is our Rival. Didn't you hear Bilas, he said no matter what people say they are our rival before the game. I think it was based on the fact that the fans showed up at 5:20 for the game. Almost 4 hours before the game? Did you know they showed up 4 hours prior to the game? I didn't know they showed up 4 hours prior to the game. But I knew they showed up 4 hours prior to the game after they told me 27 times during the course of the game.

Well, anything that takes them off the streets for a few hours can only be a good thing.