THANK YOU women athletes of Maryland and Duke!

[theHandpuppet]

WOW-- Just WOW!

Thanks to UM and Duke for one of the most exciting championship games I've ever seen. I was cheering for Maryland, but my hat's off to both teams for giving their all every inch of the way.

[bigwillq]

1. Nice job Terps!

:toast:

[DrGonzoLives]

2. I thank them

for providing a well-played, exciting championship game.

Unlike the men.

[theHandpuppet]

3. The comparison is rather glaring, isn't it

For a while there I thought we were going to have a repeat of the sloppy snoozefest of the men's championship. But what a great game that Duke/UM matchup was -- well played and hard fought throughout. I'm only sorry that one team had to lose that game -- they all played like winners.

[joeybee12]

4. Yeah, the women provided a thriller...the men provided

a snore-fest.

Does this mean there should be an age limit for the NBA? Saw one columnist said the men's Final Four was so lame because the real talent in college basketball heads to thepros long before graudation.

[theHandpuppet]

5. This seems to be an increasing problem in college BB

Yet I don't think it's as much of a problem as the sheer number of men's basketball programs at the college level, which dilutes the talent pool.

Women's programs have the opposite dilemma; there are far fewer women playing basketball at a skilled level so the pool of outstanding talent is usually concentrated within only a few top programs. That's why I rarely watch women's BB during their regular season; -- not enough balance. Very good teams playing too many mediocre teams just to fill up their schedule. But by the time you get to the NCAAs and especially the Final Fours, you begin to see just how good the top women's programs can be.

I don't see how an age limit could work for the NBA. How can you tell an 18 year old kid who may have never had a penny in his pocket that he's not allowed to pursue a lucrative career? At that age he can vote, he can join the army and get his ass shot off, he can marry, but he can't pursue his career? Believe me, I'm torn on this, because I'd love to see these kids get a quality education, mature and develop some life skills in a collegiate setting before entering the world of pro sports. But what can you do, really, that doesn't infringe upon their rights?

[joeybee12]

6. I do think there's starting to be a lot more parity in the women's game...

...a while back it was just Tennessee, then UCONN and Tennessee, then just UCONN, and now neither of those two made it to the Final Four. I just hope that the talent doesn't get diluted like the men's game.

As for an age limit, I don't know either. You can't force these kids to want an education, and the way things are at a lot of schools, even if they stay four years they really won't be getting much of an education anyway.

[feminazi]

7. I think there are MORE women playing at a higher level

There are more and more top women's programs now as joeybee mentioned. For awhile there was just UCONN and Tenn. Before that there was Immaculata, UCLA, and ODU. Now we have a lot of top programs all across the country...OSU, OK, Michigan St, Duke, TN, UCONN, NC, MD, LSU, Stanford, Rutgers, Baylor, Temple and on and on. The good and great players coming up from high school have a greater variety of winning programs to go to and I think that's only going to increase.

I do believe the men's game is hurt by the lure of the pro paycheck. I can't say as I blame these guys either. Women players do not have that carrot dangled in front of their faces. Yes, there's the WNBA but what's the top salary they can get there...$40-50K...with the exception of maybe a few select players who make more?

The sad thing about last night is that, at the end, neither team deserved to lose. The first half was not pretty, but the second half and OT were great. Congrats to MD and Duke, too.

[smtpgirl]

8. I loved that game

recorded every minute of it and have all of the after game analysis

Kara & Stacey, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Downing the Terps throughout the whole tournament. Kara & Stacey ate guff after the game.

Well, there are alot of people that now have the respect for the TERPS.

Overtime is Terp time.

GO TERPS

Great game

went to College Park, MD today, loved it, being around true MD fans.