Greetings from PA!

I'm officially home for Thanksgiving! I took the whole week off so I could spend some time relaxing with the family.

Before I headed out of town, I spent Saturday at our last tailgate of the season.



I'm always insanely surprised at how fast the college football regular season flies by. I can't believe it will be another nine months until we tailgate again.



Hopefully by then Maryland's quarterback and other key players will have healed from their many, mannnny ACL tears so maybe we can be remotely competitive next season.

After all, it will be our last season in the ACC.

If you hadn't heard the news, Maryland announced yesterday that we're leaving the ACC to go to the Big 10 starting in the 2014 season.



I have mixed emotions about the move. I'll definitely miss some of the games and the rivalries of the ACC, but the truth of the matter is, our athletics department was in a pretty dire financial situation and we will benefit hugely from the money from the Big 10.

It's going to take us a little while to get our footing in football in the conference, but our basketball team will certainly be competitive.

I'll definitely miss the Duke and UNC basketball games and the ACC in general (especially in sports like soccer and lacrosse), but hey this move could be good for us.

Lots of people have put out their opinions on this, but I think Scott Van Pelt summed it up nicely: It's sad to leave, but it could be a good move.

Weekends when the Terps have away games are supposed to be my laid back weekends to recover, but that was hardly the case this weekend. In fact, this weekend I went on the road to watch the Terps play Temple in Philly.

My dad and brother went to Temple and my cousins Laura, Nate and I all went to Maryland. We've been planning our family trip to Philly for this game since my cousin's wedding back in July.


L to R: Nate, Laura, my dad, me, my brother Tom, my mom (clearly being Switzerland)

If you're a huge sports fan, you may remember that last year, Temple came to UMD and laid a beat down on the Terps. The final score was an embarrassing 38-7, and Maryland only managed to get on the board when Temple put their third string in the game.

My parents and brother came down to Maryland for that game, and ever since that whopping my brother has been talking a lot of trash.


Last year's game at Maryland.

When the Terps put up 29 points in the first half, I was fairly confident we were going to win the game.

But things got a little dicey in the second half, when our offense completely stalled and Temple started putting lots of points on the board.

Then we fumbled a punt return. Temple recovered it in the red zone. Our defense held them to a field goal attempt, which we blocked. And then fumbled away a few plays later. Seriously, I don't think I've ever experienced so many emotional ups and downs in one game.

At the end of the day the Terps were able to pull out the W, making us 2-0 on the season.

My family all had a blast (well except maybe my brother who was a little salty after the loss) and I'm so looking forward to our next family get together at the Baltimore Running Festival.