I am a fan of some truly depressing teams to root for.  For example I'm a life long Buffalo Bills fan who's earliest childhood memory is Wide-Right.  I'm a die hard Buffalo Sabres (hockey for those who don't know) fan--they have never won a Stanley Cup and actually lost a Cup on an OT goal where Brett Hull's foot was clearly in the crease (which at the time should have meant the goal shouldn't have counted).

But I have to say, my interaction with Bills and Sabres Fans has been that we are an eternally optimistic fanbase.  I would say the exact opposite of the Maryland fanbase and it really makes it not that fun to follow the Terps at times (even though I still do obviously).

I mean seriously, we lose to Duke in Cameron and people are having a shit fit.  Need I remind everyone that this is Duke in Cameron!!!  There's a reason their average win in ACC play has been by about 20 points this season when they are home.

Here, our beloved moderator has been on a two day hissyfit over the loss with repeated statements about how he's feeling down on the team and isn't confident in them moving forward--NONSENSE. (by the way he is certainly not alone)

We are 6-3 in ACC play.   We are a number 8 seed in the latest bracketology released this morning.  We have two very winnable games coming up.  We have beaten the defending National Champions by over 20 points.  We have an All-ACC calliber PG.  We have a very promising young pair of freshman bigs, one of which is one of the top 20-30 freshman in the entire country.

So what exactly is there to be pessimistic about? I'm confused.  It seems like with this fanbase, every loss is taken as an indictment of the program.  Every loss seems to bring up the same tired debate about recruiting and GW.  Every loss seems to spark another in an endless series of articles written by the programs detractors at the Washingon Post or at the Baltimore Sun.

And since the haters always bring it up, what exactly is not to like about the Terps current recruitng class.

-Mychal Parker--4 star player who is a consensus top 60 player in the entire nation.

-Terrell Stoglin---a kid who is averaging over 25 ppg and who can shoot it with the best of them in this class

-Ashton Pankey--exactly the type we need--a bouncy ahtletic long lenky type forward to complement JWill, Padge and Dino

-Pe-Shon-- I don't think you will find a single scout who will tell you that he is not a solid get---while he may not end up being a star the kid can shoot it from deep and is a strong player who excels on the defensive end---sounds like a D.J. who can shoot it to me and I will take that any day.

On top of that we are in the mix with Langford, Reddic, McKnight, Pallson and yes even C.J. Leslie for this year. a Any of them would be great gets, and Langford and Leslie would be TREMENDOUS gets.  Even Pallso would excite the hell out of me--Gary offered to him the on the spot the first time he saw him.  How often does that happen?  Also every spring brings a fresh wave of de-commits (think Deshawn Painter) and you can bet some of them will catch Maryland's eyes since we have so much room at the inn with 3 starters graduating.  So we have 4 guys in the bank who are VERY solid and we have at least 4 more targets who would be great gets out there in the wings.

By the way there are really more than 4 targets.  We are also targeting two JUCO bigs, one of which is described as a 7'1" athletic big with limited offensive ability and both of which would have 3 years of eligibility left.  To me that sounds intriguing b/c you can teach offensive moves but you can't teach 7'1" and athletic.

On top of that it seems we are in good shape in 2011 with a few kids indicating that Maryland has a good shot and over at TT.com the moderator has been teasing us for weaks about a potential McD AA silent verbal for 2011.