Or, stop hogging all the attention, football team. The favored sport in College Park is thinking about going up to Charm City too:
Turgeon said he is interested in playing a game each season in Baltimore and Washington --- with the usual financial caveat that accompanies many things in College Park.
"I think Maryland's been locked into a couple of these games, one in D.C.," Turgeon said. "My hopes are to play a game in D.C. and a game in Baltimore each year as long as we can afford it and the athletic department can afford it. That's the whole key. If not, we won't do that, maybe play one in D.C. one year and one in Baltimore the next. I'd like to do that."
I like this idea, much more than the football one. With the number of OOC games in basketball, there's no reason Maryland can't have the BB&T, a Baltimore game, and the ACC-B1G Challenge / a real home game against a good opponent. Besides, the marquee games at Comcast will always be Duke and UNC.
In other words, this time they won't be stealing one of the very few games that will draw a crowd in College Park. It might hurt attendance figures a tad, but not in the way football will take a hit. In fact, if things go to plan, the Terps should be good enough that they don't have those pesky attendance problems anyway. Which is good, because playing in Baltimore would be pretty nice.
The advantages are similar to the football ones: they get a sort-of new market, they cultivate Maryland support in the city, etc. But there's an added bonus here: Maryland recruits Baltimore much more heavily in basketball than they do football. Getting a game in Baltimore to expose Maryland to the Aquille Carrs, Daequan McNeils, and Kameron Williams - or, for more familiar names, Josh Selbys and Roscoe Smiths - of the world can't hurt.
Essentially, you have the same advantages as football without the disadvantage of the home attendance problem - or, rather, it's simply a smaller problem. In fact, there's only one real objection I have to it: where do you play? First Mariner ain't exactly a shining beacon these days. I know they're trying to get it replaced, but I don't believe there's any timetable for that. It's a fuzzy situation.
Still, stick a semi-marquee opponent - the best OOC opponent should be in Comcast - in there and I'd be fine with it.
And enjoy this while you can, Baltimore denizens. I don't plan to have three posts about your city in as many days again in the future.