Air the turtle!

Being a biased University of Maryland-College Park graduate, I’ve always wondered why no local TV affiliates have ever worked out an agreement with the school to broadcast Terrapin football and basketball games. It seems like it would be a good move to grab some ratings and boost the number of viewers for whichever channel chose to be so bold.

Even despite an endless line of injuries, the football program and Coach Friedgen just clinched a bowl bid in a must-win game; the men’s basketball team and red-faced Gary Williams are always entertaining; and last but definitely not least, the Lady Terps are wearing out opponents on the hardcourt on their way to an early 9-0 record and No. 3 ranking nationwide — all with Coach Brenda Frese expecting twins very soon.

There are a lot of Terp supporters who I’m sure would like to see more airtime for their fearsome turtles, especially with the Ravens season being dead in the water and the baseball team that plays across the street from them in its usual state of disarray. Just consider that there have been multiple bowl appearances in the past five years for the football team, a men’s national basketball championship in 2002, and a women’s national basketball championship in 2006.

Am I a delusional sports fan, or do local networks really “fear the turtle” enough to make them nonexistent on the airwaves?

-FRANCIS SMITH, Special Publications Assistant Editor

Considering an MBA? Turn to blogs

I stumbled across a collection of blogs today that I think you might find interesting, especially if you've been pondering a return to academia.

The Smith School of Business at U-Md. hosts four blogs, written by MBA students, to allow prospectives (or alumni) an "inside view" of the two-year program.

Meet Donna, Pete, Adam and Lettie, and you too can reminisce on sleepless nights, the interviewing process and an 18-hour day. One is even a former journalist.

One criticism: what's with all the block text? It's a bit maddening for the eyes.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Haunted halls of academe

According to a story on the Capital News Service wire, several buildings at some of Maryland’s colleges and universities are haunted.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, the Rossborough Inn on U.S. Route 1 is home to “Miss Betty,” who is rumored to have been a nurse at the inn during the Civil War. She has been sighted by several people wearing a yellow dress.

At Morrill Hall, mysterious noises and smells have been detected, and on stormy nights, according to Anne Turkos, an archivist at Hornbake Library, people have heard a piano playing in Marie Mount Hall, even though there hasn’t been a piano in the building for years.

For more ghostly tales, check out the Web site of the Maryland Ghost and Spirit Association, which tracks and documents apparitions around the state.

What ghostly spirits have you seen or heard?

-PAUL SAMUEL, Associate Editor

In the eyes of the law

University of Maryland police are treating the hanging of an alleged noose on the College Park campus last week as a possible hate crime.

But, before an act can be a hate crime, it has to be a crime.

Is putting a noose in a tree an actual crime under Maryland or Prince George’s County law? What are your thoughts?

-CHRISTINA DORAN, Assistant Legal Editor