Go to the Carrier Dome with my dear wife Karen to watch my alma mater play the hometown squad in men’s college lacrosse?
I’d say I was smiling on Sunday afternoon for the noon faceoff between visiting Maryland and homestanding Syracuse.
It’s been awhile since I’d gotten the opportunity to root for the ”that’s where I went” team live and in person. The Terps football squad came up to play the Orange in the Dome in 2014. Wow, eight years ago. Maryland won, 34-20, not that I’m bragging or anything. Since then, I’ve been watching all the Maryland games in all the sports I can find on TV.
The Maryland men’s lacrosse team has been very good, better than the spotlight sports of football and men’s and women’s basketball. The Terps last won the national championship in 2017. They dropped a thrilling game to Virginia, 17-16, in the 2021 title game.
But I digress.
The seats I purchased on the TicketMaster site happened to place us behind the Maryland bench and adjacent to the general admission section that held most of the Terrapins fans that had made their way to the game. Karen and I had worn Maryland red. (We had no way to know the team would come out in their black uniforms, but that’s the danger of an alma mater that proclaims its colors and red, white, black and gold.
I cheered for my college roots but not in any obnoxious way, Karen agreed. I did not cause a stir in the crowd of 8,000-plus, a large number for a regular season college lacrosse game indeed.
Maryland jumped out to a 5-0 lead but Syracuse had the energy and talent to rebound to trail by just one goal at halftime.
The Terps wore the Orange down in the second half, though, showing why they are rated No. 1 in the country. Final score: 14-10, Maryland.
Good time, we agreed. Karen appreciated her first Maryland lacrosse game with me in person. The speed! Back to Terps on TV …
Mark Bialczak 
Mark, this is awesome! And I LOVE all the team colors, too! I have to admit,…as much as I love live sports and hearing about the game, all I could concentrate on was the beautiful turf and the fact they were wearing shorts. It gave me HOPE as the ice/sleet continues to fall here today! I’m so glad the two of you were able to go and enjoy!
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Well, the game was played under the roof of the Carrier Dome over us and the building heated … although not so high that we wanted to take our sweatshirts off, Karla. So, shorts are to be a sign of warmer things to come, for sure. You are right that it is a colorful scene all around.
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Ah! Guaranteed comfort with fun! The first time I went to a dome was in St. Louis so I could watch Kurt Warner with the Rams about 20 years ago. I’ll not forget it!
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I read a large, sad story about St. Louis folks who still daily lament the loss of the Rams back to Los Angeles right before this Super Bowl, Karla. It reminded me of how lousy it is for a city to have first the Cardinals and then the Rams torn away from its loving hearts.
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It was very sad indeed.
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Oh how fun! Seeing your school team must have been a blast.
I know when I get to go to a homecoming it’s always fun to see your team play.
I am very happy for you both.
Have a great week!
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Yes, it is far between that I see Maryland play in person these days, Nance. You have a great week, too!
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Play by Play!
Thought I was there.
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Thanks for hanging in with me, ladysighs. I know how much you love sports …
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You said it ….. not me!
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yay! for so many reasons!
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It was so much fun, thanks, Beth!
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