The University of Maryland has a lot going for it. It's full of trees and bikes, and is situated in one of the best places to raise kids in Maryland, according to some rankings.
What UMd. also has, apparently, are some of the worst fans in the nation. According to GQ magazine's own "heavily researched, highly scientific accounting," UMd. fans rank fifth in having the surliest, least pleasant fans in the whole country, college and pro sports alike.
They are rated worse than Yankees fans (No. 9). Worse than Dallas Cowboys fans (No. 12.) And most offensively, they are worse than Duke basketball fans (No. 8).
Why? GQ doesn't bother with an extensive explanation. They just enumerate the five worst Terrapin riots, with cringe-worthy breakdowns of some of the silly (read: violent) things the Terps have done in recent years.
On the upside, Terps fans still have a few spots to go before they are as despised as any fan from Philadelphia.
Alex
2:12 pm on Monday, March 21, 2011
Is being an editor a full time job?
I mean, don't get me wrong. There are certain times where there will be really nice, informative pieces in the College Park Patch and it's great to get local news. But my understanding would that this would be a more in depth, alternative platform for whats going on in the community. So we get good reporting, or coverage of issues the main stream media isn't covering.
Instead I log onto Patch and get the story above, a recycled few paragraphs, that I have literally seen on three different sites for the past 3 days.
Ronnie Cummings
3:37 pm on Monday, March 21, 2011
Though Lauren could answer this question ably, she's currently trapped in various airports, so I'll give it a try. While not a local editor myself, I've extensively observed their activities.
Patch's editors are full time employees who work extremely hard, often for 10-12 hours a day, to bring interesting stories to their communities. They work most nights, weekends and take few holidays.
Lauren took a well-deserved vacation this weekend, and while others do cover breaking news, the editor is still responsible for providing content. Of course, if you have any stories you want to see covered (or want to become a contributor) just e-mail Lauren. She's always on the lookout for issues important to College Park.
Sexcellency
1:27 am on Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The sad part is that the original GQ story was, itself, nothing more than irrelevant filler--probably put together by some entry-level staffer in between breakfast runs to the local coffee shop. The fact that other media outlets (patch included) keep recycling the same stupid list is pathetic. Recycling lazily-produced content is profoundly lazy; why propagate foolish things like this GQ list, or the one from Forbes that called College Park a great place to raise a family, when they are so obviously wrong? Readers can detect lazy journalism and publishing it is self-destructive.
Dr. Daniel Kraus
8:38 am on Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I think that it is important to note that people around the country notice when our fans act like complete morons. Those of us that own businesses here or live here need to put up with the destruction of our town just because a bunch of college kids can't cope with a loss (or a win). Our fans need to grow up and develop some dignity and respect for our Alma Mater.