ABCDE SPORTS tuesday, december 21, 2010 BASEBALL


Getting closer The Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg is expected to start throwing in January. D4


HOCKEY


Time to move on The Capitals spent little time savoring the win that snapped their eight-game skid. D3


BLOGS,MULTIMEDIAANDCHATS washingtonpost.com/sports First Things First Today, 9:30 a.m. Barry Svrluga gets your sports day started with a chat. Football Insider Live Today, 10:30 a.m. Svrluga, Maese and Steinberg talk Redskins. AllMetSports.com Get the latest in high school sports news as basketball season heats up.


PROFOOTBALL


Owens shuts it down Wide receiver Terrell Owens has surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee, ending his first season with the Bengals. D6


Gilbert’s identity was about having fun, and we all had fun with him, at least for a while.” Dan Steinberg on the Gilbert Arenas era in Washington. D2


ON FOOTBALL John Feinstein


Bottom line, red ink foil Friedgen


T


he stunningandseemingly sud- den decision by Maryland Ath- letic Director Kevin Anderson


to fire Ralph Friedgen as football coach makes absolute sense. After all, former Texas Tech coach


Mike Leach has the potential to bring a passion to the school’s football program not seen since Friedgen’s first season 10 years ago. Maryland won eight games this


season, statistically the second-best turnaround in college football. Al- most no one cared. Fans failed to fill Byrd Stadium, one of theACC’s small- er venues, even once. When 48,000 showed up on a perfect November night for a game against Florida State with the Terrapins still contending for the division title, Maryland offi- cials acted as if they had set a new attendance mark. That’s why Maryland is playing in


the low-level Military Bowl. A trip to frigid Washington, D.C., to play in a decrepit stadium on a weekday after- noon in December? Most football people consider that to be more pun- ishment than reward. Anderson did what he had to do


when he had the opportunity to do it. He’s absolutely right to force out Friedgen before Leach lands some- place else. He also could not be more wrong.


This has the feel of a professional lynching. Athletic directors are like college presidents. When you put aside all the phony talk about “student-ath- letes” and mentoring youngsters and the other self-righteous nonsense that comes from big-time college ath- letic programs, an AD has one job: make money. They are paid to sell tickets; get revenue teams to the postseason; increase licensing and— perhaps most important — woo boosters and alumni into writing big checks. At Maryland, most of the money that has come in during this century hasbeenin thenameofmen’s basketball. When Anderson was hired in September to replace Debbie Yow, his highest priority had to be fixing football. Friedgen made Anderson’s job


more difficult by going 8-4. Another losing season on the heels of a 2-10 season and the decision would have been easy. Of course, in the decidedly mediocre ACC, the significance of an eight-win season can be debated. That said, Maryland tied for third in the overall ACC standings and Fried- gen was named the conference’s


on football continued onD7 JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST


FRIEDGEN IS SHOWN DOOR


D EZ SU


TRACY A WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST


Coach Ralph Friedgen, right, was unwilling to retire and will be fired followingMaryland’s appearance in the Dec. 29Military Bowl.Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson, top left, said the school will form a search committee to find a replacement, and former Texas Tech coachMike Leach will be a target.


Maryland athletic director fires coach after


he refuses to retire BY STEVE YANDA


AND ERIC PRISBELL Describing the move as a long-term


“business decision,” Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson on Monday announced the firing of Coach Ralph Friedgen, who has led the program for the past decade. Stressing his desire to move the


programfrom“good to great,” Anderson said he was not willing to give Friedgen, 63, a contract extension beyond next season and that after offensive coordina- tor and head coach-in-waiting James Franklin left for Vanderbilt last week,


the need tomake a change accelerated. Anderson said the school will form a


search committee and possibly hire an outside firm to find Friedgen’s replace- ment, but former Texas Tech coachMike Leachwill be the school’s primary initial target, according to multiple sources who requested anonymity because the process is ongoing. Anderson acknowledged that Leach


was among the names on his list of possible replacements but said neither he nor anyone on his staff had contacted Leach. Anderson said he would like to make the hire prior to Jan. 4, which marks the beginning of a period in which coaches can have contact with potential recruits. As Franklin’s departure was develop-


ing last week, Anderson said he spoke with Friedgen to discuss his desire to


terrapins continued onD7 Who would you take? Howthe track record of possible replacementMike Leach compareswith that of Ralph Friedgen:


Friedgen at Maryland (74-50, .597, 6 bowls)


AP RANK


AP RANK W-L BOWL (RESULT) 11


13 17


10-2 Orange (L) 11-3 Peach (W) 10-3 Gator (W) 5-6 5-6


9-4 Champs Sports (W) 6-7 Emerald (L)


8-5 Humanitarian (W) 2-10


8-4 Military (Dec. 29)


2000 2001 2002 2003 2004


2006


2008 2009 2010


Leach at Texas Tech (84-43, .661, 10 bowls)


W-L BOWL (RESULT)


7-6 Gallery Furniture (L) 7-5 Alamo (L)


18


9-5 Tangerine (W) 8-5 Houston (W) 8-4 Holiday (W)


2005 20 9-3 Cotton (L) 8-5 Insight (W)


2007 22 9-4 Gator (W) 12 21


11-2 Cotton (L) 8-4 Alamo*


*Did not coach in the bowl game SOURCE: SPORTS-REFERENCE.COM


Minus Wall and Lewis, Wizards crush Bobcats


Washington uses 21-2 run in third quarter to


topple Charlotte, 108-75 BY TARIK EL-BASHIR


Budding star John Wall was sidelined


again because of an injury, and newly acquired Rashard Lewis did not suit up only hours after arriving from Orlando. But theWashingtonWizards still gave an announced crowd of 13,835 plenty to cheerMondaynight atVerizonCenter. Kirk Hinrich notched 18 points and 11


assists and Nick Young scored a game- high 21 points to help theWizards end a seven-game losing streak with a 108-75 victoryover thesimilarlystrugglingChar- lotteBobcats. “We did it because we were never in a


panic situation offensively,” Wizards Coach Flip Saunders said. “We got into sets, and as I said to our players, if you


execute you can still score a lot of points. It’snot likewewererunningupanddown. We got in sets and got the shots that we wanted.” Thoughthemarginof victoryprovedto


be Washington’s biggest since a 103-72 victory over Atlanta in 2006, the contest was tight early. The Wizards clung to a 50-45 lead at halftime, but a 21-2 run, sparked byHinrich, Young and a defense that forced a season-high 27 turnovers, grewthat edge to 71-47, putting the game out of theBobcats’ reach. The Wizards, in their second game


without Gilbert Arenas, outscored Char- lotte 31-11 during in the third quarter while holding the Bobcats to a franchise- lowone field goal in the period. Charlotte endured an epic shooting drought, going 12 minutes 20 seconds between field goals, spanningthethirdandfourthquar- ters. “I thinkwe’ve been better defensively,”


Saunders said. “It’s something we’ve wizards continued onD8


SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES


Arenas starts fresh, loses in debut with Magic


Gilbert Arenas scores 10 points and dishes out three assists in his first game with the OrlandoMagic, which struggles with several newplayers in a 91-81 loss to the AtlantaHawks. D8


After the changes,more of the same for Redskins


Long trend of losing continues for franchise despite new leadership


BY BARRY SVRLUGA This was the season, with a new


coach and a new quarterback, that the Washington Redskins were to make palpable progress.Last year’s disaster – a 4-12 record, another last-place finish in the NFC East – resulted in the dismissal of Jim Zorn as head coach and Vinny Cerrato as executive vice president of football operations, The hiring of Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen to replace them was supposed to push the entire organization forward, because as Allen said upon Zorn’s fir- ing, “The status quo is not acceptable.” But following Sunday’s 33-30 loss at


Dallas, it’s even more apparent how difficult the status quo is to expunge.


The Redskins enter the final twogames of their season with no hope of making the playoffs, merely trying to stave off a third straight last-place finish – which would be the longest string in franchise history — and find whatever form of motivation they can. “Ultimately, we haven’t found a way


to win all year,” tight end Chris Cooley said. “To be a good football team, to be a team that makes the playoffs, you have to find a way to win. We’ve been the kings of finding a way to lose.” This is not, however, a new trend;


2010 is the 10th straight season the Redskins will go without a division title, their longest stretch without a championship since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The more disturbing trend, though, is how frequently they finish last or next to last.They were last in the NFC East in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Even if they win out this year, the


redskins continued onD6


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