IT'LL GO WRONG, BUT LET THE TERPS DRINK ANYWAY
Normally the idea of wine and beer sales in stadiums is something we unilaterally support. After all, if West Virginia can do it without suffering instant arson and mayhem in the stadium, then most anyone should be able to do it.
But then someone whispers "Maryland is trying to do something."
University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh has approved a trial plan for the school to sell beer at its football stadium and other athletic venues beginning this fall — a proposal that has divided the campus community and is opposed by some prominent public health advocates.
This is Maryland, and at Maryland there are rational public health advocates who believe none of this will curb binge drinking. They'll make reasoned cases for this, and that's what they're supposed to do.
We don't have to do that. All we have to do is point out that this is Maryland, the school where Bear Bryant rolled up for a year, took a look around, and quietly fired up a Chesterfield before muttering "To hell with this" and leaving. This is the program that hired Randy Edsall happily. This is the program that in the middle of a large population center with ample resources and a solid fanbase somehow managed to run their athletics finances into a hole so deep only Jim Delany could find them for a rescue. It's not fair to call their fans riot-y, but...you might want to call their fans a little riot-y.
This will go sideways, is what we're saying. Maryland should be able to do this, and they'll probably do this because it's a successful financial margin they can add to the ledgers, but it'll go sideways because this is Maryland football and in your bones you know something drastic will go wrong. They once had a former coach die from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The whole campus burned down in 1912. The number of times you see "frustrated, the coach resigned" in their history is terrifying, and that includes a guy who was an alum whose dream job, for whatever insane reasons, was actually the Maryland head coaching gig.
Then again, Maryland's historically been so mediocre that you might as well let them drink in the stadium. A couch is gonna die, sure, and there might be a little pepper spray tossed around the yard, but Maryland fans do that every now and then anyway. The Terps have to play in East Lansing and Iowa City after October 30th this year, which even if you win still sounds like abject misery. Might as well let them have a drink when they get home.