If you're going to crown them ...

Maryland practiced inside Byrd Stadium this afternoon, an unusual twist for a Thursday.

Ralph Friedgen, though, figured it was a good idea if only to get rid of an unnerving issue: Overthrown passes.

What does practicing in the stadium have to do with that? Just look to the middle of the field.

"I saw a lot of passes last year I thought we should have hit," Friedgen said. "There were plays on the sideline where we were high. This field has a crown on it and I think it had an impact on our accuracy. I wanted to get our guys some work throwing on the field so we got used to it."

Anyone who has walked around the Byrd Stadium field knows it is far from flat. In football, it lends new meaning to the phrase "downhill rusher." In lacrosse, it assures an errant pass toward the sideline will almost always slip out of bounds.

Friedgen estimated the crown had an incline of three feet. That guess might be a little on the high side, but his theory still has merit.

"It's significant," Friedgen said. "You're practicing all the time on a field that has no crown, I think it makes a difference. Usually you're in the middle of the field, a throw to the sidelines is a pretty easy throw. In the cutups, I kept seeing these guys who were wide open and they were throwing about two feet over their head. It was like 'What the hell?' I sat down and thought about it. At least I'm going to take that excuse away."

The only puzzling thing about this? How this was never an issue before. As Friedgen noted, it's not as if Byrd's field (and the mess underneath it) just got this way.

"That crown has been there since I played," Friedgen said. "Probably the reason why I played guard."

Spoken like a true quarterback-turned-offensive lineman.

Comments

[Warren]

Why is the crest so high? I understand it helps with drainage, but Byrd is ridiculous. I don't remember ever seeing another field that uneven. Having played on it once (admittedly in an unsanctioned environment), it really was kind of awkward and had some effect. A D1 QB should be able to adjust easily, but it's still strange....

And I think Fridge's transfer had more to do with the crown of his waist than that of his field...

[D1scourse]

Warren ---

A lot of it has to do with the muck underneath the field. Its a complete disaster, which is why I always chuckle when the topic of lowering the field comes up. Theres little I would ever guarantee, but one thing Ill promise is the costs of lowering the field at Byrd will cost vastly more than an original estimate.