August 12, 2008 4:59 AM
A.M./P.M.: Yes-eh-CABBAGE-us
I love Maryland Terrapins basketball. There is no objective, journalistic
way to put this. I just love Maryland Terrapins basketball.I was raised in Maryland. My father, along with his four siblings, all attended the University of Maryland. By the age of six or seven, I probably could have driven the route from my house to College Park, Md., if only I was tall enough to reach the pedals.
I've been through it all with the Terps. Joe Smith's heroics at Duke. Drew Nicholas' three over UNC-Wilmington. The '02 Championship team.
Laron Profit would make the list for my top five Terps of all time. Juan Dixon and Mike Mardesich, too. But of all my favorite Terps players, there's one who stands out.
Unless you follow the Greek pro league really closely, the name Sarunas Jasikevicius probably means nothing to you. Even Terps season ticket holders from Jasikevicius' senior season -- '97-98 -- might not remember him (or Matt Kovarik or
Rodney Elliot, the other seniors that year.)
I was just 10 years old during Jasikevicius' senior year, but even back then, he was easily my favorite Terp. I think the fact that nobody knew how to pronounce his name had something to do with it. I believe I referred to him as "yes-eh-CABBAGE-us." No one really seemed to mind.
Jasikevicius wasn't a particularly remarkable player in college. His senior year, he shot 39.7% from three point range. He wasn't a very good dribbler. He couldn't create his own shot. But he always had that strange name.
He wasn't drafted after college and headed off to play in Europe, but the Maryland faithful never forgot about him. Two years after graduating, he nearly beat the U.S. single-handedly in an Olympic semifinal for Lithuania, scoring 27 points in the game. The rest of the world was trying to figure out who he was and why he wasn't playing NBA ball. Us Terp faithful just smiled.
Four years later, he actually guided the Lithuanians to a win over the U.S. in the opening rounds. But in the bronze medal game, his 17 points weren't enough. The U.S. took the medal.
His performance was enough to get NBA notice, though. He spent two years combined with the Indiana Pacers and the Golden State Warriors, but never really caught on. So now he's back in Europe, playing for Athenian power Panathinaikos.
And yet, there he was again on Sunday, the ball in his hands as the clock wound down against Argentina. A dribble. The kick to Linus Kleiza. The game winner.
For most of the world, it didn't matter much. A favored Argentina team stocked with NBA talent lost at the buzzer on a three pointer by another NBA player. As for the player who set it up -- the player who made the pass, the player who's done it every four years on the international stage -- well, no one else really seemed to notice him.
But I love Maryland Terrapins basketball, and every four years, I love watching a Lithuanian guy with an impossible last name and a game that the NBA didn't want kick ass at the Olympics.
Yes-eh-CABBAGE-us, or something like that. Remember the name.
It's 7 p.m. in Beijing, and 5 a.m. in Denver. Here are the stories that are making Olympic headlines on this Tuesday evening/morning:
>Edwin Ekiring -- the Ugandan badminton player who nearly got lost on the way to Beijing -- told reporters before his first match, "Nothing will scare me." Then he lost in two sets, 21-5, 21-8. Sorry to see you go so soon, Edwin.
>China blames drop in domestic tourism on "Olympic fever."
>Are the Spain men's basketball team racists?
>Your could-be-an-Onion-headline-of-the-day: "Africa: Good Day for Continent in Beijing."
>Do not attempt to friend Michael Phelps.
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August 12, 2008
6:20 AM
Mike writes:
Thank you,
"Oh-chins-guy" for the story.