The two basketball programs of N.C. State will both be making a trip to College Park this week to face the University of Maryland (men’s team on Wednesday and women’s team on Thursday). 

The University of Maryland’s impending move to the Big Ten Conference means the match-ups between these two old rivals will soon be coming to an end, perhaps after this season pending the inevitable lawsuits, but certainly no later than the 2014-2015 academic year.

The grueling, arduous trips to Charlottesville, the state of North Carolina, and Atlanta soon will wisely be replaced with more financially-sensible and appealing mid-winter flights to Madison, Iowa City, Minneapolis, and Lincoln. 

The tundra awaits the turtle.

At the press conference announcing its glorious departure, Maryland president Wallace Loh declared succinctly that ending 59 years of tradition was needed “to guarantee the sustainability of Maryland Athletics for a long, long time.”

When asked about the timetable of the decision to leave earlier in that same press conference, Dr. Loh stated that, in fact, at the meeting of ACC university leaders, his vote cast against raising the exit fee (or “sum”) was based on “legal and philosophical issues” and it was not a precursor to an impending move. 

 “When we first had those conversations (with Big Ten officials),” Loh said, “we were not thinking of moving, there was no reason for us to move.”

“As those conversations began to proceed, we began to see prospectus and value about joining.”

Basically, the fee will not hold up in court, but Loh had no idea the university would soon leave and actually challenge it. 

OK.

“Of course, it is never about money,” Loh said. “Somebody has to pay the bills.”

As time goes by, double-speak seems to be getting much less profound. 

Many other notable Maryland alums had opinions that toed the line with Dr. Loh. Former men’s basketball coach Gary Williams, long a loud voice lamenting the perceived ACC bias toward the North Carolina-based league members, related his support to The Baltimore Sun.

“I think Maryland is looking at what’s best for them for the future,” Williams said. “It’s not about today (the day of the announcement).”

That is fair. 

Of course, Williams also is reportedly making $400,000 annually—more than his former boss Debbie Yow makes as athletics director at N.C. State—while working as a “special assistant” at the financially-strapped university. His job description includes giving speaking engagements “from time to time as reasonably requested.” 

Williams has a clear and concise view of how the University of Maryland can meet its long-term financial needs, and it is costing the school he loves dearly over $1,000 a day for him to give that opinion—even during leap years. 

Yow inherited massive debt when she took the job in 1994. There has been much conjecture as to who ultimately has responsibility for the Terrapins’ current financial woes. What is clear is that there is quite a bit of finger pointing and deflected blame. Money has been spent unwisely, but it is always someone else’s fault. 

Loh loathed cutting Olympic programs at Maryland and has vowed never to do it again. The move to the Big Ten will prevent this, he argues—the fact that other programs in that area, such as lacrosse and soccer, typically achieve more success in the ACC notwithstanding. 

When pressed as to when they might be willing to reinstate the athletic programs that had been cut, Maryland administrators have been coy as to what that date would be, or if it will ever actually happen at all. 

If someone does not give an answer to a question, then that person has effectively negated the ability of others to accuse him or her of being “dishonest.” 

It is certainly possible that Loh is doing the prudent thing and new traditions can always be created, but based on Maryland’s current leaders’ unclear answers at its press conference, along with the secrecy of the regents meeting to discuss the move, it is hard to hold significant value to what they say—excluding the part about them wanting more money. 

The final verdict in the court of public opinion has been mostly apathetic. Perhaps that is the best form of punishment the ACC can reserve for Maryland. The Terrapins have long felt like an outsider within the ACC. Now they are inching closer to actually being one. 

And no one cares.