I started paying serious attention to Maryland basketball in 1996. I remember playing pool in the UMBC game room and watching as the seventh-seeded Terps played a first-round Tournament game against Santa Clara. That particular contest ended in an upset loss but I’ve been a fan ever since.

Williams was a large part of the reason why.

Gary did it right. He coached hard and clean. He stood up for his players and his program. He did things his way. He was the kind of guy you could look at and say, “yeah, I’d follow him.”

Along the way he authored one of the greatest two-year runs this region has ever seen, in any sport, with back-to-back Final Fours and a national championship behind Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, and Lonny Baxter. A run made all the more enjoyable by the fact that he did it basically without “blue chip” players (you could argue for Chris Wilcox). It was a marvel of coaching excellence and a hell of a special time.

That all said, even the most ardent fan should admit that in recent years Williams’ approach had become more and more anachronistic. His unwillingness to play the AAU recruitment game meant losing out on most of the top-tier talent, leaving him undermanned and outgunned in the ACC and, when he got there, the Tournament. He still got the most out of the players he had and ran a winning program but the measure is not wins at a place like Maryland. It’s deep tournament runs. With the loss of Jordan Williams this year it seemed likely that 2011-12 would be yet another Lost Season.

I bet you could drop Gary into the CAA or the Mountain West or the Horizon League tomorrow and he’d have his team winning league titles and going to the Tournament in no time. He can still coach. What he can’t do — or, more likely, is simply unwilling to do — is adapt to the new ways of doing things. I don’t think the game passed him by but I think the system probably did. In that sense perhaps this is, indeed, the right time.

The good news is that he left before his legacy could really be tainted. The past few years of mediocre results will be forgotten soon enough and we’ll remember Gary Williams the way we should: as one of the finest NCAA basketball coaches of all time. That does little, however, to take away the sting of today’s news. Losing Gary Williams means we’re losing a link to a better time. Guys like him can’t be replaced.

Maryland will land a top-tier coach to take the reins. It’s too good a job for them not to. Whoever it is, though, will have some serious shoes to fill. Gary Williams is one of the all-time greats. We were lucky to have him.

(photo borrowed from here)

That led me to the idea of creating power rankings of my own. While The Loss Column skews heavily towards the Orioles and Ravens, that’s more a product of circumstance than design. I’d love to spend more time analyzing and writing about the rest of our regional teams. Something like this could be a nice way to do that. It’d also provide a place to get some discussion going about teams/sports that we don’t address often enough.

Assuming that the relevant teams are Orioles, Ravens, Terps basketball, Terps football, Caps, Wizards, Nationals, and Redskins, here’s what I came up with:

1. Ravens
Is there even a contest? They’re the only team currently enjoying a sustained track record of success, and they’re the only team that doesn’t face any major questions about the future.

2. Terps basketball
The one team that, at present, could possibly unseat the Ravens. It would take an ignominious Ravens playoff exit and theTerps following that with a deep (or even deep-ish) run into March Madness™. As long as Gary Williams is there, this team will be better-than-average at worst. Only problem is that lately they haven’t been much better than that.

3. Capitals
They’ve got one of hockey’s two biggest stars in Alex Ovechkin. They’re a virtual lock for a good playoff seed every year. They enjoy great attendance. They’re fun to watch. Thanks to them, hockey is on the map in DC and, to some extent, the region as a whole.

Only problem is, they underachieved in the playoffs last year by losing in the first round to Montreal despite enjoying the #1 overall seed. They’ve got to do better.

4. Nationals
The Stephen Strasburg injury was a huge setback but they’ve got a solid young core and they made big waves in free agency by signing Jayson Werth. They – like the Orioles – are unlikely to contend this year, but they have what appears to be a very decent chance at getting there soon.

5. Orioles
I’d feel a lot better about them if they’d finally sign a first baseman and a veteran starter, but neither would change their ranking. I believe them to be a team on the rise, but there are (as we know too well) still way more questions than answers.

6. Wizards
They’re currently 7-22, and as a result I can’t rank them any higher than this. But they’ve got John Wall, and he should eventually be special. They’ve got Ted Leonsis in the owner’s box, and he knows how to make things happen (see #3 above). This isn’t their year but from what I’ve been able to gather they’re setting themselves up well.

7. Redskins
The Haynesworth debacle. The McNabb debacle. The losing record. The switch to a 3-4 defense coupled with the wrong personnel to execute it.

Good news is that they’re in the NFL and, as such, have a great chance at rebounding next year. If there’s football next year.

8. Terps football
I don’t care that they’re coming off a winning season and I don’t care about the Military Bowl. They utterly botched the firing of Ralph Friedgen and are facing a potentially huge disruption with the transition to a new coach. That and, well, they don’t really generate much excitement outside of College Park. The bottom spot is theirs because, at the moment, they don’t really matter.

So there you have it. I figure I’ll do a list like this maybe every couple of months, especially if the concept generates any interest. Comments are officially open.

But, I’m OK with it. I actually dig the idea of a national holiday where we all — in theory at least — take a step back from the day-to-day and acknowledge the good things around us. Cliché or not, that’s a nice thing. We ought to do it more often.

With that in mind — and I did something similar to this last year — a few things in Baltimore sports for which I’m personally thankful:

Buck Showalter
Prior to Buck’s arrival we had to go back to Mike Hargrove to find the last Orioles manager with a proven Major League record. And, honestly, even Hargrove didn’t have a particularly great pedigree. Buck’s the first guy who can really claim “been there, done that” status since Davey Johnson. It’s been a long time coming.

Ed Reed and Ray Lewis
You all know that the Ravens aren’t my team but I’ll be damned if I’d ever deny the greatness of these two players. They’ve both authored Hall of Fame careers here in Baltimore and that’s pretty cool no matter where your particular rooting interests sit.

Gary Williams
There’s nobody else I’d rather have coaching my college basketball team of choice. He doesn’t always get the best guys but nobody else does as much with the guys he does get as Gary. On top of that, he runs a clean program. And he’s just fucking cool. This guy is a true treasure and we need to appreciate him while we can because he won’t coach forever.

Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, Brian Matusz, Matt Wieters
The Orioles are still building. Chances are we still have some tough times ahead. And yet, they have a lot of players who deserve our respect. These five stand at the top of my list. They’re not the only guys I like, but they’re the ones I’d pick if I had to make a “best of” list.

Our Local Media
From Roch Kubatko and the MASN team to the Orioles Insider folks at the Sun. From Camden Chat and the other bloggers to WNST and everyone in between. We don’t lack for voices. I don’t always dig on all of them, but it’s a pretty vibrant scene and that’s a nice thing to have.

The hope with a list like this, of course, is that you’ll add your own ideas in the comments. Or disagree with mine. Either way, we’re good.

Mostly, though, happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Here’s to good times.

The idea that someone — anyone — would manipulate a full hour of national TV to announce that he’s decided to break the collective heart of an entire city is unbelievable. No class, no dignity, no shame. Handled so poorly that I’m almost at a loss for words. “Disgusting” doesn’t really feel strong enough. “Ugly” might be better.

Let us hope that LeBron James is not a sign of things to come. If behavior like his is the future then, well, god help us. Luckily, I don’t think it is. Kevin Durant proves as much. For that he should be celebrated with the same zeal employed to justifiably crucify James.

I’m happy to say I didn’t actually watch the special, but I’ll cop to flipping from the O’s game on 105.7 over to 1300 AM for about five minutes to hear the announcement. Weak, I know. To be fair, though, I spent those same minutes reading this article. Multitasking.

Now that I’m back to the O’s I find that, yep, they’re still struggling. Down 4-2 to the Rangers in the seventh. Damn it. Damn it all.

Ahh, that. LeBron. “King” James. A pretty good basketball player. It’d make sense that the city of Cleveland would want him to stick around. Who wouldn’t? But there’s got to be a limit to how far you’ll go, and Cleveland went way the hell over it. That’s just sad. I’m not even trying to make fun or criticize — it’s genuinely sad.

To the Cleveland fans out there, you have my sympathies. Unless you were a part of making that video, in which case you have my very deep concern for your well being.

That all said I hope the downward spiral continues here in Baltimore this weekend. Two more out of three would take another chunk out of the Terrifically Horrendous Start and represent some genuine momentum.

By the way, anyone going to the game either Saturday or Monday? Pretty good chance I’ll be there for both nights. If you’re doing likewise we should meet up.