Good ol' fashioned rivalries

FORT WAYNE -- I'm talking Michigan-Ohio State pigskin classics in a stadium filled with 100,000-plus and a Big Ten Championship hanging in the balance. I'm talking Duke regular season basketball with the Blue Devils versus, well, anybody with overstressed students raining nicknames and one-liners on the court that would make Sawyer from "Lost" crack a smile. I'm talking high stakes, trash talk, bragging rights and who gets first dibs in the morning bathroom rush for the next year.\nI'm talking about the Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team squaring off against the defending national champion Maryland Terrapins in an exhibition match in front of a few thousand exhausted soccer moms and their sugar-fueled soccer children.\nThat last example seem a little out of place? Maybe. Maybe not.\nWatching the fancy footwork of soccer powerhouses and "budding rivals" IU and Maryland Friday at the IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne Soccer Showcase in Fort Wayne, a soccer-palooza of youth, high school and college competition, you would have thought it was midseason -- not preseason.\nOK, the soccer mom passed out along the sideline during halftime and the little kids running around like miniature banshees (where are the parents?) sort of ruined the illusion. But the game itself, a 1-0 win for the cream and crimson, proved to be another thrilling Hoosier-Terrapin chess match.\nThis brings us back to the rivalry debate.\nAlthough IU and Maryland have only hooked up four times in their history -- the first match \noccurred Sept. 3, 1999, with a 1-0 Hoosier victory, -- the 2004 and 2005 clashes between the two schools contained more drama and testosterone than a day in life of Floyd Landis after a night of binge drinking.\nIn 2004, the Hoosiers squeaked past Maryland in the NCAA Tournament 3-2 in double overtime on their march to a seventh national title. The game-winning goal came off a cross from former Hoosier Danny O'Rourke, which found the head of midfielder John Michael Hayden. \nClassic.\nLast year in College Park, Md., IU scored three goals in the final 17 minutes of play to complete the most improbable comeback in school history in a 3-3 tie. The final goal came with five seconds left in regulation from Greg Stevning.\nMind-numbing.\nFriday's game? It was only for pride and a preview of the upcoming season, but one thing is for certain: These two teams need to play more often.\n"I want to play Indiana every year," said Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski. "It's a great budding rivalry. I want to continue it. We jumped at the chance (to play IU in the IPFW Soccer Showcase)."\nIU coach Mike Freitag has to be pleased with the early play of his team, especially some of the younger players. The development of a strong class of freshmen will go a long way in determining the success of the 2006 season. Highly touted freshmen Ofori Sarkodie, Kevin Alston and Eric Alexander are expected to contribute right away.\nWhile there are still some questions at forward after the loss of All-American Jacob Peterson and Mike Ambersley to Major League Soccer (not to mention the loss of four other starters to the pros), the team looks solid. And, maybe even more importantly, it has something to prove after a season in which it failed to earn at least a share of the Big Ten title for the first time in nine years.\nIf the Hoosiers are to meet the Terps again this year, it would be in the NCAA Tournament. Better start saving up for TiVo right now.