Maryland Website Praised Among Final Four Teams
3/27/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 27, 2002
Following is text from an Internet column written by Mike McAllister in the Dallas Morning News:
While the actual Final Four competition doesn't begin until Saturday, the Internet Final Four battled for cyberspace supremacy earlier this week.
And in judging that's slightly less controversial than figure skating but slightly more restrained than Dick Vitale, the winner is ... www.umterps.com
Of the four official athletic Web sites left in this year's NCAA men's tournament, the Maryland site finished just ahead of Oklahoma ( www.soonersports.com), with Indiana ( www.iuhoosiers.com) and Kansas ( www.jayhawks.org) producing disappointing efforts given their glorious basketball traditions.
To be fair, Maryland and OU profit from their partnership with fansonly.com, a digital solutions provider for many collegiate athletic sites. As a result, both sites offer extensive audio and video and have a more professional feel.
But while the added bells and whistles enhance the critical "fun factor" element, both sites also offered enough originality to make them more surfable. Here's how they ranked (with an alternative link for more information):
1. UMTerps.com. The "Thunder & Lightning" area on Terrapins seniors Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon is a nice repackage of material. The News Clips section is a handy feature, providing links to stories on newspaper Web sites. And Tourney Central offers a timely guide.
Little things, such as the link to updated profile information for each player, are also much appreciated. Few college athletic sites take the trouble to do that after rosters are posted before each season.
Alternative: www.coachgarywilliams.com, the official site of the Maryland head coach.
2. SoonerSports.com. The 2002 Tournament Tracker is much like Maryland's Tourney Central. Guard Hollis Price's Player Diary has eight entries this season (although none the last two weeks). Having a printable version of the OU media guide available is an added bonus, especially for hard-core fans.
And kudos to having an easy-to-find audio link for "Boomer Sooner."
Alternative: www.coachsampson.com, the official site for OU coach Kelvin Sampson.
3. IUHoosiers.com. The extensive photo gallery is a plus, and thanks to the IU band, there's plenty of formatted audio versions of the school's various songs.
But in a feature called, "Why I Chose IU," only one athlete is spotlighted. And this is after Bob Knight left town!
Alternative: www.insideindiana.com, a nonofficial source of IU sports news.
4. Jayhawks.org. The player bios are updated with statistics, and the history area is informative. But lengthy download times for video and virtual tours produce frustration.
And in an area called "Ask a Hawk" there hasn't been a new entry since September, 2000.
Alternative: www.kusports.com, produced by the Lawrence Journal-World.
