Fear the Turtle!

Official Review by Geoff Crawley, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

Comcast Center is home to the University of Maryland Terrapins men's and women's basketball teams. Opening in 2002, it holds over 17,000 fans. Situated in the middle of the campus, minutes away from Washington, DC, the arena has lots of competition when it comes to great indoor arenas.

It holds its own just fine, thank you very much.

Food & Beverage    4

Comcast Center has a very good selection of food. Everything you could ask for in a stadium and more are available. All the traditional fare is better than average. Nathan's hot dogs, Johnsonville brats and ice cream made from a local dairy are all so good you'll want to slap your mama. Non-traditional items, such as crab cakes and pit BBQ, are available as well. Get a crab cake. You know you want to. Don't try to break the Nathan's hot dog eating record.

As is the case with many on-campus venues, no alcohol is sold in the arena. You can't bring alcohol into the arena (all bags are searched) so be sure to imbibe outside if you would like to.

Atmosphere    3

The Comcast Center is a relatively new venue. As such, it hasn't had a whole lot of time to build a history. Having said that, since construction began in 2000, there have been two National Championship trophies brought in there, one each for the men and women. Maryland is typically in the upper tier of teams in an elite conference, and the atmosphere bears that out.

Neighborhood    4

The stadium is on campus, so there is no neighborhood, per se. There are lots of bars in town, though. Here are some of my favorites for you to try.

RJ Bentley's Filling Station "" Ever heard ESPN's Scott Van Pelt (a Maryland grad) say "Let's go to Bentley's?" This is the place he's talking about. A terrific sports bar just off campus, full of history, tradition, good American food and lots and lots of beer, do not miss this place. Seriously. A must stop.

The Cornerstone Grill and Loft "" OR you could go to THIS don't miss place. Boasting SEVENTEEN HD TV'S including two 10' projections, The Cornerstone hits it well. The Loft upstairs has some pool tables. Better than average food, great drink selection, what more could you ask of a college town bar/club/restaurant? Nothing, that's what.

Prince Cafe - Just off campus is Prince Cafe, the aforementioned hookah bar. They also sell decent Middle Eastern food. There is a $10.00 per person charge, again, the main draw (no pun intended) is the hookah smoking. Not that we necessarily endorse that sort of thing. We're just saying.

There are more places, conveniently located within stumbling distance from each other. Check em all out, which may take multiple trips. Well worth it.

Fans    5

Wow. I was impressed with the football fans when I visited Byrd Stadium, but the basketball fans are equally impressive. I saw lots of faces painted (who paints faces for basketball?). I saw people dressed up as Terrapins. I saw loud, drunk chanting Terps fans who never sat down. I heard cleverly unrepeatable add ons to songs. The students, young kids, full of limitless energy, jump and yell the whole game. The crowd was loud.

It was really, really loud. Really loud.

Did I mention it was loud?

Passionate, loud and real, genuine hatred for the opposition. What more could you ask for in a fan base? Nothing, that's what. The fans alone are worth the price of admission.

Access    4

Make your life simple and get a parking pass before you arrive on campus. If you don't, you may be shuttled to a garage which is a bear to get out of after a game. With a properly colored pass, you can pay $15 to park and leave in a relatively normal fashion. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of parking, including cash lots, it's just that some of it isn't very close to the arena.

Better yet, park off campus for a bit of a hike (not too bad, maybe 20-25 minutes or so) so you can go to all of the awesome places downtown. I use the word downtown loosely. But not the word awesome. More on that later. (Literary device: foreshadowing.)

Bathrooms are big, clean and plentiful.

Return on Investment    4

This is a terrific venue and everything is well priced. They sell a lot of tickets here, but there are always some available from, uh, independent street brokers.

Extras    2

Bonus points here for the fans. Also, while not in a neighborhood per se, there are lots of bars to visit (it's a college town, duh), including a hookah bar, if that sort of thing is your bag.

Final Thoughts

Lots of fun to be had just outside of our nation's capital. Park off campus and prepare for a bit of a hike so you can properly enjoy the pre and post game festivities of your choice. Should you come before you die? I wouldn't say that. But if you are in DC (or even Baltimore, that's close enough), I would make it a point to come.


Geoff Crawley is the Mid Atlantic Regional Correspondent and Voice of the Fan and is the host of a weekly podcast.