Over my career at the University of Maryland, I'd like to think that I've seen a lot of things - highs and lows - championships and embarrassments. Over this past weekend I saw something that left me upset and, to be honest, slightly embarrassed to be a Terrapin.

You might be asking what it could be? We won the ACC Tournament in Men's Soccer, we advanced to the Final Four in the NCAA Field Hockey tournament with a win over Duke, and our football team beat UNC in a exciting game.

What I want to discuss is proper etiquette of a Maryland Terrapin fan - the football fan in particular. When I came into UMD as a impressionable young freshman, I was taught all the ins and outs of Terrapin Football. Amongst these tips were, "you should wear red," how to sing Rock & Roll Pt. 2, what a "key play" was, and that when we win a football game the team gathers in front of the student section and sings the fight song with the fans.

This is where we've gone wrong, let me address:

1. The "Key" Play: This is when everyone holds up their keys and shakes them on 3rd down to say that this play is important, or "key" to our success. The problem is that everybody does this on 3rd down, regardless of who's on offense or defense. PAY ATTENTION! The point of shaking your keys is to show support for your offense in a quiet and respectful way so that they can focus and hear play calls. Communication is key on offense. So, when the opposition is on offense and we're on defense we should be as loud as humanly possible. When we're on defense stop shaking your damn keys! Regardless if Special K is holding up that stupid "Keys Please" sign or not. Clap your hands, shout out loud, stomp your feet - make AS MUCH NOISE AS POSSIBLE!
2. Charging the field: This is the worst thing our study body does and we have a habit of doing it on national televison to boot. Since when do we storm the field on every single victory?! If this school's football program is ever going to become anything near prestigious/feared/respected on a consistent basis, we have to have a little faith in our boys. That means every time we beat a team who's ranked, we shouldn't storm the field like it's the biggest win since Flutie in the Orange Bowl. Does nobody expect a win? I mean, it's come to be expected that we're going to knock off ranked teams.We've already knocked off Cal, Clemson, Wake Forest and North Carolina this year. Last year we knocked off ranked opponents Rutgers and Boston College. This is not a new thing, so let's get used to it. The icing on this cake of shame was two years ago, when, while ranked #23 in the nation, we charged the field when we beat the unranked Miami Hurricanes who had just had a teammate shot and killed the week before. Wow. This weekend I watched some fans rush the field after our victory over #17 UNC, rather than letting the players embrace one of our few traditions and sing our fight song to us. Thankfully, the players get the picture and by the time the students got on the field, the players were on their way to the lockers. So please, I implore you - next time we get a win, unless it is a major upset or sends us to the ACC Championship, have some respect for this football program and our school, and don't rush the field.
3. Shell Shuffle: We all know the Shell Shuffle and ever since they changed it this year, it has been more difficult than ever. All I want to say on this note is don't be a douche and flash your hand in front of somebody's eyes or filed of view when they're locked onto the jumbo tron during the shuffle. That's just not cool. It's hard enough as is now, nobody needs more misdirection.

That is all for now... Go Terps!