As a LONG time Oriole fan, I think that seeing them return to the world series would be awesome, but a close second would be the Terps basketball headed back to the final four...

Umm, I'm from Maryland and I'm a Skins and Caps fan. I could give a crap about the Ravens, yuck!

Ok, as a long time Marylander and an alumnus of the University of Maryland this hurts, but a Super Bowl run by the Redskins would put this metro area into a tizzy! With that said a Final Four run by my Terps has to be 1A...

Orioles!!!!

UMD and the Ravens have done it so recently, it wouldn't be the same. Also, lots of Marylanders are Redskins or Steelers fans. The Preakness is annual, and even if a Maryland horse won it, horse racing is too niche these days. Lacrosse is too small too, plus a lot of people root for the Terps over the Jays. I think the state would be ecstatic if the Orioles won the Series. Here's hoping it happens soon!

I would say the orioles but that would be like dreaming of becoming the president of the United States. For the orioles to win a world series i would need to find a geenie in a bottle. Terps, i am always pasionate about, but boy it would be great to see a Redskins run to the land of champions. This would be the third consecutive time the Redskins followed the Giants with a Superbowl Win. If the Redskins do not win a Superbowl then a 111-0 drubbing of the Purple guys from Baltimore would be nice! That I don't need a geenie for.

Maryland winning the NCAA lacrosse tournament. It has been way too many years.

I would say seeing Maryland Terp Football playing and winning the National Title game in Jan would be awesome. Seeing big Ralph Friedgen getting carried off the field by his players would be great. Maryland Terps National Champs!

Terps back in the Final 4!
Go Terps!

The Redskins going 0-16.

Maryland football winning the NCAA BCS. As a season ticket holder it would be the ultimate return on investment. Plus living in southeastern Virginia it would finally give me something to gloat about to my VT colleagues. You can imagine how hard it was around here for a Terp alumnus/fan when we lost twice to VT in basketball.

Preakness baby,

Summer sun, horses, and beer, can't beat that, unbelievable.

The Orioles in October.

The Ravens going 0-16, the Orioles losing every game, and DC United winning MLS Cup, the US Open Cup, the SuperLiga, and the Concacaf Champions League, plus the Redskins winning the whole dam thing!!!! Its funny that Baltimore hates the Redskins, yet when DC did not have a baseball team who did they root for, thats right the Orioles, but when Baltimore went without a football team, did they root for the Redskins, no, they just wined and complained. Face it Baltimore fans, if your town was such an incredible football town, the Irsay's would have never moved the Colts, and the Cleveland Browns, I mean ravens would have never come. Baltimore is pathetic.

Definitely a Final Four for the Terps

The Nationals winning the World Series.

Nothing else matters to Marylanders.

Of those choices, Maryland in the BCS Championship game would obviously be the biggest deal around here. Imagine over a month of hype for that game around the holiday season here?

If and when that day does occur, it will be quite a scene from December through that mid-January game.

The Maryland Terrapins in the Final Four and/or in a BCS would get the entire state fired up mare than anything else. I am a Marylander who is a Redskins, Wizards, Georgetown, Caps, Nationals, United, and Terps fans. I don't root for Baltimore in baseball or football, I don't watch Lacrosse, nor the Preekness. UMD is something the WHOLE state can get behind with real excitement, no matter what metro area you come from.

1. Terps win ACC tournament, w/Duke as one of their victims.

1a. Terps in Final 4.

As a marylander and Terp Alum, I would like to see the Terps with the National Championship in BCS, no one deserves this more than the Fridge. I was born in Baltimore and have lived my last 45 years in the Washington DC area, who cares about the Orioles, Hopkins and Ravens, Go Caps, Terps, Nationals and of course, The Redskins.

winning the bcs with the football team would be great though i don't think you want the players to try to carry the fridge off the filed. might injure one or two players. or of course having the b ball team win it all in the final 4. 3rd place would be the orioles winning the world series or at least playing above 500 ball.

Football Football

Terps getting to a bcs bowL

Living in carolina helps keep them heels fans talking just about bb

How in the world can you ask this question without including a Redskins Super Bowl run as an option? The Redskins stir more emotion in this area than ANY other sports team! The Ravens belong to the Baltimore area, and I guarantee that most people around the D.C area are faithful Redskins fans who care more about this team than any other. Are Marylanders not expected to root for D.C. teams?

Having lived in Maryland all of my life it would make me very happy if the Baltimore baseball and football teams lost every game they played. It would make me happier if the Caps and Nats were contenders every year.

Howdy, folks, thanks for your comments.
To clarify, we realize that an awful lot of Marylanders root hard for the Redskins, Nats and Wizards, but we didn't include them in the poll because we wanted to go with teams that specifically represent the state of Maryland. That's all. This isn't necessarily supposed to be the most all-encompassing survey, but if anyone wants to use this space to advocate a team or sport (duckpin bowling, anyone?) that wasn't mentioned in the question, no one's stoppin' ya.

as an expatriate native son, the single biggest thrill for me would be new ownership for the O's. i was in Baltimore County into 5th grade and Montgomery County after that. i was single in Maryland and married in Virginia and single in Maryland, again.
i have to say i've never been infected by the Baltimore/DC hatred thingy, even if i did have to fight my way through 5th and 6th grades simply for being a Bawlmoron. i adopted the Skins after Mayflower and adopted the Ravens on their arrival. i have room in my fan heart for Hoppy and Terp lacrosse, for fearing the Turtle, Hoya paranoia, you name it.
i'm a generic homer.

maryland football and basketball back to a top 25 year in year our standard

The Steelers winning yet another Super Bowl.

The Ravens getting on a bus in the middle of the night and leaving town. Oh wait...

As a person born and raised on the Eastern Shore, I throw my hat in with the Redskins in the Superbowl.

Getting fired up for the Preakness is just getting fired up to get drunk and party, there's not really any team loyalty to go along with it. I think the Terps football team getting to the BCS championship game would get the most excitement, because they haven't won a championship since the 50's. All the other stuff has happened within recent memory.

Your question was too narrow. A huge percentage of Marylanders are Washingtonians not Baltimoreans (I think it's probably around 50/50). The only Baltimore team I follow is the Orioles and that wouldn't be so if the Nationals had been around when I was young. Of your choices I would choose the Orioles winning the World Series. However, I would be just as excited about the Redskins winning the Super Bowl or the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup.

Skins in the Superbowl w/o question. DC and Maryland goes nuts when we're 1-0 in the preseason, imagine what would happen at Superbowl time!

A close second is the O's in October.

Croftonpost, well said. You took the words right out of my mouth.

I could never, would never drop my lifelong favorites (redskins & O's) for the ravens or nationals. The Capitals winning the stanley cup or a Redskins Super Bowl victory would definitely get some cars overturned.

Maryland Basketball in the Final Four. Hands down!

This is Redskins country people! There is only one sport that matters here and that is Football. For all of you Ravens fans, LEARN THAT YOUR REAL TEAM ABADONED YOU BECAUSE BALTIMORE HAS NOTHING ON DC!

Cray-ab eatin' contest in Saws-bury. Thayn a bikeeni contest at See-crets. OO-shun Sit-ee hon!

The Caps winning the Stanley Cup and the Loyola Greyhounds winning the NCAA Lax Tourney!

I wish the answer to the question was lacrosse, but it has to be the Orioles. That would be the talk of the town. More so than Maryland Football if only because it's a series and not a single game. What about jousting?

Born in DC, raised in Maryland, now live in New York. Still read the Post everyday, and still route for the teams I cheered for growing up: Redskins, Orioles, Terps, Wizards(Bullets), Caps...

Redskin superbowl would definitely do more for the greater DC metro area than any of the choices listed. I think the Wizards in the NBA finals would cause a huge buzz too. Terps basketball in the Final 4 would be huge, especially if they also won the ACC tournament and thumped Duke and Carolina in the process.

Nothing against the other Baltimore teams and the other sports in Maryland, but I don't think they'd generate as much buzz in the DC metro area, even folks like me who grew up cheering for the O's because the Senators had gone and the Nats had yet to arrive.

Yet another trip to the Final Four for Georgetown University is what really gets us in MD excited!

Orioles in World Series
Terps in BCS Title Game
Terps in Final Four
Ravens 4-12
Redskins 3-13
Preakness ... yuck

My wish list

Ok I think the Skins can win the BCS game, The The Wiz could make a run at Final Four. The O's could play in Oct if they delayed the season for us.

All jokes aside, I have lived here for 31 years, Redskins in the Superbowl for sure turns this city upside down!

The Redskins leaving Prince George's County and moving to Los Angeles.

DC United winning a fifth MLS Cup and perhaps qualifying next year for the FIFA World Club Cup.

Ravens winning superbowl...terps in final four/bcs championship...orioles in the playoffs...preakness.

the skins are a joke. 2 wr's and a tightend who already missed a practice! HAHAHAHA!

For the fan who wanted to know why DC could root for the O's and Baltimore fans couldn't root for the Redskins:

DC never really embraced the Senators and they left and came back several times. There just wasn't as large a permanent DC population. Also, it was a loong time ago.

The Colts were an integral part of Baltimore, it would be like the Redskins leaving DC. They got ripped away from the city, due to one of the worst owners in professional sports history. Then the NFL tried to force the Redskins down the cities throat. How was someone like my dad who'd grown up rooting for the Colts supposed to switch allegiances like that?

As to this question? Gotta be O's World Series.

And hey folks this is a Maryland question, large portions of the DC metro area aren't in Maryland, and the Redskins seem to rep Washington to me, which isn't in Maryland (despite the fact that my tax dollars seemed to go to support that stadium).

Baltimore is a ghetto city with ghetto people. Not every marylander gets excited when a baltimore team does well.

If you want to get ALL marylanders hyped up, it has to involve the TERPS and a big national basketball or football championship game.

Maryland gets excited for crabs!

Go Greyhounds!!!

Non on the Deadskins.

Shoshanna,

Does Prince Georges County and Montgomery County border Baltimore? Are Charles, Calvert, and St Mary's closer to Baltimore? Are there not counties in Maryland that have areas closer to DC or that have areas that are equidistant to both cities (Anne Arundel, Frederick, Queen Annes, and Western Maryland). A little common sense is in order.

Terps doing well @ Basketball or winning the big BCS game definitely moves the needle in this town.

The Wizards... hmmm not quite there yet.

As someone who went to Game 7 of the Caps vs Flyers, I know there's a fervent set of hockey fans out there. But Hockey is still a niche sport. And alot of people in this area STILL don't know Alexander Hamilton from Alexander Ovechkin. But the few and the proud caps fans would go nuts.

No-one really cares about the Nats yet as evidenced by those fans dressed like empty seats behind home plate. (Ticket prices are also way too high for those seats) AHEM (Lerner family c'mon now)

One thing you can't argue is the Skins have a strangle hold over the town.
90,000 strong every week? This team has only won 2 playoff games in like 16 years.
Yet we pay stupid prices and get geeked up every year.

If MASN got blown up, and both the Nat's and O's were on Comcast Sportsnet, like they should be, and Peter Angelos sold the Orioles, the fans came back home to support the team, and they won the world series. That'd be pure bliss man.
I mean like "The Wire" coming back for another season type bliss. I'm talkin Marion Barry in a hotel room with an undercover cop (before the police barged in bliss).

That's my story and I'm stickin to it!
R-Dubb (PG born & Raised)

terps in the final 4
terps in bcs championship
skins in the super bowl
caps in the stanley cup final
nats in the series
wizzards in the championship
orioles in the series
terps in the lacross championship

I'm a current Maryland student so I'm going to say...

the Caps winning the cup
and the O's NOT the Nats in the World Series.

Go Caps

"Baltimore is a ghetto city with ghetto people. Not every marylander gets excited when a baltimore team does well."

precisely the wuss attitude that i fought against with great success in elementary school. you'd think anonymous would have gotten over the whupping by now

As far as Maryland sports go, UMD Football and Basketball are the only sports that unite all ends of this diverse state. Redskins, Nationals, Orioles, and Ravens only resonate to the immediate metro areas. And for Shoshana's information, the Redskins play in the middle of Prince George's County, so they rep us too. Pay the Taxes and shut up.

Howdy! Great comments, folks, and we really appreciate the passion. I certainly hope most of you guys and gals get the print edition and see Throwing It Out There every Monday on page E2, but just to be swell, here's the link to the column based off of this question:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101910.html

lived in MD entire life - except for college. No question on this - Caps winning the cup. Maybe next year?