Meet Our Staff Wives: Carla Griffin

Name

Carla Griffin

Years married: 2-years

Names and ages of your children: Brandon Griffin 12, Joshua
Griffin, 1

Occupation: Regulatory
Submissions Publisher

Hobbies: Singing,
Theater, Tennis, and Scrabble

Favorite Movie: Usual
Suspects

Favorite Restaurant: Linwoods,
Owings Mills MD

How did you meet your husband? We were both teachers at Woodlawn
High School. Jemal passed me notes in the hall.

Describe a typical game day. While Jemal has left a day
or two earlier, the boys and I need to be up and ready by 7:30am Saturday
morning to travel and weigh in for Brandon’s Olney Rec football game.
BJ plays and then we’re off and rushing to College Park. Hopefully,
we are able to grab a bite to eat, because by then pre-game tailgating
is over. So for us, its football all day and we enjoy it. Whew, wait
until Joshua can play. Go Terps!

What’s the best part about being
a coach’s wife? Knowing
that my husband is living his dream.

What’s the worst part? The time Jemal spends away
from home.

Would you also include a favorite recipe?

White Bean Chicken
Chile

1 tablespoon vegetable
oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (4 ounce) can diced
jalapeno peppers

1 (4 ounce) can chopped
green chile peppers

2 teaspoons ground
cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cayenne
pepper

2 (14.5 ounce) cans
chicken broth

3 cups chopped cooked
chicken breast

3 (15 ounce) cans white
beans

1 cup shredded Monterey
Jack cheese

Directions

Heat the oil in a large
saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until
tender. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano
and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about
3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer
15 minutes, stirring occasionally

Remove the mixture
from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

I serve over rice or
with tortilla chips. It’s a great tailgating dish.

Winter Workout/Spring Practice WINNERS!

The winter workout/spring practice intrasquad competition culminated in a dinner at the Friedgens' home on July 14th. Remember that the squad is broken down into teams, headed up by senior captains, who "draft" their fellow teammates. Captain Nolan Carroll's team won by doing what there were supposed to do and more, on and off the field. Congratulations! Members of Nolan's team included Lamar Young, Quinton McCree, Antoine Perez, Hakeem Sule, Andrew Gonnella, Herb Law, Michael Carter, Ben Pooler, and winner from last year, Trenton Hughes! The boys opened with chicken wings (a big hit), shrimp, and chips and salsa. Ralph grilled filet mignon, NY strip steaks, and chicken breasts; we enjoyed pulled pork and sides of haricot verts, southern style baked beans, and diner rolls. Dessert was blondies with ice cream and add what you wanted from chocolate chips, whipped cream, nuts, and chocolate syrup. Boy could these guys put some food away!! There was good dinner time conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Ralph had a chance to tell some stories and that's always fun. Our sous chef was MGN Board member, Debbie Bebee, who also handled clean up - thanks, Deb!
After dinner there was a group that satisfied Gloria's thirst for ROCK BAND - Herb Law is on fire on the drums, and Trenton Hughes is quite a ham on the vocals - just like Gloria!

Check out the photos!!

Football Is Just Around the Corner! Check out these Events!

We are delighted to do two football kickoff events in the community. One at Sonoma's Bar and Grill and one at Caddie's! It's a mix and mingle event and we hope to see many MGN members and folks that might like to become members! GO TERPS!!

Ralph Friedgen Invitational Golf Outing 2009

It was a great day - low humidity, comfortable temperature, wonderful food and drink, great people, cigars on the terrace, and golf. What could be better!!! David Dorn, Josh Trembley and the entire staff at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland put on a great event. Special thanks to our special guest, Scott Van Pelt, of ESPN, and great supporter of our program. We were also joined by Mark Bryan, Maryland native of Hootie and the Blowfish, and Doc Walker, former Redskin. Coaches who played were Don Brown, Johnny Donovan, and Al Seamonson; on hand to meet and greet were Tom Brattan, David Sollazzo, Lee Hull, and Charles Bankins. Phil Costa, starting OL for 2009, took part from our current team. Former players in attendance were Kevin Glover, Bruce Perry, Stan Gelbaugh, Jordan Steffy, Sam Hollenbach, Nick Novak, Scott McBrien, Delbert Cowsette, Darryl Hill, Justin Duffie, Todd Wike, Greg Harraka, Brad Schell, and Aaron Thompson. James Franklin ran the "Football Throw" event, coaching up the golfers. The object was to throw for distance - and then your team could tee from there.

Awards went to:
Longest Throw: interesting outcome - Jay Walker, former NFL QB had the longest throw, but we also awarded this distinction to the best civilians, male and female - Casey Connor and Lisa Splaine
Longest Drive: Walker Jones who turned around and gave his award to Bruce Perry in honor of his work at Walter Reed. Under Armour will also be sponsoring a program called the Wounded Warrior - stay tuned for more info.
Closest to the Pin: Kathy Waters
Sponsor Team with the Highest Score - Good in Football, not in Golf: Ed Woods - TerpSys Team
Flight 1 Winners: Pat Caulfield - Coakley Williams
Flight 2 Winners: Greg Harraka - Coakley Williams
Flight 3 Winners: Under Armour Team

Interesting to note that each winning team had a former UM QB - Scott McBrien, Stan Gelbaugh, and Sam Hollenbach!!

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Presenting Sponsor: Barry Gossett and Acton Mobile

Gold Sponsor: Ed Woods and Terpsys

Gold Sponsor: Patrick Caulfield and Coakley Williams Construction

Bronze Sponsor: Rohit Kishore and Sila SG

Bronze Sponsor: John Brophy and ACS

Bronze Sponsor: Carole Harris

Gifts sponsor: Kevin Plank - Under Armour

Hole in One Sponsor: Marquis Jets

In Kind Sponsor: Nick Cibel of Nick’s Riverside Grill

Hole Sponsor: David Lee of LMN Solutions

MGN Gala and Auction

On Saturday, May 16th, the N. Bethesda Marriott was the beautiful venue for the MGN Gala and Auction. Those in attendance enjoyed an opportunity to obtain great bargains on various gift certificates, football access and memorabilia and various other great merchandise. It was also a chance to relax and enjoy a night of dining and dancing. We are grateful to our wonderful sponsors, without whose support we would could not offer such grand opportunities for all our football family!



Our sponsors:
Barry Gossett and Acton Mobile
Pat Caulfield and Coakley Williams
John Alahouzas and MDG
Lawrence Grabenstein and Raymond James Financial
Tom McCausland
Rick Jaklitsch and Debbie Potter and the Jaklitsch Group
Joe Katz and Auntie Anne's Pretzel Perfect
Jeff Herndon and JTP Printing
Paul Intlekofer and Medifast
Tiffany and Co.
Maryland Book Exchange
Men's Wearhouse

Celebrate Good Times, Come on!!!

Lionel Ritchie couldn't have said it any better. Last night was the MGN Gold Cocktail Party and for the first time in MANY years it was seasonally warm and didn't rain!! Hallelujah! With a little help from our friends - Rodney O'Neale, part owner of the Golden Bull Grand Cafe in Gaithersburg who supplied our food; our GA bartenders - Mike, David and Delbert; our server/helpers - Linda, Lauren, Mary, and Allison; my wonderful friend and coordinator of so many events - Debbie Bebee, we were able to enjoy a lovely time. Gold members mixed and mingled, had a chance to visit with Ralph, and just show their common affection for the Maryland football program. James Franklin and Lee and Stacey Hull dropped in along with Jemal and Carla Griffin and Mike and Gayle Lynn, our new MGN coordinator (Mike replaced Mike Mattia) and he has done a wonderful job maintaining the continuity of the program. We are so grateful for our loyal Gold members who have supported us through the years and for those new folks who have just joined. Enjoy the photos below. I wish I had gotten a photo of all who attended but the night really went by quickly. We are very appreciative of all our MGN members and want to make sure that they know that we could not do what we do without your support and that we will continue to strive for excellence each and every day!

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the MGN GALA and AUCTION at the N. Bethesda Marriott on Saturday, May 16th at 5PM. Check out the website for more details and to see a list of items that are being offered. Get your friends together and buy a table! It's a night of great festivity starting with a cocktail hour silent auction reception, dinner, live auction, dancing, and open bar, not to mention watching Ralph on the dance floor....priceless!!!

Two Former Football Players Honored and Give Back!

Paying It Forward

Madieu Williams Hosted Free Youth Football Clinic & Adult Health Screening at Saturday’s Maryland Day

NFL standout and University of Maryland alumnus Madieu Williams hosted a youth football clinic and adult health screening as part of the annual Maryland Day celebration, held this past Saturday, April 25. Youth met at the School of Public Health Building and used the turf field at Comcast for the football event. Madieu, a graduate in Family Science, was honored as the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus from the School of Public Health.

For boys and girls ages 8-13, the event offered a chance to work their football skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork skills, all the while building their self-esteem. They also met Williams and other Terp Football players (Erin Henderson, Bruce Perry, JP Humber, Josh Allen). All participants received a t-shirt, water bottle and refreshments. Our sponsors included Chick-fil-A, Saval Foods, Vitamin Water, Under Armour, Health Solution Services, Dimensions Health Care, PG County Health Department, and STICC.

For adults, the event offered free blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, carbon monoxide, and oral cancer screenings. While pre-registration was required for the football clinic, the health screenings were open to all. Dr. Jaime Flores, one time Terp football captain, 2009 UMD Alumni Association Humanitarian award winner and KNES graduate was on hand with colleagues from JHU Medical and UMB Medical for consultations with doctors. Mr. Kevin Clair, the 2008 Distinguished Alum for SPH, donated the services of his company, Health Services Solutions, to perform the glucose and cholesterol screenings. Dr. Robert Ord and his colleagues from the UMB Dental School performed oral cancer screenings. Students from the Department of Public and Community Health under the tutelage of Dr. Sharon Desmond had posters on hand on a variety of health topics. The Prince Georges Health Department had tables of information to disseminate to our attendees. Dimensions Health and Prince Georges Hospital offered giveaways and information in addition to seminars on Medicaid and Diabetes, while STICC - Sexually Transmitted Infection Community Coalition had 2 sessions: How to Talk to your Kids about Sex and Straight Talk for Teens About Sex.

See photos at this link.

Pre-Spring Game Presser Synopsis-like Twitter

HI everyone,

Here's a long Twitter like blog about today's presser.

Sitting here at the presser for the Spring practice review. Ralph is speaking about the events around this weekend including the Letterman's picnic on Friday and the Saturday parents gathering and spring game. We hopefuly will have a big crowd, we've emailed Pop Warner teams , HS teams. Weather looks good.

We have had a very good spring - young team - but very impressed about the hard work put in by our kids. Lots of progress over the last 4 practices. Concerned about lines - inexperience - need to get stronger. Skill people look good. Defense is impressive. Corner play very good - 4 safeties, Skinner, Perez, McCullough, Tate. Wiseman and Hughes coming on. Lbers - Gloster has had a good spring. Moten and Hartsfield doing very well. 5 Freshman should help, Murray and Drakeford, red shirts are doing well. Offense - Cannon had a great scrimmage, making plays, good catches. Torrey Smith also doing well. Kevin Dorsey made a bunch of plays. Logan, McCree, Dorsey playing with confidence. Making plays tough catches. Robinson and Turner playing well. D. Scott, Meggett, Morgan, and Douglas doing well. Special teams - Baltz excels at punter - Wallace and Barbour - good field goal kickers, waiting on Ferrara. Tony Logan good as PR; Torrey top kickoff in conference and expect the same for this year.

Very good practice this AM, next one Thursday and hopefully finish with a good game on Saturday. Good experience to have game like situation with people in the stands.

Questions-
Dinich - notable changes in defense? - Don Brown good addition - his D is diferent from many that we play - plays different typrese of cover 2 - and PRESS MAN - not sure we could do that - now we challenge every throw. QBs have to throw very accurately and receivers have to go up and make plays. Will need to consider some ramifications for pre-season practices. Don great teacher - works well with Lempa and Seamonson and Sollazzo. Players and staff have responded very well about Brown.

Cavanaugh - Freshman usage? - can't count on freshman; red shirt freshman - need to get Campbell and Armstrong eligible and they should make a difference. OL is like fine wine, takes time. But there is a desire to do well. Dill, Pinegar and Gilbert improving. Key will be guard - Young neds to be further along, Lewis has responded, Gonella doing well, Hampton struggling but working hard. Phil Costa at Center and doing great, leadership extraordinary and Danny Edwards playing the best football since he arrived.

Stevens - AJ Francis - competitor, smart, keeps fighting, never quits - that tells me alot about an individual. Must work on production. Right now he is starting NG, but he may become an OL. Need to get the best players on the field - don't need good players sitting on the bench.

? - significance of R/W game overall? - Game is a simplified version - don't want to show alot. Value is to calm nerves - how do the young players react to playing in front of a crowd. Coaches will go through all mechanics of a game situation, not from Tyser, but the sideline. We need to evaluate players in a game like situation. Last week's scrimmage helped. This team has had more reps in spring than any other time. Need to correct mistakes. Has been a fun team to coach; confidence growing; they joke with me. Monday in weight room was the best this spring according to Deege. Working hard in drills but problem working in "team" - have to assimilate lots of info - now they are getting the whole picture and things are starting to happen.

DB - Kenny Tate run at corner? - We talked about it but not sure who goes in on safety. Kenny is a good blitzer - big body - can play as LBer, made 8 tackles last week and 11 week before, 2 INTs. He will be on the field alot.

Keith - Jamar as QB? - Saturday he has made progress and in today's practice more progress. With 2 QBs still was making some mistakes as a #2 QB - he did talk to me today picking up hots - today he got his hots. Last 2 practices good improvement.

DB - Bankins kickoff return schemes - Known for his KO returns, we did have a return by Torrey last week. Punt protection should stay the same. He will have some flexibility in KO.

Dinich - Torrey? - Needs to make more plays as a receiver. As a punt returner, he can run and he is fast. He is a remarkable kid. Good student, leader, hard worker, well respected - will be a very good football player and moreover successful in life.

Keith - Dion? - Can he finish - he's improving.

End of Presser

Meet Our Coaches Wives: Stacey Donovan

Name: Stacey S. Donovan

Years married: 4 yrs in May 2009

Names and ages of your children: John Patrick 3 in May, Cate is over 14 mos.

Occupation: Mom

Hobbies: Running

Favorite Restaurant: Zebra In Rehobeth Beach a place i venture to with my friends and family... it is a fun special treat! Good food, drinks and atmosphere!

How did you meet your husband?: There was a hurrican that struck the DC area (and surrounding areas) lots of power was out all over, so at the time i lived in DC we went to dinner and a bar...and John had done the same thing...we met in a bar during a hurricane!

Describe a typical game day.: Oh gosh...it all starts the whole week before with tickets and who is coming and what are we eating and drinking!
The day of...wake up full of nerves, with kids, get dressed...pack the coolers, everyone comes to help pack the car,,caravan over to UMD 3 hrs before game, unload kids, unload guests, set up tables, unload cars, set up tailgate. pack up tailgate 15 min before game, game time...Nervous, excited, anxious and busy with guests and little kids. Spend the day waiting for the end to breath a victory and then celebrate with all of the wives, coaches and fans who join us at the tailgates. At the end of a long day, pack it all up and start back over a couple days later!!!
What’s the best part about being a coach’s wife? 2 really big parts, One part is seeing how passionate, dedicated, obsessed my husband is about the game, the kids, the teaching, so many dimensions of the career. The Second part is the adrenaline and excitement that as wives we feel just mostly because we live it daily in our lives. We become just as attached and dedicated and very emotional about a game. But to us it's not always just a game, it is our life!

What’s the worst part? The hours they work, they miss many moments in their children's and wives life!

MGN has it going on!

So many events..., so little time!

Hope to see everyone at the Spring Update next Wednesday, April 22nd, at 6PM in the Gossett Team House.

Maryland Day on April 25th is the day of our Spring Game. Autograph seekers should be on hand at 12:30 on the mezzanine when players and coaches are available for signings. The game kicks off at 3:30PM.

May 1st marks the 9th year of the MGN Gold Cocktail Party at the Friedgen's. If you are a Gold member and did not receive an EVITE, please contact gsf@umd.edu.

Looking for an evening of great bargains, delicious food and drink, and dancing up a storm, as well as mixing with our football coaches and staff, then you need to come to the MGN Gala and Auction. Details can be found at this link.

The Ralph Friedgen Invitational will be held once again at the beautiful Woodmont Country Club in Rockville on June 1st. If you are interested in entering a foursome contact the football office at 301-314-9057.


Looks like a very busy Spring!! Wish it would stop raining!!