Tar Heel Sports Blog

America must know

2005-02-07T22:30:00.000-05:00

NOTE: I did not originate this and I have not confirmed its accuracy. But some things you just can't keep to yourself.

________
JJ Redick, the world reknowned hand checker, shirt tugger, and bear hugger, leads the entire nation in the least fouls committed per minute category. And folks, its not even close...

Redick, who has been called for an amazing 16 fouls THIS YEAR, clocks in at an incredible 1 foul for every 41 minutes played. Amazing in that Duke doesn't play a zone AT ALL, and in fact is known for their aggressive man-to-man defense.

Thats 1 foul per 41 minutes.

Folks, you can't even find another starter in the ACC that even comes close to 1 foul per 20 minutes.

Taking a quick glance at our 2/3's you will find:

McCants : 1 per 9 minutes
Manuel: 1 per 9 minutes

Took a quick glance at Wake:

Gray: 1 per 12 minutes
Levy: 1 per 9 minutes

14-3 Eagles

2005-01-23T16:13:00.000-05:00

The Eagles just completed a long pass to the west side of the field and got a touchdown out of it. They might have benefitted from a call during the drive, but all the same Atlanta just can't have that happen. That puts way too much pressure on Atlanta to score immediately.

Atlanta's strategy in the game has got to be to keep it close and let Vick make a huge play or two to make the difference. If they're forced into constant passing mode early, they're doomed.

Something has to happen for the Falcons fast, because the body language on the field tells you that the Eagles expect to win and the Falcons are nervous.

Full-service sports blogging

2005-01-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna blog some NFL today. I'll throw in what few thoughts I have on Miami here and there.

But let's begin with dumb commentatory mockery on the Fox coverage:

"If the Eagles don't score in this quarter, that's a big win for the Atlanta defense."

What would we do without these guys?

Dumb color commentary alert

2005-01-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

Mike Gminski (who I generally like just fine) just announced that Clemson is "very much in this game."

Clemson is ahead, 27-24. Thanks for the news flash there, sparky.

My favorite Clemson joke

2005-01-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

What do the "o" and the "n" in Clemson stand for?

Honor and knowledge.

(OK, so phonetic jokes are funnier when spoken).

Uh-oh . . . . Klempson

2005-01-19T21:41:00.000-05:00

As I write this, it's 19-17 with 3:30 left in the first half. Check that, Clemson just tied it up.

Now, a road game in the ACC is never easy (see NCSU-VT, FSU over Wake), but this is a game that for the first 12 minutes or so looked like amateurs versus professionals, yet the Heels couldn't put any distance between them. That's a bad sign. We could easily have run up a 20 point or so lead, but we just couldn't get anything going offensively.
We need to hammer teams when they offer their heads up on a platter.

The offense has lost its "flow." McCants doesn't fit in seamlessly all of a sudden, and Felton is banged up.

Egad. They just flashed up that we've turned it over 16 times in the first half. And that's without Adam Boone on the team.

OK, so we can still lose . . . a few thoughts on Wake

2005-01-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

I'll give it to you straight: yes, I'm a little surprised. Probably more than I should be. I confess to having given in to the temptation to believe we were head and shoulders above the rest of the country, including other top 10 teams. In hindsight, that's in part because I think I read more into the GT and Maryland games than I should have (both have since lost again and looked questionable doing it), and in part because the Wake defeat at Illinois impacted me more than it probably should have.

I'm not prepared to concede the conference to Wake Forest on the basis of that one game, because I simply don't think Wake can play any better than they did Saturday. Contrary to the complaints from some, I don't think that the Heels were all that bad. I think we played OK and just plain got beaten by a very good team. There were some horrid calls, and freakish free throw shooting (32-32 by Wake, which anyone reading this already knows), but I still think we would've lost had neither of those things been true.

Also in the "Gosh, I'm stupid" category . . . once upon a time I thought there had never been a better match between coach and school than Dave Odom and Wake Forest. I thought they were crazy to get rid of him, given the challenges of making it big-time at Wake Forest (no offense to Prosser intended). Whoa, was I wrong.

Georgia Tech

2005-01-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

Before you start in on how Georgia Tech was missing B.J. Elder and Ra'Sean Dickey, let me remind you of this: prior to the Carolina game, the average field goal percentage against GT was under 35%. That is ridiculous. This is not a Bobby Cremins Tech team, by which I mean it's not constructed of one or two great players plus 3-4 spare parts to throw in. That kind of team is dead when one of the stars goes down. But you can't play the kind of defense this year's Yellow Jacket do unless you do it as a team.

That is why last night's win looked so good. We didn't shoot the lights out (41%), but the game was never really in question. We scored 91 points against that defense, in large part by making up with rebounds what we lacked in great shooting. When McCants got into foul trouble, you barely noticed. In short, we overran last year's national finalist as if they were just another UNC-W.

Well, people are starting to notice. Bring on Wake Forest. What a show that's going to be.

Plug

2005-01-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

Got a nice email today from the crew who runs the College Basketball Blog, which has a bit of a broader scope than our Tar Heel/ACC basketball focus and appears to be really well done.

Anyway, as of today, the collegeball blog will be in our permalinks.

Blogging on the Georgia Tech game to come; this frickin' job of mine is a constant interference with timely blogs . . .

A basketball addict's story

2005-01-09T21:41:00.000-05:00

I, uh . . . had tickets to the Maryland game, but I couldn't go. There was the matter of an unavoidable family conflict (someone turned 80 and had a party, and trust me, there was going to be no spousal relief from that obligation).

I came to find out that the location of this event would not have a television. This called for desperate measures. So I dig through my stuff and come up with my AM/FM Walkman. This will get me through. Now, I've been married long enough that this is an issue about which my wife and I have a understanding that goes undiscussed. She hates that I do this but knows that it is the only way for me to be remotely sociable at one of these events.

So, in I walk, headphones on. And that is when every male in the joint sells me out. You know, the tsk-tsk looks, and the "hey, honey, at least I'm not in here wearing headphones" kind of deal. But every damn one of them knows what I'm listening to, and every one of them chases me down when they think their wife isn't looking to ask for the score. By the time the second half is halfway over, the pretense has dropped altogether and people 3 tables over are shouting for score updates, followed finally by the 80 year old honoree herself asking for the count. I may be the insane relative, but by the end of that party, I was the well-loved insane relative.

Every real fan knows that in life, as in basketball, there come days when you're put into a crucial situation, and lots of people would rather pass than shoot, but somebody has to step up. Saturday was one of those days. When it comes to the Heels, well, just give me the damn ball.

Maryland

2005-01-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

Sometime in the late '90's, a pretty good Maryland team got absolutely throttled by UCLA in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament. This gave birth to one of the great lines of unintentional comedy from college basketball, when one of the Maryland players was asked to describe the defeat (which featured, among other things, at least one alley-oop pass thrown from halfcourt) and responded: "I felt like we were in a video game." Ever since then, my brother and I have referred to an obscene sports beating as "getting video gamed."

Well, Maryland got video gamed again Saturday afternoon. Now, I don't think this year's Maryland team is going to be anything special -- my guess is the lowest 5th of the top 25 at best, bubble team at worst. So I don't want to read too much into this W. But at some point we have to look reality in the face here: the 2004-2005 Tar Heels are a national championship caliber basketball team.

Georgia Tech and Wake Forest are up this week. Neither of those wins is likely to come nearly so easily. But my gut feel is that we're going to win both of those games, and if we do that, I think we bring into play a real possibility that we could run the table in the ACC (not least because we only have to play Wake once).

I tend towards superstition, and so perhaps this is just an attempt at pulling the reverse-reverse jinx, but at some point pretending you don't think we're all that good can't be taken seriously. Now is that time.

Looking at the NCAA as a whole, you can usually narrow the field down to about 5 teams that have a real chance to win the whole thing. I haven't seen every one of these teams play, but in eyeballing it, right now I'd name North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest.

No, I don't think Duke can win it. Yes, I know they're undefeated.

Start of the real season

2005-01-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

OK, here we go . . . it feels like rising from the dead. Football's over, and so is out-of-conference hoops (Virginia Tech doesn't count).

Maryland comes in ranked 21st, with a Sagarin rating of 29th. Carolina is 4th and 7th, respectively, but by my eyes looks to be the best team in the country.

Maryland is 9-2, with losses to George Washington and Wisconsin. Their best quality win is over Memphis -- ho-hum.

Maryland's key player is John Gilchrist -- a guy who by many accounts was Carolina's for the asking, only they didn't ask. Not that I'd complain about having Raymond, but sheesh, that's a killer miss.

Anyway, the line on the game is UNC -11.5. I'm a little surprised it's that high (I think most people don't realize how soft Maryland's schedule has been to this point), but I still say the Tar Heels cover it easily. Prediction: UNC 96, Maryland 77.

Duke 62, Clemson 54

2005-01-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

This one is on me. The basketball gods clearly saw through my not-so-subtle post when Clemson was up 6.

I don't know if it's possible that Shavlik Randolph's illness alone can explain Duke's performance. They've beaten a few good teams, so I'm going to wait to draw any firm conclusions, but they looked awfully pedestrian last night. The way to defend them appears to be to eliminate either Redick or Shelden "fit to play for Duke, just not for my high school team" Williams as an offensive threat and watch them struggle. Clemson did a great job on Redick in the first half, but lost him in the second, and that was the difference.

How do I put this and avoid a jinx?

2005-01-02T21:21:00.000-05:00

There is . . . ahhh . . . uhhm . . . a Sunday night ACC game on. Excellent entertainment.

I know the William and Mary game counts, too.

2005-01-02T19:06:00.000-05:00

Seems like it's been a while since I blogged much of anything about the basketball team. Although those who know me might justifiably anticipate that I'm working the "no talking during a no hitter" mojo, that's not really it. Partly it's been the continued distractions of the holidays, but that's not the major reason either.

Here's the thing. I'm a fan. I am not any kind of true "insider" and I don't know any of the players or coaches personally. I just have an obsession with UNC sports that borders on the obscene. But no matter what your obsession, is there really much of anything to be said after the string of butt-whuppins we've been laying on the likes of UNCW and W&M? I think we're really good, and I think it shows, even in those games. One mark of a great team is showing up to play against mediocre competition as if they were the Lakers. This team does that. It's just that making that observation game after game doesn't make much for interesting reading (or writing).

Every team, even the great ones, play some weak non-conference teams, and Carolina is no exception. It just seems like we started the year off with all kinds of interesting games (I remind you that Santa Clara did not happen) and then we headed into a stretch of games in which the outcome is not seriously in question. Usually there's more of a blend during the nonconference schedule. Oh well, no matter. Things are about to start getting interesting with the ACC season rolling around. And hopefully then I'll have something to say.

2004 Football in review

2004-12-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back from my trip to the Tire Bowl, which I'm probably more bummed out about than I ought to be. It always eats at me more when I don't think the other team is just plain better than we are. BC is a pretty good, nothing special team with a great quarterback, which, come to think of it, isn't a bad description of the Tar Heels. Put another way, I think that on a talent level the teams were about even, and we got beat. It happens. BC deserved to win, because they outexecuted us. I just don't take it well.

6-6 has an "eech" ring to it that 7-5 would avoid, but no fairminded person could have looked at the team we began the season with and seen a bowl game of any kind facing the schedule we did. I think the extension given to Bunting was the right thing and my faith in him as the right guy for the long haul was restored after having been badly shaken by the UVa and Louisville debacles.

We lost to Utah, FSU, BC, Louisville, UVa, and Virginia Tech. Of those games, I'd like to get VT and BC back; the other 4 I think were not realistically winnable games (though I am tempted to include Va on my list, if we could have played them in the second half of the season). And, of course, we beat Miami in what is without question the biggest win I've ever seen in Kenan.

Yesterday, we just didn't have the same sharpness we had in the previous 4 games. Aside from the first quarter, I thought we looked fine, but we weren't playing with the same level of defensive aggressiveness I'd gotten accustomed to. We also picked a terrible game for our offensive line to turn in perhaps its only subpar game of the season. But those last 4 games happened, and it would be foolish to let the loss in what is ultimately a meaningless bowl game tarnish that fact. Being a great team was not a realistic goal for 2004. I think we were about as good as could have possibly been expected.

One note from the game: if you could have seen the BC kicker trying to practice field goals, you wouldn't have been caught off guard by the fake field goal. He may be the worst kicker on any major college team -- perhaps he's hurt or something, but he couldn't hit a thing, even in practice with no rush. Shame we couldn't take advantage.

Just for fun while we wait for January

2004-12-26T16:05:00.000-05:00

Just a few things, having nothing whatsoever to do with the Heels, to bide time while we wait for the season to restart in earnest:

Someone tried to collect the "best of" the email attachments you may have gotten during 2004. I think I saw some that were funnier, but in this "top 10" there are definitely some keepers.

Also, someone tried to find out how Christmas came to be on December 25th. I love stuff like this. According to this article, there are two main theories: one is that the 25th is approximately when the days begin to lengthen, and thus a symbol of hope and abundant life; the other is based on scriptural interpretation and inference.

Merry Christmas

2004-12-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

As I've been busy most of the holiday season (even now we're trying to get the kids to sleep, at least a LITTLE), I haven't been around to post, but I wanted to say that I am, in fact, still alive, aware that the Heels have played some games I haven't blogged, and fully intend to return in full force post-holiday.

I hope that anyone who happens to come across this finds themselves in the midst of a great Christmas season.

The early returns

2004-12-20T21:32:00.000-05:00

Although I think DH is basically right about Wake Forest, I'm a little concerned about the way the rest of the ACC is shaping up. The conventional wisdom has been that the ACC is so good that they'll all beat up on each other and have records that look worse than they really are.

I'm not so sure about that.

Basically, the only two teams in the conference that I think look to be "up to snuff" so far are the Tar Heels and (I hate to say it) Blue Devils. For a bit there, I thought that perhaps NCSU was underrated, but after a close call against La. Lafayette and a loss to the first good team they've played (Washington), I'm not as sure.

Wake, of course, got murdered on national TV and haven't really looked like their preseason ranking in the games they've won. Georgia Tech barely escaped Illinois-Chicago, and then lost to Gonzaga, again, the first really good team they've played.

Maryland is expected to be pretty good, though not great. So far, "pretty good" may be a reach -- losses to George Washington and Wisconsin, and they barely dodged an FSU team that has 4 losses to some unimpressive teams (Florida International? Texas A&M CC?).

Clemson's record is good, but they haven't beaten anyone worth mentioning. Virginia is probably the only surprising team to the good side, but I don't think UVa is what anyone had in mind when they were talking up the ACC.

In short, the ACC might be the best conference in the country, but I don't think that after the top 2 or 3 teams that the rest of the league is really head and shoulders above what you can find elsewhere in the country.

Wake Forest Blues

2004-12-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or does Wake Forest remind anyone else of our '94 team. Here's a club that has every important person back from last year, has tons of talent, starts out #1 - but they just don't have "it".

Blown out by Illinois, barely squeaking by 3-5 Temple, and tonight only up by 5 at the end of the First Half against Elon. Elon?

I actually feel for Wake fans. All year they'll be waiting for their team to turn it around, for the light to click on and their team to start crushing people. And yet it won't happen.

If you're looking for a 2nd round NCAA upset, look no further.

And the surest way to know hope is lost . . .

2004-12-14T22:18:00.000-05:00

. . . is when I lose focus on the game to the point that I can no longer ignore how bad a commentator Len Elmore is. He's like Clark Kellogg on lithium.

Go Flames!

2004-12-14T21:35:00.000-05:00

The official sign that I think that UIC actually has a chance to pull the upset over Duke (they're down 1 point with 6 minutes left in the first half) is that I have checked their Sagarin rating to make sure my hope is not in vain. UIC rates 58th thus far this season. Duke is 5th (Carolina 6th).

They're 3-3, with losses to Georgia Tech (by 1!), Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Bowling Green.

I'd say don't get your hopes up unless it's still close with 10 minutes to play. My read on UIC is that they're one of those teams that's good enough to beat you on a bad night but not good enough to win without getting some nice breaks. And given that Shavlik Randolph just assaulted some guy on their team, resulting not in a foul call, but a turnover to Duke leading to 3 points, don't count on it.

Ho-Ho-Ho . . .

2004-12-06T17:20:00.001-05:00

Good gracious. Who peed in Maureen Dowd's cornflakes?

I just like saying...

2004-12-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

"blog".

USC

2004-11-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

The blog has been out of commission for a bit today, which prevented pre-game blogging, and I am so far beyond exhausted right now that I can't do anything worthwhile post-game. It also prevented our two newest bloggers from signing on but that should be fixed now. More later. Sorry for the lame effort.

Suffice it to say: Tar Heels good. Southern Cal not so good.

Thanksgiving Day Post

2004-11-25T17:37:00.000-05:00

Well, since there's not likely to be much in the way of Tar Heel sports to write about for a few days now, I thought I'd just do something in the spirit of the season.

So without further ado - some things I'm thankful for today . . .

-I managed to get a wireless setup going at my in-laws. Yes, I'm pretty pleased with myself about that. Plus, it makes me keep blogging just because I can.

-Every year at this time, I get to take my kids to see two sets of grandparents, and I can never tell whether the kids or the grandparents are more excited.

-I was a Tar Heel bred -- I'm a Tar Heel fan today in no small part because Carolina games were one of the things we always did together as a family. Every trip to the pines of Kenan or the Dean Dome stirs memories of another happy time.

-Speaking of childhood -- I'm thankful that although I can barely remember it anymore, Dad had tickets to Carmichael before there was a Dean Dome. Our seats were so high up that I can remember Dad wasn't able to stand up completely when it was time to cheer. Thanks, Dad.

-In the early '80's, I was still in a hero-worship stage with UNC sports. A friend invited me to go see the Tar Heels play an NCAA game in Reynolds Coliseum. We showed up early and watched warmups when almost no one was there. When James Worthy's turn came, I yelled at him: "Slam it home, James" -- and here's the thing -- he did. And he smiled and nodded in my direction afterwards. Never forgot it. Thanks, James.

Not bad, not bad...

2004-11-24T23:46:00.000-05:00

I hate to complain when we win, especially a game that included some pretty impressive stuff, but what about defense? Sure we scored a gajillion points, but so did the other team. This worries me.

Still, we're going home with the trophy and I guess that's all anyone can ask for at this point. Congrats to the coaches, the team and MVP Felton.

Happy Thanksgiving! What a blessing it is to be a Tar Heel!

Felton

2004-11-24T23:29:00.000-05:00

This looks like the player of the year candidate we were expecting last season. Maybe the Chris Paul thing is getting to him.

. . . and then, just as I was feeling good about life, they show that DAMN DIAMOND COMMERCIAL AGAIN!!!!

Oh . . . oh my . . .

2004-11-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

That is the best penetration and dunk we've ever seen from Raymond Felton.

Did that Santa Clara thing really happen, or did I just dream that? No way this team lost to Santa Clara.

If there's anything better than watching a 50+ point half

2004-11-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

. . . it's a a heartwarming story like this one during the holidays.

Best play of the season

2004-11-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

That tip from Marvin Williams for the McCants dunk was crazy. Man we look good when we want to.

Melvin Scott

2004-11-24T21:58:00.000-05:00

Is he channeling Ronald Curry's jumpshot all of a sudden, or is it me?

Iowa -- Happy thanksgiving

2004-11-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

First chance to post on Iowa today. Now, given my extraordinary powers of reasoning, I'm gonna say they're pretty good given that, you know, they've made the final and all that.

But let's see here . . . Sagarin ratings (yes, I know i've already declared them useless, but it's something to talk about) say Iowa is 27th and we're 41st through the games of yesterday. The point spread is supposedly 11.5 in favor of the Heels. My guess is that we're the better team, but playing 3 days in a row makes the benches a big factor, and I just plain don't know about Iowa's bench one way or the other. If they're deep and we lull into another soft second half, we could lose it.

Second half

2004-11-23T23:22:00.000-05:00

I don't like the looks of how things are going. McCants has slowed down and they've cut the lead to 16 points. I still don't think we're going to lose or anything, but we look like we're mailing it in a little in the second half. I really wish we'd want to win by 40 when we're up 20.

The horror that is the shirts

2004-11-23T23:17:00.000-05:00

Oh, you're absolutely right on the shirts. Of course, bad shirts are kind of a Maui classic tradition, but I think we have taken it to another level. Not only is the staff wearing bad shirts, but each is wearing one that clashes with everyone else's. McGrath is wearing one that I think someone else had on last night. Can we not at least coordinate the bad shirts? That way it looks like, hey, we did the best we could with the requirement. Now it looks like they took the first 4 shirts on the rack they saw at the Honolulu Wal-Mart.

U-g-l-y, ain't got no alibi...

2004-11-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen more hideous Hawaiian shirts? Yikes...

Points to Bilas for the von Trapp quip.

Those diamond commercials

2004-11-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

OK, who's the killjoy that put the diamond commercials in the middle of the basketball game tonight? You know, the one where the guy is in some place that looks like Italy, and we then discover that he has flown in his wife's mother and father and pretty much every friend they have so that he can present her with a 43 carat, triple diamond, second engagement ring and "marry her again"?

Are there actually enough people that this would appeal to merit making a commercial for it? Who has that kind of money? Does this make every guy with a "real job" watching this game feel inadequate, or is it just me?

Tennessee -- halftime

2004-11-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

Didn't get a chance to post at all today. Friggin' job and all that. Then I wanted to post when I got home, but had all kinds of issues with my wireless hookup. Anyway, without further ado --

The defense is again intense, although my impression of Tennessee (which is truly an impression; I'm not very familiar with non-ACC teams at this point in the season) is that like BYU they're pretty inexperienced. It will be interesting to see how a team with some bona fides handles the pressure defense. The team is just lightning quick in converting those opportunities, and remind me of some of Roy's high-scoring Kansas teams.

No way Tennessee comes back in this one. What I can't figure out is how this team possibly struggled with Santa Clara. I mean, that game was not even particularly close from what I could tell listening to the radio. I would think that with or without Felton this team ought to be able to handle a Santa Clara on defense alone. Maybe it was just first-game jitters, but until this happens a few more time I'm still going to worry that this team will have an evil twin that shows up once every few games or so.

My turn...

2004-11-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

Chiming in with my first post...

I was perusing the latest issue of the "Carolina Alumni Review" (join UNC's General Alumni association - the magazine alone is worth the price of membership: GAA ) today. There's a great article about Anson Dorrance and the women's soccer team. "What the Fields Teach" by Beth McNichol is peek inside the program, which despite the recent shocking loss, is still a force to contend with in the soccer world. Practices sound absolutely brutal and McNichols writes:

"The idea is: You're not here to make friends on the field. You're here to obliterate the competition, whoever the competition happens to be that day. And right now, it's your own teammates."

Considering the annual success of the program and the fact that the rosters have been sprinkled with women who have "wanted to get ahead more than [they] wanted to get along," it's obvious that Dorrance's players are able to refocus when it's time to play. It's a shame that our current men's basketball team, with well-known chemistry issues, hasn't yet demonstrated the ability to do the same.

Still, the season is young and hope springs eternal...

Anyway, it's a good read - check it out.

Also in this month's issue, get ready for some changes on the front part of campus. The University has $177 million earmarked for creating a more suitable environment for music, drama and fine art. The next ten years will transform the area right off Franklin Street into a quad known as the Arts Common. That's all fine and good, but that means certain buildings are getting demolished: the Porthole (where I spent many a summer evening of my junior year calling alums at dinnertime to ask them to give back to dear old Chapel Hill), West House, Evergreen House, Abernathy Hall, Hill Hall annex, part of Hill Hall and part of Swain Hall. I'm particularly sad that we'll lose some of those buildings, but the really tragic thing is that there is an ugly modern addition being added to Ackland Museum. I ask you - why can't we add buildings that look like they fit at the nation's oldest public university?

On a side note, did you know that Ackland himself is buried within the museum? The guy went to dook first and told 'em he'd set them up with a museum, but stipulated that he'd have to buried inside. Dook turned him down, so he made his case to the good guys, who happily accepted his terms.

Congratulations to Coach Bunting and the football team on their well-deserved post-season reward.

To Darian Durant, a heartfelt thank you. You will definitely be missed.

BYU - What the heck?

2004-11-22T22:50:00.000-05:00

The game no longer merits comment, but why do they put Raftery with Bilas and McDonough?

I just heard the man actually say, referring to a Noel dunk: "That's Bisquick. Because it rises so fast." That is just so not funny.

I will say that Bilas does an exceptionally good job of being fair to the Tar Heels and always has, despite his obviously contrary allegiances. Why can't Billy Packer pull that off?

BYU: halftime impressions

2004-11-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

At risk of a monster jinx, the truth of the matter is that we are making BYU look like a YMCA team.

This is the first time I've seen any of the new guys play. So far I'd say Marvin Williams looks a little weaker than I expected, but I like what I've seen of Quentin Thomas more than I anticipated. Q looks like a true point guard with a little flash. I suspect with Marvin it's more an issue of shaking off the nerves than anything.

The defense is as intense as I've seen it in years, and the word that comes to mind from the first half is pure hustle.

No way we can lose this particular game, but the only question about this team is whether they are mentally tough enough to "bring it" every night. If so, we are going to be very tough to beat. I just don't yet have much confidence that we're there.

BYU: early impressions

2004-11-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I've barely gotten settled in and already it's 33-8 Heels. Now THIS looks like a #1 team. Defense and everything -- although I will have to say that BYU looks awful. Fast break looks great, and May is running the floor hard.

I'd like to see something from Marvin Williams -- looks a little "freshmany" so far.

Kudos to the UNC fans who made the trip --- I'm surprised how well the "Turn it Blue" campaign has worked -- the fans look like a sea of blue. I'm looking for people I know, but so far the only person I've recognized in the audience is Dean Smith.

Tire Bowl Bound?

2004-11-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

Just heard on the radio that both the Clemson and South Carolina athletic departments have informed the bowl committees that they will refuse any invitations that are extended for postseason play, as self-imposed punishment for the brawl on Saturday.

I haven't looked at it carefully, but I think that means the Heels are a shoo-in for the Tire Bowl in Charlotte, as Clemson was the primary alternative being discussed. Not sure whether it might bump us to something higher-profile, but a road trip to Charlotte is just fine by me.

Why be a fan?

2004-11-22T19:24:00.000-05:00

I saw this article by George Will today, about why people become over-the-top passionate about Alabama football. Although I don't think I'm likely to be buried in a UNC-themed coffin (see the article for the reference), I would think his diagnosis would be much the same for ACC basketball fans.

I like George Will OK, but I think he's over-reading this cultural thing. The reason that Alabama football fans/Carolina basketball fans seem unusually passionate to Will has nothing (directly) to do with southern culture. It has a great deal more to do with the fact that very few people in the South grew up with any kind of professional sports team to follow. For us, college sports were the professional level; it was all we had. The reason no one in Boston cares about Boston College sports is that they're distracted all year by the Bruins, Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox. Trust me -- there are plenty of face-painting nut job fans of those teams, but the reason they don't have RV's to attend games is that it's not necessary for them to make road trips to see them. They're right there in the back yard.

OK . . . up and running

2004-11-22T18:18:00.000-05:00

I figure since tonight is the first game of the season, I ought to make my first on-topic post. (don't tell me about Santa Clara. There is no such place, and that did not happen. What other explanation could there be for its not having been on television here?)

The opponent is BYU. Since I have no idea about how good they're supposed to be, I went to the Sagarin Ratings, which are already up for 2004-2005. BYU is rated as 39th. The Heels are rated 248th, and according to Sagarin's system, are a 19 point underdog to BYU. And to make matters worse, NCSU is ranked #1 (the mythical Santa Clara rates #121). In other words, without further ado, we can declare the Sagarin ratings useless at this point in the season.

I don't have the dimmest idea how Sagarin does his thing, but I'm guessing he doesn't even attempt to make judgments based upon last year's performance, returning players, etc., and just lets the numbers fall as they may as the season goes on, so that there will be wild fluctuations early in the year followed by a settling.

Edit: I went back and checked on last year's BYU team. They finished 21-8 and made the tournament, where they lost to Syracuse. They beat #3 Oklahoma State during the regular season. So, depending upon who they have back this is no walk in the park. They are also supposed to be pretty big, and big teams have meant matchup problems for the Heels for years.

Maiden post

2004-11-21T23:23:00.000-05:00

I'm posting this at about 8:23 on November 21, 2004, as a test.

If you're seeing this, hopefully, it's because you've been invited to join the blogging team for the Tar Heels.

Although we're using a "generic" template for the format right off the bat, it's my intention to find UNC-themed backgrounds and the like.

Also, don't feel limited by UNC sports. Although I that's our primary focus, I think it helps to keep things lively to include just about anything else in life that grabs your interest. Chances are that if you find something interesting there are other people just as strange as you who will react the same way.