What can I say….I’ve passed on my passion for the Tar Heels to the entire family. Last night we watched the game with everyone in the room decked out in their Carolina Blue. Today we made one final shout out to our boys in Blue. March Madness is here and we’re all got the fever!
I remember it like it was yesterday. “The Boy” had just got home from school and we were huddled in front of the MacBook in my office. The season was young but the lifelong Tar Heel fan in me knew that things were not right. The 2009-2010 Tar Heels would go on to have the worst season I can ever remember. It was ugly and disturbing what happened to this team. Yet on November 13, 2009, we heard the number one high school recruit shock the world and say he was going to attend North Carolina and NOT Duke.
As the season continued to tank, there was still some hope. We knew what was coming the next year. It killed me to watch Duke win it all knowing that Carolina had fallen so far so quickly (they lost in the NIT Championship). You see this rivalry is VERY cyclical. I thought we might be going through a dry spell for the Heels while Duke seemed to have it all going their way. They had a great recruiting class coming in and a red-shirt player in Seth Curry waiting in the wings. They were going to be loaded. Meanwhile, the Heels found out at the 11th hour that BOTH Wear twins would transfer and leave a huge void in the “Bigs”. Yet we still had that hope that Harrison Barnes would make it all better.
The 2010-2011 season started and it looked like the trouble of the previous year carried over. A bad tournament to start the season and the young Heels looked lost. Roy kept saying they would get better. Harrison Barnes looked average at best and Tar Heel Nation was worried. A blowout loss to Georgia Tech (last in the ACC) and people were calling for changes. Larry Drew II lost his starting job (which many had been begging for) and would soon exit the program. Then it all happened. Like Roy said, they would get better.
I said it then and I will say it now, when Carolina and Duke met for the first time, Duke didn’t win that game, Carolina lost it. They had it in their grasp but their inexperience and inability to put them away cost them. When that game was over, I was not too upset. I knew they would meet again and I knew the Heels would be ready. They learned throughout the season. Barnes kept getting better and Kendall Marshall’s stock sky rocketed. This is a team that should not be overlooked. Trust me, I’ve watched a lot of College Basketball and I’ve watched a lot of North Carolina.
Who knows what the tourney will bring. This is still a very young team. It’s a team with only 8 scholarship players. It’s a team that doesn’t shoot free throws well and still has offensive lapses. But one thing that is different and somewhat foreign to Tar Heel nation…this team plays defense. I’ve never seen a Roy Williams coached team do that. He usually outscores you. Yet this team is different and they have three very important things.
1 – A true point guard. He makes others better and scores when he needs to. The perfect fit for a Roy Williams team.
2 – A defensive stopper. John Henson is the player they thought they were getting last year.
3 – An assassin. While Barnes has disappointed (?) on the hype, he has that “it” factor that Kobe and Michael had. It’s something LeBron has always struggled with. When the game is on the line, Barnes wants the ball. So far, Barnes has delivered.
I like this team to do well in the tournament. While a part of me thinks they could literally go to the Final Four, winning the ACC and bringing “The Tar Heel Way” back to Chapel Hill has been sweet. Last year is but a memory now. The Heels are ACC Champs and not done yet. What started on November 13, 2009 is still being written and I love a good story.
Mom holding Austin
Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the day that my Mom took her final breath on earth and entered into the very presence of her King and her Savior. She crossed the finish line. She heard “well done my good and faithful servant”. Any brokenness healed. Any pain now gone. Any spot removed. Any sorrow now joy. I sit here tonight and envision a moment so incredible I can only describe it with one word….
Beautiful
You may think it odd. It feels a bit strange to even type that knowing the hole that is left in my heart. There’s a void that only a Mom can fill. There’s a hurt that only a mothers touch can mend. Yet 365 days later I would describe this moment as “beautiful”? Yes I would. Because it is.
When I think of her radiance as she is now at the foot of her King, it’s beautiful.
When I think of the lives she brought to Jesus in her time on this earth, it’s beautiful.
When I consider the grace she extended to a Son that needed much of it, it’s beautiful.
It’s the anchor I cling to and the joy I find in our loss. For it is our loss and Heavens gain. I miss you Mom yet I know, you are where you most longed to be and it is nothing short of beautiful.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3Jv1Hf2oCw
Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the day that my Mom took her final breath on earth and entered into the very presence of her King and her Savior. She crossed the finish line. She heard “well done my good and faithful servant”. Any brokenness healed. Any pain now gone. Any spot removed. Any sorrow now joy. I sit here tonight and envision a moment so incredible I can only describe it with one word….
Beautiful
For the better part of 20 something years, I have lived and breathed with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Tonight “the boy” and I watched as another snapshot went into my mental scrapbook of why we love being a Tar Heel fans. This image was the final shot that sent North Carolina to the win and a head to head match up with Duke for the ACC Championship on Saturday night. We both calmly raised arms in the air as the three pointer sank into the net.
Ball game.
Heels win.
Harrison Barnes delivers.
Earlier this week my lovely bride said she wanted to have a “date night” this weekend. She said “I was thinking about Saturday night”. I think my response was “Really?”. Realizing what Saturday night is, she quickly made plans for Friday night instead. If you think that is odd or funny, I have some Nashville friends (also Tar Heel fans) that did the same thing.
That’s what it’s like.
That’s what we do.
As nice as running away with an ACC Title is, I bet a straw poll of both sides would show that most Duke and Carolina fans would rather have it come down to this. The over-under would depend on where the game is being played (this one’s in Chapel Hill). This is what this rivalry so often comes down to. It’s what makes college basketball so fun. Saturday night aligns the stars for a winner-take-all shootout. It is as it should be.
GO HEELS!!!
For the better part of 20 something years, I have lived and breathed with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Tonight “the boy” and I watched as another snapshot went into my mental scrapbook of why we love being Tar Heel fans. This image was the final shot that sent North Carolina to the win and a head to head match up with Duke for the ACC Championship on Saturday night. We both calmly raised arms in the air as the three pointer sank into the net.
Ball game.
Heels win.
Harrison Barnes delivers.
Earlier this week my lovely bride said she wanted to have a “date night” this weekend. She said “I was thinking about Saturday night”. I think my response was “Really?”. Realizing what Saturday night is, she quickly made plans for Friday night instead. If you think that is odd or funny, I have some Nashville friends (also Tar Heel fans) that did the same thing.
That’s what it’s like.
That’s what we do.
As nice as running away with an ACC Title is, I bet a straw poll of both sides would show that most Duke and Carolina fans would rather have it come down to this. The over-under would depend on where the game is being played (this one’s in Chapel Hill). This is what this rivalry so often comes down to. It’s what makes college basketball so fun. Saturday night aligns the stars for a winner-take-all shootout. It is as it should be.
GO HEELS!!!
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34134TOJwME
Last weekend we attended a basketball tournament for “The Boy”. The gym was filled with courts, games, teams and parents. I had the chance to observe one team that was hand selected from the finest 6th graders in a certain city. One player in particular really caught my attention. He was taller than most his age, skilled, gifted, could handle the ball, play inside and shoot the “3″ at a high percentage. What stuck out to me most was his humility, character and good sportsmanship. He helped other players up after a hard foul. Encouraged his other teammates and even gave a guy that blocked his shot a pat on the back. Quality kid.
