Clemson got the Gator for no logical reason at all, which in turn sent BC to the Music City which means UNC is going to Charlotte. Fine. Its not really that bad. At first I hated the idea of a 8-4 UNC team going back to Charlotte to play in virtually the same bowl as the 6-6 2004 UNC edition did. It seems like getting the same reward for doing much, much more. As far as the ACC tie-ins go, there is a huge drop off after the Champs Sports, and i personally think the Music City is a much more attractive place to be.
But o'well. Im sure there are alot of teams and fan bases that would love to not have their season be over right now (hello Michigan). It should be noted that one of the best things about going to a bowl is the extra practice time that helps young teams like UNC still is, not to mention national exposure and recruiting help (i guess).
It actually schould be a great matchup with West Virginia. Tell you what, of all the ACC bowls past the Peach, WVU might be the toughest opponent (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Cal, Vandy, Navy, Nevada). On top of that, it is in Charlotte so even though WVU will travel very well, light blue should dominate. If we win this game UNC will post a 9-4 record on the year and that should catepolt us into preseason top-25 rankings for next year. I guess thats what these 2nd teir bowls are really about anyway. Well, that and the oppurtunity to get hammered and soak in football for one last Saturday.
So be happy about going bowling and remember that this is hopefully the first of many bowl bids under Butch Davis.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wha?..huh?...oh yeah...basketball
Ok, I havnt said much about UNC basketball as of yet. Partly (and mostly) because Im lazy and partly because im still in football mode. I took a break from trying to figure out why in the hell Clemson is going to the Gator Bowl to sit down and watch God's team last night. All day i was shocked in my own calm mood about the UNC-MSU matchup. Usually, I am stressing out all day and waking up in the middle of the night thinking about the Lucas-Lawson matchup. But not with this team.
I remember my sophmore year watching the 2005-2006 Tar Heels struggle at first, then engineer some great basketball going off nothing but raw, young talent and the heart of David Noel. Those Tar Heels remain my all-time favorite team, it was stressfull, it was hard, and when they lost to George Mason it was heart-breaking, and it was the miost fun I've ever had watching a basketball team. But it was a team you could get behind with everything you were. They wernt expected to do much, and they did more than almost everyone else...just ask J.J. and Sheldon.
Fast forward a to now and you'll see (remarkably) alot of those same players out there. Now UNC is expected to do everything. In a way we are the antithesis of the 2005-2006 team, with alot of the same personel. Watching the Heels last night was surreal. Look, MSU gave up in the 2nd, and the score ballooned as a result of that. But if you just look at the first half, MSU gave a hell of a fight. But UNC never faltered, never got antsy, and kept hitting clutch big shots...to put them back up by 11 or 12.
The play (and the shooting) of Green and Lawson in particular has been great and i think its what really seperates us from the everybody else. Put it this way, with Tyler playing like Tyler we can be in every game. With Ellington playing ok, Ed David being there and the new Deon we can win every game. With Green and Lawson playing like pros, like they did last night, we wipe the floor with everyone...EVERYONE.
Fans tend to get too high after a win and too low after a loss. This happens in football every game yet also in basketball when there is a performance like this. UNC has beaten two top-15 teams (ND and MSU) by a combined 50 points. Granted neither of those teams were at full strength. It's really hard to find any weakness in UNC this year. The only thing you might have to worry about is front court depth combined with foul trouble and an off-night for Wayne, Lawson and/or Green. But still, UNC is playing very good defense right now, and if that continues to imporve, we might be able to survive even that unlike teams past.
I'm not saying we are going undefeated. We wont, but after last night this team is on my short list of best teams I've ever seen play. And apparently it's on Tom Izzo's too.
I remember my sophmore year watching the 2005-2006 Tar Heels struggle at first, then engineer some great basketball going off nothing but raw, young talent and the heart of David Noel. Those Tar Heels remain my all-time favorite team, it was stressfull, it was hard, and when they lost to George Mason it was heart-breaking, and it was the miost fun I've ever had watching a basketball team. But it was a team you could get behind with everything you were. They wernt expected to do much, and they did more than almost everyone else...just ask J.J. and Sheldon.
Fast forward a to now and you'll see (remarkably) alot of those same players out there. Now UNC is expected to do everything. In a way we are the antithesis of the 2005-2006 team, with alot of the same personel. Watching the Heels last night was surreal. Look, MSU gave up in the 2nd, and the score ballooned as a result of that. But if you just look at the first half, MSU gave a hell of a fight. But UNC never faltered, never got antsy, and kept hitting clutch big shots...to put them back up by 11 or 12.
The play (and the shooting) of Green and Lawson in particular has been great and i think its what really seperates us from the everybody else. Put it this way, with Tyler playing like Tyler we can be in every game. With Ellington playing ok, Ed David being there and the new Deon we can win every game. With Green and Lawson playing like pros, like they did last night, we wipe the floor with everyone...EVERYONE.
Fans tend to get too high after a win and too low after a loss. This happens in football every game yet also in basketball when there is a performance like this. UNC has beaten two top-15 teams (ND and MSU) by a combined 50 points. Granted neither of those teams were at full strength. It's really hard to find any weakness in UNC this year. The only thing you might have to worry about is front court depth combined with foul trouble and an off-night for Wayne, Lawson and/or Green. But still, UNC is playing very good defense right now, and if that continues to imporve, we might be able to survive even that unlike teams past.
I'm not saying we are going undefeated. We wont, but after last night this team is on my short list of best teams I've ever seen play. And apparently it's on Tom Izzo's too.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bowls
Bowls. Crazy things they are. To some they are the year-in, year-out expectation. To others they are fun, exciting little things that come up every 4-5 (or even 10-15 years). Still to others, they are simply concave objects that hold cereal. We UNC football fans want to be the 1st, though in the last 8 or so years we've been the middle, causing some of us to stare intently at the Dean Dome hopeing/wishing/praying nothing else in the world mattered except roundball. Enough of this for a long enough time leads one to become a member of the last category. But right now lets hope the Heels are moving their way up to the first.
Look, bowls are outdated relics of what used to be college football. We all know why they exist, its the same reason Notre Dame has a national TV contract: money. College football using the BCS and the bowl system in general is like a billionaire driving a Honda instead of a Ferrarri. Since everyone is waiting to see where their respective teams are going, I might as well spew random thoughts about the upcoming bowl season.
An 8-team playoff is ideal, but bc this isnt gonna happen soon, we have the BCS. My main issue with the BCS really is that is leans too heavily on voters who alot of times dont pay attention (the Texas-Oklahoma debacle is as much the voter's fault as it is the computers). If we must keep the BCS (which we do), my two adjustments to it are:
1) Eliminate preseason polls. Everyone knows these are terrible and unfortunately impact the national title hunt because they are based on false pretenses. Again, these are released mostly to make money for magazines, newspapers, ect.
2) Head-to-head matchup clause. Keep all the formula's the same but have a clause that says that if Teams A and B are rated approximately equal in the BCS (say, both are 11-1, and 2 and 3 respectively in the polls) yet Team A beat Team B earlier in the season, Team A gets the 2 and Team B gets the 3. It just makes too much sence I guess.
I think these two changes would help greatly. As far as non-BCS bowls are concerned. These I think everybody likes for the most part, excpet there are just way to many. I think NO TEAM should go bowling with a 6-6 record, also every team should only schedual ONE 1-AA team (that means you Clemson and Georgia Tech). Basically, only teams WITH A WINNING RECORD should go bowling. This alone would probably slim the number of bowls down. Only let good bowls be played after Jan 1st.
I also think that conference tie-ins need to have solid pecking orders, not "three bowls get to choose equally." Make the bowls choose the teams with the best record available. I've been reading that Clemson (7-5) will get a Gator Bowl bid over 8-4 Florida State and UNC. This is utter bullshit and in no way can this be justified. Clemson is one of those teams who played two 1-AA teams, which means against actual teams they are 5-5. So sure, why not give them the nod over a team that is 7-4 against actual teams.
Here's what i think should happen:
1. Orange: VT (9-4, am i the only person thinking VT will win this game)
2. Peach: GT (9-3, best team in the ACC, rarely do bowl officials go with a home-town team, but i think this will happen.)
3. Gator: FSU (8-4, common sense)
4. Tangerine: BC (9-4, again, assuming they lose to VT on Saturday)
5. Music City: UNC (8-4, this could be interchangable with above due to BC's small fanbase)
6. Care Care: Clemson (Proximity, and again, they are only 7-5)
7. Emerald: Miami (7-5, collapsed down the stretch)
8. Humanitarian: Maryland (7-5, sucks to be you)
9. EagleBank: Wake Forest (7-5, least attractive fanbase)
10. N.C. State will go somewhere, just noone knows where
Look, if Clemson really does get the Gator its a travesty. A team, an administration, a fanbase that doesn't deserve anything will get the 3rd best bowl in the conference. Not only is it unfair for the players/fans of other schools that didnt whine about how bad their coach is/was and actually played to get a better record then Clemson, it fucks up the order of everything. I think we should all feel good that college football is unfair at the top and at the bottom. Once this news becomes official and the shafting of UNC to the Car Care is complete please check back to The Webbed Heel to watch my head fucking explode.
Look, bowls are outdated relics of what used to be college football. We all know why they exist, its the same reason Notre Dame has a national TV contract: money. College football using the BCS and the bowl system in general is like a billionaire driving a Honda instead of a Ferrarri. Since everyone is waiting to see where their respective teams are going, I might as well spew random thoughts about the upcoming bowl season.
An 8-team playoff is ideal, but bc this isnt gonna happen soon, we have the BCS. My main issue with the BCS really is that is leans too heavily on voters who alot of times dont pay attention (the Texas-Oklahoma debacle is as much the voter's fault as it is the computers). If we must keep the BCS (which we do), my two adjustments to it are:
1) Eliminate preseason polls. Everyone knows these are terrible and unfortunately impact the national title hunt because they are based on false pretenses. Again, these are released mostly to make money for magazines, newspapers, ect.
2) Head-to-head matchup clause. Keep all the formula's the same but have a clause that says that if Teams A and B are rated approximately equal in the BCS (say, both are 11-1, and 2 and 3 respectively in the polls) yet Team A beat Team B earlier in the season, Team A gets the 2 and Team B gets the 3. It just makes too much sence I guess.
I think these two changes would help greatly. As far as non-BCS bowls are concerned. These I think everybody likes for the most part, excpet there are just way to many. I think NO TEAM should go bowling with a 6-6 record, also every team should only schedual ONE 1-AA team (that means you Clemson and Georgia Tech). Basically, only teams WITH A WINNING RECORD should go bowling. This alone would probably slim the number of bowls down. Only let good bowls be played after Jan 1st.
I also think that conference tie-ins need to have solid pecking orders, not "three bowls get to choose equally." Make the bowls choose the teams with the best record available. I've been reading that Clemson (7-5) will get a Gator Bowl bid over 8-4 Florida State and UNC. This is utter bullshit and in no way can this be justified. Clemson is one of those teams who played two 1-AA teams, which means against actual teams they are 5-5. So sure, why not give them the nod over a team that is 7-4 against actual teams.
Here's what i think should happen:
1. Orange: VT (9-4, am i the only person thinking VT will win this game)
2. Peach: GT (9-3, best team in the ACC, rarely do bowl officials go with a home-town team, but i think this will happen.)
3. Gator: FSU (8-4, common sense)
4. Tangerine: BC (9-4, again, assuming they lose to VT on Saturday)
5. Music City: UNC (8-4, this could be interchangable with above due to BC's small fanbase)
6. Care Care: Clemson (Proximity, and again, they are only 7-5)
7. Emerald: Miami (7-5, collapsed down the stretch)
8. Humanitarian: Maryland (7-5, sucks to be you)
9. EagleBank: Wake Forest (7-5, least attractive fanbase)
10. N.C. State will go somewhere, just noone knows where
Look, if Clemson really does get the Gator its a travesty. A team, an administration, a fanbase that doesn't deserve anything will get the 3rd best bowl in the conference. Not only is it unfair for the players/fans of other schools that didnt whine about how bad their coach is/was and actually played to get a better record then Clemson, it fucks up the order of everything. I think we should all feel good that college football is unfair at the top and at the bottom. Once this news becomes official and the shafting of UNC to the Car Care is complete please check back to The Webbed Heel to watch my head fucking explode.
Week 15(?): UNC at Duke, Ryan Visits Wake Forest
Is there anything worse than going through a UNC-Duke football game. Whether you are there or listening to it on the radio (which i was), its possibly the least fun experience ever. Its basically like playing a I-AA (or whatever they are called now) program. If you win, you were supposed to, but if you lose, all hell breaks lose and its the worst thing that could have happened. In today's hyper-fast media-driven sports world, perception and name recognition, unfortunatley, go a lot longer than actual talent on the feild. Duke could feild an entire NFC Pro-Bowl roster, yet still no fan base would accept losing to DUKE.
Everyone should realize that this Duke team wasn't like Duke teams in the past, and it was on their senior night, and they ALWAYS play up for UNC. That said, Duke still had the worst record in the ACC and a win was more than expected out of the Tar Heels. Im not gonna analyze the game except for two things:
1) T.J. Yates had an efficent game - hopefully this was the start of his resurgence to what he was before the ankle injury.
2) The damned prevent Defense reared its ugly head again. Its just inexplicable why you would ever go prevent against a good, efficient QB like Thad Lewis and when its still A ONE SCORE GAME. Why? Just why? Again- thank God for Goddard. They need to start printing shirts with that slogan.
UNC's offense looked all together pretty good against Duke. You see, right there, thats why i hate playing Duke. That statement right there is immediately discredited by everybody because of the last word. Damn it. It's just like saying "UNC's offense looked all together pretty good against McNeese State." Its going to take a long, long time for Cutcliffe to change perception of Duke football. If it ever happens, there will probably be a 3-5 year delay in recognition of it. Look up "Culture of losing" and you'll see a Duke Football logo.....i just racked my brain for 5 good minutes trying to think what else might be next to the logo and i couldn't even think of 1 major program that could fit...that's how bad things have been in Durham the last 10 years.
Anyway, instead of going to Wallace Wade to sit through what i knew would be a painfully close contest, i went with my buddy Zach (a Vanderbilt student) to the Wake-Vandy game. This game was a good example of how much a season can change in 4-5 weeks. If you would have asked me about this matchup then, I'd have told you it would have been awesome. Since then however, both teams have completely fallen apart. The game was no different, the play on the feild was almost as bad as the weather: bitterly cold, steady rain, just awfull. The box score said there was 26,000 people there...bullshit...it was more like 15,000. I was actually excited about this game, excited about tailgating and seeing a new venue, then i realized that more people could have fit into my Acura then were at the game. It was the same deflating feeling as when you walk into movie theatre to see a new film you've been waiting for...and you find nothing but a 60 year old couple and a homeless man asleep there with you....awesome. O well, BB&T Feild seems nice enough, it's a stadium that fits the size of its University...and ther is nothing wrong with that.
So NCSU beat Miami, and GT somehow beat UGa, so that logjam of 8-4 teams i predicted didnt really happen. This lines UNC up for probably either Car Care, Music City or maybe even Champs Sports (depending on who wins the ACC Champ game). Some people are even projecting Gator and Peach still but that isn't happening. Some are thinking Clemson over UNC for the Music City and it that happens its total crap, Clemson is 7-5 but played TWO 1-AA teams and for a bowl to take that over a 8-4 UNC team is bullshit. (It was funny to see Spurrier shiting the bed again though.)
4-8 to 8-4 in one season. Progress to say the least.
Everyone should realize that this Duke team wasn't like Duke teams in the past, and it was on their senior night, and they ALWAYS play up for UNC. That said, Duke still had the worst record in the ACC and a win was more than expected out of the Tar Heels. Im not gonna analyze the game except for two things:
1) T.J. Yates had an efficent game - hopefully this was the start of his resurgence to what he was before the ankle injury.
2) The damned prevent Defense reared its ugly head again. Its just inexplicable why you would ever go prevent against a good, efficient QB like Thad Lewis and when its still A ONE SCORE GAME. Why? Just why? Again- thank God for Goddard. They need to start printing shirts with that slogan.
UNC's offense looked all together pretty good against Duke. You see, right there, thats why i hate playing Duke. That statement right there is immediately discredited by everybody because of the last word. Damn it. It's just like saying "UNC's offense looked all together pretty good against McNeese State." Its going to take a long, long time for Cutcliffe to change perception of Duke football. If it ever happens, there will probably be a 3-5 year delay in recognition of it. Look up "Culture of losing" and you'll see a Duke Football logo.....i just racked my brain for 5 good minutes trying to think what else might be next to the logo and i couldn't even think of 1 major program that could fit...that's how bad things have been in Durham the last 10 years.
Anyway, instead of going to Wallace Wade to sit through what i knew would be a painfully close contest, i went with my buddy Zach (a Vanderbilt student) to the Wake-Vandy game. This game was a good example of how much a season can change in 4-5 weeks. If you would have asked me about this matchup then, I'd have told you it would have been awesome. Since then however, both teams have completely fallen apart. The game was no different, the play on the feild was almost as bad as the weather: bitterly cold, steady rain, just awfull. The box score said there was 26,000 people there...bullshit...it was more like 15,000. I was actually excited about this game, excited about tailgating and seeing a new venue, then i realized that more people could have fit into my Acura then were at the game. It was the same deflating feeling as when you walk into movie theatre to see a new film you've been waiting for...and you find nothing but a 60 year old couple and a homeless man asleep there with you....awesome. O well, BB&T Feild seems nice enough, it's a stadium that fits the size of its University...and ther is nothing wrong with that.
So NCSU beat Miami, and GT somehow beat UGa, so that logjam of 8-4 teams i predicted didnt really happen. This lines UNC up for probably either Car Care, Music City or maybe even Champs Sports (depending on who wins the ACC Champ game). Some people are even projecting Gator and Peach still but that isn't happening. Some are thinking Clemson over UNC for the Music City and it that happens its total crap, Clemson is 7-5 but played TWO 1-AA teams and for a bowl to take that over a 8-4 UNC team is bullshit. (It was funny to see Spurrier shiting the bed again though.)
4-8 to 8-4 in one season. Progress to say the least.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
random thoughts
- Ok, we lost to State, it sucks but we hopefully will still be 8-4. I dont think (like some other's do) that we will be invited to the Champs Sports Bowl (slotted for the 4th best ACC team). If everything works out the way it should Saturday (which it won't) there will be 1 9-3 team (BC) and a log jam of 8-4 teams (VT, GT, UNC, Miami, and FSU) with VT and BC playing a boring ACC Championship contest. If VT wins (and they will), they get Orange and my money is on FSU and GT getting Peach and Gator (or vice versa) because noone wants BC. That leaves Miami, UNC and BC in the running for the 4th best bowl and I bet that they go with Miami because they are closest to Orlando. Which leaves UNC for the Care Care Bowl. Look, i guess since its the 2nd season of Davis I'll take it, but its just a downer that this season has really turned into a "what could have been."
- The Tom O'Brien "We are the best program in the State" quote is getting alot of people up in arms. I dont know why. I guess him using the word 'program' is different then if he had used 'team'. NCSU proved they are the best team in NC this year by flat out winning every game against NC opponents. Like Butch says, its way to early to determine which school has the better football program. O'Brien knows that he is getting outrecruited by Davis, and this is why he said this, oh and to feed the egos of NCSU's inferiority-complex driven fans.
- The UNC- NCSU rivalry amoung fans is really hard to describe totally. Most rivalries can just be summed up by using the word "hate". But i reserve that word for the school in Durham. But the NCSU/UNC fans have much more familiarity with eachother than UNC-Duke ever can. I went to high school with alot of NCSU alums and we are all freinds. We are more or less the same demographic, unlike UNC/Duke fans. We are mostly all from NC, and we can get along and relate to eachother much more easily than most UNC/Duke combinations. Its a rivalry amoung brothers rather than a rivalry amoung people who dont know you and who you dont really know either.
- The Maui Invitational is without a doubt the best preseason tourney year in year out. Not just in the teams participating, but in the overall feel. Having been to one in 2001 and watched everyone since i can remember it is just an awesome event in person and on TV. The Lahuna (sp?) Civic Center is awesome, compare it to watching games from the cavernous-looking MSG like every other preseason tourney and there is no debate. BTW: What the hell ever happened to the Great Alaska Shootout?
- Speaking of: What the hell ever happened to Bobby Frasor's jump shot?
- Im very happy Michigan knocked off UCLA. I was like everyone who was looking forward to a UCLA-Duke game and possibly Duke's first loss. But then i watched with horror by how green UCLA looked and by the time it was over im very glad Michigan won. Why? Because if that UCLA had won they would have been completely dominated by Duke and there would have been the typical media hype-up of Duke by a bunch of people who dont really watch games and take preseason rankings as gospel. UCLA was in no way a top-10 team, and they would have made Duke look like a jugernaut. Which the media in turn would make them look like demi-gods. You know, like what they have made UNC out to look like.
- Were the fans at UCSB chanting "Fuck you Tyler"? Classy
- Tyler needs to come back soon if he is gonna break J.J's scoring record this year. I know, that is definitely not as important as chamionships in March but you know how good you would feel if he did break that record. It would be one of those things you would always remember and smile about, both out of your love for Tyler and your hatred of J.J.
- This could be the year UNC passes Kentucky on the all-time win list. Either this year or early next year (if trends continue). How awesome would that be if the two teams were tied for their game next year? I also think that the team that has the all time record should have a traveling banner for it. Really only three teams could contend for it on a night in night out basis (UNC, UK and KU). I just think it would be cool.
N.C. State at UNC
I Delayed writing about the events of last Saturday because I wanted it to soak in and give my feelings time to settle down a bit. But needless to say, I think we are all shocked and appalled by the utter beat down the Pack layed on UNC. It was reminiscent of Bunting Era Clemson-UNC games, except Bunting would later actually beat State. Look, I was not one who thought that UNC would win this game y 2 or 3 TD’s, I thought it would be close. But I at least thought Carolina would show up. I WAS WRONG.
In trying to remember what happened and in trying to analyze this atrocity of a football game only one thing really comes to mind: a complete and utter lack of preparation (and possibly motivation) coming into Saturday. State outplayed UNC in EVERY FACET OF THE GAME, a statement I never would have thought to say about this team. One thing that worries me about the team is this: do you remember the reputation some of those old Miami teams had where if they weren’t in contention to really do something with this season they would just kind of send it in? (Peach Bowl smack down by LSU in 2005) I would wonder if the loss to Maryland was so deflating to this team that they kind of adopted this mindset. I realize I’m reaching here but can you honestly give me a better reason for what happened on Saturday? You always hear the players say how Butch keeps talking about “getting to those games that have Blimps in the sky” and such, and if you talk about that all season, I wonder how you bounce back and keep playing after what you have aimed for is pretty much taken away last week at Maryland.
Of course, UNC still had the door open for Tampa ever so slightly after the Miami loss, which makes this even more inexplicable. As a fan I just can’t understand how THE ENTIRE TEAM didn’t show up for the game against YOUR RIVAL at HOME for a win that would pretty much LOCK UP THE FUCKING PEACH BOWL. Maybe Butch just doesn’t get into the whole rivalry thing very much (look at his record against FSU and VT while at Miami) and in turn neither do the players. This is obviously frustrating as a fan because we all remember the record against State and Duke that our former coach, a UNC alum that we kicked out the door, had. Either way it was without a doubt the most disappointing day in the last 2 seasons under Butch, and now we are all looking forward to driving to that mediocre bowl in Charlotte, again.
What is that word that pretty much sums up how we all felt after Saturday? Umm...lets see...oh yeah.....
Fuck.
In trying to remember what happened and in trying to analyze this atrocity of a football game only one thing really comes to mind: a complete and utter lack of preparation (and possibly motivation) coming into Saturday. State outplayed UNC in EVERY FACET OF THE GAME, a statement I never would have thought to say about this team. One thing that worries me about the team is this: do you remember the reputation some of those old Miami teams had where if they weren’t in contention to really do something with this season they would just kind of send it in? (Peach Bowl smack down by LSU in 2005) I would wonder if the loss to Maryland was so deflating to this team that they kind of adopted this mindset. I realize I’m reaching here but can you honestly give me a better reason for what happened on Saturday? You always hear the players say how Butch keeps talking about “getting to those games that have Blimps in the sky” and such, and if you talk about that all season, I wonder how you bounce back and keep playing after what you have aimed for is pretty much taken away last week at Maryland.
Of course, UNC still had the door open for Tampa ever so slightly after the Miami loss, which makes this even more inexplicable. As a fan I just can’t understand how THE ENTIRE TEAM didn’t show up for the game against YOUR RIVAL at HOME for a win that would pretty much LOCK UP THE FUCKING PEACH BOWL. Maybe Butch just doesn’t get into the whole rivalry thing very much (look at his record against FSU and VT while at Miami) and in turn neither do the players. This is obviously frustrating as a fan because we all remember the record against State and Duke that our former coach, a UNC alum that we kicked out the door, had. Either way it was without a doubt the most disappointing day in the last 2 seasons under Butch, and now we are all looking forward to driving to that mediocre bowl in Charlotte, again.
What is that word that pretty much sums up how we all felt after Saturday? Umm...lets see...oh yeah.....
Fuck.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Week 13: UNC @ Maryland
I-85/95 North coming from North Carolina into Virginia is a dark, long, depressing stretch of road void of seemingly all life or anything worth living for. That was my Thursday night, driving through the rain, trying to dodge the notorious Highway Patrol that has claimed the driving records of so many of my friends. Fortunately, I was not pulled over for speeding. Unfortunately, all momentum UNC had was brought to a dead stop on this road trip. I remember intently listening to the VT-Miami game, flying on a hope and a prayer that the Hurricanes could pull it out. I remember the long, dark, lonely trip seeming like the time of my life when Tech was stopped on 4th down to end the game. I remember how excited I was that UNC was in the driver’s seat. Just get past Maryland and we are in great shape. Just pull this one out. C’mon guys.
Fast forward about 48 hours and I’m in a parking lot in College Park with 4 college buddies. Surrounded by red-clad Maryland fans that all gave us the stink eye as soon as we get out of the car. All in all they were actually pretty nice to us. I had heard horror stories about Terp fans in the past, but those were mostly coming from Cole Field House when they were playing Duke, can’t say I really blame them. So we did the typical North Carolina kill ‘em with kindness thing and we were all playing flip-cup together before you knew it. It’s amazing what 12 beers can do.
My memories of the day then go something like this: Flip cup…damn it’s windy….rain drops….HEAVY RAIN DROPS…walking to the stadium…some fan talking shit…”screw you, Maryland is completely mediocre at every sport”…big stupid turtle shrine thing, might as well touch it…in our seats…kickoff. The football experience at Byrd Stadium can be summed up in two words: it sucks. Sure it was raining and only 48,000 showed up. But nothing about the stadium itself is appealing…at all. It’s got a very shoebox feel to it. Its almost like the equivalent of one of those “cookie-cutter” baseball stadiums, go to Tuner Field in Atlanta and you’ll know exactly what im talking about. They also don’t really do anything at all to make it an enjoyable experience for the fans. I’m talking about the presentation of the game, everything from the PA announcer to what they play on the speakers on 3rd down and so on and so forth. Sometimes this can be done very well and send goosebumps, sometimes very poorly and comes off as just stupid, but when it’s obvious that they just mail it in it kinda takes away from the whole experience.
We were good and sloshed when we took our seats and when I saw that snap go over the Maryland punters head I screamed like hell. Little did I know this was going to turn into one of the most sobering football games of the season. Basically, this was the fucking UVa game all over again, except it was raining. Look, a lot of the blame will go on Cam for this, and he wasn’t good, at all. But you also have to look at out O line only able to get 75 rushing yards, some awful drops by UNC receivers (namely Greg Little) and a missed 28 yard field goal. Some of this should go on John Shoop, like the inexplicable three pass plays after Maryland fumbled on the 38 yard line in the 3rd quarter. It was like the UVa game all over again in that UNC had opportunities to blow it open, and the defense played great, but UNC missed on them time and time again, and Maryland capitalized on their only chance.
So Sunday I found myself driving back down I-95/85 haphazardly listening to the Panthers game thinking about what could have been. As far as aftermath things go, everyone knows we blew this one. We blew the best shot we had to win the Coastal, by 2 pts. Now we have to regroup for a showdown with a now motivated NCSU team (damn you Wake!) and the planets pretty much need to align to win the coastal. People are upset but they need to chill, remember that this is only the 2nd season under Butch Davis and we have a shot at 9-3. Win two more games and maybe a Peach Bowl birth is in order. Who can’t smile at that? These next two games, these last two games, are about pride, as they always are. C’mon Heels.
Fast forward about 48 hours and I’m in a parking lot in College Park with 4 college buddies. Surrounded by red-clad Maryland fans that all gave us the stink eye as soon as we get out of the car. All in all they were actually pretty nice to us. I had heard horror stories about Terp fans in the past, but those were mostly coming from Cole Field House when they were playing Duke, can’t say I really blame them. So we did the typical North Carolina kill ‘em with kindness thing and we were all playing flip-cup together before you knew it. It’s amazing what 12 beers can do.
My memories of the day then go something like this: Flip cup…damn it’s windy….rain drops….HEAVY RAIN DROPS…walking to the stadium…some fan talking shit…”screw you, Maryland is completely mediocre at every sport”…big stupid turtle shrine thing, might as well touch it…in our seats…kickoff. The football experience at Byrd Stadium can be summed up in two words: it sucks. Sure it was raining and only 48,000 showed up. But nothing about the stadium itself is appealing…at all. It’s got a very shoebox feel to it. Its almost like the equivalent of one of those “cookie-cutter” baseball stadiums, go to Tuner Field in Atlanta and you’ll know exactly what im talking about. They also don’t really do anything at all to make it an enjoyable experience for the fans. I’m talking about the presentation of the game, everything from the PA announcer to what they play on the speakers on 3rd down and so on and so forth. Sometimes this can be done very well and send goosebumps, sometimes very poorly and comes off as just stupid, but when it’s obvious that they just mail it in it kinda takes away from the whole experience.
We were good and sloshed when we took our seats and when I saw that snap go over the Maryland punters head I screamed like hell. Little did I know this was going to turn into one of the most sobering football games of the season. Basically, this was the fucking UVa game all over again, except it was raining. Look, a lot of the blame will go on Cam for this, and he wasn’t good, at all. But you also have to look at out O line only able to get 75 rushing yards, some awful drops by UNC receivers (namely Greg Little) and a missed 28 yard field goal. Some of this should go on John Shoop, like the inexplicable three pass plays after Maryland fumbled on the 38 yard line in the 3rd quarter. It was like the UVa game all over again in that UNC had opportunities to blow it open, and the defense played great, but UNC missed on them time and time again, and Maryland capitalized on their only chance.
So Sunday I found myself driving back down I-95/85 haphazardly listening to the Panthers game thinking about what could have been. As far as aftermath things go, everyone knows we blew this one. We blew the best shot we had to win the Coastal, by 2 pts. Now we have to regroup for a showdown with a now motivated NCSU team (damn you Wake!) and the planets pretty much need to align to win the coastal. People are upset but they need to chill, remember that this is only the 2nd season under Butch Davis and we have a shot at 9-3. Win two more games and maybe a Peach Bowl birth is in order. Who can’t smile at that? These next two games, these last two games, are about pride, as they always are. C’mon Heels.
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