I'm A Lucky Charm!

Last night I went to my first Alabama basketball game in 3 years. I haven't seen The Crimson Tide play since I saw them be the last team to beat Florida before the Gator's 2006 National Championship game. I figured if I was lucky enough to see Florida lose twice by Alabama (earlier that football season, and the basketball game), I would end my basketball-going days on that note. But, the Heels weren't taking over ESPN coverage last night so there was no need to stay at home and hoot and holler at the television, so I got dressed and went to Coleman Colesium.

I was fortunate enough to have Ryan Powell, the Alabama Graduate Assistant, put me in good floor seats (well, except for the excessively large Gatorade coolers in front of me), right behind the Crimson Tide bench. It was strange to me not having Coach Gottfried in his Sidney Lowe look-alike red blazer daunting the sidelines. But, Coach Pearson, Dunlap, and Pettway, obviously did something right to get the momentum changed. Arkansas got the hell beaten out of them. (Maybe it was something in the excessively large Gatorage coolers in front of me).

I walked into Coleman Colesium dressed in the same oxford shirt and jeans that I wore to the Carolina game. The only change was my button. I slipped on the "Roll Tide" button and left the "Tar Heel Born" one at home. Right when I walked up the steps to the, I have to admit - very, very pretty colesium, I heard a familiar sound. Expecting to hear 'Sweet Home Alabama' I heard 'Sweet Caroline', and it almost felt like I was going to walk in and see Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Williams. But, with all the Crimson everywhere and the absence of Final Four banners, legendary jerseys, and the prettiest hardwood floor in the country, I knew I wasn't at the Dean E. Smith Center. Simply, I put all biased thoughts aside and walked down to my seat with an open-mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the boys play a good game of basketball. You could see it in their faces and attitude that they had been missing a sort of lively energy that seemed to carry them through the game which, for the majority of the game, was a 20 to 30 point lead. When Ryan met me after the game, I was "happy to admit" that Alabama could have run with anyone in the country that night. There was 4 or 5 minutes of sloppyness, but when your Interim Coach has a conference game that he can put every single player in the game, and have them score, you have to put your Carolina obsession aside and appreciate and respect that. And I did, the whole night. I think I was more excited than the darn Graduate Assistant. I guess that's the "coach" in everyone. I remember running my best cross-country race or playing my best soccer game, and Dad, as my sister and I like to call him - "Coach Dad", always made us be humble and no matter the excitement, there were things that weren't perfect.

To top it all off, I got to see the 'behind the scenes' of the Alabama Basketball world and saw locker rooms, offices, and the empty office where someone will move in and take over the program next year. Whoever that may be??? I'm still anxiously awaiting the Alabama Athletics Department's decision on this one. I guess my Tar Heel nature kept speaking without thinking when I compared every little thing to 'the way it is at Carolina.' Well, I've never been lucky enough to see the locker rooms and Coach Williams' office. I got to see Alabama's, and I am grateful for that. Like I said in my earlier post this week, I'm a part of this school and last night I finally stepped back and took it for all it's worth.

But, seriously, anyone reading this that wants to offer me a behind the scenes tour of the Carolina Basketball world, by all means... ask away! I think you know my answer.

I've spent so much time wrapped up in basketball season that I've failed to write much about my other true love, The University of Alabama. My intention, when I created my Just Jones It (College Edition), was to spent some time highlighting my passion for the Crimson Tide as well as Carolina and any other sports buzz that seems to catch my attention.

For the time being, Carolina's Road to the Final Four, Alabama's "top-secret" search for a new basketball coach, Andre Smith's 'ordeal', and driving around campus watching Bryant-Denny Stadium begin yet another expansion, is keeping me busy. Oh yeah, and school and work. Well sort of, I watch ESPN from the hostess stand and I mute SportsCenter while I'm in my room studying. (Thank heaven for close-captioning).

But seriously, my love for Alabama is equal to the love I have for North Carolina. Though it may not seem that way - it really is. That's who I am. I'm the obsessive Tar Heel fan that goes to Alabama. I'm a part of this school, and that's something I will never say about Chapel Hill. It's in my blood though, right? (Tar Heel born and Tar Heel bred... when I die I'll be a Tar Heel and Crimson Tide dead). I can give credit where credit is due, however, when you walk into the student section in the south end-zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium, it gets in your blood. When you're dressed in the same dress you wore to a wedding the weekend before (I'm obviously talking about the first game of the year because no Alabama fan would EVER schedule a wedding during the season), when you sip Yellowhammer's from Gallettes on the strip before the game, when you hear the first chords of Lynard Skynard's 'Sweet Home Alabama,' it gets in your blood.

There are so many things I wish I could have experienced by being a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, but there are far more things that I wish everyone could experience that I've been so fortunate to during my days in T-Town. There is something special about this place and I've felt it since the day I first saw it. It looked and felt familiar, I knew I had seen this object somewhere and felt this same way about it. The Old Bell Tower? Yeah, that's what it was. I was on the quad looking up at Denny Chimes and the feeling inside me was such a resemblance to when I visited Chapel Hill as a little girl and hearing The Old Bell Tower. But Kenan Stadium wasn't what was over-shadowing me. After I looked down at the cement foundation of Denny Chimes and saw the cleat-prints in the concrete of all the captains that adorned the Crimson jersey, I realized it was like I was standing in the middle of all the jersey's that hang inside The Dean Dome. I don't think I had to even tell my parents that this was where there little girl would be going to school come August, I think they just saw it in my face. And when I turned to take in the awe of Bryant-Denny Stadium, I could not wait to get inside there for the first game. I had been inside the Dean Dome, and I knew EXACTLY what it was going to feel like. Then came the first chills down my spine.

I kid you not, Tuscaloosa is far unlike any other college town in America. (I just sat here for 20 minutes trying to put it into words, it's not writer's block - I'm not frustrated, I'm simply smiling and trying to retake it all in). More or less, there are no words to describe Tuscaloosa to a tee. It's a place that student's have a deep appreciation for. It's a history and a tradition. It's Auburn's worst nightmare and everything LSU wishes it could be. It's a story of historic success, setbacks and comebacks, tribulation and triumph, an era of hardships and then the rising of the Tide. I don't care what anyone says - you Gator fans, Southern Cal bandwaggoners, and you Orange and Blue 'barners' from the other side of the state - Alabama is THE football program of the world. Vince Lombardi was asked after winning the Super Bowl: "What's it like being the best football team in the world?" His answer: "Well, I don't know. We haven't played Alabama yet." Enough said.

It's more than just what Bear Bryant left behind and it's more than what Nick Saban is doing as we speak. It's the people that make up this university - each one bearing the same passion as the person next to them. It's the oak trees and blossoming dogwoods that line the 'Old-South' architecture of each building. It's the gazillion U.S. Historical Markers that are posted all over campus. It's being reminded over the loud speakers at football games that "Well, I ain't ever been nothing but a winner." It's houndstooth caps and player's helmets that sport only their jersey number, no tacky colors or logos. It's 12 National Championships, some of the greatest quarterbacks and running backs in the history of the game, and zero Heisman Trophies. Why? Because we've all been taught, "At Alabama, we don't care about Heisman Trophies, we're busy winning bowl games." (Ummmmm..... yeah, we're not going to really linger on that one after what happened in New Orleans this year).

But seriously, it's George Teague running down Lamar Thomas of Miami. It's "The Catch" made by Tyrone Prothro my freshmen year. It's 21 SEC Championships and nearly 100 All-Americans. My passion for Alabama comes from eating Carolina Slaw Dogs at Ramma Jamma's, Spring Breaking on the Gulf of Mexico (always watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament, of course), and from fraternity parties where I'm always the first one to dance to 'Dixieland Delight.'

So, need me remind you. I have not forgotten about sleepy sweet home Alabama. I've just been distracted by Roy and his boys (and Saturday, extremely ticked off at them for letting Gary Williams and the 'Terps beat them in over-time). My love for this place only continues to grow as I wake up each morning and realize that some people aren't as fortunate as me. Some people wake up on 'the plains' in Auburn, or even worse - in the middle of nowhere Gainesville. Some are even so unfortunate that they wake up in gothic-city Durham, or nitty-gritty Baton Rouge. I'm living the college dream, in a house on Bear Bryant Drive, with Bryant-Denny stadium 2 blocks away, Ramma Jamma's hotdogs about 1 block away, and 'The Strip' 3 blocks away. Oh, and the library.. well, eh, not sure - I guess I'd say 7 blocks away? Wouldn't you say that's about right, Dad? I haven't walked there in a while.
- - 'Just kidding!'

Like I said way back up there, Alabama's coaching search for Mark Gottfried's replacement is kind of kept secret. Well, actually, no one really talks basketball here (except for me, of course!). But, needless to say, when search for Mike Shula's replacement was proceeding I sure am glad there wasn't any major headline news because that's all that was talked about and all that was in the headlines of the media. But, comment below and tell me who you think Alabama should hire. Clemson's Oliver Purnell? He's African-American. He's from the best conference in NCAA Basketball. He beat Coach K! Well hell's bells, bring him on down here!!

Charles Barkley would be prouder of us than he is of his alma-mater.

What about the Bob Knight rumor? Does he want to go to Athens or Tuscaloosa? Does he want to do that?? If I was Bob Knight I'd just retire and play Dick Vitale in a game called "Who Can Be The Most Annoying Person On ESPN Tonight?"

I don't even know, and I know I just raved about how much I love this school but I just assumed anyone reading this is aware that I love the school, the people at it, the concoctions at the local bars named after the state bird, the southern food, the landscaping, and the football program. But my fanhood stops with college basketball. That part of my heart has always and will always be Carolina Blue.




I'll end with this... a few inspiring quotes from 'The Bear'....


"A quick, small team can beat a big, slow team any time." Coach K must have read this one and recruited every little outside shooter he could find and then forgot to save a place for a big guy in the middle.

"When you're Number 1, you don't play for the tie." And when you're Number 3, you shouldn't have to go into over-time with unranked Maryland. (That last part was from me, not the Bear). Ha!

"We've been able to do more with ordinary players because we don't tell them they're ordinary. Our best teams usually had four or five great players and a whole lot of average ones." I have nothing smart-ass to say about this one. Shocking huh?

"Always be totally loyal to the institution for which you work. If you don't have the best interest of the organization at heart of if you can't be loyal, you are in the wrong place." I feel as if the College Football God has spoken to me, so maybe I would lean for Alabama if they ever played the Heels in football. But I'm pretty sure Bear Bryant didn't give a damn about basketball, so I'm good.







HBO Sports at 9:00 eastern; 8:00 central is debuting "Tobacco Road" tonight; an hour long documentary about the Duke/Carolina Rivalry. I've got to go schmooze some people into letting me borrow HBO from them tonight! As always, Go Heels and Roll Tide!!!!

When It Rains It Pours

So I guess we've all heard the saying, "When it rains, it pours."

I didn't have a single homework assignment for the first 3 weeks of the semester, but when I received my first.. the others started pouring in. I haven't gotten upset enough to cry in months, but I got in a tizzy with my best friend on Thursday night, then I fought with my sister/mother/father in Miami this weekend over the most insignificant and, on my part, selfish things. For that I'm sorry, I guess - when it rains it pours. So now as I piece together anything and all that I may have destroyed with my negative releasing of all the stress I have between school, friends, family, and job, I find myself wishing I was back on the beach between the shade of the palms, sipping a banana daquiri, and daydreaming about Carolina Basketball.

But I'm not there, I'm in my little bedroom off Bear Bryant Drive in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with the blinds slightly cracked watching it rain. Or for better choice of words - pour.

After 48 hours of tanning on the beach in 85 degree weather and stuffing my face (which has been deprived of any sort of good, South Florida cuisine since the summer months) with Cuban food, tropical drinks, and Valentine's Day candy, Sunday night snuck up on us and we clothed ourselves in Carolina blue and headed for the BankUnited Center (which, in all honesty, looks like someone projectile vommitted the grossly colors of green and orange all over the place).

The first thing I did was run down to the front row and watch the players walk in and out of the locker room and begin warm-ups. At this point in the night, I still was very hell-bent and determined that I would have Tyler Hansbrough fall in love with me. But who caught my eye the very most was Marcus Ginyard and his unselfish demeanor toward the young kids (yes, when I say I was on the front row 'oohing and aahing' over the players, I was the only one over the age of 11). His maturity and graciousness would later be witnessed outside the team bus after the victory, while "my love" acted like a college-aged, egotistical, white-kid version of Kobe Bryant and his stuck-up ways.

The game was close, thrilling, and sometimes frustrating, but in the end it was a perfect reassurance that with the athleticness of point guard Ty Lawson, and the finesse of Wayne Ellington, along with the spasticness of Tyler Hansbrough that can draw a foul in most situations - Carolina will be a sure favorite to take it all the way when March begins to get "Mad."

Frustrating, I said, right? Try being surrounded by not only the puke resembling colors, and the fans who scream (which only my father could completely express to you, in his very well grasped imitation of the Miami accent): 'Der a 'Cane ova he-ya! Whoo! Whoo!, but also frustrating was that little #33 Jack McClinton who seemed to be the black-kid version of every Duke kid that Coach K's ever recruited that seemed to never miss a damn shot from outside the arc.

As the four Latin-American Miami fans behind me would have put it (as they did all night and again, add the accent): "Ah, dude! He's makin' it rain! Look, Jose, 'dat Jack McClinton is makin' it rain! All night dude!"

When Jack rains, he pours.

You know who else has been, "making it rain?" The ACC Player of the week Ty Lawson. From his utterly outstanding performance against Duke on Wednesday to the 21 points he put up against Miami on Sunday (17 of which came in the second half and 3 of which were those that sealed the road-win.) Reported in the Chapel Hill newspaper was that 15 NBA Scouts were in the attendance at the BankUnited Center on Sunday night. Well, I'm assuming all eyes were on #5 in blue and #33 in well, whatever you call that mess of colors. When it rains, it pours for those two.

Oh wait, is THAT why you were so anti-social after the game Tyler?? Or are you really just that big of a diva??

So, after the game my family and I portrayed the roles of amateur stalkers and followed the parade of Tar Heel players' families to the bus location. I made eye contact with Mr. Hansbrough and his girlfriend. My sister was in the bathroom stall next to Mrs. Frasor, Bobby's mother. And my brother-in-law was excited by the fact that Patrick Moody, the last guy on the bench, touched his back in an effort to get through the crowd and on the other side of the metal railing that separated us fans, aka stalkers, from the players. Tyler Hansbrough, however, acted as if the Great Wall of China was separating us and that even looking our way would be a useless effort or just too much of an effort to even participate. There was 45 Carolina fans standing there in the middle of Coral Gables, Florida wanting to see the appreciation from the National Player of the Year, but none was given. And to you, Mr. Tyler-Hansbrough-Mr. Almighty, I do not appreciate that!

Coach, however, was delightful to be around! After I screamed "Coach, take a picture with a fellow Asheville native!" this is how the scenario played out...

Roy Williams looks me up and down, confused. "YOU'RE from Asheville?!?!?!" (I think it was because I looked like an Alabama sorority girl, tan, in an oxford shirt and glasses instead of a hippy dress and scarf wrapped around my head, smelling of hemp.) "What school did you go to?"....

"Well I moved before I went to school there, Coach, I go to The University of Alabama now, but I'm a Tar Heel."

....(not as confused anymore he nodded and told my mom to take the picture)

....(Mom, suprisingly, takes a good picture )

"Hey, make sure you got that picture, my eyes may have been closed." (Proceeds to wait and make sure he doesn't need to take a re-do.)

Helluva-nice-guy!

I got my picture with Roy. After the bus pulled away, I got my eye contact with Tyler (TWICE!!). (Ashley later explained he probably only looked twice because not one - but TWO - of my buttons in my sorority girl-clas oxford was unbuttoned.. revealing more than I was aware of).

But, I lost a little bit of of that little-girl perception I have of Tar Heel super-stars. Jerry Stackhouse waved to me as he pumped gas on Franklin Street when I was 12 years old and waiting for my sister to get out of soccer camp. Vince Carter talked to my cousin Amy and I in the Chapel Hill mall after he had been drafted to the NBA and left a legacy at UNC. Bill Guthridge, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Shammod Williams, and all the others of the 1996-1997 team signed autographs for me and my sister at The Adam's Mark Hotel in Daytona Beach after Vince Carter's 'homecoming game' against Bethune Cookman. THEY were Player of the Year too(Jamison), THEY were All-Americans too, THEY were destined to become NBA Greats (Carter, Rookie of the Year). Roy's won a National Championship Tyler, you haven't, and he signed autographs and took pictures - and even cared to stick around to make sure the picture came out right. So what was YOUR problem, Psycho-T?

Well, here's MY problem.... you might be too damn tired (I don't know though, 8 points and 5 rebounds??) or you might be pissed off (15 NBA Scouts, and well, 8 points and 5 rebounds...) but you're an idol to kids (and a 21 year-old psychotically obsessed since before I can remember girl's) so at least nod your head, say thank you to the fans that came from anywhere and everywhere to see you play, and bring yourself down to earth for the next two months - I BEG YOU! Because it ain't over until April 6th at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. And, coming from on heck of a Carolina fan - cocky-asses don't deserve to cut down the net, and ego's hurt really bad when some mid-major (remember George Mason?) knocks you out of the tournament, and they hurt really, really bad when you get to the Final Four and your high and mighty attitudes lose a game for you because the other team came to play and you thought you'd coast into the National Championship game (remember Kansas last year??)

I've vented, I've ranted. I DO still admire #50 and I hope I only caught him exiting the arena and getting on the bus on a bad night and that he doesn't do that every time. Because who knows if I'd still be a fan of the Tar Heels as much as I am if Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, and Antawn Jamison weren't so self-less and humble when I was a little girl. My fanhood is far past the wins, the championships, and the jersey's in the rafters. I have high respect for the tradition, the class, and the respect Carolina has earned. That's the reason I fell in love with Alabama - being a part of the tradition and the football program's high demand for class and appreciation for the fans. Sure, there's some egotistical pricks in Crimson jersey's... and I don't like them now, and if I was a 10 year-old shouting for the superstars to sign an autograph and they walked by me as if I didn't exist I wouldn't like them then or now.

Moral of the story: When it rains, it pours. Whether you get swamped with homework and disputes between friends and family all at once, or you hit a 3-point shot and rarely miss another the entire night. Whether you merely take 5 seconds for a picture with an obsessive fan and her respect and admiration for you pours down like a God-sent rainstorm for the rest of her life, or you exit stadium, drop bag at bus-drivers feet for him to tend to, and enter bus as if you were a machine and without making any sort of gesture to the crowd of fans who stand to their feet in ovation for you when they are lucky enough to get to say "I saw Tyler Hansbrough play basketball at UNC" the way people talk about the many you succeed on the Dean Dome hardwood, you should always remember: When it rains, it pours. (sometimes there's a rainbow after the rain, and sometimes there's just a puddle).

As I close, I have one hope. After I witnessed the looks of excitement on those kids' faces when Will Graves, Mike Copeland, and Marcus Ginyard signed autographs with smiles on their own faces, and the kids' shock and dissappointment when college basketball's 'king' didn't give them (or anyone else) the time of day, I left that arena with one single hope. That they grow up to be Tar Heel fans - whether they go to Notre Dame, Florida (oh bless their hearts, I hope they don't), Alabama, Auburn (Lord, bless their hearts again), or anywhere else in the country and that they always carry with them the "little-kid perception" that I often talk about when people ask me why I'm such a Tar Heel fan.

So, in the end, I hope Miami taught everyone a lesson. I hope Tyler's a bit more friendly next time and a little more like Coach Roy. I hope I remember for myself how attitude and behavior affect those around you and that my poor attitude, whether from stress or just 'one of those days', didn't harm my close relationships with my family like Psycho-T's anti-social butt did for our relationship (as hard as it is to say, the engagement as been post-poned until we work things out and have an attitude readjustment).

Mom, Daddy, Ashley, and Tyler (Little): I love you and thank you for this weekend. As I've said time and time again, whether to you all or to my friends, seeing our family's passion (Alabama football and Carolina basketball games) are never as fun without you as they are with you! I look forward to the next time we're all together again. As always, Go Heels and Roll Tide!

Disclaimer: Any comment in this posting was opinion of my own and in no way intended to be racial or discriminate. Have a nice day!

Worth More Than Words - but here's a shot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgnZs8m9Zl4

"In the state of North Carolina it's the path to basketball glory, it's the rich versus the middle-class. If you lose the head-to-head-matchup, the National Championship doesn't mean anything. It leads down Tobacco Road. It's the two most storied basketball programs in the history of our sport - and then you play some 8 miles down the road. SOMETHING CRAZY'S GOING TO HAPPEN. Elbows, blood, contendency. This is DUKE vs. CAROLINA, you have to step back and appreciate the beauty of it."

"This game is special; it's better than any other game. The rivalry is bigger than any one of us. They're not playing - they're fighting. 8 miles of Tobacco Road connects them, 88 years of bad blood divides them. Another chapter in the most storied of stories is about to unfold." - ESPN, February 11, 2009

"Time. Each day; each event. Measured in hours; minutes; seconds. And then lost to eternity. A precious few are not. They linger; committed to memory; treasured. This rivalry is just that - TIMELESS. There is just something magical about this rivalry." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M3EbE0XFKo&feature=related

A rivalry brings about the best and the worst in the human spirit. Transcending sport, mutating it into an artform. A rivalry is often born in jealousy - covetting thy neighbors success. Confrontations filled with physical aggression. Emotional aingst. Agrimony passed along as if it were a family crest. Why do I hold you in low esteem? Because my predeccessors did. Voices from distant places - awakened by the call. Sleep? Dream? Is it real? Rise again Carolina! Rise! When you face your rival, 110% is not only cliche - it's underachieving. Newspapers spewing headlines; bragging rights in bold letters. When rivalries meet, middle-age alumni struggle to close vintage letter-men jackets, mistakes are magnified, victory much sweeter. So stare down on your rival, because the misguided notion 'we'll get them next time'... IS THIS TIME!!!

Tomorrow is the big day. Today - or maybe even yesterday, was the big day when the Cameron Crazies popped their tents up in Krzyzewski-ville to await their admittance into the 7,000-some crowd for THE biggest game in all of sports. For me, today - and definitely even yesterday, is when I am consumed with hatred. There are few days when I allow myself to be so consumed with hatred that it's all I can think about. But I didn't sleep last night, and I won't sleep tonight. Why you ask? Because I watch my DVD copy of "Team Carolina: The Complete 2005 Championship Season" and read my book "To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever" by Will Blythe. I read Adam Lucas archives, I watch Dick Vital analysis', and I Youtube.com "Rival Week" commercials and indulge in complete happiness at the account that I am part of the Duke-Carolina rivalry.

Tomorrow, #3 Carolina visits Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the #6 ranked team in the nation (AP Rankings). [Sidenote: I chose AP Rankings for a reason; USA Today and ESPN have them ranked #5.]

Am I nervous? Hell yes. Duke is coming off an OT win over Miami, and Carolina hasn't had a scare since Florida State (which was just about as ridiculous as Alabama's slight win over Kentucky earlier this football season).

[One more sidenote: Football schools shouldn't suffer against basketball schools on the gridiron; and basketball powerhouses shouldn't find themselves with a last minute 3-pointer to barely beat a football school.]

But tomorrow, that's not the case. These are THE basketball powerhouses of the world. Throw the records out the window, put the rankings aside, and friendships don't mean anything when the clock stricks 9:00ET tomorrow in Durham. Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson won't be best friends tomorrow - I promise, this game is about pure, devil-behind-the-wheel hatred.

So here's my problem: "A man who lives, not by what he loves but what he hates, is a sick man." I love Carolina Basketball, but I've grown to love Alabama Football on an equal level. But I LIVE to hate Duke, and I don't live to hate Auburn, Tennessee, or LSU. I would cheer for Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, or the University of Hell before the words "Go Duke" ever come out of my mouth. I don't talk to the guy at a bar in Tuscaloosa that has an awful, royal blue Duke hat on. I wouldn't sit at dinner with Brad Pitt if he told me he would pick Duke over Carolina (which, in most first meetings with people, is often the first question I ask.)

I'm posting this so that all who read it before they see me tomorrow can understand what it's like to be part of the Carolina fanhood. I'm delighted by how much I despise Duke. I am proud of how much Duke repulses me. And tomorrow will go down as one of my better days so far this year if we win, or I'll walk out of wherever I'm posted up watching the game without speaking a word (except for every obscene, explicit, four letter word I can mutter under my breath) and prepare myself to not kill whoever I choose to blame the loss on when I see their face in Miami in 5 days.

But what am I talking about? We won't lose. We've gotten our wake-up call; our reality check. Who cares how high they turn the heat up in Cameron to try to disadvantage Roy and the third-ranked team? Coach K is the one who passes out on the sidelines every couple years [Last sidenote: Please youtube that video!!!!]. And with all my talk about being overly-consumed with hatred for everything Blue Devil, I pray I can get into the spirit of Valentine's Day (which I mentioned in my last post, I will be spending with my love, Psycho-T) and enjoy tomorrow's game without biting anyone's head off or being thrown out of whatever bar I've posted up at for going Psycho-B (that's me and Tyler's nicknames for one another) on someone for cheering for Duke when they have no tie, roots, or fanhood to the Dookies.

So, for all you Tuscaloosian's and fellow Alabama students that read this: Tomorrow is MY "Iron Bowl." Tomorrow is when Nick Saban and Les Miles meet on the hardwood. And tomorrow's when two schools, always voted the biggest rivalry in all of sports - no matter if they're unranked or 3 vs. 6, meet for the first time all year and reveal in the first of two (maybe three) matches who deserves a Number 1 Seed in the tournament. It's like Alabama being in Tuscaloosa, and Auburn being in Cottondale.

I end with this, from Will Blythe's book aka The Bible For Obsessive Carolina Fans....

"The basketball rivalry between Duke and North Carolina has become the greatest rivalry in college athletics, and one of the greatest in all of sports. It is Ali versus Frazier, the Giants versus the Dodgers, the Red Sox versus the Yankees. Hell, it's bigger than that. This is the Democrats versus the Republicans, the Yankees versus the Confederates, Capitalism versus Communism. All right, okay, the Life Force versus the Death Instinct, Eros versus Thanatos. Is that big enough? This is the rivalry of such intensity, of such hatred, that otherwise reasonable adults attach to it all manner of political-philosophical baggage, some of which might even be true.....

Duke is the university as launchpad, propelling its mostly out-of-state students into a stratosphere of success. While hardly opposed to individual achievement, North Carolina, by contrast, is the university as old home place, equally devoted to the values of community and local service.

That, at least, is the mythology many of us swallowed as we grew up. So that when one roots for one team or another in the Duke-North Carolina rivalry, one if cheering as much for opposing concepts of American virtue as for adolescent geniuses of basketball."


Happy Birthday, Dad! Hopefully the 'Heels can bring it home tomorrow night so we can have much to celebrate in Miami!! Here's to Good Health, Good Basketball, and a Great 52 Years!!

I'm back, for real this time: RANDOM THOUGHTS...

As much as I would love to rant, complain, and lash out at the poor performance of the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, I find it best for my stress level to just put it behind me and instead complain about, as well as glorify, the current sports season... and talk about how mad March is going to be.

First of all, experts have said ALL season-long that Roy William's squad this year is one of the, if not THE, best Carolina team ever assembled. Well, stud-muffin freshmen Tyler Zellers has been out since the beginning of the season and true-leader Marcus Ginyard, though looks good in street clothes, is killing me while he's on the injured list. Still.. the 2005 squad played games without Rashad McCants when he had the stomach virus and without Raymond Felton when he was suspended for playing in an unsanctioned summer league. So, why exactly did we lose at home to unranked Boston College? The Wake Forrest loss didn't get to me as bad as the other loss... they were at home, they beat good teams at home. But then they go to Georgia Tech and Miami and get clipped again. But hey - Wake's a contendor.. go ahead and put them in your bracket at least going to the Sweet 16.
Two losses, both to ACC teams, ought to be a reality check for the Heels.. if not, they need to check in soon - March is almost here!

Duke got the absolute tar beaten out of them at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina tonight. Nothing tickles my fancy more than the look on Coach K's face after a game like that. For now, I will have sweet dreams tonight.

Alabama needs to find a new basketball coach. I cast my vote for Butler's coach or Virginia-Commonwealth's coach. Who knows.. and apparently in this town, who cares? The only sports talk that is abuzz is National Signing Day for football and how Alabama nailed the No. 1 Recruiting class for a second year in a row. But hey.. maybe they'll pull something crazy and get Auburn-alum and loudmouth Charles Barkley... then maybe he'll shut up about the racial issues that have "never-ended" in the state of Alabama. Then, Alabama's golf team who's always top-ranked can teach ole' Bark how to swing a golf club... ok, now I'm just rambling.

Speaking of National Signing Day.... Butch Davis nailed the No. 8 Recruiting class this year. Urban Meyer and his "dynasty" came in at No. 10. I call it one hell of a good day when both Alabama AND North Carolina come out ahead of Florida. I don't care what it is, I want to beat Florida in everything.

Random tid-bit: NO, TYLER HANSBROUGH is NOT engaged. This is just a huge joke he was playing on me. (The rumor hasn't been confirmed yet, so let me flatter myself for a moment, please). The rumors began to weave their way through the grapevine yesterday morning, but it's only Tyler's attempt to get my rowled up because he knows how excited he and I both are to be going to Miami for Valentine's Day... well, to play Miami... it just happens to be Valentine's Day weekend. But whatever, that is so not the point. But I promise, he know's I'll be there. Okay, maybe not yet but I'll figure out a way to let him know. And while I'm at it I'll inform him of our wedding plans.

My last random thought for this Just Jones It (College Edition), is this: Just because Kobe Bryant scored 61 points the other night it DOESN'T prove he's a better basketball player than Michael Jordan. When Michael Jordan played, basketball players actively engaged in this little thing called defense. Just because these guys these days try to one-up the Harlem Globetrotters with their unneccessary tricks doesn't mean they could fulfill the career of MJ, Larry Bird, or Dr. J day in and day out. Well, maybe they could.. but you'd have to pay them $1,000,000.00 more a year and allow sick leave for a jammed finger.
Ok, I'm done.. sorry, I just wanna be like Mike.

I promise I won't go another 2 months without writing. I'm ending in orange in hopes that Pat Summitt will get her 1,000th win next game... thanks for putting history on hold, Lady Sooners!
What is a Sooner??