Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Hark the Sound of an Ass Kicking

First off, see this logo? Yeah, this one:


Yep, my beloved North Carolina Tar Heels are the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions baby!

I’m not going to get into the team’s accomplishments here except to mention the boys in Carolina Blue (not “baby” blue you ESPN jackass) went through their tournament opponents this year like a plasma cutter through plate steel. Not only did they win every game by at least 12 points, they had a double-digit lead for something like 150 of the 240 minutes they played during the past three weeks.

Absolutely dominating.

But yet…

Just before midnight last night my college roommate gave me a call and we reminisced for a few moments on the events of the evening and shared our joy in watching our Heels win their second championship in five years. Not too shabby.

But…

My old roommate, The Prez, commented, “Never did a 14-point lead seem so flimsy.” And I agreed. For some reason, in our heads it didn’t matter the Heels were winning by 15 points with five minutes to go. It just didn’t seem like enough. This veteran team never, and I mean never, ever, gave us any reason (except the Maryland game earlier this year) to doubt its skill and determination.

What I think it was is this: Although the Heels have won it all twice in the past two years, during the time me and The Prez and our friends Sarita, Kris, Liz, Mark, Derrick, John and all the rest spent in Chapel Hill, the teams we cheered for were great. They made it to three Final Fours in four years…and lost in each one.

But not this year. This year the Tar Heels exceeded their fans’ expectations (except maybe for the one or two loonies out there expecting an undefeated season, pshaw!)

This year, this wonderful team filled with seniors walked off the court in Detroit their head held high as National Champions! Yeah Baby!

All I can say is I wish I were still there today, in Chapel Hill, instead of at the office. Nursing a hangover and checking to make sure my shoes (and other parts of me) didn't melt too too badly while dancing around, through and in the fires on Franklin Street (seriously, check out this video, it's a time-lapse of the celebration) is a far, far finer place for a Tar Heel to be today.

I’m a Tar Heel born,
I’m a Tar Heel bred,
And when I die,
I’m a Tar Heel dead.
So it’s Rah-rah, Car’lina-lina
Rah-rah Car’lina-lina
Rah-rah Car’lina-lina
Go to Hell Dook!

3 comments:

rachaelgking said...

IN ROY WE TRUST!!!!!!

GO HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS!!!!!!!

TAR! HEELS!

TAR! HEELS!

TAR! HEELS!

Liebchen said...

Congrats on the win! A friend showed me a video of Franklin Street from last night and I just couldn't believe it. That's a whole lotta people...and a *whole* lotta fire!

FoggyDew said...

LiLu - Isn't it just a little sweeter to be a Tar Heel today? Yeah, thought so.

Liebchen - I was part of many celebrations like that, just not as big. In fact, rumor has it, there are several pictures of me and the student body president jumping through the flames one year.