Things that suck, but in a good way (Warning: sports content)

Something special happened last night: Dook lost for the first time in the ACC/Big Ten (11)* Challenge. Up until the No. 5 Dookies ran into the unranked, but hot-shooting Badgers (who also played some stifling D as well) they were the only team to never lose in the 10 years of this kinda-sorta made for ESPN sporting event.

Even though Dook’s loss, for the first time, handed the Big Ten (11) its first-ever “win” in the challenge (six games to five), I can’t help grinning about it like the Tar Heel I am. The Heels held up their end of the deal, beating Michigan State Tuesday night for the third time in a year, including the National Championship game in April.

I’m also smiling because a guy who works for me was, yesterday, going on and on about how good Dook is and how they’re going to beat on Carolina this year. Somehow, after playing UNC Greensboro, Coastal Carolina, UNC Charlotte, Radford, Appalachian State and Connecticut (#13), Dook was ranked fifth in the nation. I could go on and on about the cake non-conference schedule they’re playing and how brutally tough the Heels’ schedule is (beat #15 Ohio, #9 MSU and playing #4 Kentucky Saturday and #2 Texas in two weeks), but I won’t.

I’ll just let this article ironically speak for itself. And, for some laughs, these two NSFW (unless you have some head phones or a door you can close) videos. In case you’ve never seen this video by Peter Rosenberg, it made the rounds a couple of years ago and, in searching for it, I discovered the sequel.

And laughed and laughed and laughed.

This is why you suck



And part deux, "Dook Fan Stan"



Go Heels!

*When the Big Ten added Penn State in 1990, the school in Happy Valley became the conference’s 11th team. The logo changed, incorporating an “11” around the “T” but the name didn’t change.

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!