Do you appreciate Dustin Ackley? No, really, do you? Because he is the greatest baseball player ever to lace them up for the University of North Carolina. Today against Southern Miss, the Tar Heels needed him. Carolina lost an extra-innings heartbreaker to Arizona State on Sunday, so their hopes of advancing to the championship series rest on winning four straight. Today was Game One.

Ackley answered the bell with five straight hits to start the game, finishing 5-6, his only out being a deep fly that was a near-home run. He batted in three runs and crossed the blate once himself, and his 27 CWS hits in three seasons is now an all-time record, besting Stanford's Sam Fuld by three hits. And he's not done. I don't like to make these kind of comparisons, but Dustin Ackley has been as important to Carolina baseball as Tyler Hansbrough was to Carolina basketball. Enjoy watching him, and appreciate that you're seeing the best Tar Heel ever.

UNC 89 MSU 72 Ty Lawson 8 steals Hansbrough 18 pts Ellington 19 pts MOP

Just look:

One by one, Amaker called five players into his office before
classes began in early September and told them they no longer had spots
on the team. The five players included all three sophomores on the
team, each of whom started games last season.

Amaker said they
were welcome to play on the junior-varsity team, but did not have
varsity roster spots and could not participate in the preseason
workouts and conditioning work, the players said. The move cleared room
for Harvard’s heralded seven-man freshman recruiting class.

Class, Tommy. Class.

Because the players were not told by Amaker of his decision until they
were registered for classes in September, they could not transfer to
another university.

Harvard doesn't give athletic scholarships, but these kids are stuck playing JV or intramurals because their coach didn't tell them soon enough for them to transfer. Awesome.

The Swagger is back at the U! Miami is back! Just look! They are recruiting some of the best kids in the nation from winning programs! That's how Randy Shannon does it. Just look at the roster. There are 237 kids from Miami Northwestern High School, and their combined high school records were 7865434-1. Winners! That's how Randy Shannon does it and the swagger is back at the U! Miami is back! Just look at the tailgating! The swagger is back! For these chicken wings and pork tenderloins and fish, just add lemon pepper, Lawry's seasoned salt, and marinate with our secret ingredient. Are you ready for the secret ingredient? It's swagger! That's a recipe for victory!

The swagger is back at the U! It's back! Miami's back! Randy Shannon recruits players exclusively from winning programs! And that's what they do! They win! Just look at the scoreboard! They're up 10 points with less than ten minutes to go! Against a third-string quarterback! No chance for the opponents! The swagger is back! Right? Right?








The swagger is in the back seat.

Do me a favor. Go ahead and write off Saturday's win over McNeese State. Stop worrying about it. Stop fretting over it. Stop blasting the running game, the offensive line, the defensive line, Greg Little and Hakeem Nicks.

Last night was just plain weird. It was bizarre. There was a near two-hour delay of the game, just three minutes in to the second quarter. There was lightning striking the PA booth. There was an evacuation of the stadium. There was falling concrete. There was a game ball parachuted in to the wrong stadium.

Yes, both teams had to deal with the delay, and McNeese State handled it well. They went into the visitors' locker room, said, "Hell, we're down two touchdowns. What do we have to lose?" and played with some fire to storm to the lead. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels went back to the locker room, listened to their iPods and treated the delay like it was pre-game. And came out flat.

So just write this one off. Before a Thursday night game at Rutgers, the Heels have 12 days to fix some issues. And they'd better.

Women's Basketball:

Hatchell signs new contract

According to a statement released today by the university, UNC's board
of trustees approved a seven-year deal for the Hall of Fame coach that
starts this month. Hatchell's agent, John Meadows, said the package
will improve her salary this year to $705,000 from $476,000, making her
one of the highest paid women's coaches in the nation.

Football:

Kenan Stadium plan moves ahead

The University of North Carolina's Board of Trustees approved the
design for a first phase of plans to substantially expand the Tar
Heels' football stadium.

This is good news. A commitment to expand and improve Kenan Stadium is a commitment to make the football program a serious contender.

Countdown to Kickoff #36: North Carolina

If the Tar Heels can improve upon
their 96th-ranked turnover margin and win half of the close games they
lost last season, seven wins and North Carolina's first bowl since 2004
is likely.

Basketball

Tar Heels know pressure will be on to win title

After an uncertain offseason that ended with an unlikely outcome by
today's standards, the Tar Heels are left with an inescapable fact:
They are the clear preseason favorite to win the national title that
has eluded Hansbrough in his first three years.

Baseball

Forbes promoted to Associate Head Coach



Following a stint in Chapel Hill as an assistant from 1999-2002, Forbes
has served as the Tar Heels' pitching coach for the last three seasons
and has helped guide Carolina to three straight College World Series
appearances.

UNC Sports Information issued a press release this afternoon stating that junior Danny Green is will "test the waters" and enter the NBA Draft without an agent.

Is his situation different from Ellington and Lawson? A little bit. He's a junior, and can only test said waters and pull out of the draft once.

Well, no it's not, but I thought I'd get your attention.

Disclaimer: This post is being written by a Carolina fan, someone who places team wins and championships above all else (save player safety).

Now that that is out of the way, let me continue. First, the good news: Tyler Hansbrough is returning for his senior season of Carolina basketball. Fantastic. Tyler has been a pleasure to watch for three seasons, and we'll get to see him for one more. He's been "A joy to have in class," as it used to read on other kids' report cards. Tyler is one that we will tell future generations about. He's good.

Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson have decided to go through the NBA Draft process without an agent.

I hate the phrase 'test the waters.' It's cliche, like 'golf-ball-sized hail.'

This is what I think the process must be like for Carolina players thinking of leaving school early to play professionally:

Coach advises me to stay + I want to stay = Stay in school (Hansbrough)

Coach advises me to stay + I want to go = Declare without agent (Lawson, Ellington)

Coach advises me to go + I want to go = Declare with agent (Brandan Wright)

Coach advises me to go + I want to stay = Declare (Michael Jordan, James Worthy)

I can't envision a scenario in which Roy Williams advised these two players (particularly Ellington) that they would set themselves up best by leaving after the 2007-08 season. I have not seen a mock draft that projected Ellington as anything about the second round. Every day, as we waited for Hansbrough, Ellington and Lawson to make their decisions, it seemed another player declared for the draft that could be picked before them.

Take a look at some of the guards that have declared for the NBA draft, and probably would go ahead of Lawson and Ellington: Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, D.J. Augustin*, Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Mario Chalmers*, Brandon Rush, Chris Douglas-Roberts.

* - has not hired agent

That's just at the guard position. Other players like Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, Brook and Robin Lopez and Chase Budinger could go ahead of the two Heels. So what are they listening to? Do they love playing basketball at Carolina but wish to do without everything that goes along with it? I'm curious, because another season (with a sweeter ending) could do wonders to their 2009 draft stock.

I still think a team without Lawson and Ellington could be in the mix for a Final Four run, but they certainly make the team the prohibitive favorite in 2009.