Sometimes these silly things we devote our time and energy to, talk, brag and blog about, are put into perspective. That's true today, too. A shooting victim near the UNC campus was identified as student body president Eve Carson. I didn't know Eve, but in keeping an eye on the happenings around campus, I certainly knew of her. I just wanted to take this little space I have devoted to UNC and send some prayers to her family.

Chancellor's letter

Last night I made one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made about television. It was either watch The Sopranos finale when it first aired at 9 and miss the Diamond Heels' elimination game against South Carolina, or watch the game live, wait til midnight and catch the west coast feed of the Sopranos.

I watched the game. And what a game. Chad Flack came through again like he did a year ago in Tuscaloosa, and Andrew Carignan pitched four strong innings to close out the Gamecocks. What a series it was. The Heels trailed 6-0 in game one before striking it rich late in the game, and came back again to win Sunday. Best of luck to them against Mississsippi State in Omaha.

And what a show. The Sopranos ended in a way that no one expected. I had to live in a cone of silence from 10 p.m. to midnight, but it was worth it. I hated the ending at first, but, the more I think about it, the more I like it. The show didn't wrap things up in a neat little package. Life doesn't work that way either. All of life's storylines don't wrap up in an hour, so a show attempting to depict real life shouldn't do that either.

Now what will I do with Sundays at 9? Wait for Entourage, I guess.

You'll notice that watching Game 2 of the NBA Finals was not one of the options I considered.

Just a quick shout-out to my friend Warren Perry. I wasn't aware that he would be announcing the ACC Swimming championships at Koury Natatorium last weekend, but he did a great job. Warren is a credit to his alma mater.

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    Well . . . I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Presidents Day, Happy Groundhog Day, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, it's been that long since I updated, and I must apologize. Again.


It's just that graduate school, working two or three jobs and trying to help plan a wedding (I did say help, honey) take priority over blogging. That's part of it.

The other part is there are excellent sites like Carolina Water Cooler that sort of do the same thing I did. There are hundreds of people on the Internet talking about the Tar Heels, and I'm just one guy. Adam Lucas is a much better writer than me, with much better access. All I can offer you is my opinion from my seats in the stands, or on the couch. If you wanted my opinion on what's going on, you'd ask for it. So I'm not going to try to do that. I simply don't have the access that some of the other sites do. My whole idea in starting this site was to give you how I felt about what was going on in Carolina athletics. Not that I was going to get the exclusive interviews or get to attend the press conferences. I certainly wasn't going to call high school kids at home and get their top three choices for what school they'll be attending. I was just going to tell you my reaction.

I've fallen down on the job. There are so many things I had to put ahead of blogging, and there are many things I chose to put ahead of blogging. Like the Carolina Hurricanes. I've become a huge hockey fan over the past eight or nine months. It's silly how much I enjoy it, all of a sudden. But anyway. . .

So now I'm just going to give you my experiences as a Tar Heel fan. I'm not going to try to recap every game. I can't. But I can tell you about what I'm thinking as a fan. I'm just an alum who likes  (or liked, at least) to write about my team. So instead of being a Tar Heel writer, I'm going to be a writer who loves the Tar Heels. Some of you will like the new direction. Some of you will hate it. That's okay. Like I said, there are plenty of places to go to get someone's opinion. But I hope some of you will stay, if you come back in  the first place after the long sabbatical.

So, without getting too deep, let's get to a little Tar Heel talk.

• I didn't get to see the win over BC. I heard the last minute or so on the radio. HBG (you remember her? She's now my fiancee, by the way) sprained her foot badly playing racquetball Saturday morning. We went to a bar in Greenville to watch the Canes game and the Tar Heels, but the pain was too much for her. We went to the ER, and spent several hours getting her taken care of.
• I hope the win over BC inspires the team to greater heights. Marcus Ginyard recognized that this team needs a leader, and needs to be confident in its potential. What it is capable of is great things, and they need to recognize that.
• I'm disappointed in the recent play of the Tar Heel women. In the loss at State, it seemed they were content to pass the ball around the perimeter or simply dump it inside to Erlana Larkins. That's an okay strategy, if you're hitting shots. They weren't. It was a nice comeback attempt, but it still goes down as an 'L.'
• I'm excited about baseball season, and hope I get to go to some games. But not at sub-45 degree temperatures.
• There are some great YouTube videos that Tar Heel fans will enjoy. Particularly this musical tribute to everyone's least-favorite announcer.
  
• I'm pumped to get to see Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Carolina Hurricanes on March 2. I told you I was a hockey fan.
• Not one person has signed our 'The Knot' page.
  

So there you have it. Welcome back.


Turner

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Here's a picture of the Psycho T shirt that I mentioned in an earlier post. As you can see, anyone who owns one really should wear it with pride. It's too bad they had to stop making them.

Did I mention I can't wait for basketball season?

I realize that not everyone that reads this blog lives in close proximity to Chapel Hill or even gets to visit too often, but if you do chances are you have seen the brilliant “Jackie Manuel Has a Posse” t-shirts (see picture below) paraded around by a bevy of UNC students.  The shirt was the brainchild of Chapel Hill printing company The Merch, which unveiled a new bit of genius over the summer in the form of their “Psycho T” shirt.  Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me find a picture of one to post on Heelsblog, because it’s probably the best t-shirt related to Carolina athletics that I have ever seen.

Sadly, members of the UNC staff took action this past week and shut down the Merch’s “Psycho T” shirt because NCAA rules state that a commercial business can’t sell the likeness or image of a college athlete, so unfortunately they got the axe.  Apparently the Jackie Manuel t-shirts are still allowed to sell because he’s no longer an NCAA athlete and he appears to be fine with them selling his image, actually signing several shirts for them and buying a bundle for himself.

 

So, I’ve been lamenting the fact that I never got myself down to Schoolkids Records on Franklin Street to pick up a “Psycho T” special, but in the mean time I was curious if anyone else had an opinion as to the most clever UNC slogan/phrase/image they had ever seen put on a shirt was.

 

Also, so as not to be rude, it’s nice to meet everyone. My name’s Zeke and I’ll be blogging on a regular basis for Heelsblog, so I hope you enjoy.