A professorship has been established in honor of Woody Durham, the Voice of the Tar Heels.

The football team will be having a charity car wash Saturday from 10 to 2 at the Kenan Football center.  The losing team from the spring game will do the washing.
Funny.  I thought the spring game itself was a wash.

Baseball season is underway and Brian Roberts is a star. The son of former North Carolina coach Mike Roberts has already set a career high for home runs with the Baltimore Orioles. Congratulations to the former Tar Heel and Gamecock.

Well, of course.  You knew it had to be the national championship.  It doesn't exactly happen every year. If you're like me, you were extra-nervous. This was supposed to be the year.  The right combination of athleticism and experience, drive and heart.  This was a special year.

So you collect your newspapers, your Sports Illustrated covers, your DVDs, your Coke cans.

You'll remember where you were for this one. 

It's the sweetest memory you'll ever have.

Until the next one.

I will go out on a limb and say that Carolina will surprise Miami on October 30th. Yep. If I'm wrong, so what. But if they win, I look like a genius. I don't think Berlin has it together, and our DEs are getting after the quarterbacks more and more each week.

- September 24, 2004

It was a beautiful October night in Kenan Stadium.  It was supposed to be just another game in #2 Miami's road to national title contention once again. They were 6-0.  We were 3-4. They were Miami. We were Carolina. This was football.

It was supposed to be a cakewalk for Miami. The Heels had other plans.

Darian Durant to Mike Mason. Chad Scott. Scott Brumett. Chad Scott again.
The Heels were up 21-14 at halftime. They were knocking on the door right before the first half ended before an ill-advised Durant pass was intercepted. Jesse Holley chased down the defender and saved what would have been a touchdown if not for a Miami flag.

28-21 Heels.  You knew Miami was going to score. Again, they were Miami.

Too much time for Darian to get freshman Connor Barth in range.  42 yards.  Golden. Carolina gets a huge win toward bowl eligibility.

The biggest win in Carolina football history. Buy the DVD.  Listen to the remix. Appreciate it, because the first one is the sweetest.

By the way, I called the win a month prior to the game.  And I called the score an hour prior to the game. "It's going to be 31 to 28," I told Frank and Brett.  Honest.

Coach Williams is right.  Today is a happy day.  Today, I became an NBA fan again.  Because there will be at least four more former Tar Heels to cheer for.
Sean, you were the workhorse that got it done in the post. When you pounded your chest at Indiana, we were there with you.
Raymond, you were the savior that exceeded lofty expectations. When you strode calmly to the free throw line to put the championship game out of reach, we were there with you.
Marvin, you were the missing piece to the national championship puzzle.  When you gathered the rebound and banked the go-ahead shot against Duke, we were there with you.  We smiled at your free throw routine, touching your fist to your tattoo for your mother before  you put us up 2.
You guys had the expectation of a national championship on your back from before Midnight Madness.  And you delivered.
Thanks.  And good luck.  We'll see you soon.

HeelsBlog readers, what are your memories of the guys that are saying goodbye (including Rashad)?

Be sure to read Adam Lucas' excellent article from today's Tar Heel Blue.

Yeah, I hate the NBA too, but I enjoy following our former Heels.  Here's a list of who's left in the playoffs.

Vince Carter - New Jersey Nets
The Nets will lose in 6 games or less to the Heat, unfortunately.

Rasheed Wallace & Coach Larry Brown - Detroit Pistons
Face the Sixers in the first round. Should be interesting, as it's a series featuring Brown against the team he took to the Finals a few years back.

Jerry Stackhouse - Dallas Mavericks
Nice 4/5 matchup between Mavs and Rockets. Jerry has been playing very well as the 6th man for Dallas.

Antawn Jamison & Brendan Haywood - Washington Wizards
Another good 4/5 matchup between Washington and the resurgent Chicago Bulls. Luol Deng and Chris Duhon play for the Bulls.  All the more reason for Washington to crush them.

Jeff McInnis just missed the playoffs with the Cavs (New Jersey claimed the #8 spot), but we almost had our famous "almost greatest team ever" with McInnis, Stackhouse, Wallace, Carter and Jamison represented in the NBA Playoffs.

P.S. If you ever wonder where Steve Bucknall or Dante Calabria are playing, check this website's ex-NCAA tracker. Some of the NBA stuff is outdated, but it's nice to know that our guys are out there.

Nick Horvath Revisited (Melchionni) hits that three to put Duke up 9 with under 3 minutes to play. You're doing what I'm doing.  Wherever you are, in the Dome, at home, at the bar, or in your car. You put your head down. 'Why can't we beat Duke?' No matter how good the Heels are in a given season, lately the Blue Devils have our number. They love to talk about streaks and however-many-out-of-the-last-15, but it really starts to get old. You don't want to drive home knowing we lost to Duke. You don't want to do anything knowing we lost to Duke. And no amount of throwing things will fix that.

Jawad gets a tip. Still seems a lost cause. Defensive stop. Marvin gets two free throws. Nelson misses the front of a 1 and 1. Okay. 73-68. May gets a basket plus one. 73-71. All of a sudden, it's not unreasonable. Raymond misses a runner. Ewing loses the ball at midcourt due to Noel's pressure (and probably some contact). Felton calls timeout with 27 ticks to go. Felton gets fouled on a drive. Makes the first. 73-72, Duke. Misses the second. The Blue Devils, with Shavlik Randolph having fouled out, have Patrick Johnson scrambling to grab the ball. He doesn't. Marvin Williams does. Shot. Bank. Net. Foul. Plus 1. Heels up 75-73. Redick misses, Ewing misses. May grabs the ball. Game.

ACC Regular Season Championship. How sweet it is.

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's not the end of the world as we know it.  But it feels close.  Marvin, Raymond and Sean have scheduled a press conference for Friday afternoon to announce their future plans. Things could change, of course, but generally press conferences aren't a good thing. I'm pretty confident David Noel is coming back, and he hasn't scheduled one.

We'll see what happens.  Whatever goes down, the Heels are the 2005 NCAA Champions.  And that doesn't happen often.  There are a number of players that left Chapel Hill early without having brought UNC a championship.  Antawn, Vince, Jerry, Rasheed, Joseph, etc.  Don't begrudge these kids.  Appreciate what you got.  I'll probably own a Sean May NBA jersey, and I hate the league.  So we'll see.  Next year should be interesting - a chance to see what Roy can do with limited resources.  Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

Picture this:  The Heels are sitting at 3-4, needing to win 3 of their final 4 games to get to 6 wins and bowl-eligibility. Simple, right? Two of the four games are against Wake Forest and Duke. They're on the road, but definitely winnable. The other two are against Virginia Tech and Miami.  They're at home, but that's a definite "uh-oh." These are the two new ACC teams brought in to bring up the quality of football in the conference.  These aren't supposed to be winnable games.

But the Heels did win 3 of those 4, and went on to face an almost-BCS team in Boston College.  So they lost.  A trick play broke the Heels' backs.  But they were back in bowl business.  And it was good to get postseason workouts and postseason football.  Oh, and to see the seniors give it one last go in a Tar Heel uniform.

If you aren't an Ivory Latta fan by now, you haven't seen her play.  The sparkplug led the Heels with 26 points in an 88-67 romp over Duke in the ACC tournament final on March 7.

They'd played poorly in the first two rounds, just getting by Miami and Virginia.  But not so for the game against the Blue Devils.  I'd been worried that Duke would crush the Heels, who hadn't seemed to have their heads on straight for the tournament.  Perhaps looking ahead to the NCAA games in the Dean Smith Center?

The Heels shot the lights out, with even Camille Little (23 points) getting into the act from behind the arc.  Strong defensive play from Nikita Bell, La'Tangela Atkinson on the boards, and post play from Erlana Larkins with Leah Metcalf contributing off the bench.

It was a great day to be a Tar Heel.  The day after the men came back to beat the Blue Devils, the ladies followed up nicely with a huge win over a Duke team that wanted badly to beat the Heels.  Instead, they were badly beaten themselves.

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