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(04/23/09 4:00am)
One night at La Residence some random guy sat down next to me wearing a smile wider than the Gateway Arch.We got to talking and he explained that he attended New York University and was visiting Chapel Hill for the first time. Amid all the UNC basketball players and other athletes in the bar the dude was awestruck.That's because comparing NYU athletics to North Carolina's is like comparing my dribbling skills to Ty Lawson's.Found that out firsthand during my NYU college visit. The place doesn't have a patch of grass anywhere. As for sports teams? Might as well have been a junior college.Never even filled out an application.Later my mom and I visited UNC after the 2005 national championship. Must have been one of the happiest days of my life: sitting at Top of the Hill on a Kodak-moment spring day" understanding this place for the first time.""Mom"" I said, it would be pretty cool to go here.""Any out-of-stater can tell you" one question we always get is" ""What brought you here?""What didn't bring me here? UNC has a great journalism school" there might not be a better sports school in the country and the men's basketball team had just won a national title. (Cloudless spring days in the quad helped too.)Maybe the sports stuff seems trivial to you but it mattered to me big-time.And it mattered to that kid visiting from NYU too. He had never experienced anything like this. His face epitomized the MasterCard tagline: priceless.It took me the better part of two years to figure out what to write in this my last DTH column. Really there's only one thing left to write about. After graduation — May 10 for me" or whenever it is for you — ""UNC"" will take on a different meaning.Sometimes" we need to be past things to realize what they were when they were right in front of us. Going to UNC might not mean as much as having gone to UNC — life's weird that way.Wait until you don't get to be here everyday. Wait until you're not in class with future NBA players or sitting in the stands at Boshamer Stadium or merely wearing Carolina blue in an environment where everybody else is too.Wait until you're just visiting for the weekend like that NYU guy and you have a moment where it hits you like a light blue wave: There's no place like your home away from home.And UNC owes so much of that to its athletics. This University would lose a dominant chunk of its identity without its women's soccer dynasty its burgeoning football program or its highly competitive field hockey team.Nor would it be the same without superb club teams — such as the men's and women's rugby squads — or an extensive intramural program that includes such sports as inner tube water basketball doubles badminton and paper airplane launch.But let's be honest UNC always has been and always will be a basketball school. THE basketball school. And we were here for one of the greatest eras in Tar Heel history.Looking back experiencing The Tyler Hansbrough Era — aka The Era of the Lost Contact Lens — was a tremendous privilege. The winningest senior class in North Carolina's illustrious history. Let your mind chew on that. It started with a freshman season no one thought possible and ended with a national championship. Yes they did it" but did you see HOW they did it?There are countless Tar Heel fans across the country who never enjoy Chapel Hill's gifts firsthand.They never get to watch a game from the Smith Center or Kenan Stadium stands. Never get to rush Franklin Street. Never get to sing ""Hark the Sound"" arm-in-arm with thousands of dear" dear strangers.Don't take the ability to do such things for granted. The truth is most people never partake in something this special.I'm Sam Rosenthal and I'm forever proud to be a Tar Heel.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(04/02/09 4:00am)
Football fans tend to revisit past NFL drafts and assess which teams picked wisely and which ones picked busts (i.e. Ryan Leaf Akili Smith and the Detroit Lions' annual selection).When people reflect on the 2009 NFL Draft a few years from now UNC's Hakeem Nicks might go down as one of the draft's biggest steals.Most mock drafts have Nicks as the fourth wide receiver taken — after Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree Missouri's Jeremy Maclin and Florida's Percy Harvin. The experts see Nicks as a late first-round or early second-round selection.Any team that lands Nicks that late will be shoplifting worse than Winona Ryder. Nicks runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.4 seconds — not blazing but fast enough. And what he lacks in speed Nicks more than makes up for with his route-running pass-catching and game-changing abilities.In the open field he's tougher to take down than Wal-Mart and he makes more ridiculous grabs than a sex offender. His teammates say his game-day performances only hint at what they watch every practice. Both of ESPN's grand poobahs of NFL draft projections Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay like Nicks' prospects. Kiper ranks him as a mid-to-late first-rounder" with McShay projecting Nicks toward the end of the first round. McShay writes: ""I think Nicks ultimately will emerge as the second- or third-best receiver from the 2009 class.""Ditto.Yet many teams seem unsure of Nicks because he reportedly failed the Wonderlic (football's IQ exam). But he's passed all the live game tests he's taken so far. He further lowered his draft stock by gaining weight since the Combine. With some guys" that's cause for worry but not with Nicks. Hakeem in Kiper's esteem" ""won't wow you in a workout" but on game day" he makes the tough catches and is the type of player who wants the ball thrown his way in clutch situations.""In other words" No. 88 does things not represented by Combine stats. But he will become at the very least a solid possession receiver in the NFL for years to come. Pro teams will always want a receiver who delivers on 3rd-and-7 racks up yards after the catch and blocks well down field.Know what you call a guy with Hakeem Nicks' skill set in the NFL? Employed.In three years of college football Nicks excelled despite catching passes from Joe Dailey Cam Sexton T.J. Yates and Mike Paulus — none of whom played a full season during Nicks' time here. Yet Nicks led UNC in catches receiving yards and receiving touchdowns each season he played.In three-fourths of a normal college career Nicks set 14 UNC records including 181 career receptions2580 career receiving yards and 21 career touchdowns. And his numbers drastically improved from year to year.But Kiper addressed the most important thing about Nicks: He makes plays when it counts.At UNC Nicks coexisted well with other talented wideouts such as Jesse Holley Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.But when his team needed a true No. 1 receiver after Tate succumbed to a season-ending knee injury last year Nicks took over. Tate went down early against Notre Dame the biggest foe UNC had faced to that point. Nicks never missed a beat — he made nine catches for 141 yards and led his team to one of its greatest home wins in years. Nicks averaged 101 receiving yards and one touchdown per game in that game and the seven that followed.That stretch included an eight-reception 217-yard three-touchdown performance against West Virginia in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on the final day of Nicks' UNC career — the reason he's as high as he is on draft boards.Imagine: Had he not done that he could've gone in the late second third or even fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft.Then he'd really be one helluva catch.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(02/26/09 5:00am)
Parents send their kids to college so they can become — as the cliché goes — ""well-rounded individuals."" The same goes for college basketball stars. Sort of. Just as it took Joe Kegstand three semesters to understand what's meant by ""liberal arts curriculum"" it took Wayne Ellington three years to understand what's meant by non-shooting star.""He started school with a scorer's reputation"" a scorer's attitude and a scorer's nickname — ""The Rain.""When it rained (i.e." when his shot dropped in) it poured. But during droughts the rest of his game without the long-range shots often seemed like Britney Spears' vocals without the doctoring. This year" Ellington transitioned from on-or-off scorer to all-around consistent player. ""At the beginning of this season we saw a big difference in Wayne's overall floor game"" said Dewey Burke, who played for UNC during Ellington's freshman year and stays close with his former teammate. Others noticed as well — UNC coach Roy Williams has spoken after games about No. 22's non-shooting contributions this year. And Gary Williams, Maryland's coach, called Ellington the most improved Tar Heel from last year.What changed? He realized that basketball amounts to more than putting the ball in the basket.When I was a freshman and a little bit of my sophomore year" I relied on my shot a little bit" Ellington said in a press conference, and now I'm just getting to the basket some more" getting to the free throw line" rebounding a lot better and just doing other things.""When Ellington struggled with his shot during non-conference play this season" he still logged serious minutes as Burke said" ""because he was positively affecting the game in every other aspect.""But in ACC play"" he busted out like Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl. People look to his performance against Miami — when he hit eight shots in a row (seven from deep) — as his ""breakout game.""But not me. One game before that" against Virginia Ellington shot OK but he also hit five foul shots snatched eight rebounds and had five assists with zero turnovers.Since then he's averaged 18.3 points six rebounds and three assists per game. Well-rounded? You betcha.Ellington's current season averages for rebounds" steals and assist-to-turnover ratio surpass his previous career bests. But he elevated his play the most by crashing the offensive glass — filling the o-rebounding void caused by Marcus Ginyard's season-ending foot injury.Wayne ""The Pane"" had four offensive rebounds against Boston College. Three against Wake Forest and Clemson. Seven against Maryland. As a shooting guard. ""There's not really much to it"" you know?"" Ellington said. ""I'm not 6-5"350 anything like that" I'm just giving that little bit of extra effort to go get those loose balls and go get those offensive rebounds.""UNC needs that ""extra" given its unanticipated lack of depth.And as for Ellington's much-maligned defense? If you know where coach Williams wants players to be you see that Wayne has really improved at being in the right place" Burke said.Ellington said he feels more well-rounded now, and Burke backed him up.The maturation process that you can see in Wayne on the floor has been impressive"" he said. His ability to impact the game in ways other than scoring has really made him a complete player.""And for that" Mama and Papa Ellington must be proud — in his third year of college their Lil' Wayne is coming into his own.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/29/09 5:00am)
Pretend you're the guy who watches the Super Bowl to see football in between the commercials. (Okay maybe you don't have to pretend that hard.)But let's suppose that you're also the guy who wants more commercial time instead of a halftime show.Well picture this: A single riveting block of airwave transmission during halftime where sponsors pool their collective slogans jingles characters and celebrities into one epic narrative — a Supercommercial. Imagine …LeBron James turns off his alarm and rolls out of bed wearing a sharp" pin-striped suit. He takes a suave glance at his full-length mirror. ""Armani"" he says with effect. LeBron reaches his hand into his pocket and pulls out an iPhone. Screen turns pink save for LeBron's silhouette and headphones.Hokey Pokey plays. LeBron rocks out — right foot in, right foot out, right foot in … phone rings. LeBron does the nifty slide-to-unlock thingamajig, while an announcer recites: And now"" another priceless pep talk from Peyton Manning.""MasterCard logo appears. ""‘Bron" Peyton here. You are the King King James. All hail you" my man."" As Manning's talking" LeBron peeks back into the mirror and doesn't see himself — rather" it's Michael Jordan staring back.""You can't be the King until you dethrone the King" M.J. says.And if you want to be King" you need to emanate energy AND experience. Just For Men Touch of Gray will give you that.""""Now fly like an eagle"" King James."" The ""Space Jam"" hero tosses a can of Red Bull through the mirror to LeBron" who chugs it sprouts wings and takes off.In flight" LeBron passes a commercial plane. Camera cuts to shot of the cockpit. The pilot sees LeBron and shrieks like a banshee.""(Ding!) Wanna get away?"" LeBron lands at a T-Mobile store. ""I need a Sidekick"" he says. Inside, Beyonce approaches. Lemme upgrade ya"" she tells LeBron. He says he likes it, and he's gonna put a ring on it.He hands her a Red Bull, and they fly to Central Park.LeBron asks a duck, You know where the King is?"" ""Aflaac!"" He asks a lizard the same thing. ""Can't say I do" mate" but I can save you 15 percent on your auto insurance."" A polar bear gives LeBron a Coke. Finally"" a homeless dude doesn't know but asks LeBron for some change to buy a Whopper.""Aha!"" LeBron exclaims. Cut to a shot of Burger King headquarters.""I always liked Mickey D's better"" Beyonce says. Guess that makes me a Nuggnut.""They approach the building and find the BK King being his usual creepster self.LeBron whips out a Beer-zuka (self-explanatory) and opens fire.The King takes a Bud Light in the knee. ""The difference is drinkability" LeBron says. A Miller Lite to the stomach. I am the commissioner of the More Taste League" fool."" Loads a Coors Lite into the chamber. ""Silver Bullet's comin' for you now"" burger punk.""Then the King starts sobbing"" and a package of Milwaukee's Best Light crashes down on him like the Wicked Witch of the East. ""The King is dead"" LeBron says. Long live the King."" King James flashes his money-maker grin" throws out his arms in jubilation and the screen cuts to black.Look folks the Super Bowl halftime show — with old rockers singing ancient songs (no offense to Bruce Springsteen) — needs a major jolt. Something fresh something chock full of the Super Bowl ads people wait all year for. That something is the Supercommercial. Now am I an expert on TV ratings programming decisions and whatnot? Heck no.But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(11/21/08 5:00am)
It happened on Dec. 3" 2006 — a cold rainy Sunday in Cary. Sometime in the late afternoon the referee blew the final whistle on the North Carolina women's soccer season" and the Tar Heels bore the moniker ""National Champions"" for the 19th time in school history.One day later"" The Daily Tar Heel's front page headline read: ""Return to the Throne.""A ""return" because UNC had not won a national title since 2003. Big whoop" you might say. Well, consider this: North Carolina won 16 national championships from 1982-2000.Then, from 2001-05, UNC won that lone 2003 title and failed to reach the Final Four in the two years following it — the only two times that had happened in program history.UNC no longer seemed like the omnipotent power in women's college soccer. Huge ‘whoop.'But the 2006 Tar Heels posted a 27-1 record en route to a 2-1 championship victory against Notre Dame on that fateful Sunday. In the title game, UNC started seven freshmen in the second half — a school record. Those freshmen and a trio of sophomores accounted for 71 percent of the team's total minutes played in the game. So Return to the Throne"" not only referred to that championship but also alluded to a rebirth of UNC's women's soccer dynasty — who could stop these Tar Heels from winning four straight titles? In 2006" Yael Averbuch achieved first-team All-America status as a sophomore" and Tobin Heath and Casey Nogueira led that fresh-menacing class.""Coming off our season in 2006" I couldn't have imagined anything better Averbuch said. Going into the next season with the core of our team still intact" I kind of assumed that things would just continue the way they were.""But" in 2007 North Carolina lost three games in the regular season — unthinkable for a Tar Heel team — and had trouble scoring all year. Then UNC made its earliest exit ever from the NCAA Tournament losing in the third round at home to Notre Dame.The defeat hit the players like a soccer cleat to the face. They wanted to win four straight championships expected to even.But they needed to replace departing senior (and current U.S. Olympian) Heather O'Reilly who proved irreplaceable. As Joni Mitchell once wrote" ""Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?""And the 2006 magic was gone like the wind. ""No one really stepped up" and we needed someone to" Nogueira said. O'Reilly had been that someone. The 2007 Tar Heels lost their sense of humor, and practice became a chore instead of a joy. When that happens"" Averbuch said, you start to not perform as well as a team" and then it becomes even less enjoyable" and it kind of just was a downward spiral."" So the once-invincible Tar Heels confronted their own mortality" naivety and fallibility. They realized it takes more than talent alone to win titles. Everything clicked for them in 2006 but everything clacked in 2007. But in 2008 Heath said the team encountered both extremes. And when they met adversity the Tar Heels learned to overcome it.Time heals all wounds as they say. This weekend UNC returns to the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 — the round where the sky crashed down last year. Though the Tar Heels yearn to win three more games and claim their second championship — and you bet your bootstraps they do — the destination means far less to them than the ride. And that's what makes this team special.Whatever UNC lost from 2006 to 2007 — not just in talent" but in zany and stabilizing personalities — it regained this year. ""I don't want this season to end" Heath said. This is a really special team" and I want to just savor every minute and every moment.""But what if 2006 ends up as the only title they ever win? ""I would be completely satisfied and equally happy" Averbuch said. Honestly if I played all four years here and never won a national championship" I wouldn't care."" For these girls"" the memories matter more than the medals. ""Everyone thinks that this program is all about winning" Nogueira said. But when you leave this place the only thing you remember is the people that you played with" and the people that impacted your life and allowed you to grow as a person.""Sure" winning matters" but ""we win because we enjoy it so much"" Averbuch said. We don't enjoy it because of the wins.""So maybe the vaunted Classes of 2009 and 2010 will lead the Tar Heels on another ‘return to the throne"' and maybe they won't. Either way they're already champions. Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(10/15/08 4:00am)
UNC senior Alyssa Francona knows baseball curses.Her father" Terry" broke Boston's 86-year-old ""Curse of the Bambino"" during his first season as manager of the Red Sox in 2004. Before that" her dad managed in Philadelphia" a city plagued by the less-storied ""Curse of Billy Penn.""When city contractors made plans to erect the One Liberty Place skyscraper in 1984" they violated an unwritten code not to build higher than the statue of William Penn perched atop City Hall. In the 24 years since" no Philly team has won a major sports title.This brings us to the idea of the inferiority complex in sports. Fans in ""cursed"" towns grow accustomed to defeat" so much so that their teams' ineptitudes become a part of their identities: the lovable losers the perennial underdogs the little engines that couldn't in a million years.In no way did Francona's tenure in Philadelphia resolve the fans' neuroses. His Phillies teams stunk so foul they made burnt hair smell like fresh daisies.So the Phillies fired him after the 2000 season. In 2004 the Red Sox hired him.In Boston Alyssa said" ""one thing goes wrong"" and everyone's talking about history.""For Red Sox fans" memories remained fresh of the 2003 season's conclusion when manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the ALCS for too long. New York got an AL pennant Little got a pink-slip and Francona got a job. Though the Sox won the 2004 AL Wild Card" the fans expected a 2003-esque meltdown. ""They do that in Philadelphia" too Alyssa said. And (Mets fans) were doing the same stuff with the Mets" comparing them to last year."" Ah" the 2007 Mets who blew a seven-game division lead with 17 games to play. We'll return to that pivotal point later.For now back to the Sox who swept the Angels in the '04 ALDS but still had the New York monkey on their back.According to plan" the Yanks won the first three games of the ALCS. ""Then people really mailed it in"" Alyssa said. No one had ever come back from 3-0."" But the Red Sox took Games 4 and 5 in historic fashion"" and Curt Schilling pitched his legendary ""Bloody Sock"" victory in Game 6. In Game 7" the Sox took a huge lead and never looked back winning that game and then sweeping the Cardinals in the World Series.Alyssa said that Boston's unprecedented comeback against its arch-nemesis knocked down a mental barrier that had hung over the city for decades. The inferiority complex vanished overnight.So we see that breaking a sports curse requires nothing short of a miracle. Boston's 2004 ALCS victory altered the makeup of the sports universe — the cursed became the blessed. The cynics the believers.Harken back to the 2007 Mets' collapse which gave the Phillies their first division title since 1993 and drastically changed the NL East's dynamics. Down the stretch this year's Mets looked like the Phillies of old and the Phillies looked like the little engine that just might. Here's my thesis: When New York's AL team faltered against its bitter rival in 2004 Boston exorcised Babe Ruth's spirit and its inferiority complex.In 2007 New York's NL club fell to its mortal enemy. Though the Phillies lost in the playoffs last season the NL East shake-up set the stage for this year. Now on the brink of the city's first title in any major sport since 1984 Philly will try to ‘pull a Boston' and free itself from William Penn's ghost.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(09/23/08 4:00am)
During my Monday history class" I eavesdropped in on this kid talking about North Carolina football.""T.J. Yates is out for six weeks"" he said. That's bad news.""Yep. Yates' left ankle injury changes the entire complexion of North Carolina's season. When Virginia Tech's Orion Martin brought Yates to the ground Saturday" he also toppled the firm foundation on which Tar Heel football stood for the first time since Sisqo's heyday.If you asked me how much Yates mattered to this football team before the season" my answer probably would have been: ""Eh. He's no Tom Brady. Team's just as well off with Mike Paulus or Cam Sexton.""Not anymore.Paulus and Sexton might compare to Yates in talent. This year" though they both find themselves in Yates' cleats from last year: quarterbacks with modest potential precious little experience and immediate expectations.It recently dawned on me exactly what Yates brought to this program: stability. For the first time in my college years UNC had a week-in week-out reliable option at quarterback. Before Yates entered the picture last year the class of 2009 witnessed the likes of Matt Baker Joe Dailey and Sexton (on his first go-round).But as well as Yates played during his first season (setting the school record for single-season passing yards and tossing 14 touchdowns)" he still made some ""rookie mistakes.""It took Yates until the Rutgers and Va. Tech games to convert me into a believer.A particular moment arose Saturday when Yates rolled out of the pocket to his right" pursued by Hokie defenders. Instead of forcing a pass into tight coverage or taking a sack he threw the ball away like a savvy veteran.I turned to one of the sportswriters next to me in the press box and said" ""You know"" Yates finally looks like a bona fide quarterback.""Then" as they say he done went and got hurt. Great timing Chief. Once Paulus came in he found himself in a similar pickle (sour dill — the worst kind of pickle). With his team trailing 20-17 Paulus led UNC down the field on a well-constructed fourth-quarter drive.But in field-goal range he committed a cardinal sin: While rolling to his right Paulus could have passed to Anthony Elzy for a decent gain thrown the ball away or — at the very worst — taken a sack and still given Jay Wooten a chance to kick for a tie score. Instead he went for the grand slam tried to hit Hakeem Nicks for a touchdown and ended up throwing an interception near the goal line. It eerily brought Dailey to mind. (Sorry Tar Heel fans — had to go there.)Not that Paulus will necessarily conjure images of Dailey each week if he's the starter or that he and Sexton are incapable of running the offense. Paulus and Sexton could — possibly but not likely — step up and play the way Yates did last season. That would more than suffice this year.You will hear the UNC coaches and players harp on how many reps these guys take in practice each week how they took all the snaps in spring ball while Yates rehabbed a shoulder injury and how the team feels completely comfortable with either one under center.You will hear all that. You should not buy all that.Buy some of it — this team's wide receivers and defense alone could decide some games in UNC's favor. The situation could be far worse — it's nowhere near time to mail in the season yet.But here's the rub: At his Monday press conference" Yates talked about Paulus' performance. He said that the in-game experience of Hokie defenders blitzing Paulus like a 300-Spartan regiment differs from any practice simulation. Yates said that Paulus needs the chance to learn from his mistakes and that ""he'll come along.""But UNC cannot afford to wait for a quarterback to come along. Not this year.That waiting period of maturation occurred last season with Yates" who opened this year as a capable field general of a team ready to march.Yates' injury comes at the worst possible time for UNC right when the program seemed ready to assert its legitimacy at the national level. Had Yates stayed healthy Saturday the Tar Heels — already 2-0 for the first time since 2000 — likely would have preserved their lead and moved to 3-0 for the first time since 1997. Unlike the past few UNC teams — who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory time and time again — this season's squad seemed like it knew how to win football games. Against McNeese State in their first game the Tar Heels gritted out an ugly victory. Then they trounced Rutgers in New Jersey for the school's first out-of-state win in six years. And they showed superior talent against Va. Tech.Never in my days here had a Tar Heel team radiated such confidence — swagger even. Football teams need that.Yates helped give them that. To this point in the season he ranks tied for first in the ACC in passing touchdowns with six third in passing yards with 207.7 per game and he has thrown only one interception — Paulus surpassed that mark in one quarter. Instead of 3-0 with a healthy starting quarterback and all the confidence in the world the Tar Heels now 2-1 must revisit the uncertainty growing pains and ghosts of seasons past.Yep.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(08/27/08 4:00am)
Mind-boggling.
What a terrific term. Makes you smile just to say it.
In the sports world, we seldom encounter true mind-bogglers - feats stupendous enough to flummox you worse than Paris Hilton holding a paper that reads "turn over" on both sides.
At the Beijing Olympics, we encountered one such diamond in the rough: the number 9.69.
As in 9.69 seconds, or the time it took Jamaica's Usain Bolt to run the 100-meter dash.
Nine-point-six-nine. Turned that sucker over in my head a million times (felt just like Paris). Nine-point-six-effing-nine!
Do you realize how fast that is?
For perspective, 100 meters equates to 328 feet, 1 inch. So on average, Mr. "Lightning" Bolt covered 33 feet, 10 inches every second of the race.
Look at a spot about 30 feet away from you, and imagine being able to get there in a single second. That's so fast it makes Barry Sanders look like Barry White.
Yet Bolt actually slowed down at the end of the race. Dragged his feet, threw out his arms in celebration and still became the first man to run the hundred in less than 9.7 seconds.
Consider my mind thoroughly boggled.
But 9.69 was merely the first world record Bolt set in Beijing (breaking his own mark, of 9.72 seconds). He followed up his 100-meter insanity with an equally ridiculous run in the 200 meters.
Bolt crossed the finish in 19.30 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson's world record from the 1996 Atlanta Games by 0.02 seconds. You probably remember when Johnson set that record; people deemed it unbreakable.
Bolt broke it while running into the wind, this time without letting up at the end. Nobody else in the race fared the slightest chance of beating him; it was Bolt versus Johnson all the way. And as he surpassed the first man to win the 200m and 400m at the same Olympics, Bolt also became the first to sweep the 100m and 200m since Carl Lewis - and Bolt alone won both events in world record time.
Then, in the 4x100 meter relay, Bolt earned another gold medal. He ran the race's third leg faster than an electrical current and, along with his fleet-footed Jamaican teammates, obliterated the field en route to another world record finish of 37.10 seconds (0.30 seconds faster than the U.S. team in 1993).
Oh, and Usain Bolt turned 22 in Beijing. Makes a certain 21-year-old feel like, well, an underachiever.
But IOC President Jacques Rogge lambasted Bolt for over-celebrating and not congratulating his competitors. Rogge said, "That's not the way we perceive being a champion," in response to Bolt's claiming "I am No. 1" and his catch-me-if-you-can attitude.
There's something to be said for that. Upon reviewing Bolt's races, the Jamaican jackrabbit certainly could have acted more sportsmanlike. After Johnson set his 200-meter world record, he hugged the other racers in appreciation.
But in this age of egocentric superstars, sportsmanship often goes by the wayside whether we like it or not.
And you know what? Bolt is No. 1. Catch him? They couldn't. No matter how Rogge perceives a champion, he cannot deny that Bolt indeed is one.
So let's put "Lightning" Bolt's performance into context:
Sprinting must have been one of humanity's earliest forms of competition. Some dude probably turned to another dude and said, "Hey, see that spot over there? Bet I can get there before you." So easy a caveman could do it.
That said, we have no knowledge of anyone, ever, being better at getting to a spot 100 meters or 200 meters away than Usain Bolt.
You know the aphorism "There's always a bigger fish?" Well, right now, in the ocean of sprinting - one of the oldest oceans in the world of athletic competition - Bolt is the Kraken, Moby Dick and Leviathan rolled into one. There has never been a bigger fish.
Mind-boggling.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu
(04/25/08 4:00am)
Once upon a freshman or sophomore year, Kelly Davies approached me, her mind ill-at-ease.
Davies, a volleyball player, needed to vent about a former Sports Desker's article, which struck her as, um, a teensy bit insensitive.
"There was some opinion piece about what student-athletes should be taking at Carolina," Davies rehashed with me last week. "And it said that they should be taking a modified - what does modified mean? - exercise and sports science curriculum.
"And basically the reason that they should take this is that they can't read, and they're incapable - which is bullshit."
Reading that out of context, you might incorrectly label Davies an Ebenezer Scrooge. She's actually as genial as Santa Clause - a bona fide extrovert. But as a varsity volleyball player who also spent one year of college as Jane Student, undue criticism of student-athletes boils her blood.
But this criticism exists because of the noticeable schism on campus between athletes and the rest of us - aka "normies," "civilians."
Athletes walk around in their team gear. (Wearing free Nike gear makes no sense at all.) They live together and throw team parties. (Not like you'd ever live or socialize with people you see daily.) And they even eat lunch together. (Sometimes in large parties.)
Granted, some athletes strut about with more pomp than a peacock, but a few bad apples do not a rotten orchard make.
Yes, some student-athletes ride for free on scholarships, but just as many - possibly more - walk on and pay tuition.
Rachel Schneider, a junior gymnast, said, similarly, "Yeah, people love coming to all the events, but they think that athletes in the class somehow don't do all of the work or aren't as smart."
Said Bobby Frasor, the basketball team's Scholar Athlete of the Year: "Some students don't realize how much time and effort we put into this program, so they don't like it if we get advantages. Like, we get to register for classes early because we can't take any classes between 2 and 5 because we're in practice."
Folks, the yuck stops here.
By and large, student-athlete Tar Heels comprise a remarkable group of individuals who must invest more time in their sport than any scholastic concentration.
"I tell people that all the time," Davies said. "People ask me what I'm majoring in at Carolina, and I'm like, 'Uh, volleyball.'"
At UNC, being a student-athlete means sacrificing a part of yourself to a team, 24/7. It means a part-time, volunteer job, often with weekend shifts - during the off-season. It means somehow fitting schoolwork in. And it means forgetting about going home.
"Home? Never," Frasor said. "Fall Break, we're here; Winter Break, we're here; Spring Break, we're here."
Pictures of you line the walls of every Franklin Street restaurant. Six-year-olds wait in line after games - no matter the sport - for your autograph. Each year, thousands of college applicants choose UNC, largely thanks to the prestige the athletic program has conferred upon the University.
Lastly, being a student-athlete means that you can, in fact, read.
"One of my teammates is as pre-med as you can get here at Carolina," Davies said as she concluded her venting. "There's many of us who've gotten into this school without any help from an athletic program."
Lest you forget: There are more than 380,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(04/18/08 4:00am)
How aboot this: It's hockey time.
The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs commenced last week, and with it the indelible image of the toothless grin is brought into our living rooms once again.
Hockey, old friend, how we missed thee.
After the NHL's 2004-2005 lockout and ESPN's decision not to renew its contract with the league, professional American hockey skated - pardon the pun - on thin ice.
An afterthought in the sports world in the years that followed, NHL games aired on the Outdoor Life Network, and snippets of highlights on SportsCenter represented all the pucking coverage fans saw.
But in light of this year's playoffs, a new hope gleams for the Neglected Hockey League - if someone decides to take a chance on it once again.
Now, the league still faces many of the problems it did prior to the lockout, such as a number of teams in markets that could support their teams much better.
But the NHL now stands in a superior position to succeed than it did prior to the lockout, for two main reasons: new rules and new players.
After the lockout, the "new NHL" began to take shape. Knowing their product needed some revamping to overcome the fans' apathetic attitude toward the sport, the league's officials devised a number of regulations which changed gameplay significantly.
The new NHL rules instituted shootouts if games remain tied after regulation and a five-minute overtime period. Additionally, the rules allowed for two-line passes, increased the area of the offensive zones and reduced the dimensions of goalies' equipment.
All of this created a faster speed of play and higher scoring games - two aspects that appeal more to the American public, which prefers score-a-thon sports such as football and basketball to chess matches such as soccer and the old NHL.
As the new NHL rules successfully energized the game and opened the nets, so too did a generation of incoming players revitalize the league's talent corps and image.
Young guys such as the Carolina Hurricanes' Eric Staal and the Ottowa Senators' Dany Heatley, along with a slew of others, quickly established themselves in the NHL's upper tier of players.
But three names, especially, impacted the league. The surnames Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin mean as much for the NHL's future as James, Paul and Oden mean for the NBA's.
Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguin's Sidney Crosby and the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin each surpassed the 100-point plateau - as rookies.
The next season, the Penguins added Evgeni Malkin, who scored 85 points in his freshman campaign while Ovechkin scored 92 and Crosby - thanks to a 120-point year - won the league's Most Valuable Player Award.
Which brings us to the 2008 playoffs: Watch them, and you might see hockey in a new light.
The new rules and young stars, combined with lots of parity in both conferences, have made for excellent postseason play.
People always claimed that watching hockey in person makes true fans, and that holds true, but the old NHL struggled because it translated poorly to television - one of the main reasons the NFL took off in the past couple decades stems from football's excellent compatibility with TV.
Now the NHL is more boob-tube friendly than ever before, but a family of meerkats on Animal Planet receives more exposure than the league's regular season.
The playoffs almost entirely left off major networks, but they are getting enough airtime for people to notice the sport's new attitude.
Ideally, the major networks will notice as well, as one of them should try at least a tentative contract to air the NHL all year long.
The league stands poised to make a comeback, but it needs the proper coverage to flourish.
So, ESPN, what do you say . eh?
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu
(04/10/08 4:00am)
So you may have noticed that North Carolina coach Roy Williams donned a garish sticker during the NCAA title game that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Kansas Jayhawks' logo.
OK, it was a Kansas Jayhawks' logo, and you definitely noticed. And you strongly disapproved.
In the days following the game, the sticker covering Williams' breast became the subject of almost as much discussion as the one that didn't cover Janet Jackson's during that Super Bowl halftime show.
Take a chill pill, Tar Heel fans. Williams erred, for sure, but cut the man a break.
The issue here stems from a disconnect between outsiders - fans and the media - and insiders - coaches and players.
Sometimes, we outsiders overdramatize the sentimental side of sports, but sometimes coaches and players regard it too lightly.
In this case, Williams made a foolish decision to wear the KU emblem and in no way anticipated the potential fallout (let's hope not, at least).
While Williams had his reasons - we'll get to those later - he had no sensitivity to the situation.
Had he simply shown up and cheered for Kansas, sans the sticker, people would have cared much less.
But his transgression, in fans' eyes, went beyond the sticker: A broken clock had better timing than Williams on Monday.
If UNC had lost to Memphis or UCLA in the semifinals, and Williams supported KU in the finals, Tar Heel fans would have probably been all about their coach rooting against the team that knocked off UNC.
But he rooted for the team that did knock off UNC only two days earlier. For many fans, simply looking at a Jayhawk logo, or watching them win, made them see-sick.
Viewing it on their beloved coach's chest must have hit many as hard as Kansas' victory against North Carolina did itself.
So yes, Williams goofed. Now forgive and forget.
As he failed to understand the fans' perspective, so too did the fans misread the situation.
Students: Williams spent almost as much time at Kansas - 15 years - as you've been on this planet.
He won four National Coach of the Year Awards as a Jayhawk. He took KU to four Final Fours.
And then he left. He abdicated his throne in Lawrence, Kan., in favor of one here in Chapel Hill. Before you blame him for "Sticker-gate," remember that fact.
Williams is coaching your team, and for one night decided to wear a KU sticker. Would you rather he was coaching their team, and for one night wore a UNC sticker?
You'd likely be short a 2005 national championship trophy.
Moreover, Williams' action - misguided as it was - showed his unwavering class. Kansas played a huge role in making him the man who you all go wild for at the Smith Center, and he decided to pay homage to the years he spent there.
Don't question whether he focused enough on the game or whatever other ridiculous claims people have made over the past few days: Williams loves UNC, bleeds Carolina blue and you bet your bum wanted that game as badly as any of you did.
But, in defeat, he treated his old program with the same sportsmanship he always exemplifies. That doesn't mean he puts Kansas first, or that he wants to return to Lawrence now.
Besides, no way would Kansas replace the coach who brought them a title with the one who never did.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu
(03/26/08 4:00am)
North Carolina opened its 2007-2008 men's basketball season with a nonconference game against the Davidson Wildcats on Nov. 14.
That night the Southern Conference juggernaut, located near Charlotte and boasting a student body of about 1,700, gave the nation's top-ranked squad a tremendous scare.
The back-and-forth game stayed close throughout, and Davidson led for much of the second half before UNC eked out a 72-68 win.
After the game, one obnoxiously loud bar patron at Four Corners said to his buddies, "I told you North Carolina isn't that good - they almost lost to Davidson."
Biting my tongue hurts, so my words deliberately reached said bozo's ears: "Or maybe it just means that Davidson is that good."
Clearly, he missed Davidson's performance in the 2007 NCAA Tournament when freshman shooting guard Stephen Curry scored 30 points in a valiant loss to a solid Maryland Terrapins team.
Read on and eat crow, Bozo.
Last Friday, 10-seed Davidson upset seventh-seeded Gonzaga, 82-76. Stephen Curry, son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, dropped 40 points on the Bulldogs - 30 in the second half - and carried Davidson to its first NCAA Tournament victory in 39 years.
Sunday my dad took me to Raleigh for the second round of March Madness. We bought the tickets to watch the Tar Heels play the second game. We saved the stubs because we saw the Wildcats in the first one.
Davidson, an underdog playing in its home state, faced two-seed Georgetown, a powerhouse playing in front of Tar Heel fans who vividly remembered losing to the Hoyas in last year's Elite Eight.
"Pops," I said, "this is a road game for Georgetown."
But in the first half the underdog - Georgetown's small cheering section - made itself heard as the Hoyas held Curry to five points and entered halftime with a 38-27 lead.
Early in the second half Davidson trailed by as many as 17 points, and Georgetown's defenders shadowed Curry's every move.
The sophomore Wildcat's teammates stood around and waited for their savior to turn water into wine.
"Son," Papa Rose said, "Georgetown's defense looks too good."
Davidson's goose was cooked. Its curtains, closed. Its daisies, pushed up.
Then Curry walked on water - or at least the basketball equivalent.
Down the stretch, he found a lot more open space - and mesh netting. It seemed as though the rim told him, "Okay, Stephen, my lid is off now. Fire away."
He scored 25 second-half points, reminding me of LeBron James versus the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.
As Curry ignited a la King James, so did the other Wildcats, who realized that - Eureka! - they can score, too. As a team, they turned a 17-point deficit into a five-point lead with 2:56 to play.
The fans also fed off Curry. One of my tournament brackets had Georgetown picked to make the Final Four, but my vocal chords wore themselves out for Davidson.
"It's hard not to get caught up rooting for them," Pops said.
The more you watched, the more you wanted - no, needed - Davidson to pull off the upset.
The seconds ticked by like snail steps, but the Wildcats never faltered. After they won, 74-70, their bench cleared, and they stormed center-court.
In the middle of the throng, a 20-year-old kid with a 15-year-old's face pranced around like a 10-year-old on a playground, and the RBC Center joined him for recess.
In person I've never seen a comparable individual performance. Basketball fans across the nation, especially in North Carolina, will remember it for years.
You know what, though? Maybe Bozo was right to slant UNC for almost losing to Davidson. Maybe Davidson and Stephen Curry aren't really all that good.
After all . they almost lost to Georgetown.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(02/28/08 5:00am)
We now watch as weird Daily Tar Heel guy goes to fence.""Thus spoke David Winer" member of the UNC fencing team.Yes UNC has a fencing team.And yes I" ""weird Daily Tar Heel guy"" went to fence.Tuesday afternoon, I called fencing coach Ron Miller and asked if I could fence with the team.An hour later, I waltzed into Fetzer Gym and looked around. I saw fencers lined up in pairs, going at it like starved Frenchmen fighting over the last bite of a crepe.When they spotted me, their faces all said the same thing: Weird Daily Tar Heel guy is toast.It took a couple tries to simply get my jacket on correctly (with assistance, no less). Next, they pulled a glove onto my sword hand so that my opponent's blade couldn't travel up my sleeve and puncture my lung. Terrific!Then I learned that fencing involves three weapon classes - sabers, foils and epees. Horrific!How much does it hurt?"" I asked Winer"" a freshman (and a seasoned saber-ist like myself).""It depends who's hitting you"" he said.Who would be hitting me? Will Randolph, a senior who started fencing at age 10. Looks like former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, but built like a Volvo - no questions about his safety. As for mine ...You're gonna get killed" said freshman Dylan Hubbard.But I couldn't die honorably until I learned the basics.If you can't pick it up you're not as smart as some 6-year-olds I've coached" Randolph said.Sam Rosenthal: Are you smarter than a first-grader?Randolph taught me in 30 minutes what usually takes a few hours a day for a few days to learn - like a fencing Maymester.First, we covered movement: advancing, retreating, lunging and tripping (not a usual fencing movement).Then we touched on basic parry positions for the saber. Parrying means, basically, Stop the pointy metal thing from hitting you.""A lesson in attacking followed" and Randolph let me hit him repeatedly - while questioning the masculinity of my blows.Ultimately the lesson on attacking proved pointless as did the one on parrying. But the lesson on butt-whipping left an impression. Actually many impressions.See after my brief tutorial Randolph suggested that we fence each other" like Muhammad Ali challenging Steve Urkel in boxing.I handed my recorder to Winer and Hubbard (wanting to document my final minutes on Earth).Will Randolph ... Weird Daily Tar Heel guy ... En garde!I lunged; he dodged. He lunged; I cringed. I struck; he parried. He struck; I cried. And the peanut gallery loved every minute of it.""He's scared to hit Will" and I'm pretty sure he's afraid of getting hit Winer said.You got that right.Someone in this normal position wouldn't be fencing right away" Winer said. The average person can't just go in and fence.""This average person tried to ""just go in and fence."" This average person looked" as Hubbard put it" ""like a stupid fish.""Winer added"" ""A fish out of water - aka you don't belong here.""However" for a single glimmering moment I belonged. Somehow on one pass" my saber touched Randolph before his contacted me. Score one for the Samster!That was it. Final score: 20-1.""But you had that one beautiful touch" Randolph consoled me.Removing my mask and jacket felt like exiting a sauna. I collapsed onto a chair and asked Miller if he watched our bout. I did a little bit. You were moving pretty well" the coach said. It's hard to grasp the concepts of the sport in a few minutes. ... (Fencing) is chess at the speed of boxing. I saw he was nice - he didn't hurt you.""No offense" Coach but my arms and back want a rebuttal.Or as we fencers say a repose.Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/25/08 5:00am)
Few things resonate with Americans' sense of core values as much as rooting for the underdog. After all, this nation derives its principles from the American Revolution, "The Little Engine That Could" and "Fievel Goes West."
This year, especially, people love the underdog - aka all of the New England Patriots' opponents. Millions of Americans loathe the Pats, thanks to years of pent-up jealousy and a video-taping scandal that many claim "taints" their perfect regular season.
Want some cheese with that whine?
The Patriots may be as far from underdogs as Tyler Hansbrough against yours truly one-on-one, but rooting against New England in Super Bowl XLII is un-American.
More than underdog victories, America prides itself on great achievements, and the Patriots' season certainly qualifies.
Here's an underdog - the guy reasoning with people to root for New England. So listen up, Brick Wall.
First, if the Pats win Super Bowl XLII and finish the season with a flawless 19-0 record, you can tell your grandkids, "When I was your age, I watched a man with a chin as chiseled as 'David' put together the season to define all others."
But the Patriots need to win the Super Bowl to be "the best team ever." Had the 1972 Dolphins lost to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, they would not be "The 1972 Dolphins" as we know them.
If the 2007 Patriots beat the Giants, they are "The 2007 Patriots" for eternity. And you will have lived through every game.
Second, the Patriots were incontrovertibly the best team in football this season. If the Giants win the Super Bowl, it's a travesty.
See, the best team does not always win the championship in its respective sport.
Many times, yes, the best team wins the World Series, NBA Finals, Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, and all is right with the world. But sometimes the hottest team wins, or the one that suffered the least injuries or the one that survived because of a ground ball through Bill Buckner's legs.
If the Giants beat the Patriots, that hardly makes them the best team in football this season. The Patriots earned that distinction long ago, before the playoffs, arguably before they even completed their perfect regular season by beating the G-Men the first time.
Nobody but the Pats deserve this title. If the Giants win, they should tell their grandkids that they stole one from the best team ever.
Lastly, don't hate the players - hate the game.
If you root for a professional football team, chances are you have at least one excruciatingly painful memory of a loss to New England during the past few seasons.
Remember Super Bowl XXXIX?
Philadelphia Eagles fans, like myself, wish they didn't. The Pats defeated the Birds 24-21 and won their third Super Bowl in four years. Now many Eagles supporters despise the Patriots, as do Colts fans, Dolphins fans, Panthers fans and virtually anyone living outside of the greater Boston area.
The Patriots, though, deserve respect, not rancor. As much as one can ask of a modern professional team, they play unselfishly and win with class. The franchise strives for the Super Bowl yearly - most teams are content to sell tickets.
The Pats lost last year's AFC title game but had no interest in trying again with the same personnel.
Instead they added Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth to revamp their Achilles' heel of a receiving corps.
Those moves turned an excellent team into the best in NFL history. If New England wins one more game, They Are Legend.
So one week from Sunday, remember - Uncle Sam wants YOU to root for the Patriots.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/16/08 5:00am)
Hey there, sports fans, and welcome back. Glad to provide you with in-class reading material once again.
It's a new year, and a promising one for the sports world. Assuredly, a number of incredible things will occur, ranging from the remarkable to the reprehensible. With an eye turned toward the future, here is a list of predictions for 2008:
(11/28/07 5:00am)
It's the most wonderful time of the year:
Not the holiday season. College basketball season. In hoops heaven. Home of the most professional team North Carolina offers to fans - or the state's most professional fan base offered to a team.
You call the Bobcats, Panthers and Hurricanes the pro teams of this town? Stop kidding yourself. People here only know a couple of the Charlotte Bobcats - Ray Felton and Sean May - because they played for UNC. On Sundays, more bar patrons show up to represent the Arizona Cardinals' Matt Baker or the High Times Herbologists' Ricky Williams than Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers (If you missed the jokes in that sentence, re-read the words "Carolina Panthers"). Did you know that the Carolina Hurricanes won a Stanley Cup in 2006? Well, now you do.
But you know all about the Tar Heels' five championship trophies. Why? Because despite their amateur status, the Tar Heels do what your pro teams should, but don't:
They bring people together like Mr. Hankey, "the Christmas Poo," brings South Park, Colo., together.
Pro teams need fan bases that care. Say what you want about my hometown Philadelphia fans, but at least they give half a Mr. Hankey about their Phillies, 76ers, Flyers and Eagles. For instance, chants of "E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!" commonly serenade street walkers on Sundays, subway riders on Tuesdays and Phillies game attendees on May days.
At home, the question: "Are you watching the game tonight?" pertains to one of the four teams, depending on the season and their chances of not finishing last - it never takes an NFC Championship trip or a Stanley Cup Finals berth to rally fans around a team.
When you ask: "Are you watching the game tonight?" in Chapel Hill, the question pertains to Roy's Boys. The only answer: "Um, duh. Do I look like I live under a rock?"
UNC resembles a manic-depressant, and basketball season marks the "manic" phase. The fall semester often becomes an episode of "Survivor: North Cackalacky," but the spring semester puts the "Heaven" after the "Chapel Hill."
By the time March arrives, you'd think Campus Health Services prescribed Prozac for everyone.
The men's basketball team ignites the school like an overturned Bunsen burner in Venable Hall. The Student Union's once studious crowd morphs into a TV-glued horde, and fans suddenly remember: "Oh, that's why we hate Duke!"
'Tis the season .
While UNC fans sometimes invite their Durhamite friends to football games, anyone swaggering into Four Corners in a J.J. Redick jersey should expect no hospitality from people who want to name their sons "J.J. Redick" . and beat them every day.
Hansbrough and Co. legitimize Chapel Hill's sports town reputation like Texas A&M and the University of Arkansas legitimize Butch Davis' contract extension.
Chapel Hill might lack a professional team, but the posters adorning every Franklin Street dining area tell a different story. Here, the college basketball team gains national recognition and warms the heart of even the biggest Grinch (And how can a master thief not appreciate Ty Lawson's pilfering prowess, honestly?).
One week after Thanksgiving, remember how few college basketball programs ever enjoy No. 1 rankings (even co-No. 1 rankings). Take the Bobcats, Panthers and Hurricanes for granted all you want, but never underestimate the Tar Heel hoopsters' eggnog-esque effects on campus life.
Happy Holidays, and sing those carols:
Hansbrough the red-nosed for-ward, had a very bloody nose .
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(11/16/07 5:00am)
Late in the second-half of the North Carolina women's basketball team's 92-63 victory against Coppin State on Friday night, senior point guard Alex Miller suffered a serious knee injury.
Although Miller must undergo medical examinations before anything is certain, head coach Sylvia Hatchell said it's possible Miller might miss the rest of the season.
UNC led by more than 15 points with about six minutes remaining when Miller received an outlet pass in transition. Miller had streaked ahead of everyone else on the court, and nobody stood between her and the basket. But as she prepared to make her lay-up, Miller's legs buckled forward before she ever took the shot.
The severity of the injury made itself apparent immediately to the Carmichael Auditorium crowd, which stopped cheering for one of few occasions all night. As most of the Tar Heels huddled near their bench, senior Erlana Larkins helped the athletic trainers in carrying Miller off the court.
UNC possesses excellent depth at point guard, but precious little experience without Miller's veteran leadership. Hatchell said that her freshmen guards - especially Cetera DeGraffenreid and Italee Lucas - will need to step up in a hurry and lead the team.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(10/24/07 4:00am)
Welcome, members of the Church of Baseball. The World Series airs tonight on Fox, and that means no more Dane Cook "There's only one October" commercials on TBS. Hallelujah! More cause to rejoice: The Boston Red Sox vs. Colorado Rockies matchup blesses baseball fans like Sunday mass (first, eat the Tostito, then drink the Bud Light).
If you missed the early playoff action, thank the heavens for this World Series breakdown, complete with a revelation of who should win - on (news)paper. Please rise.
Starting Lineups: The Red Sox and the Rockies boast two of the best lineups in baseball, each with a number of sluggers and clutch supporting casts.
Bostonian bombers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have hit .387 and .400 in the playoffs, respectively, and combined for seven homers and 20 runs batted in.
Bolstering Beantown's attack are third baseman Mike Lowell (who posted career-best numbers of .324 average, 21 HR, 120 RBI), imposing first baseman Kevin Youkilis and sensational rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
During the regular season, Rockies hitters assaulted and battered National League pitching worse than Mike Tyson on steroids and Jack Daniels. Averaging the stats of Colorado's Matt Holliday, Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins, Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki as a group , you get a .309 average with 26 HR and 111 RBI.
But in the playoffs, only Holliday continued his superhuman slugging. Helton, Tulowitzki and Atkins have hit .154, .179 and .185 in the postseason. The Rockies' strength lies in their lineup, and they cannot depend on pitching to bail them out again.
Starting Pitchers: This hinges largely on which Rockies pitchers show up - the regular-season rotation, with every starter's earned run average more than 4.00, or the postseason bamboozlers who posted a sub-2.50 ERA in two series.
Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Fogg mystified their last two opponents, but they lack experience. Jimenez, a midseason call-up, possesses nasty stuff, but he needs serious willpower to harness it on this stage. And Colorado places high hopes on Aaron Cook, slotted to start Game 4 - his first appearance since early August.
In any case, the Red Sox hold the advantage. ALCS MVP Josh Beckett's postseason ERA, 1.17, reflects his talent, which nobody on Colorado's staff can match. Curt Schilling represents more playoff experience than the entire Rockies' rotation, and he pitches big games as well as anyone.
The Rockies' best chances are beating up on Dice-K and Jon Lester (the injured Tim Wakefield's replacement), but they still stack up better than Fogg and Morales.
Bullpens: This one is a tossup. Both clubs excel at stifling opponents in the late innings, especially in the playoffs thus far.
Colorado's middle relief might be a notch better and deeper, and closer Manny Corpas baffles hitters.
But Boston's setup man/closer combination of Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon is the best in the bigs - nobody has scored on either in the playoffs.
X Factors: Both teams enter the Series hotter than Eva Longoria in a sauna. Boston rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Cleveland Indians, and the Rockies won 21 of the last 22 combined regular season and playoff games. But Colorado last played more than a week ago, and that kind of layoff doomed the Detroit Tigers last season.
In addition, Boston won a World Series in 2004. Most of the Rockies have never been to the playoffs. More than anything, that makes Boston the clear overdog to win.
But that's why they play the games. You may be seated.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(10/10/07 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Saturday's victory over Miami was arguably one of North Carolina football's greatest wins since the Tar Heels last defeated the fourth-ranked Hurricanes in 2004.
Here are two excerpts from the 2004 Associated Press game story:
(09/26/07 4:00am)
In case you missed the memo: UNC's field hockey team is currently No. 1 in America.
What, that doesn't rev your engine? Well let me tell you about a place that prides itself on the strength of its field hockey team - which is currently the strength of UNC's team as well.
That place, Eastern High School, is a public school in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. South Jerseyans know Eastern for its field hockey team, just as they know Berlin Township for breeding Eastern's best players. Many know Berlin as home of the Dawsons, arguably the best family of American field hockey players ever. Natalie Dawson played for the USA Field Hockey Women's National Team. Now, Sarah Dawson does.
And so does their sister, Rachel, who doubles as the Tar Heels' star player. In Sports Illustrated's Sept. 24 issue, she made the "Faces in the Crowd" page, which features college and high school athletes who recently excelled in their sports.
When I first introduced myself to Rachel Dawson, she was a face in the crowd at a UNC basketball game. I hadn't run into her since a different basketball game that took place more than five years ago.
On that day, I was the all-important 14th man on Eastern High School's freshman basketball team. My teammates and I anticipated a normal day of practice, but our coach told us to squeak our Jordans down the linoleum hallways until we reached the girls' gym.
We were scrimmaging the girls varsity team, with Rachel Dawson starting in the frontcourt.
One of us was a steam-powered locomotive of athleticism. The other was yours truly, making my only start of the year because my coach needed a hearty chuckle.
There was nothing humorous about the girls Reddi-Whipping us - don't bring it up or I'll go back to counseling - but I take comfort in knowing that Dawson-led teams have a tendency to win. By the time Rachel enrolled at Eastern, she had large cleats to fill - her sisters helped establish the school as one of the best field hockey programs in the country. All Rachel did was never lose a game in high school field hockey.
But she did experience losing at Eastern. The other teams she played for - lacrosse for two years and basketball for four all-conference seasons - paled in quality to the field hockey team. That team set a national record unbeaten streak that included Rachel's four years, and another streak - eight consecutive Group IV state titles - is still going.
Moreover, Eastern has not lost to a New Jersey opponent since 1998.
For this aspiring sports reporter on the Eastern Voyager staff, covering a team that never lost a game during my high school years proved difficult.
I mean, what is there to write? Field hockey team wins . again. Dawson leads the Lady Vikings . again.
That last bit - about Dawson leading the team in scoring - continued after Rachel left. The good thing about Berlin's most athletic family is its size - eight children. Meghan Dawson, the third-youngest, kept Eastern's state titles streak alive during her four years there and was named New Jersey Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. Hannah and Melanie Dawson now play for Eastern as well. While Hannah is headed to Michigan, there's always a chance the youngest might follow her sister to Chapel Hill.
Well, make that sisters, since Meghan accepted a field hockey scholarship to North Carolina after graduating last year.
Because Rachel played with the U.S. National Team in 2006, she returned as a fifth-year senior for Meghan's freshman campaign.
With two Dawsons on the roster, UNC field hockey is 11-0 and fresh off a 8-0 win against Davidson, which was the Tar Heels' sixth shutout in a row.
And here I am, reporting for the school newspaper, with one Dawson leading the No. 1 field hockey team in America and another emerging onto the scene. Their next loss could be a long way off.
To quote Yogi Berra: "It's deja vu all over again" for this face in the crowd.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.