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(09/12/07 4:00am)
Have you ever noticed that nobody cares that much when NFL players test positive for or admit to using steroids? Or have you observed that baseball players' steroid transgressions receive much harsher treatment by fans and the national media?
Only if you follow U.S. sports.
A glaring schism has appeared between the media and fan reactions to steroid users in baseball versus football.
When a baseball player faces mere allegations of steroid use, he is crucified by the media. Many fans turn on him as a cheater, thinking - much mistakenly - that only home-run hitters use steroids.
Lots of players using steroids are pitchers or guys trying to recover from injuries, but fans notice the home runs and the way they have changed the history of the game.
For baseball players tied in any way to steroids, no excuse seems valid. This is not so in the NFL
Last season the Chargers' Shawne Merriman earned a four-game suspension for testing positive for steroids. After returning to lead the league in sacks, Merriman - who claimed a supplement he took was tainted - finished third in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year.
This year the New England Patriots' Rodney Harrison was also suspended for four games after admitting that he used human growth hormone, though he said he has never taken steroids. Harrison said he turned to HGH to recover from injuries faster.
This should not fly. Alibis nobody believes about baseball players work wonders for football pros. In the cases of Merriman and Harrison, there was no public outrage, no BALCO-like investigation and no widespread conspiracy theory that football players are all cheaters. These guys can and have changed football history the way that baseball's sluggers do, it's just less obvious.
This double standard cannot exist. How you view steroid use by baseball players is how you should see it among football stars. Football players' morals - example: Michael Vick or the Cincinnati Bengals - are at least as low as baseball players', if not lower.
The players face tremendous pressure to try substances like HGH - for which neither league can test - because their contracts are largely based on incentives. The players' only task concerning substance abuse is to abide by league rules. Any player in either league who uses a banned substance is as much a criminal as any other.
But both sports handle steroids differently. While the NFL addresses its steroids problems, the MLB hides from them.
How else do you explain the league's treatment of Jason Giambi? Giambi admitted to some wrongdoing related to be steroids and said baseball should be more proactive in cleaning up the sport - a truth no active player had voiced before.
Giambi's reward was a meeting with special investigator George Mitchell and a suspension threat. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's clear message was: We will punish anyone who actually tells the truth about steroids. Act like nothing's the matter, and you can keep breaking records and selling tickets.
For years, the NFL has implemented strong testing measures and the commissioners have responded swiftly to substance abuse violations. The NFL has crowed against steroids and for the most part regulated its problem.
The MLB, however, has eaten said crow. And it is the league, not the players, who should be blamed the most. While all steroid users in football and baseball should be treated equally, the MLB and the NFL should not - until baseball takes Giambi's advice.
Now when can I expect my interrogation by George Mitchell?
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(09/10/07 4:00am)
It was East Carolina's first three-and-out in ages. The punter waited at the edge of the Pirates' end zone.
Half a field away, No. 87 waited as well.
This would be the last play of the third quarter, and 87 had already scored two touchdowns and amassed 205 yards as a receiver and return man. His team trailed by a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Moments earlier, his coach had said, "You gotta' make a play, somehow some way."
Snap, catch, kick. It was a low line drive. It reached 87 well before the closest ECU players.
No. 87 took a running start and caught the ball near his own 45-yard line. A zig right, a zag left, and two defenders played the Wile E. Coyote to 87's Road Runner. He gained the left sideline with blockers in front.
Touchdown, Brandon Tate. Welcome to the limelight.
"He's electrifying," head coach Butch Davis said. "He gave us a great chance to get back into the game, and I'm very proud of the way that he played on that play."
The 6'1" junior wideout, who sparkled as a return man in his first two seasons at UNC, dazzled all over the field Saturday night. His final stat line - three receptions for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns, three kick returns for 100 yards and three punt returns for 61 yards and a touchdown - makes quite a statement.
"Oh, Brandon, he's amazing," said quarterback T.J. Yates, who also celebrated his coming-out party with 344 yards and three TDs. "He can make pretty much anything happen for us, and he's going to be one of our big weapons all year long."
Less than three minutes into the second quarter, Davis called a play-action pass, and Yates connected beautifully with Tate for a 39-yard score to put UNC ahead 17-7.
But one quarter later, ECU had completely harnessed the momentum and come back to take a 24-17 lead. Once again, 87 came to the Tar Heels' rescue.
And again, Yates threw a lofty deep ball that hit Tate in stride, a full step in front of his man. The defender grabbed hold of Tate around the 5-yard line, but he was dragged into the end zone.
Tate, in only the second game of his junior season, has tied Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice's school record for the most kick-return touchdowns - five - in a career. Tate has three kickoff return TDs and two punt return TDs, while Justice had one of the former and four of the latter from 1946 to 1949.
But as a receiver, 87 had never played a game like this one.
"I'd have to say, this is No. 1 of my college career so far," Tate said. "Even though we lost, we still had a lot of fun."
If Tate keeps playing this well, the Tar Heel offense could have plenty of fun this season. Tate gives UNC a dynamic threat as part of a talented three-part receiving corps, along with junior Brooks Foster and sophomore standout Hakeem Nicks.
"Coming into the season, people were really, truly were going to focus so much on Hakeem Nicks as a wide receiver that it was critical for Tate and Brooks Foster and some of those guys to step up," Davis said.
Yates proved Saturday that he is capable of utilizing all three wide-receiver options, and that should aid the Tar Heels' running game by forcing opponents to respect the pass.
And on special teams, UNC wields a no-longer secret weapon that will make teams worry after every three-and-out.
No. 87 is waiting.
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
(08/22/07 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Welcome back, y'all. Hopefully summer treated you well - better than it did Michael Vick, at any rate.
For some of you, this year is your last in Chapel Hill - your last chance to not win basketball tickets in the student lottery, your last chance to attain that elusive NCAA championship in football and your last chance to bet heavily on men's swimming and diving. But you've been around and know all the ropes. What more is there to say?
Others require greater assistance. You poor souls are called freshmen, and upperclassmen mock your ignorance of UNC's ways: You've never even rushed Franklin Street, Mr. Freshypants. Were you born in the '90s? I bet you couldn't get Alex Stepheson's name right if you tried - HA! You said "Stevenson," you moron.
Out of pity to all of the teary-eyed freshmen who will approach total strangers this fall asking how to get to the Smith Center, here is the Chapel Hill Sports Handbook, Abridged Version, for the Class of 2011 (and anyone else in need of a refresher course).
(04/25/07 4:00am)
Sports. Illustrated.
Two words that changed my life.
Not because the magazine sparked my interest in sports, not because it made for excellent bathroom reading material, and not because the Swimsuit Issue mingled body paint with 3-D goggles.
No, Sports Illustrated changed my life because the back inside page ran a column by Rick Reilly.
Whenever SI popped up in my mailbox, I always flipped it over to that last page and read the "Life of Reilly," spellbound, before ever looking at the cover. Outside of schoolwork, I read books as often as I wore women's clothing (usually once a year during Spirit Week), but I devoured all of Reilly's books. "Did you read what Rick Reilly wrote?" I always asked my dad.
About the same time, I read an SI article by some Tim Crothers guy about Matt Doherty's first win against Duke as UNC's head coach (keep that in mind).
Professional baseball scouts stopped calling after Tee-ball, so instead I dreamed of becoming the next Rick Reilly. From high school to now, I have been "Newspaper Boy," distant relative of Quailman. I spent three years writing for the Eastern Voyager and joined The Daily Tar Heel sports desk my first semester at North Carolina.
This year, the DTH gave me a weekly sports column - just like Rick Reilly (except he has more money, and I more hair). It has been one helluva semester writing the Wednesday's Special for you.
In addition to my column, I took a sportswriting class this spring. Early in the course, my professor handed one of his own stories to the class - a Sports Illustrated article about Matt Doherty's Tar Heels driving back to Chapel Hill after beating Duke at Cameron. This time around, that Tim Crothers guy who wrote it sat before me in Carroll Hall, taking us behind the scenes.
"They call this school?" I thought. "I guess those out-of-state tuition hikes are worth it."
The class brought out my personal best work; interviewing Dewey Burke one-on-one for my final was as pleasurable as a Bojangles' chicken biscuit (though I'll never eat the recording). And because my column ran on class days, I picked Crothers' brain on every bite of Green Eggs and Sam.
Weekly advice from a Sports Illustrated veteran? I kept imagining it was all a dream, that I would wake up one day to find my hand in a bowl of warm water and my roommates taking Polaroids. If you told me five years ago that I would be here today, I would have given your foolish keister a wedgie.
But here I am, the semester in the books, my columns on the pages. I've never learned so much about myself or my writing before. One of my favorite books - W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge" - raises the idea that we never know how truly happy we are during certain parts of our lives until we reminisce later on. That said, I know that I will look back on this year someday as one of the happiest of my lifetime.
For that, I offer my sincerest gratitude to my readers - many people who I know, many who I don't, all who I appreciate. I find it easy to express my feelings in writing, but I never know the right words when I'm eating chicken tenders at Joe's Joint and you tell me how you and a friend sit down every week to read my column.
Once, my friend Bonnie stopped me on the street while walking with her boyfriend and whispered in my ear, "He loves your columns. He always asks me, 'Did you read what Sam Rosenthal wrote today?'"
I still call my dad almost weekly asking if he's read Rick Reilly's latest piece, so that made my day (slash lifetime). "I think I'm gonna blush," was the best I could stammer.
This column is my "Thank you" note to anyone who has ever given me feedback, good or bad.
Whether or not I go on to become the next Rick Reilly, Steve Rushin or Tim Crothers, I will always cherish this year. I call it Wednesday's Special because seeing my column in print every week made the day just that for me.
I've waited all year to write it:
I hope you liked Green Eggs and Sam.
Contact Sam Rosenthal
at samrose@email.unc.edu
(04/18/07 4:00am)
Riddle me this, America: Are you ready for some football?
Not that football, the other one. F
(04/11/07 4:00am)
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. Sixty years later, major leaguers still preserve his memory. Out of respect, at least one player from each MLB team - and every player on Robinson's Dodgers - will wear his No. 42 on Sunday, April 15, 2007.
Fittingly, Ken Griffey Jr. was first to ask Commissioner Bud Selig for permission to don Robinson's number. Griffey has an acute sense of baseball history, probably thanks to his Cincinnati Red father, Ken Sr. Unlike many stars of today's generation, Junior Griffey pays homage to his predecessors - most notably Robinson. On the 50th anniversary of Robinson's first game, Griffey wore No. 42. The MLB then retired the number until Griffey called Selig 10 years later and requested to wear it once more.
Griffey's always been my favorite player. In my youth, he was this halogen-eyed kid with a backwards cap and a sugary sweet swing who played with infectious exuberance.
Until today, it never hit me that I was a white kid whose favorite player was black. Baseball, for me, has always transcended color.
I thank Jackie for that.
In 1947, Robinson became the first modern-day black major leaguer in a baseball-crazed country unfamiliar with the phrase "civil rights." Eight years before Rosa Parks and 16 years before the March on Washington, Robinson broke the color barrier. Martin Luther King Jr. graduated high school with the daily inspiration of Robinson's name in the box score.
When Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey decided to integrate baseball, he selected a young shortstop on the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues. Jack Roosevelt Robinson had lettered in four sports at UCLA and served in the Army during World War II. Once, Second Lt. Robinson refused to move to the back of a bus and was court-martialed.
Rickey needed a tongue-biter, but the pugnacious Robinson often denounced prejudice with his fists. According to legend, Robinson asked if Rickey wanted a Negro too scared to fight back. Rickey replied, "I'm looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back."
Robinson faced daily threats from irate fans, rebellious teammates and scalpel-cleated baserunners, but he never fought back.
Instead, Jackie's exciting style of play won over the nation. Honored as Rookie of the Year in 1947 and National League MVP in 1949, Robinson tore up basepaths like a power mulcher. The Dodgers won six pennants during his 10 MLB seasons, including the 1955 World Series title.
But we don't revere Jackie because he made six All-Star teams or stole home 19 times. No, he meant more than that.
Today, baseball's running out of guys like Griffey, marketable but classy black stars with an appreciation for the game's history. According to a John Helyar ESPN.com article, two MLB teams - the Braves and Astros - have no black players on their rosters, while seven others only list one black player.
The modern image of a black superstar might anger Robinson. Somewhere along the line, the NFL and NBA became "cooler," so to speak, than the MLB. Endorsements, media exposure and a hip-hop culture made basketball and football more appealing to young athletes, while the slower-paced, less physically-demanding baseball lost favor.
What would Jackie think? Probably that baseball needs its Griffeys more than ever. During the Terrell Owens and Ron Artest era of modern day athletes, baseball players must be classy and appealing - like Junior was.
In baseball, few black superstars remain, something I realize every time I watch Griffey play now. In the twilight of my favorite star's career, I reinvested my passion for the game in the Philadelphia Phillies' Ryan Howard, another halogen-eyed kid with a sugary sweet swing. In Howard, I see everything right with baseball, everything Jackie and Junior meant to the game. Once again, I'm a white kid whose favorite player is black. Until today, though, I never got the significance of it.
Here's to you, Mr. Robinson.
Contact Sam Rosenthal
at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
Let me get this straight, my fellow media brethren: All season long, you doubted Tyler Hansbrough and omitted him from every national player of the year discussion. You never gave him much consideration for the ACC Player of the Year Award, indicating with your votes that Boston College's Jared Dudley and runner-up Al Thornton both had better regular seasons than Hansbrough.
But after making mashed potatoes out of Eastern Kentucky and Michigan State's big men to the tune of 19-of-28 shooting, 54 points and 19 rebounds in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, you named Psycho T one of the four finalists for college basketball's highest individual honor, the Naismith Trophy.
Are you serious, Media? You want Hansbrough, who plays on a team stacked like a wedding cake, in the Naismith mix with Kevin Durant, Acie Law IV and Alando Tucker? Now? You were right about him all season long; don't go John Kerry and flip-flop on the guy because he played a couple big games.
Certainly, Media, you know tons of players who bulldoze through defenses designed to stop them. When four arms, two legs and one vicious elbow attack Hansbrough on his way to the rim, he occasionally finishes the play and hits the subsequent foul shot. (The ACC pads his numbers by protecting its runner-runner-up Player of the Year candidate by sending him to the line for every touch foul.)
So what if he's averaging 18.6 points and 7.9 rebounds a game while hitting 53.5 percent of his field goals; Greg Oden shot free throws left-handed.
Stick to your gut, Media. Tyler Hansbrough's not skilled enough for the Naismith name, even if the 21-year-old sophomore is a physical freak whose incredible work ethic compensates for clumsiness and lack of talent. Think more like Billy Packer, who highlights Hansbrough's effort rather than crediting his ability.
There's no skill involved in catching a ball, back to the basket and draining baby hook shots from 10 feet away over 12 defenders, as Hansbrough often does - like that Shaq guy who's not too skilled.
Grabbing 7.9 rebounds a game (1.8 more than Brandan Wright) requires no talent whatsoever when you're Hansbrough's size. Sure, everybody guarding him sizes up comparably, and yeah, Bill Russell's art form of rebounding rewards know-how and positioning more than size and strength, but you know Hansbrough's not outwitting any opponents with that deer-in-the-headlights, one-contact-missing stare of his.
Fickle Mistress Media, why the sudden Hansbrough hype? You were right the first time, weren't you, when you reduced him to a psychotic hulk of testosterone who works hard but pales in comparison to Durant and Oden?
The last time North Carolina won a title, it had a truly skilled big man named Sean May, who played smoother than whipped butter and with more finesse than Mozart. On UNC's Senior Night against Duke in 2005, May dropped 26 points and nabbed 24 rebounds in a monstrous performance.
Against Duke on Senior Night this year, Hansbrough managed 26 points but only eked out 17 rebounds - is that a Naismith-worthy performance?
You were correct, all-knowing Media, to anoint Oden and Durant from day one and ignore Hansbrough. If he really deserved to be a Naismith finalist, surely you would've known it all season, right?
Contact Sam Rosenthal
at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(02/26/07 5:00am)
"You remember Keith Shawn Smith?" I often ask people.
"Who?" they almost always reply.
"The kid who fell from the third floor of Stacy Hall and died last year."
"Oh, yeah. That was so tragic."
You know, Keith's death is not the real tragedy. But people know him because of how he died, and not because of how he lived.
And that's tragic enough to make Shakespeare weep.
(02/21/07 5:00am)
North Carolina needs a baseball team.
"What are you smoking?" you ask incredulously. "Don't you know that the UNC men's baseball team reached the College World Series last year and almost won? Don't you, a sportswriter at The Daily Tar Heel, know that North Carolina does, indeed, have a baseball team - which just gained college baseball's No. 1 ranking?"
You misunderstood me.
North Carolina, the school, boasts a fantastic baseball team. Last year's Tar Heels, along with the 2007 bunch, represent some of North Carolina's best squads ever - and therein lies the problem: No college team should have that distinction.
North Carolina, the state, needs a baseball team.
I'm talking professional, Major League Baseball. You know, that MLB thing you might have heard about. There's like, 30 teams with overpaid players, greedy owners and steroid problems.
OK, sure, those aspects of pro ball detract from the essence of the game. But so do home openers on February 16, metal bats and home openers on February 16.
Baseball in February? For a sport associated with the terms "boys of summer," "dog days of August" and "the Fall classic," starting a season two days after Valentine's Day is sacrilege.
When I left a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia to attend UNC, I never realized what I was leaving behind. I miss my Phillies - who are about a week away from their first Spring Training game.
Oh, right, you wouldn't know. Spring Training is a magical thing where, while it's too cold on February 16 to play anywhere but Florida or Arizona, teams prepare for a 162-game journey that's captivated our nation for more than 125 years.
At home, I'd hear about the Phillies' off-season progress just about anywhere that I went. I'm merely discussing Spring Training, mind you.
"Listen to you lecturing us for lacking a pro baseball team when your delegation plays in a different state. We're Atlanta Braves fans, and there's no difference."
Blasphemy!
I'll admit that I do root for a team in a different state. But there's a gigantic difference: Citizens Bank Park is only 20-30 minutes from my house.
According to Google Maps, Atlanta is six hours from campus.
What a shame that you consider "them" your team, when the "Carolina Whatevers" couldn't find a better home on Craig's List than right here in your own state.
Sure, North Carolina's economy and rural nature probably can't support an MLB club at present. But someday, if the Research Triangle booms as projected, any pro team would be crazy not to play here - any fan would be equally as loco not to want one.
To quote Annie Savoy, Susan Sarandon's character in Bull Durham: "I believe in the Church of Baseball."
I'm not much on religion, but I believe in the North Carolina chapter of Major League Baseball.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu
(02/14/07 5:00am)
One of my roommates refuses to acknowledge that women's basketball is a sport. Basketball, he agrees, is a sport, but somehow the involvement of the female species renders that null and void.
Deep down, he knows that women's basketball fits the technical definition of "sport," but he, along with countless other American pillars of testosterone, views the girls' game as "beauty ball."
Is this solely a male viewpoint? No, but it takes quite a pair to mentally disqualify the "athlete" in "female athlete."
Usually, people knock she-ballers because the boys dunk and play a faster, more athletic game. "Women's basketball is all about fundamentals," they claim. "There's no athleticism, no toughness and it's insufferably boring. If they're not in bikinis, who cares?"
Such Archie Bunkers of the world clearly missed the vicious melee that ensued when No. 2 North Carolina hosted No. 1 Duke last Thursday in a battle of then-unbeatens.
This was basketball. Not women's basketball. Basketball, period.
And it was terrific.
Nothing in this game looked remotely like "beauty ball." A blue-collar, sloppy game featuring 32 total turnovers violated the fundamentally sound, efficient template women's games supposedly follow. But 45 times during the game, the girls got one fundamental down pat - the hard foul.
As for athleticism, UNC's LaToya Pringle blocked six shots during the game, most of them against Duke's enormous center, Alison Bales, who posted seven swats herself. Bales is not "beauty ball." Bales is six feet seven inches of "Give me your lunch money." You want to knock her toughness? It's your funeral.
And nobody seemed bored. It didn't matter that this was Duke's women's team - it was a Duke basketball team. UNC vs. Duke is a sexless rivalry, and no self-respecting fan sleeps with the enemy.
"Yeah, whatever," the critics maintain, "nobody really cares."
Carmichael Auditorium would offer a strong rebuttal if it could. The stadium's bleachers, roof, walls and windows received an interminable pounding from the sellout crowd that meant one thing:
This was basketball. This was UNC-Duke. And people cared - lots of 'em.
Butch Davis and Roy Williams cared. Roy sat inconspicuously nine rows up behind the Tar Heel bench, enjoying the game as a fan for once. Wonder if he thinks it's a sport?
ESPN cared, as did sideline reporter Rebecca Lobo. For a former college and WNBA star, this game represented everything she never really got to play for: credibility. For the network, this represented great basketball worthy of quality airtime. Think the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" would hype up a non-sport?
And UNC's head coach, Sylvia Hatchell, deeply cared. Duke won the game, but Hatchell might treasure this moment among her greatest coaching memories. "When I came out and saw all the people," she said, "I turned to my assistant coach - cause he's been here with me for 21 years - I said, 'You know, this is what we dreamed of.' And he said, 'Yeah, 21 years.'"
After 21 years of second-class cheering, the fans packed Carmichael and cared their hearts out. Unlike some men's games, nobody went simply because it was fashionable. Everyone arrived with the goal of severe vocal chord inflammation. And they rocked that old boat like a mostly light-blue tidal wave with a dark-blue and white crest that gained momentum at the end.
To me, and to the lucky thousands in attendance that Thursday night, the fact that women were playing made not the slightest difference.
It was an evening 21 years in the making for North Carolina.
This was basketball. This was beautiful. And this was as sport as sport gets.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/31/07 5:00am)
Ty Lawson can teleport.
Well, the 236 UNC students and counting in that Facebook group think so.
Facebook never lies.
For a couple weeks, I've wanted to write about Lawson's emergence as the team's leader and the need for his increased role on offense. But I didn't know when the right time would be.
So the Freshman Flash made things easy on me. With Brandan Wright, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor out of the Tar Heels' lineup, Lawson teleported all over the court against Arizona. He only turned the ball over once while registering eight assists, four steals, three rebounds and a very temporary career-high 18 points.
North Carolina fans: He's your boy, Blue!
Bobby Frasor, when healthy, and Quentin Thomas, when controlled, are good point guards but are not of the pedigree that a championship contender requires - especially a young one.
Lawson fits that pedigree like a Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show winner, and he's finally starting to display his fine grooming. Not because he couldn't before, but because he held himself back.
The teleportation started during the comeback against Virginia Tech. In the last couple minutes of that game, Lawson located his lightning. The Hokie defenders looked like wheelchair basketball players while Lawson scored, dished and pilfered in a manner reminiscent of this Felton guy who used to play in Chapel Hill.
I said to myself, "Self, this is the kid you heard about last fall. This is the nation's top-ranked high school point guard, the one who led his 2006 Oak Hill Academy team to a 42-1 record, averaged 23.8 points, 9.1 assists and five steals on the season, and had the hands you wanted the ball in during crunchtime."
But after Va. Tech, we saw a lamentably limited Laser Lawson, who only attempted nine total field goals against Clemson and Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels won both games handily but weren't playing their best ball.
Against Wake Forest, Lawson took eight shots, hitting five, and scored 15 points to go along with five assists, three steals and just three giveaways in 21 productive minutes. You could see his breakout coming if you slowed down the game tape enough to spot him.
Then, with a Hansbrough-sized road test against a ranked Arizona squad coached by one of college basketball's best, Lute Olson, we learned that Wright and Ginyard were sidelined.
"Self," I said, "let's see what the kid's made of."
Clearly, Ty Lawson is made of high-speed - he's Comcastic.
It became evident that the key to the Tar Heels isn't Wright or Hansbrough.
It's Ty "Da Fly."
Need proof? The Tar Heels powdered and spanked Arizona in Tucson by 28 points. No visiting team had beaten Olson's squad by more than 12 - a 1983 loss to Tennessee in the coach's second month behind the Wildcat bench.
The old man said it best: "I don't remember anyone playing any better against us, ever."
Do you realize how many games he's coached in 23-plus seasons at Arizona?
Seven hundred sixty-six, 583 of them in the W column.
And he can't remember a single one of those 766 contests where the opponent played better than the UNC team that rumbled westward without its second-leading scorer and two of its more veteran leaders.
Lawson was, and is, the catalyst. When No. Mach-5 holds the ball, good things happen for North Carolina. What scares me is that the best is yet to come. Lawson recently said that he restrained his play earlier in the year because he knew UNC had established stars and worried about ruining the team's chemistry.
But now, he says, "Coach told me to score, so I just play like I did in high school." As aforementioned, he wasn't too shabby in high school.
As the season wears on, expect Lawson to become Roy's guy, playing more minutes and encouraged to make the kind of jaw-dropping, mere-mortals-can't-do-that plays that led hundreds of UNC students to the only logical conclusion:
Ty Lawson can teleport.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/24/07 5:00am)
Dear Mr. Peyton Manning,
For the love of all that is holy, please win Super Bowl XLI.
Not because I'm a Colts fan, nor because I dislike the Bears. Like all loyal Eagles fans, I despise your brother, but that has nothing to do with it either.
You see, Mr. Manning, nothing irks me more than Hall of Famers with wrongfully tarnished reputations. If you never win a Super Bowl, you will be one such player.
Sure, you engineered the biggest comeback in conference-title game history and wove an 80-yard tapestry of a game-winning drive to finally vanquish your arch-nemesis, Tom Brady's Patriots. Why, Chris Berman and Tom Jackson even called it a game for the ages, labeled it "The Ascension" and said the monkey on your back was no more.
You claim not to care about those proverbial primates; "I don't play that card," you say. But you must play that card, Mr. Manning, because your legacy is the ante.
With all due respect, the monkey isn't off your back yet. That lemur's locked on your lumbar until you win a Super Bowl.
Look at John Elway before he won. Look at Dan Marino and Karl Malone and any great player who's never won a championship.
What do people say about them?
"Yeah, he would be one of the best ever, but . well, you know."
I am not one of those people. In any pro team sport, especially football, one player cannot single-handedly capture a title, so undervaluing Marino's career because he never won is ridiculous.
You need prove nothing to me, Mr. Manning. Not after finally downing the Patriots, and not even before. The Colts' dominance during your reign despite their defensive futility speaks volumes but falls on deaf ears. No matter how bad the team around you is, no matter how many tackles your defense tries to miss and no matter how many points you're down, the Colts are never out of a game because No. 18's under center.
But if you think "The Ascension" against the Pats was enough to preserve your legacy, you had better audible as if Brian Urlacher is blitzing you (and he will be). Elway led "The Drive" way back in 1987, but his 0-3 Super Bowl record loomed ominously over his place in history until his Broncos won back-to-back titles in 1997-98.
I say "his Broncos" won the titles, for he certainly didn't win them alone. Without running back Terrell Davis and tight end Shannon Sharpe, Elway is just another "yeah, but ." in NFL history. If "your Colts" horseshoe the Bears, your team will have helped preserve your legacy.
However, if your Colts lose, I'm telling the nearest zoo that the escaped chimp they're looking for is somewhere in Indianapolis.
As a Philadelphia sports fan, Mr. Manning, I know a thing or two about the dreaded Back Monkey. Heck, the whole city has one.
Example: Allen Iverson. In 2000-2001, The Answer literally willed the 76ers to the NBA Finals and won the league's Most Valuable Player award. The Sixers had no business making the finals that year, let alone handing the Lakers their only playoff loss in Game 1 at L.A. But the Sixers lost the series, and history craves winners.
As the Colts are without you, so the Sixers were without Iverson. But will people consider him an all-time great unless he wins a title with the Denver Nuggets? Of course not, because the one piece of jewelry he lacks is a ring.
I pray AI wins a title. Not for me, but for him: the person and the name.
Mr. Manning, you know how NFL history works. Surely your legendary father, Archie, had you watching NFL Films before Sesame Street. If you don't win this Super Bowl, you may never get the Marino - I mean, monkey - off your back.
So trounce Da Bears for yourself, your name and anyone else who never wants to hear "yeah, but ." associated with you ever again.
Sincerely,
The Philly Phanatic.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(01/17/07 5:00am)
During the men's basketball team's 94-88 loss to Virginia Tech Saturday, my friend back home sent me a text message saying the Tar Heels' poor play to that point in the game - when they trailed by more than 20 points in the second half - had caused him to "rethink picking them to win it all" in March.
On the contrary, I told him North Carolina needed a game like this so that they know what it takes to win a national title. Whenever a top team loses, the media pushes the idea that maybe it was a "good loss" of sorts.
I usually disagree, but the Va. Tech game might actually have been a great loss for this young UNC squad, maybe even better than a win in the long run.
After building an early lead, the Tar Heels lost their composure. Can you blame them? You all witnessed that horrifying Hokie crowd. Think you could do better than Brandan Wright's 1-for-8 from the foul line or Wayne Ellington's 2-for-8 from behind the arc in a stadium louder than a White Stripes living room concert? I'll take the under.
If the Hokies blew UNC out by 20, it would be an awful loss.
But they didn't - instead, something incredible happened.
Almost every bit of media coverage of the game said the Tar Heels' comeback started with 11 or 12 minutes left, and that's terrible reporting. Yes, the Hokies had their largest lead at 23 during that time, but the deficit was as large as 20 points until 3:48 remained in regulation and UNC trailed 81-61.
And as I sat in the Granville West Agora and wondered which looked worse, the Tar Heels or my chopped steak, they finally showed why they were the nation's No. 1. Slowly but confidently, they chipped away at the lead.
Va. Tech still led by as many as 10 with 73 seconds to go - the kind of margin that sends Smith Center fans flocking to the exits.
But the Tar Heels kept coming. Ty Lawson emerged as a possible team leader by assisting teammates and scoring at will to pull his team within 3 with 16 seconds left.
That was the closest UNC came, and the press labeled the comeback as "too little, too late."
Too little, too late? Am I insane, or is a 27-13 run in 3:48 to close out a game worthy of more notice than that? The local news didn't show a single clip of the comeback.
It was a painful but great loss, the kind of loss you'll remember if the Tar Heels make a title run.
This was their first ACC road test, and they didn't fail, not by a long shot. Sure, UNC's youth faltered against one of the most experienced backcourts in the ACC - Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell - that's just fine. It's like your dad whippin' you in one-on-one with scoop shots and savvy, old guy moves that beat your athleticism because you're unprepared.
During the comeback, Va. Tech looked as helpless as your dad does the first time you wait for his wily up-and-under move and swat the ball into the neighbor's yard. The Tar Heels simply ran out of time the way you did when it got too dark to play and your dad was still up 1. But now you know your day will come.
If UNC plays poorly against Clemson, maybe my friend is right. Maybe they're not a championship team. But maybe, just maybe, the Hokies sparked a fire in North Carolina.
And if it takes a tough road loss to light the fuse, well, that's what you call a good loss.
Contact Sam Rosenthal at samrose@email.unc.edu.
(11/17/06 5:00am)
The No. 1 seed North Carolina women's soccer team will play the University of Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, which the Tar Heels have the privilege of hosting at Fetzer Field.
Tennessee, coming off a win against Duke in a penalty shoot-out, is 12-6-4 on the season. They are known as the Volunteers, and they hail from Knoxville, Tenn.
Congratulations, you now know as much about the Tar Heels' opponent as the UNC players do.
According to sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch, the Tar Heels will not review any aspect of Tennessee's play until a quick debriefing by their coaching staff shortly before Saturday's game.
"Like most of our games this season, our focus has not been so much on our opponent, but instead on the things we can control," she said.
"We have never really watched game tape of our opponents.
"It's not that we're cocky. We try to treat all of our opponents with a lot of respect. It's just that we know that if we can execute our game plan, then we will have success."
Averbuch said other teams place too much emphasis on what the team they're playing is going to do and try to change their style of play. UNC, she said, only worries about playing the game with its own, distinct style.
So far this season, that style has worked to near perfection. The Tar Heels are 23-1, with all of those 23 wins coming in succession after a season-opening loss to Texas A&M on the road.
UNC dominated its first two opponents in the NCAA Tournament, beating UNC- Asheville and then Navy by scores of 7-0 and 4-0, respectively.
If it can beat Tennessee, North Carolina will play the winner of the Virginia-Texas A&M game, possibly pitting UNC against the team responsible for its only loss of the season.
But this time around, the Tar Heels will be at the top of their game.
"Our team is playing really well right now. It's a lot of fun," Averbuch said.
Is that different from any other point in the season?
"No, I think that our team has had a wonderful season so far. It's just that we seem to really be peaking right now, which is perfect," she said.
Have they played their true best, though, to this point?
"I actually don't think we have quite achieved that yet," Averbuch said. "Our team has had many wonderful moments, and we have played up to our potential for certain periods of a few games, but I think we all know that there is even another level within us."
If North Carolina beats Tennessee - something they expect to do if they play their "A game" - they will play one more game at Fetzer Field. So either this game or the next will be the final home match for an accomplished senior class headed by Heather O'Reilly and Elizabeth Guess.
"This is a really stressful time for the seniors right now," Averbuch said. "I think that the fact that each game could be their last is always on their mind. We talk before each game about playing for them to make sure they go out winners."
For the seniors to go out as the ultimate winners, NCAA Champions, they must ride their winning streak through four more games to finish the year at 27-1.
Provided that they worry about doing the things they need to do to play their best soccer, the Tar Heels are in perfect position to run the table.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(10/31/06 5:00am)
If the absence of Barrington Edwards hurt North Carolina's offense Saturday against Wake Forest, the effects were completely hidden by Ronnie McGill.
For much of the season, McGill's numbers have not equaled the fans' expectations, as many expected him to be a 1,000-yard rusher after starting the year in good health.
Through the Tar Heels' first seven games, McGill only rushed for 100 yards or more twice - against Furman and Wake Forest - and only showed glimpses of the back he was supposed to be.
But on Saturday at Kenan Stadium, the "real McGill" took advantage of the extra carries that came his way because of Edwards' suspension. Tying a career high of 29 rushes, McGill gained 117 yards on the ground and also caught three passes for 24 yards.
Had the Tar Heels been able to control the ball in the second half the way they did in the first, McGill's numbers might have been even better - on 22 first-half carries, he rushed for 100 of his 117 yards and a touchdown.
The difference in the second half was that Wake Forest started controlling the ball, as the first half ended with UNC running 40 plays on offense to the WFU 19.
"We just didn't get back into our game plan," McGill said about the team's play in the second half. "I guess they had the ball a little bit, and we had some three-and-outs, so when you put those two together you don't have the opportunity to get the carries like I did in the first half."
In the third quarter, McGill only carried three times for eight yards. In the fourth, four times for nine.
It seems the team's fate went as far as McGill's feet, for UNC scored just three points after halftime. Still, the Tar Heels had a chance to tie the game at 24 in the game's final minute with the ball on the Wake Forest 3-yard line.
But instead of handing McGill the ball, quarterback Joe Dailey rolled out and fell down for a three yard loss. A spiked ball and an end zone interception later, and the chance of victory had vanished.
"That was really frustrating, 'cause it was a play for either one of us to get the ball," McGill said.
Facing what he deemed a weird defense, he said that Dailey decided to take it himself. "I felt like I just had to get the ball, but he took it so we gonna have to deal with it."
McGill became only the second player this season to break the century mark on the ground against Wake Forest - Clemson's C.J. Spiller is the other - putting McGill among some exclusive company.
With Edwards out, some of the coaches were concerned about Ronnie being able to carry the load.
"The coaches, they kept asking me did I think I was going to be able to do it, did I have it in me," McGill said, and his performance under the pressure answered those questions.
Still, McGill said that it wasn't easy without his backfield counterpart. "You don't get a break," he said with a chuckle. "Just me the whole time, it worked. Just not being able to have that breather, though, sometimes gets kind of difficult where the offense is depending on you, so you can't quit."
Coach John Bunting lauded McGill's effort. "He played extremely well," Bunting said. "We had going what we wanted in the first half, and I wanted to come out in the second half and do some of the same things. I think Ronnie had a terrific game."
McGill said that the game against Wake Forest was more like what he had envisioned as far as how the offense would work this season.
"That's what I thought at the beginning of the season as to how it would unfold, but as we went along we kept doing different things, so hopefully we can get back to it next weekend and finish what we started - just put the whole game together, go to Notre Dame and play good," he said.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(10/13/06 4:00am)
It wasn't pretty. It wasn't exhilarating. It wasn't memorable.
But it was a win.
And for the North Carolina women's soccer team, it was another game in which they remained the only unbeaten, untied team in the ACC by beating the Boston College Eagles 3-1 at Fetzer Field Thursday.
With only three games remaining in the regular season and a 7-0 conference record, UNC (15-1, 7-0 in the ACC) controls its own destiny.
But every game in the ACC presents a challenge. B.C. (8-5-1, 2-3-1) proved that by hanging with the Tar Heels for almost the entire game.
After a sloppy first 10 minutes that included an own goal by Boston College and an equalizer by the Eagles less than a minute later, the game remained tied at 1-1 for the next 70 minutes.
UNC pressured the Eagles in the second half, but they could not break through until midfielder Nikki Washington received a pass from sophomore Yael Averbuch in the 81st minute and dribbled between two defenders and into the box before feeding the ball back to Averbuch for a tap-in goal past the goalkeeper -- a give-and-go that Roy Williams would be proud of.
"That was an absolutely magnificent goal, tactically," head coach Anson Dorrance said. "And I credit certainly Nikki and Yael's effort to get to that spot 'cause that basically won the game for us."
In the 89th minute, senior star Heather O'Reilly added an insurance goal on a penalty kick after B.C. goalkeeper Sarah Buonomo tripped O'Reilly on a breakaway. O'Reilly had split two defenders and would've easily scored, but Buonomo came out and grabbed O'Reilly's legs; the fact that the card produced by the referee was the color of mustard, not ketchup, incensed the crowd.
Not because they were hungry.
"I think everybody in the crowd knew that was a guaranteed goal, 100 percent," O'Reilly said. "That's what a red card is for."
That play was one of a few controversial calls during the game that could have resulted in harsher punishments, but the referees decided to let the play remain rough.
In the first half, B.C.'s toughness and tenacity equalled the Tar Heels', but UNC came out with renewed vigor in the second half and took control of the game. After being outshot 5-4 going into halftime, North Carolina took seven second-half shots to Boston College's one.
"We played passionless soccer in the first half," Dorrance said. "This is a contact sport. You can't play a contact sport without passion."
But the Tar Heels turned that around after halftime.
"It basically was a decision to play with passion," Dorrance said. "And I really felt that's what happened in the second half."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(09/22/06 4:00am)
For the first time in 16 years, the North Carolina women's soccer team entered a home game ranked lower than its opponent in every national poll.
Rankings, schmankings.
Behind a two-goal performance by senior forward Heather O'Reilly, the No. 4 Tar Heels knocked off the top-ranked and unbeaten Florida State Seminoles by a score of 2-1 last night and improved to 9-1 on the season.
The last time the Tar Heels played on Fetzer Field with a lower ranking than the visiting team was Oct. 20, 1990, when third-ranked UNC defeated No. 1 Virginia 3-0.
The nationally televised contest also marked the first time North Carolina was ranked lower than any opponent since it defeated then-No. 1 Stanford 1-0 on Oct. 4, 2002, as the second-ranked team in the nation.
O'Reilly ensured that the Tar Heels' streak of "underdog" victories continued, as she broke a 1-1 tie in the game's 83rd minute on a bending shot that made Seminole goalie Ali Mims' knees buckle like a Barry Zito curveball.
As O'Reilly turned in the box and flicked a left-footed shot toward the back-left corner of the net, seemingly everyone in the stadium awaited a goal kick - including Mims.
"It was a bent shot, so a lot of times it looks like it's kind of going wide, and it just curls in like a baseball pitch," O'Reilly said. "She probably thought it was slipping right past the post, and it just squeezed in."
Mims never made an attempt at the ball.
Arguably, the Tar Heels never should have had to score a second goal to win the game.
After trailing 1-0 for most of the game, Florida State's India Trotter received a gift turnover from Tar Heel goalie Anna Rodenbough and kicked it into an empty net to tie the score with 28:06 to play in the second half.
"Our keeper felt the girl was offsides," said head coach Anson Dorrance. "And she felt the referee had called her offsides. She just made a mistake, no big deal."
Were it not for O'Reilly, it might have been a big deal. Luckily for UNC, No. 20 scored her third and fourth goals in what Dorrance called her best game of the season.
O'Reilly's first tally broke an early stalemate in the game's 23rd minute, and it was equally as impressive as her second. Receiving a pass from Tobin Heath as the two moved down the sideline, O'Reilly dribbled toward the FSU goal and ripped a shot from about 25 yards out; it sailed over the goalie's hands, smacked off the bottom of the crossbar and nestled in the back-right corner of the goal.
It was O'Reilly's 50th career goal on what she called an emotional night.
"Seeing their colors on our field brought back a lot of memories," she said, referring to last year's loss in penalty kicks in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. "They're a great team. But what they did to us last year, I think we'll carry that with us for definitely the rest of this season. We just wanted the big win."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(04/17/06 4:00am)
Saturday night's women's lacrosse contest between No. 6 North Carolina and No. 5 Maryland might as well have been an ice hockey game - sans the ice.
There was scoring. There was hitting. There were penalties galore. There was a thrilling empty-net situation late in the game. There were unruly fans incensed at the officiating crew.
And, most importantly for the Tar Heels, there was a victory on Senior Night against a Terrapin team that UNC had not defeated since 2002.
"It was a hard game," said attacker Stephanie Scurachio. "I've never beaten Maryland, and I'm a senior."
For a UNC team comprised of 18 Maryland natives, finally downing the College Parkers meant redemption against girls who Scurachio and company had played against in high school and rec leagues for years.
So when Maryland came out hitting like Terry Tate "Office Linebacker," UNC head coach Jenny Levy said her team was prepared.
The Tar Heel's toughness spurred a five goal run in the first six minutes of the second half and turned a one-goal halftime deficit into a 9-5 advantage.
"I thought that was huge to gain momentum for the end of the second half," Levy said.
Scurachio said, "After that (run), you just kind of have this feeling where like, we know we're winning. . It's taken us almost four years to get that swagger."
However Maryland fought back and made the score 9-7.
"We tend to sit back a little bit because we've got them in that big of a hole," said junior goalie Kristen Hordy.
In the second half the goalie stole the show when she picked up a ground ball and left the net wide open, dashing up the sideline almost to midfield. After a pair of cross-checks - one of which jarred the ball loose - she regained control and made a two-line pass to McCarthy, who found Scurachio all alone in front of the net for a goal.
"It was exciting," Hordy said. "I mean, you got to break it out every now and then to give the crowd something."
Levy added, "I never hear anything, but for the first time all night I heard the fans."
It was one of the few times the Maryland faithful couldn't be heard all game.
"(The fans) get disappointed when they don't get the calls they want," Hordy said. "You have to learn to block out the bad both on and off the field."
Hordy's mental fortitude is a trait shared by her coach and teammates like Scurachio, who said, "Actually, I don't think this will be my last home game. Hopefully we'll be back here for NCAAs."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/24/06 5:00am)
Heading into the ACC/American Lacrosse Conference Challenge this weekend, the No. 5 North Carolina women's lacrosse team knows one thing for certain: It had better be ready to fend off a pair of feisty underdogs.
The Tar Heels will play winless Ohio State today and No. 15 Penn State on Sunday in College Park, Md. Both are dangerous opponents who are yet to play as well as they are capable, says North Carolina head coach Jenny Levy.
"Each team we play presents new and different challenges. However . the one consistent theme is that we will get everyone's best shot," she stated in an e-mail.
Junior Melissa McCarthy, the ACC women's lacrosse player of the week, agreed with her coach.
"They're gunning for Carolina - just like everybody else this year," she said.
For the Tar Heels (5-2), this weekend presents an excellent opportunity to face more competition and to get used to playing two games in a weekend.
"The weekends when we play Friday-Sunday are always a great challenge for us because that is how the ACC Tournament and NCAA Final Four are set up," Levy stated. "We see it as good preparation and two games where we have to take care of business."
North Carolina enters the weekend riding a Mini-Me-sized two-game winning streak after victories against Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Before those two games, though, the Tar Heels dropped back-to-back home contests to Duke and Boston universities.
"We were very disappointed in our loses to both Duke and BU," Levy stated.
"However, we have used those loses to improve on our weaknesses and get better . if we continue to make consistent improvement all season, we will be very happy with where we are in May."
Junior Christina Juras said that she expects both games this weekend to be tough battles against teams that have fought well against North Carolina in the last couple years.
"OSU is fast and scrappy, and they have a few offensive players that can really score," she said.
"But Penn State is always a tough game for us. They are talented all over the field, but I think our team is capable of beating them if we focus on what we need to do and execute."
Juras said that last year's games against OSU and PSU - both of which UNC won - were crucial games that gave North Carolina confidence heading into the end of the season.
This year's Tar Heels don't seem to need much of a confidence boost - their tanks are full and running on premium.
"I think our team is more confident and has more depth this year than last," Juras said.
"Last year these games were pretty much 50/50 chance of winning or losing. This year we are going in more confident, but they are equally as important."
Echoing the statements of Juras and her coach, McCarthy said, "As long as we execute and play at a high intensity level, we're going to be fine."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/10/06 5:00am)
Are you ready to tumble?
The North Carolina gymnastics team is heading into the final stretch of its season.
To qualify for the NCAA regionals, the Tar Heels must finish the regular season fourth place or better in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. They are precariously slotted at No. 4, just behind West Virginia and just ahead of N.C. State.
With two meets remaining, though, UNC has a chance to improve its regional qualifying score (RQS) and secure a spot at regionals.
The RQS works like this: Each team's top six regular season scores are used, but the highest score is discarded. The remaining five are then averaged together to determine the score.
But there's a catch. Only three home scores can factor into the method.
That said, Sunday's away matchup at William and Mary could be critical in deciding the Tar Heels' fate.
"We really want to get a good score up there so that we can maybe jump a little in the standings before the end of the season," said senior Mikel Hester.
UNC cannot hurt its RQS the rest of the season, but the other EAGL teams can improve theirs - the pressure is on the Tar Heels to keep posting good marks.
"We are in a good position right now in terms of qualification for NCAAs," said Coach Derek Galvin. "But we still have to take care of business this weekend and next weekend."
The good news for Galvin is that his squad, which has been collectively battling a rash of injuries and illnesses, is in relatively good health.
Even after last weekend's victorious meet at the Tar Heel Invitational, senior Cecilia Liu said, "We still haven't hit our peak yet."
With the finish line looming, though, the Tar Heels are striving to reach that peak soon.
They are trying to make sure that every handstand is flagpole vertical, every landing is Elmer's Glue stuck and every dance move is Elvis-worthy. You won't find greater perfectionists in an accounting firm.
Want proof?
While analyzing the most recent meet, senior Courtney Bumpers said, "I had a great floor routine, but I still had a deduction there."
But didn't you score a 9.975?
"I'm going for the 10!"
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.