Believe it or not the tradition of these sports desk farewell columns goes back a ways. To give you an idea one of my journalism professors — who dates back to the Stone Age — was even in our office the other day rehashing that self-importance-laced final column he penned here back in the 1980s.
11:50 p.m. SATURDAY FEB. 21 COLLEGE PARK Md. – After a close call on the road against Miami last Sunday" the North Carolina Tar Heels finally pushed their luck too far against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday afternoon as they lost 88-85 to snap a 10-game winning streak.
When Washington State coach Tony Bennett took over the program last season for his father, Dick, there wasn't much reason for optimism. An 11-25 record in the Pac-10 during the previous two years with a program historically mired in defeat typically will do that. But using his father's groundwork - and recruits - the younger Bennett fashioned something of a miracle in 2007, carrying the Cougars to 26 wins and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament with Dick's slow-down, defensive-minded style.
Slideshow: Heels reach 100 mark twice March Madness page RALEIGH - In Friday's opening round of the NCAA Tournament against a severely overmatched Mount St. Mary's squad, it took North Carolina until the start of the second half to push its lead to 20 and begin the blowout.
RALEIGH - A No. 1 seed's opening round game isn't necessarily a walk in the park. Sure, a No. 16 has yet to win in the NCAA Tournament, but North Carolina coach Roy Williams almost broke that streak while at Kansas when an inspired Holy Cross team had the Jayhawks worrying about an unthinkable defeat in 2002. "I think it's going to eventually happen," Williams said Thursday. "Whether or not it's going to be tomorrow or not, that's what I hope doesn't happen." That said, Williams and his Tar Heels certainly are hitting their peak at the right time.
RALEIGH -- There was really only one statistic to pick on for North Carolina during its dominating 113-74 win against Mount St. Mary's Friday night. Forty-one. The Mount, a team that averaged 69 points this season against the likes of powerhouses Quinnipiac and Robert Morris, put up 41 points during the first half. While UNC scored at will (60), the scrappy No. 16 seed exposed the Tar Heels by running the ball right back down their throats, catching them napping more than once.
On a 2007-08 North Carolina team full of talent and skill players, Marcus Ginyard fits in somewhere as the jack of all trades. After a sophomore season that saw him average just 16.9 minutes a game - 2.2 less than in his freshman campaign - the junior forward played himself into a starting role and 28.3 minutes a game this year thanks to his ability to do a little bit of everything and a lot of one thing.
Slideshow: Tar Heels win ACC title CHARLOTTE - North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson straggled into the locker room Sunday afternoon sporting his brand-new ACC Championship apparel, the last player to reach the room. "Run," Roy Williams commanded, and Lawson quickly jogged through the door.
All season Tyler Hansbrough has been climbing up in the North Carolina record books - free throws, points, rebounds. Now, after winning the Sporting News Player of the Year award Tuesday, he will finally be looking down. Down from the rafters of the Smith Center as only the eighth retired jersey in North Carolina history. "I look at them often," Hansbrough said Wednesday. "Even when I got here, it's kind of a little bit of a dream to imagine one day that my jersey would be up there - it's an honor."
Photos from the game RALEIGH - With 10:44 to go in Wednesday's game against N.C. State, Tyler Hansbrough got his shot blocked - badly - and committed a quick foul. On his way back down the floor he made an angry face and had to be calmed by senior Quentin Thomas.
