January 10, 2005
dish best served cold
1/10/05
A little under two years ago today, I sat through the most miserable sporting event of my lifetime: my beloved University of North Carolina Tar Heels were shellacked by the University of Maryland to the tune of 40 points. Fortunately, I've been keeping this blog a while, which means I can go look at that night's entry any time I like, which makes our current circumstance all the more sweet.
That season, two years ago, I finally started turning off the TV before games were over. I always considered that dreadful karma, but by 2003, three years into the Matt Doherty coaching debacle, I knew it was robbing me of precious stomach lining.
That night, I posted a picture of Michael Jordan, "to remind us of what once was, and what could be again." Which is proof that if you live long enough you get to find redemption in unlikely circumstances: we pasted Maryland this weekend by 34 points. It would have been 50 points had Roy Williams not called off the dogs and put our "C team" in with six minutes to go.
I consider myself fairly enlightened, and have a pretty good sense of my place in the world. I've studied Buddhism and tried to stick to positive thoughts. My anti-depressants have tended to curb the highs and lows, and I'd say, with my wife, I've even tried developing a working spiritual ethos.
That said, HOW DOES FUCKING PAYBACK TASTE, YOU MARYLAND SHITWADS?!?!?!?
PREPARE FOR MORE DEFEAT, O FOES OF THE ACC! THE TAR HEELS ARE ON THE 2005 REVENGE TOUR AND YOU'RE FUCKING NEXT!!!
Now, now, Ian. If you were watching that game, you should have been really impressed by the gentlemanly cool of both teams. The Tarheels seem to be carrying on the Dean legacy. The A team was on their feet cheering the scrubs who went in to close the deal, a real joy to see. And as often as not a scoring Tarheel player pointed to his assist guy in a gracious nod to teamwork. But the Maryland players fought hard and clean to the end, even at the bottom of their last quarter black hole, and they never got mean or cranky. It was a display of the best of my favorite sport... so go easy on those Maryland guys. Don't be a sore winner.
Which reminds me of politics, last night's blog, and the incomprehensible delusion of some of your right-wing commenters. But don't get me started. . .
Mom
Um, yeah. Sorry, Maryland,
But only cuz my mom made me apologize.
It's behavior like this that makes people from Maryland hate Americans.
May I place an order for the 2005 Revenge Tour/Chapel Hill'otopia T-shirt.
I live in Maryland, and my husband is a Terp. He was at the National Championship game when Maryland won it all, and the smile on his face on the photos taken that day was bigger than the smile on his face in our wedding photos. Believe me, a Tar Heel/Terp union ain't easy sometimes.
P.S. - I was very happy to see Carolina beat the pants off of MD, but for obvious reasons, I had to contain my glee. It was tough, though.
Ooh, set right by Mom!
Although I enjoy your social and political commentary, I must take exception with your love of the 'heels. February 9 is THE BIG GAME, your beloved Tarheels come to Coach K Court, and have to take on not only Dockery, Ewing, Reddick, et al, but the Cameron Crazies as well!?!? Good luck UNC, your gonna need it.
Oh, that Maryland game was pure bliss. And Caulton Tutor's article in the N&O the next day was just hateful - even if he IS a Tar Heel fan. I, for one, am glad for every ass-kicking the Heels deliver, and I will enjoy every future ass kicking as well. However many or few there may be.
I took in Saturday's game from Section 218, Row M and that beat-down looked every bit as impressive in person as it did on ESPN. Having seen several blowouts this year, I did not AT ALL expect to see another yawner vs. the twerps. I just kept saying "Wow". I am trying my best to contain my enthusiasm because I know it is a long season, but DAMN, THIS TEAM IS GOOD!!! They have all the ingredients of a champion in the making: Senior Leaders (Jawad), Great Guard Play (Felton and McCants), Versatile Big Men (Sean May and Marvin Williams), Experience (9 scholarship Seniors and Juniors), Depth (9 players average 10 minutes or more) and a Great Coach.
Yes, Ian, it was great to smack MD in the chops, but the real ass-whoopin' will hopefully occur on February 9th and March 6th. Not only are the Heels having one of their best years since '98, the dookies are a bit down. They are not at all deep, have an over-rated one-trick-pony as their leading scorer (Reddick), and still have the spawn of Satan as their coach. By the way, is it just me or does Coach K's mouth look like an anus?
Let's enjoy the ride while it lasts. Go Heels!!!!
You're right, Kevin. With Dook recently "demolishing" highly ranked powerhouses such as Princeton, Clemson, and Temple, we should be quaking. Glad the Crazies were there to pull them through!
Ian, if I may speak for you this one time:
To Kevin: Reading your comment, I actually felt a pain in my gut. While Ian and many of his readers are big fans of spirited basketball contests, Ian is particularly fond of Carolina hoops and his hatred of dook is real and runs deep. He may actually hate dook more than he loves Carolina.
Ian has welcomed all debate in this forum [as we have seen in the past few months], but there might be a line out there that should be crossed only in dire circumstances, and even then, only with a knowing acceptance of the comment barrage that could follow. It is the "don't cheer too much for dook" line.
But since you brought it up, when the Heels drop the hammer on the Blue Devils later this year, luck will have nothing to do with it.
Finally, a serious topic to debate on this blog. It's about time you started writing about the important issues!
My face was sore all weekend from smiling so hard during and after the game.
I can't wait to kick Dook around on Coack K court.
BTW, I saw the following vanity tag on a car here in Northern Virgina the other day:
a UNC Tarheel tag reading: EFDOOK
If only all moms could intelligently comment on sports like that...I love it. My mom just comments on the players' asses, which makes me cringe.
Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.
"Your" [sic] gonna make me have to open up a can of partisan Tar Heel whup ass over your comment about the big game.
I read this blog first thing every morning over a cup of warm coffee. I drink my coffee out of a mug I got at Hardee's which commemorates the 1993 championship. It is so faded from repeated use, that all you can make out are the blue handle, the "Struttin' Ram's" left hoof and "UN AR EELS". But I know what the cup means to me.
And few things raise my hackles like a wayward dookie who crossed over into my "area". That's right, Tar Heels far and wide have laid claim to this blog. No vocal dookies welcome. Though, I must admit, I do like putting a "face" and a name on the enemy.
I will concede only this much . . . you're [proper] correct in only one thing--UNC v. dook is THE BIG GAME. As great as a payback whuppin' on the little turtles feels, it pales when compared to the unfettered joy I feel after a victory over dook. And I will know that joy again . . . soon . . . at least twice this year.
After the game, redDICK will only know the flavor of gum that Jackie Manuel was chewing [with apologies to the movie Hoosiers], cause he's going to be blanketed by the defensive master ALL GAME LONG.
With "Shaft Lick" on the bench, who is Sheldon-the-Klingon going to guard all by himself? May? J-Dub? Marvelous Marvin? Doubtful.
I remain, as always, patiently waiting to see Coach Rat Bastard's sniveling little rodent face contorted in disgust as his team goes down.
And Kevin, try not to talk about "cameron-crazies" anymore. They do not bolster your [proper] argument.
Preach brother Andrew and sister Scruggs.
As an active Terp, I have to defend my team. I won't pretend to know player statistics, besides the number of times I've seen DJ Strawberry at the bars. But I do know that we've become better sportsmen and more mature even in the past three semesters that I've been here.
The most important thing is that we celebrate our shared hatred for dook!
Yikes! A little good-natured ribbing before THE BIG GAME, and here I find myself assaulted on all fronts. I mean no disrespect to UNC or their fans, and hold UNC basketball players in high regard - usually only AFTER they have gone on to the NBA. It is because of Duke's piss poor record of transplanting successful NCAA players into the NBA ranks that I am drawn to Duke in the first place. Like passing a car accident on the highway: I don't want to look, but I can't help but stare. Let's hope for a well played and sportsmanlike game in February, and for futrue reference I will keep my sports preferences to myself.
Oh, don't worry, Kevin. The crowds here actually LIKE it when Dook fans speak up. Gives us a chance to holler.
Kevin above is wrong.. Waterloo for the heels comes 13 Feb on CBS when they face the mighty Huskies who are just getting warmed up!
the guys vanity plate that the one guy was talking about is my dad. i'm planning on getting one that says efdook2. anyways when my dad got it i cracked up laughing.