I did not know, when we drove the truck into Chapel Hill on June 27, 1997, and had to spend the night in that super-sketchy motel in Durham, just how profoundly the town and the school would affect me.
Take basketball, for instance. I imagine it's common to love one's alma mater, but I came to UNC with a BA in hand. I spent eight years there as a grad student--and you never know how a grad student's loyalty is going to land. Well, it took only a year or so before we were completely reeled in. And then, when we moved on campus and could walk to the Dean Dome in about 5 minutes, it just got that much more powerful. We watched Brendan Haywood and Ed Cota. We watched Julius Peppers, Joseph Forte, and Kris Lang in the famous 'blizzard' victory over Maryland, in which the Heels came back from 17 down. We watched a blowout loss to Dook, then a thrilling win over Dook when Marvin Williams tipped in a missed free throw (that was prelude to the 2005 national championship). Speaking of which, we watched Capel, Manuel, Lang, & Williams lose to Hampton in the opener of the infamous 8-20 season. We saw games against Georgia Tech, Miami, Florida State, UConn, Clemson . . . and it all came flooding back last night as we watched the Heels play. We've not seen any of these men play in person, but still--to say I am emotionally involved in it is an understatement.
They're Tar Heels, I'm a Tar Heel. They're more famous (and welcome to it), but we all bleed the same color. And I couldn't be prouder.
(picture from the UNC GAA)
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