So today President hopeful Obama scrimmaged our beloved Tar Heels . . . I only hope he could hold off Psycho T the way he has Clinton.

Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1053885.html

http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/sports/basketball

To sum it up, I am one of 250 Carolina students that spent thousands of their own earnings, time, and sacrificed class work to be stuck in the upper corner rafters in the San Antonio Dome by the Athletic Department during the 2008 NCAA Final Four . . . while we watched all other students sit court side. Did this effect the play of the game? This article argues yes, and that students should have more influence in all NCAA sporting events.

In the aftermath of North Carolina’s Final Four early exit and the Kansas victory, Tar Heel fans around the nation have been pointing their fingers in every direction. Some argue that Roy was out coached and outwitted by his Kansas counterparts. Many blame the team for being flatfooted and not prepared for the big stage. My personal favorites are those blaming the referees for allowing Hansbrough to get roughed up and out of his element. However, I am taking a different route for explaining the UNC loss; I am blaming myself.

The game that I witnessed this past Saturday happened to be the last basketball game I would ever attend as a Carolina undergraduate. The road to San Antonio was hard, long, and expensive for every person that attended. I have spent the past two months running the game through my head repeatedly, analyzing every rebound and shot during our Kansas defeat. No matter what route I take in my breakdown, I couldn’t help but fault myself. However, if you were present at the games in April, you would have noticed several fascinating trends.

First of all, the Alamo Dome was split into four equal sections. Each of these sections held their own perspective teams. After speaking to students from each of the schools, we learned that only two of the four schools provided their student body with lower level tickets. After learning this, many of the Carolina students became disgruntled. For the majority of students, the thought of being in the upper level was a chance that they were willing to take. After all, in 2005 the baby blue students scored lower levels, and it was expected to be the same case only 3 years later. We lost the gamble, and we were completely fine with that deal.  But we were disappointed because each of those two schools with students on the court also moved past the semifinals. So why do I blame myself for the loss of the game? Because there was no way that we, as Carolina students, could have impacted the atmosphere of that basketball game.

Carolina basketball thrives off our fine tradition of having a home court advantage and rowdy student sections. In the lower level of the Dean Dome, there are four full student sections including the risers, as well as Carolina Fever and the band. The students stand the entire game, cheering loudly and supporting their Heels. In all home games this year, the four-minute mark has been the knockout bell for the majority of ticket holders in the lower level. Alumni or not, hundreds of fans leave the Dome during this timeout.

Many people argue that there is no difference between a yelling alum and a student during a basketball game. I beg to differ. The excitement shared by the student is not a result of being entertained; it is one of passion. There are many other fans that share this passion, but for us students it’s different. We have four years at this university, four short years to enjoy every moment. Think back to your undergraduate days and how different attending a basketball game seemed. Carolina students savor every moment at any basketball game, whether it is Mount Olive or the highly coveted Duke game. They take pictures, make ridiculous t-shirts expressing their love for the players and Roy, give Ramseys a high-five and hug although they’ve seen him a million times, sing and dance with the band, and genuinely attempt to burn these memories into their head along with their study guides for midterm week. My best memories come from that Dome, not because I was simply there, but because I experienced the moment with thousands of other students. From the Marvin Williams put-back versus Duke to Hansbrough giving 7′7” Kenny George a dunk to the face, it would not have been the same if I were not around Carolina students. We fill the lower levels, we pack the risers, we stand the entire game, and we NEVER leave before the final buzzer. These characteristics of the student section are not highly secret or invisible during any game, so one would assume we would try to mimic this in the NCAA semifinals to help a home court advantage. After all, I’m sure Duke would have put the Cameron Crazies court side if they were in the same situation.

I could not have been more wrong. After spending 10 hours flying, 3 hours driving, and countless hours anticipating the game, nearly 180 Carolina students were presented with tickets in the upper corner of the Alamo Dome. Words truly explain how far away these seats are, so I constructed some diagrams above.

We were everlastingly grateful for receiving tickets and the fact that we had the option of buying them. It’s an experience that we will never have again. For that matter, I refuse to complain about the location of the seats. We did, however, agree that the location of the students could have had an impact on the game. Perhaps signs such as “Psycho T is your daddy”, “Make it Rain, Wayne”, or “We have Roy” could have ignited a defensive stop or an offensive run. Our signs couldn’t be seen, though they were still held. Maybe the players looking into the stands and seeing that nearly 200 of their students and good friends cared enough to travel all that way to watch them play would have evoked pride and passion. But our standing bodies couldn’t be seen. Perhaps a student heckling a Kansas player could have erupted emotions and threw them off their game. But our voices couldn’t be heard. Throughout the game, the UNC atmosphere seemed invisible. No one on the court in baby blue was standing, all sitting, waiting for the next reason to lift themselves out of their seat. This was all happening while the students of the back upper corner wholeheartedly refused to sit in the Final Four seat pads provided for our comfort. College basketball isn’t meant to be comfortable when you are a student.

The NCAA also agrees. If fans, particularly students don’t matter in the game of college basketball, then why is the NCAA trying so hard to revive the atmosphere of the game? Next year, the Final Four will be an amazing experience for the students. I am glad the NCAA is finally making the tournament more student based and therefore exciting. Yes the alumni donate thousands of dollars, pay for many of the things students enjoy, and deserve to sit up and close to the game. However, there needs to be a fair balance of students and alumni in important games such as these.

Hopefully this is a good omen, either way it will be great to see thousands of standing, screaming students during the Final Four next year. In the future, I could care less where my seats are at a Final Four. I just hope the students for all teams that paid the price have an opportunity to positively impact their fellow students on the court. Either way, we were proud of our team and our coach, they never gave up. Even when it was 40 – 12, I overheard chatter about a comeback and that we could do it. We got close, but that Saturday just wasn’t our day. But hopefully with this article, all Athletic Departments will think twice before sticking their students in the upper corners.

After the tour was over, we began to look for UNC shirts to buy. They were still around $30, more than I wanted to spend for a shirt when I knew they would be on sale the next day. We took the long walk to the Alamo Dome through the hoards of Royal blue. Perhaps the teams could have changed it up? It was hard to tell Memphis from Kansas both during and before the game. Once inside, we made our way back to the tiny corner in section 306. To my expectations, the once Carolina blue sections of the lower level were filled with Kansas blue. It would have been nice for them to give us a chance to buy their tickets for face value before leaving town, but oh well. The pregame was loud, intense, and unlike anything I have ever seen. In our front was a Kansas couple giddy with excitement. Beside them, a father-son Memphis pair. Behind us were two old Kansas men. And behind them was a very, very annoying Kansas girl with a shrilly voice. You could have shot me dead when she screamed.

To spark a little excitement in our section, the UNC students decided to root for Memphis. The Kansas couple had little to say, the Memphis family gave us high fives, the old guy mumbled curses under his breath, and the girl let it get to her and got worked up emotionally. The UNC guys had fun giving her a hard time during the game. It was hard to get into the game during the first half. I was so apathetic towards the outcome that I was just sitting in anticipation of the last two minutes. During halftime they honored Patrick Ewing, Dicky V, and several other basketball starts into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Finally, the second half started. The Tigers began to pull away, and by the 10 minute mark it looked as if they had it in their pockets. Kansas would have spurts, making use of their notorious alley-oop backdoor screen, but the Tigers always found a way to put out the fire before they got hot. By the 4 minute mark, there was no doubt that Memphis had it in the bag. With a 10 point lead, Kansas began to foul.

Throughout the season, Memphis has been clawed about their poor freethrow shooting, being that it is barely above 50 percent. They have shown in all the previous games that they could hit these shots, but we began to see something familiar in the stands. All the Memphis fans brushed off the first miss. The second, they began to get worried. The third, we knew what was going to happen. Memphis missed 5 free throws consecutively, giving Kansas hope by trailing on three points. Then, with seconds winding down, Chambers pump fakes, fades to his left, and drains a 3 pointer with 2 seconds left on the clock. The Kansas fans went nuts. It was deafening, and impressive at the same time. The only time I have heard something rival this noise was after the Marvin Williams put back against Duke in 2005 at the Dean Dome. The Memphis fans dropped back to their feet, they knew their Achilles heel had been severed.

Kansas came out in overtime like a poacher out to slay the big cats. Memphis looked tired and flat footed. The once raucous crowd had dulled to a slight murmur. They were feeling more pain at that moment then I was during the first half of the UNC game. The Kansas fans rose in anticipation as Memphis began to foul. Down by three points with 45 seconds left in overtime, Memphis fouled in hope of a miss. I did not agree with this call, and felt they should have played out the shot clock and hope for a defensive stop. However, both the free throws went down. Kansas, now up by five, stopped Memphis on their last possession, and the game was there. The buzzer sounded, Kansas fans cried of joy. Memphis fans hung their heads in shame. Free throws: the simple yet most integral part of the game. All Memphis had to do down the line was sink one more free throw to seal a national title. Confetti began to rain from the dome roof, and the Kansas teams were draped in Adidas apparel and hats. The UNC students stood their, more in awe than jealousy. Yes we had made a trip to see our Heels, but it was worth it to stick around and watch the later games. I will remember that game for the rest of my life. And next year, assuming our boys stay, we will only be stronger.

The fans poured out of the Alamo Dome. The smell of Kansas pride burned our Tar Heel nostrils as we tried to head to the Riverwalk. We now remembered why we wanted to cheer for Memphis, and the group of UNC students decided to stop by the grocery store, pick up a bottle of wine, and sit by the river and enjoy the beautiful nighttime sky. Most importantly, we avoided the thousands of Kansas fans out to rub it in our face, because yes, we were wearing our Carolina blue. That night we talked about our trip, how we don’t regret anything about it, what we want to do in the future, how we’re mad about the AD selling our student tickets to the Ram’s Club, and many other things. It was the most relaxing night on the trip. After the city cleared out and we were able to call a cab, we headed back to the hotel. The next day would be one of travel and back to the worst place in Texas . . . Houston.

Monday: 9 AM

No breakfast, we headed straight to downtown San Antonio. The Monday of the National Championship game was rather somber. We couldn’t find ourselves to get excited about the upcoming game, although we knew it would be a good one. We decided to get some lunch from Taco Bell then head out to San Antonio. When we got there, we decided to hush all the people saying, “don’t go there, it’s disappointing” and go see the Alamo. Yes, it is rather small, but it is rich in history and I never fully understood the numbers the men at the Alamo were up against. To hold off for 12 full days against thousands of invaders is amazing. On the 13^th, the few men decided to hush the cannons to get rest. Those last 90 minutes would be their last. They had several photos and displays demonstrating the numbers and massiveness of the invasion.

Also on display and most interesting to me was the Bowie knife collection. I have had several Bowie knives throughout my life, but I have never actually looked into its history. One excerpt in the Alamo read of Bowie having a gun put to his head. Bowie sternly replied, “you sir, might get that shot off, but I never missed”. The man pulled the trigger, and only the cap exploded. They said as soon as this happened, his neck was sliced in two. The Bowie knives I am use to owning average at most 6 inches in length. The orginal Bowie knives averaged anywhere from 8 inches to a foot. These were the “Rambo” knives of their days.

We began our tour in the artillery wing of the Alamo. Here there was a museum which displayed all the uniforms, weapons, and artifacts from the time. In a locket behind the glass was a locket that held a piece of Davie Crockett’s hair. Believe it or not, but it was a shade of read . . . ginger. He also wore a rhinestone-studded vest, which was surprisingly masculine. I believe Davie Crockett could wear anything and get away with it. There were also guns, writings, and artifacts that belonged to Sam Houston. One thing I didn’t recognize was how large the rifles and muskets were of the time. The range of our rifles : 300 ft, the range of the invaders was only 100 feet. The lady said that since it took so long to reload, the men defending the Alamo used their rifles as blunt objects instead of firing. Unlike the invaders, their guns didn’t have bayonets. I wanted to take a picture, but I learned fast by the Texas Rangers that there are no cameras allowed in the Alamo . . . at all.

After the Alamo we went to the “River Candy Shop” where I picked up some rootbeer gummies, sour worms, and peach candy. I also saw a jawbreaker that was literally the size of my fist. I gave it a lot of consideration, but decided against the daunting challenge of breaking jaws. But a sense of nostalgia came over me as I remembered enjoying having the candy-induced tumor on the side of my face in elementary school. The UNC kids then decided to have some dinner at the Republic of Texas on the Riverwalk. Once again, they still didn’t have sweet tea. I decided to go for the 12 ounce Swiss mushroom burger cooked medium well. With it came French fries, and that was it. The burger contained no condiments, and they brought you packets of mayonnaise. But the burger was cooked to near perfection, and the seasoning on it and spices made it melt in your mouth. One of the top 10 burgers I have ever had, and the fries weren’t bad either.

After dinner we had 2 hours to walk around the Riverwalk. We decided to take a boat tour of the Walk, and learn about its history and see all of the sites. As I posted earlier, there were many, many interesting facts that I learned about this place.  Our Riverboat captain was named Emzy (yes, MZ) and he kept harping about how he had a college education and still drove a boat. But he gave so much good information and was able to answer any questions. Just to reiterate my favorite facts:

The Riverwalk was dreamed up by one man without a college education at the age of 27. He was payed an equivalent to $80,000 for his efforts.

The Riverwalk was built after the New Deal for a total of $470,000 . . . an equivalent to $2.5 million today.

In its worst flood, the water rose 13 feet above the streets.

In the sixth floor of the building that looks like a ship (in my flicker photos), is where FDR learned of Pearl Harbor and the famous picture of him at the desk was taken.

250 people per year (drunk and sober) fall into the Riverwalk.

The Riverwalk is the only place in Texas where carrying an open container is legal.

President Johnson proposed to his wife on the Riverwalk. He bought the ring at Sears . . . 2 hours before the wedding.

The depth of the river is anywhere from 2 ft. to 7ft 

I found this place beautiful, historical, and very interesting. I would love to come back here again and enjoy the sites and sounds without the Kansas fans ‘chalkin’ it up. 

Up Next, the actual game and the events during / after it. 

So I just got in from San Antonio, and I can tell you one thing, it was the time of my life. I will never forget it and next time I just hope UNC is in there with the rest of them. Here is what I’ve been working on all day in the airport. Monday and Tuesday will be included with the next post. It basically goes into more detail every event on the trip. Enjoy.

Currently on the plane ride back from Houston to Washington, then from there to Raleigh.

I would like to take this down time to go through a detailed list by list description of each day. I was able to jot down some notes from each day, but with limited internet connection at the hotel (and it costing $5 for 30 minutes), it was hard to upload all the pictures and blog posts in a timely manner. Overall, there were over 5,000 words typed on this trip, over 200 pictures, and memories to last a lifetime. 

            Thursday, 8:00 PM:

            I stayed in the office planning out most of my trip on Thursday, then took a stroll to Franklin street to pick up some “pregame” wear.  I went with the Wayne Ellington jersey, a new Julians polo with the Old Well seal on it, and a classic “Make It Wayne” shirt. The new jersey was iffy, but I have always said I needed a new jersey before large sporting events, and this was probably the largest I have ever visited.

            I didn’t have time to pick up dinner this night, although all the other guys managed to make it to Monterrey’s for the traditional Thursday night feast. I really missed it, as my usual waiter Jericho has been asking where I’ve been for the past month. After this, I decided to just lounge around the house playing some video games and messing around with Sutton, Todd’s pit bull. Around 10 PM some CAA friends came over to play a few friendly games of pong. At about 1 AM or so I drove my car over to Henderson Street and gave it a park. We were finally ready to go around 3, but I should have taken my car, because her Oldsmobile was running on fumes, literally. At 3AM, this is quite worrisome.

Friday: 4 AM

            While waiting on the plane, we met several UNC fans at the Southwest terminal. If you have never flown Southwest, every flight is “nonstop”. Although there are no layovers, you stop at other airports, wait for other people to get on and off, then continue to your destination. We stopped at Nashville, picked up a couple of Memphis fans, then continued to New Orleans, which was the last stop before Houston. The flight really wasn’t that bad considering there was plenty of legroom and they served peanuts. I was thoroughly impressed with what Southwest has done to “commercialize” air travel.

            Upon our arrival we had no problems getting to the rental car terminal. We went through National, though it was pricey. I had originally requested a Pontiac M6, although they had ran out. But with pleasure I chose to take a Pontiac Vibe instead (the official car of the NCAA tournament).  The drive around Houston the most confusing moment I have ever been through in my entire driving life. There are few signs available to drivers in Houston. It’s like you are either from there, or blind. We went nearly 20 minutes down the wrong interstate before Jess’ GPS system put us back on the right track. The drive to San Antonio wasn’t bad at all. I will put this out there: Texas drivers are horrible and aggressive. It’s nothing like driving on the interstate in NC. The roadside landscape in Texas was very impressive; if someone tried to mess them up I think that would be vile.

            After 160 miles of traveling, 2 McDonald double cheeseburgers, ¼ a tank of gas, and 58 song on my Ipod, we finally reached San Antonio. The city skyline was very impressive and could be seen for a long ways out. Instead of going straight to the hotel, we went to pick up our basketball tickets at the Sheraton Gunter. The Sheraton was ridiculously nice and was the team hotel. When we walked through the door, we were greeted with a sea of Carolina blue shirts, balloons, and spirit. The tickets were upstairs and the guys from the ticket office were handing them out. After we received the tickets we looked at them: section 306. I wasn’t expecting outstanding seats, but for the last Final Four the students sat on the floor. During Saturday’s game, all students from other school sat on the floor. I have harped over this already, but unlike the donors we sacrificed much, much more to get to San Antonio. When your own players tell you later that they couldn’t hear you, it makes you feel disgraced, like you didn’t do your job. I didn’t make this 4,000 mile journey to watch a game like this, I cam to cheer on the Heels. Being loud, proud and creating an atmosphere is what the students are meant to do. The only section that remained standing the entire game was section 306, even when we were down by nearly 40 points. I never once gave up hope. I really hope that those who left early will never receive tickets again. If the Clemson game didn’t teach you anything about this team, I hope the Semifinal game did. We made a comeback and showed heart. Anyways, back to Friday.

            After we got our tickets we traveled to the Roadway Inn which was located about 8 miles from downtown. The hotel room really wasn’t bad at all, the room was big, bathrooms clean, they had ESPN, and most importantly they had AC. Instead of driving to Downtown, we took a Mactram shuttle bus, which was $8 back and forth. But when parking is running $40 and $50, this is the best method to get there. We walked around the Riverwalk for a while and then checked out Joe’s Crab Shack. We started our meal with a bucket of garlic muscles, which were very bland in taste. I would not really recommend them, but the entrées were delicious. My broiled seafood platter rivaled the same platter I usually get at Squids in Chapel Hill or at the Outer banks. I think the deciding factor on the plate was surprisingly the broccoli. I don’t know what they did to make such a hated vegetable taste so good, but it exploded in my mouth. The total cost for the meal was about $50, which isn’t bad for a place like Riverwalk. After dinner we walked around the walk for a while, then decided to call it a night and to rest up for the next day.

Saturday, 9 AM:

            We were quick to our feet and to catch a shuttle back to the downtown area. I wanted to be downtown for the entire day if I could. When we arrived around 10 AM, we walked around for a little while to take in the scenery and the Riverwalk during the daytime. It is quite a beautiful place, and I would love to visit again when it’s not during the Final Four. Around lunchtime we stopped in for a sub at Subway. The any foot long for $5 deal is amazing. I went with my normal Italian BLT on Parmesan oregano with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, pickles, banana peppers, oil and vinegar, and southwest sauce. There is no way you can ever get a sub wrong, and it was right on. Jess went for the footlong, but ¼ of an Italian BLT was wasted at this sitting. It’s alright though, we both got full. 

Around 1 we went to check out the Hoop City sponsored by Coke Zero. Can a Coke really have zero calories? Yes it can! I heard this amazing fact as least enough times to make me want to drink Pepsi in their faces.

Hoop City was very, very disappointing. It was nothing more than one big magazine ad. Everywhere you turned there was someone putting their product in your face. There was even the Motorola “text racing game” to see whose text skills are far superior. The winning 14 year old girl excitedly exclaimed “OMG! ROFlmAo!” upon receiving her telephone bill shaped trophy. I am sure her parents are very proud of her. 

There were several 3 on 3 basketball games inside as well, which would have been pretty cool to play in. Most the teams looked like scrube, but there were a few ballers present. We looked around for tshirts for a while, but most of them were pushing $30 or $40, which is more than I’m willing to pay. We decided to walk out, past the land of Xbox, through the maze of Coke Zero girls, and around the island of Spalding in order to get outside. To our surprise, Kid Rock was about to take the stage. I honestly could not care less, but it was satisfying to see my first redneck of the trip.

After this we made our way to the Carolina pregame meal and hospitality. We were catered by a really great tex-mex place and I had the quesadillas and tamales. Eating at the table behind us was the one and only John Edwards. His hair, perfectly teased, attracted all of our attention. It’s not every day a large group of students are eating in front of a once presidential candidate. We took our picture with him, shook his hand, then sat around in anticipation with the rest of the UNC students. Once again, tempers flared when the discussion topic of seat locations came up. We got over it and began our descent on the Alamo Dome. On our walk, we clashed with several groups of Jayhawks, most of whom trash talked Roy or dissed Hansbrough. We countered with many smart remarks, most of which involved their near loss to Davidson, but it remained pretty calm.

Getting in the Dome was relatively easy, as they had nearly 20 or so gates open for line check and ticketing. I was really impressed with the operations in this, being that nearly all the fans were going through one gate. When we got into the gate, it took us a while to find the seats. We got up to them and realized they weren’t that bad, but we were still in the corner of the Dome, tucked away safely from our team or any TV cameras. The game started, our hopes were high as the Heels came out of the tunnel. But within minutes, Kansas had jumped the gun and knocked down several three pointers which put us nearly 18 points behind. The slaughter never stopped. At the 10-minute mark my hopes were to have the game within 10 at half time. Within 5 minutes, my hopes were to keep it under 30. I had never seen a UNC basketball team play so horrendous for those 15 minutes. But I knew we had something in store for Kansas, and we began to chip away at the lead. At half time, we had it within 20, I knew we weren’t going to give up. The half time show was bland, as only the Kansas dancers did a routine. I’m not really sure what happened to the UNC girls, but the Rock Chalk girls were boring and not even pretty. After half time the boys came out on fire. We seemed to sit on a 10 point margin for an eternity. Then it happened, 8 points down. Then Tyler comes up with a big rebound and put back with the foul, 6 points. I took a picture of the scoreboard at this point, 54 – 48, the time I knew we were going to take the game. One more time, Wayne for the easy lay-up, 4 points.  Then everything seemed to slip. Our little world in the corner of the Alamo Dome seemed to crash. Our frustration with the other UNC fans and our prayers and wishes for our team to win began to get the best of us. With 2 minutes left, I knew it was over.

After the game the Kansas team cheered, and we just bit our tongues and walked away. We sang the Carolina alma mater as students . . . the only people in the crowd to do so. I would not leave my last UNC basketball game as a student without singing that beautiful song. The night after that was dreary and we just lagged around. We were still proud of our boys. As one girl said “I didn’t think I could love a team as much as the 05 team. But these guys just seemed to grow on me”. Amen to that, this was a good basketball team.

The next day, Sunday was some much needed time off from college basketball. We grabbed some lunch at Wendy’s then made our way to the San Antonio Zoo. Once again, we relied on what I now called “Trish”, the girl GPS system to guide us there. I tried getting there by myself, by once again I proved my ‘manvigation compass’ is always pointing in the wrong direction. Is breaking out the GPS the modern demoralization of “asking for directions” for men? I can contest “yes” to that answer.

After my one hour detour, Jess and Trish finally got me to the zoo. It was quite hot outside and we only had an hour and a half to get through the two hours zoo path, so we had to walk fast. Before planning our route, we had to mentally rank the animals we wanted to see and those we did not. Bears and otters ranked first, followed by the African animals, followed by the Australian animals, then the crocs and gators, then the snake and lizards, and lastly on the observation chain were the birds. The bears were not out and the African animals were pretty somber. The elephant looked sad in his small cage, but the hippos were very chill. Not very hungry, hungry, though. We got really close to the rhino, and the kangaroos were just chilling under the shade. I think my favorite was the lone kangaroo chilling with the emus. The snakes ended up being pretty cool, as well as the komodo dragon. The biggest let down was when I had to pass up the petting zoo. Sure they were just common goats that I could pet on any farm in Stanly County, but it was my only opportunity to do something hands-on. The otters were somewhere hiding, but seeing the monkeys really made up for it. Monkeys are natures class clowns, made only to throw feces at and entertain humans. Well, I’m sure they serve much more purposeful in the wild, but in the zoo that’s all they can do. After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel to go to dinner with the crowd later that night.

The hard question tonight was “what to wear”? Do you follow your heart and wear only Carolina blue? Or do you spare yourself being annoyed by Kansas fans and wear a neutral color? I went with the Carolina blue oxford, to Hell with people that still want to give us a hard time about the game. That night we went to the 60 ounce margarita place, Café Ole. Once again, the food was short of amazing and had nothing on Monterrey’s back home. It just seemed like it was prepared too quick and the menu screamed simplicity. The meal came to about $50, the same as all the other places on the Riverwalk. Later that night we met up with the crowd and went back to the Dueling Pianos. I was so happy they played “Gin and Juice” and “Ice, Ice, Baby” for our ears. It took a couple of bucks, but they also played the UNC fight song, which annoyed some of the Kansas fans. We were just giving back what they had been dealing all weekend. After that we took the Mactran home and called it a night. 

As I said earlier, Houston is by far the worst city I have ever been in in terms of driving. The lanes are anywhere from 6 - 10 lanes (when there is not traffic), the scenery is horrendous, and the other drivers are even worse. 

Driving into San Antonio from Houston was a trip. Now I’m sitting here planning out my route to George Washington International. 

On a side note, some interesting facts that we learned about the Riverwalk yesterday:

The Riverwalk was dreamed up by one man without a college education at the age of 27. He was payed an equivalent to $80,000 for his efforts.

The Riverwalk was built after the New Deal for a total of $470,000 . . . an equivalent to $2.5 million today.

In its worst flood, the water rose 13 feet above the streets.

In the sixth floor of the building that looks like a ship (in my flicker photos), is where FDR learned of Pearl Harbor and the famous picture of him at the desk was taken.

250 people per year (drunk and sober) fall into the Riverwalk.

The Riverwalk is the only place in Texas where carrying an open container is legal.

President Johnson proposed to his wife on the Riverwalk. He bought the ring at Sears . . . 2 hours before the wedding.

The depth of the river is anywhere from 2 ft. to 7ft 

How about that game? I saw many of my fellow Tar Heels selling their tickets prior to tip off, however, me and my friends knew something special was going to happen with that game. I took so many pictures my battery died, but they will be uploaded shortly in the morning.

The Kansas fans were still as annoying as they have always been. The whole “Rooooccccck Chaaaaaalkkkk Jaaaaaaaay Haaaaaaawk” chant still gives me the shivers, I am just glad I never have to hear it again. But, to the game.

It was hard to get interested in the game for the first half. I had no vested interest in either of the teams, other than I knew I hated Kansas fans with a passion. The only thing I cared about was a good ball game. The Memphis drive and dish was working to a T. Kansas could barely guard the slippery Rose as he worked his way through and around their defense. No matter how wild the play got, he remained always poised. I was quite impressed.

However, as they have been saying all year, the weakness with Memphis is freethrows. I watched as Memphis missed 5 in a row when under 2 minutes. You simply can not expect to be a championship team and perform like this effort. After Kansas hit the 3 to send it in to overtime, I knew it was over for Memphis. The momentum had shifted way too much. The Memphis fanbase were in their seats, the Kansas were jumping hysterically. Only a team as disciplined as Kansas could carry out an overtime in the National Championship game to perfection. 

After the buzzer sounded, the UNC students stuck around to see the ceremony. We were disappointed, yes, but we only got a taste of what we will see next year. We love our Heels and will continue to support them. Will Hansbrough stay? Absolutely, he wants that championship.

Will Wayne Mane stay? Absolutely, his shot is still too streaky.

Will Ty Law stay? Absolutely, he was injured half the season.

Will we have new talent? Absolutely, Zeller is going to be a beast.

Either way, making this trip was a blast. I can not wait to post more specific details about the trip and everything I have learned from the Riverwalk, zoo, and the Alamo. 

Time for bed now.

I’m going to bring a lot of attention to myself a the game today. Oh well, we’re proud of our boys.

So something very strange I have noticed about this years Final Four: there have been no Nike swooshes on the court. None, nada, zero. This is very unlike college basketball, where Nike has dominated the market since virtually the days the swoosh replaced the Chuck Taylor seal. 

Kansas - Adidas

UCLA - Adidas

Memphis - Adidas

Carolina - Jordan

Yes, Jordan is produced by Nike, but UNC does not wear the swoosh. We have been donning the jumpman, and it’s something that no other team is allowed to do. Although the Adidas apparel is attrocious and I would never be caught dead in a pair of their basketball shoes, they have done a clever marketing concept.

Earlier this month Adidas released “team shoes”, where you can purchase the exact shoe that your team wears. Would I shell out $150 to wear the same style of Jordans as Hansbrough? Um, YES! It’s amazing what putting one logo on a shoe can do for their value.

And value for Adidas, after this national championship, will be tremendous considering a Nike logo hasn’t been visible on a player this entire semifinal weekend.  

Is it any coincidence that the Tiger was up and roaming in the zoo yesterday? I think not. There’s also no coincidence that we skipped all the birds. My feathered friends, they are gonna get nomed by the Tigers. 

Going out on the town last night was very, very painful. Everyone was happy, cheering, chanting on their teams. I was sulking and pretending like it didn’t bother me. It did, especially the Kansas fans. They continue to bad mouth ole Roy, which in some ways I can understand. However, don’t do it in front of me. We went to a tex-mex place called “Cafe Ole”, and it was very, very disappointing.

I had the “Texas sized chimichanga”.  If everything is bigger in Texas, they need to talk to Jericho and the boys at Monterreys in Durham, because that chimichanga was tiny. The only large thing on the menu was a $24 sixty ounce margarita, which was present on almost every table. Many of the tables went through several rounds of these, and then the tempers began to flare. The table behind us was full of middle aged Memphis men. The table below them, young and older Kansas fans. As soon as the guys sat down, they ordered margaritas and began the annoying “T-I-G-E-R-S . . . TIGERS! ROAR!” . . . it really got annoying. Then, without any hesitation, we heard the “Roooocccck Chaaaaallllllkkkk Jaaaaayyy Haaaaaawkkkkk”. Then things got interesting.

A table of locals were sitting on the other side of us, singing and dancing to the live mariachi band. They began to get annoyed, and started singing “Ole”. One of the guys at the table was wearing a Detroit Tigers jersey, so every time the Tigers chant started, he saw this as a chance to flaunt his jersey. Funny thing about that table of 8, was that all of them were singing on key to every traditional mariachi song, except for one girl who obviously had no clue what was going on. From what we could figure, she was on a date with one of the guys. Awkward date for sure.

Anyways, the old men behind us continued to annoy everyone. Near the end of the dinner, 2 very attractive young ladies came up and sat down with them. The men, prideful in their “coolness” and Tiger mating calls, tried to seal the deal by ordering them each a $24 margarita. As soon as the girls got the drinks, they stood up and started the chant “Roooooooockkkk Chaaaaalllllllk” . . . OWNED. Probably the most impressive way to get free drinks I’ve ever seen.

After this we met up with the rest of the UNC students at a local joint called “Mad Dogs” on the Riverwalk. The bouncers wore kilts. Never have I seen guys think they were so tough wearing skirts. We stayed here for maybe 30 minutes before heading out to see the dualing pianos. These might be my favorite late night entertainment ever. You can request any song you want, and the piano players will play it for you, with a little funk. My first song, “Gin and Juice”, brought the place to a riot. After this, I went with “Ice, Ice, Baby” for an encore. Another hit. I then requested “Chatahoochie” by Alan Jackson, but it never played. Toward the end of the night we heard it, the Carolina fight song. There are Tar Heels still left in the city! Like every other Heel here, it’s “Go Memphis” for them as well. 

Today the group is going to hit up the pre-game festivities. There are a couple of concerts going on, but no Kid Rock. Our options are the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not”, Guinness Book of World Records, or a huge IMAX theatre. Not really sure what we’re going for, but we’ll figure something out. The game is set to start at 8:21 here (9:21 your time). I’m debating buying a Memphis shirt, but $25 is too much for a one time wear. 

Oh yeah, one thing. Everyone has agreed that all Kansas girls are ugly. Some of the best pick up lines used on the Carolina girls by the Kansas guys:

“Wheeeew . . . I was getting worried. I heard all Carolina girls were pretty, but never seen any. Then we saw you.” . . . gag.

“Hey . . . you”

(A guy wearing a wedding ring) “Hey, can I sit with you while that guy (me) goes to the bathroom?”

“What’s your name” . . . “Did I meet you earlier tonight” (Once we just got to the place). This guy continued to stare awkwardly for the rest of the night. He was weird.

Then my FAVORITE from a UCLA guy:
“Hey, you’re from UNC . . . I’m from UCLA . . . let’s console each other.” 

I really wish I could have taken picture of these guys, it was amazing how creepy they were. 
 

Oh yeah, this is for Russ. They are giving out NCAA slap bracelets. The fad’s not dead.