24 hours later

Hate to admit how much losing last night still bothers me.  In the scheme of human events, who cares who wins? Obviously I care more than I should.  

I've told some of you this story, but when Carolina won Dean's second championship in 1993, I was obviously excited.  But then it struck me around 2 am, as I watched SportsCenter rerun the highlights for the third or fourth time, that tomorrow my life would be exactly the same.  Outside of deciding which commemorative t-shirt to buy, nothing else would really change.

So for fans like me, it really doesn't matter.  But I think one reason I feel so bad is the genuine hurt I feel for the players and coaches. This was such a great Carolina basketball team, very likeable and easy to root for.  You had Hansbrough, who gives the most honest effort of any athlete on the planet, classy leaders like Marcus Ginyard, a player like Quentin Thomas who rose to the occasion after four years of being an afterthought, electrifying players like Danny Green who delivered all season despite dealing with a father in prison and who gave Heels fans THE highlight of the season in his fast break dunk and humiliation of Paulus on Coach K court, watching players like Ellington, Lawson, Stephenson, Graves and Thompson get better and better as the season progressed.  I feel bad for every one of them.  This was a great squad, and I wish their season had finished with a championship instead of a frustrating and perplexing loss.

And finally, all of that is backed up by a coach who is as sincere as he is corny.  Roy really cares about his players and about Carolina. He's as honest a coach as Hansbrough is as a player.  That's huge, and makes a Carolina fan feel connected to Dean and his or her alma mater.

I guess that is the reason I feel bad and why fans like me have the nerve to use words like 'we' and 'our' and 'us;' when we watch the Heels we're practically students again, physically and obviously emotionally connected to a university that changed and shaped our lives.  I know I don't feel as bad as the players or the coaches, but I feel bad for this great group of players and coaches, Carolina and Carolina students, fans and alumni.