Hansbrough, Green and Frasor Exit as National Champs

There are so many great things to blog about when your team, and especially when your team is Carolina, wins a national championship.

Odd how good 'your team' winning can make you feel.  In reality, in means nothing - unless you consider deciding on which commemorative tee-shirt or DVD to buy as something.  

But for sports fan, it obviously means much more than that.  It makes you happy in a silly but meaningful way, and it's one of the best parts of being a sports fan.

But being a Carolina fan is even better.  My love for Carolina makes me one of the most biased people on the planet. I would be guilty of being overly dramatic if i said Chapel Hill saved my life. A more accurate statement would be, as someone who went to Carolina from Fayetteville - FAYETTEVILLE - Chapel Hill is where my life really took off, really started.

That's why we care so much about the Heels (and, incidentally, why I make a point of voting for Anup Desai every week on American Idol, too).

The connection we feel to Carolina is not the only reason to enjoy a national championship.  There are many reasons: the fact that Carolina has graduated more than 95 percent of its players for the last 40 years, the lack of permanent corporate signage at the Dean Dome, the way Carolina prioritizes basketball yet also keeps it in perspective.  

Then there is the dominance. Most hoopsters consider 1979 the birth of the 'modern era' of college basketball. Not only was that the year that Magic battled Bird for the national championship in what is still the most watched basketball game in history, 1979 was also the first year the NCAA seeded teams.  Carolina has the most national championships, 4, and the most final fours, 11, in the 31-year modern era.  Even with the 3 lost years of the DOH! regime, Carolina's win last night certifies the Tar Heels as the best college basketball program of the modern era.  Case closed.

But even with that dominance, for me the best part of last night's championship was the players.  The people associated with basketball at Carolina, led by the peerless Dean Smith but including players like Michael Jordan, David Noel, George Lynch, Ademola Okulaja, Sean May, Raymond Felton, Antawn Jamison, Charlie Scott, James Worthy, Jimmy Black, Sam Perkins, Billy Cunningham, Larry Brown, and Phil Ford make one proud to be a Tar Heel.

Now we can add the 2009 champs to that list, led by Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green.  Those two will always be among my favorite Heels.  I blogged before about Hansbrough and how he epitomizes the essence of sport.  Psycho T is all about an honest effort, exhausting yourself for your team and school.  Hansbrough is pure and honest and what sports should be all about.

Green epitomizes the other thing I love about sport: being willing to take responsibility, to step up when needed.  Did anyone step up more than Danny Green this year?  He carried Carolina in January and February, and made as many big plays - if not more - than Hansbrough, Lawson or Ellington.  Stepping up became his calling card.  How impressive is that?  

Finally, neither gave it to the negative things swirling around them. Hansbrough ignored the taunts and doubts about his game or ability.  He simply played hard and played skillfully and let those traits settle things.  Green never hid the fact that his father was in prison.  It affected him his sophomore year.  It seemed to motivate him his senior year.  Great stories both.

Those two made this championship extra sweet; what a great way to cap a career for seniors Green, Hansbrough and Frasor. It's always great to win, to see great players like Lawson and Ellington play great Carolina basketball.  To see guys like Deon Thompson and Ed Davis dominate a team like they did in the first half against the Spartans.  To see Bobby Frasor get rewarded for persevering with a break-away lay up in the championship game. 

It's just great to be a Tar Heel.

CAROLINA COGITATION

• There have been quite a few comparisons between the 2009 and 2005 teams.  For me, the biggest difference is in what each championship meant. The 2005 championship washed away the bad taste of the 8-20 campaign of 2002, and reassured Tar Heel Nation that all was right again.   As stated above, this year's championship signals that Carolina is THE dominant program in college basketball.
• As long as Roy is at the helm Carolina is going to dominate.  Roy now has 2 championships and 3 final fours in 6 years (not to mention 4 straight wins at Cameron and 7 of the last 10 overall against the University of New Jersey at Durham). Do yourselves a favor and pen Carolina into your final four EVERY year until Roy retires in 10 years.  Williams recruits like crazy - and you'd have to be crazy to turn down a scholarship to Carolina - and is both a good teacher and game coach.  He and Carolina will always be tough to beat. 
• Look for another great ride next year too.  Carolina's 2006 team, led by Noel and a freshman named Hansbrough, made an unlikely run to the NCAA tournament that season. Unlike Florida, who won two championships but followed that up with two straight NITs, Roy does not allow a let down in the program.  And for a guy who's won two championships in the last six seasons his 2006 coaching job may have been his best ever.  Don't expect a let down next season.
• Congrats to sister Cleo for winning the PIRG NCAA pool, and for Evan and Ariadne for coming in fifth.  For the record, I came in 11th place.
• Finally, a word on Michigan State and their bid to uplift their economically suffering state's spirits.  One thing everyone is ignoring is that North Carolina is not an affluent state immune to the global economy or the recession. Up until recently, I imagine Michigan was much more affluent, and thanks to labor unions had a much larger middle class.  Michigan does not have a monopoly on struggling economies.  Take a look at the Tar Heel State's economy: the textile industry - relocated to Mexico and Honduras and Vietnam; the furniture industry - gone to China; tobacco - long gone (good riddance). For years those were the three pillars of North Carolina's economy. In the 80s and 90s those industries were replaced by turkeys and hogs, and high tech, both still there, and finance/banking. The third one is obviously hurting, almost on par with the auto industry and for one of the same reasons: stupidity and/or incompetence. I guess the reason Michigan gets more sympathy is that unlike the state of North Carolina, the state of Michigan still does not have a second act on the their economy. There is no there there after the auto industry. But North Carolina the state is hardly Goliath to Michigan's David when discussing the economy.