Heels win!

That headline does not do tonight's improbable win over Tennessee justice.  In the last 2 minutes there were enough weird and wacky plays for a life time of games, let alone one, let alone the something called the Franklin Mortgage Music City Bowl.


With a minute and a half left the Heels were dead, trailing 20 to 17 (Carolina was only down 3 thanks to HUGE a blocked extra point by Dante Paige-Moss)  AND Tennessee had the ball after a dropped pass by Dwight Jones on 4th and 20.  


I even left them for dead; at that point I tweeted: 'Heels first game ended w/ a dropped pass by our best receiver (Pianalto) and loss to an SEC team (LSU); last game ends the same way (Jones and Tennessee)."


But we had two times out left, the defense held and forced Tennessee to punt, and yadda yadda yadda, Carolina got the ball back on our 20 with 39 seconds left.  T.J. Yates, who has been so inspirational all season, completed a 35-yard pass to 'Woody' Harrelson, a play that netted 15 more yards after Tennessee was whistled for spearing/leading with the helmet.


The spearing was a huge blunder as it almost immediately put Carolina in field goal range.  But it was not the biggest blunder of the last minute and a half.


Fast forward to 16 seconds left.  Carolina is out of time outs but has moved the ball to the LSU 28.  The key phrase is OUT OF TIME OUTS.  Instead of throwing a pass to the sideline, a play that would have given the field goal unit a chance to take the field, Butch Davis called a running play.  The good news - Sean Draughn ran for 9 yards to the 17 yard line.  The bad news - and it was bad - was that the running play left almost no time to spike the ball and therefore give the kicking team a chance to take the field.


At that moment the Carolina Tar Heels became the Carolina Keystone Cops.  While Yates was trying to get the offense set - which was taking a long time since the Heels had gained almost 10 yards -  the field goal unit started taking the field.


Panic ensued, but more importantly the clock was winding down.  


Luckily, Yates kept his head ("If you can keep your wits about you while those around you are losing theirs, then you are a man my son" - from If, by my main man Rudyard Kipling) and realized that time was more critical than yardage.  He ran under center, took the snap, and spiked the ball with one second left.  Of course, with the kicking team running around Carolina was whistled for having too many men on the field.  


The penalty moved the ball back to the 22, but most importantly the penalty stopped the clock. The kicking team took the field - correctly this time - and Casey Barth calmly nailed a 39-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.


In the second overtime a Quan Sturdivant interception set up another Barth field goal, this time from 22 yards, and somehow the Heels won a game that Butch Davis should have lost.


For me, this game reminded me of how resilient and determined the Heels team has been, and how much of an embarrassment Butch Davis has been as a coach. 


You don't have to be Vince Lombardi to know that when you are OUT OF TIME OUTS you don't run it with 16 seconds left.  You need quick plays, and at that point in the game quick=pass.  Then to see the kicking team run out onto the field, when we had yet to spike the ball or kill the clock?  The team was obviously unorganized and panicky.  


Disorganization and a lack of discipline have been a problem all season for the Heels.  During the season it usually manifested itself in too many stupid penalties.  That happened tonight, too, but the running play with 16 seconds left and the kicking team taking the field were the whipped cream and cherry a top an undisciplined team sundae (in case you're wondering, that last line was NOT from Kipling).


I honestly don't see the appeal of Butch Davis.  It's not like he's winning 10 games a season, or the Heels are playing for the ACC championship every year.  Instead, we get 8 wins, embarrassing headlines about agents on campus, players cheating in class and getting thrown off the team, and a football team that wins IN SPITE of their coach's clock management or organization.  


I imagine Carolina can find some one else who could win 8 games a year, take us to a middling bowl game, AND not embarrass a university known throughout the country for doing things the right way when it comes to student-athletes. 


I support firing Butch Davis before he embarrasses the university any more.


Who DO I support? The Tar Heel players.  Like I said earlier, the players have been inspiring in the face of the suspensions and injuries.  Tonight a number of Heels stepped up and made plays, the first among equals being Yates. 


Statistically he had a mediocre game, but leadership-wise he WAS Carolina football tonight.  His decision to spike the ball is the most vivid example.  But I also loved his 39-yard touchdown to Dwight Jones to end the first half, a smart, savvy, improvisational play.  


Of course, Barth was cool as the other side of the pillow in making a clutch field goal with one second left.


Tight end Robert Taylor, a senior like Yates, had 9 catches including two big ones in final drive in regulation.


Draughn carried the load all game and scored on a nifty 58-yard run in the first quarter.


Quentin Coples was huge on defense, and the unsung play of the game was Paige-Moss' blocked extra point.  


That blocked point after touchdown symbolizes this team. It's a minor detail, the extra point, and there was every reason for Carolina to pack it in at that point.  But that was true for the entire season.  When Greg Little and Marvin Austin were kicked off the team the entire Carolina squad could have given up the season.


But Paige-Moss did not give in on that extra point, and he and Yates and Barth and Taylor and Coples and Highsmith and Burney and Sturdivant and etcetera did not give in on the season, either. 


Pretty good stuff.  


GO HEELS!


PS: Fire Butch Davis

Billy Taylor

DC lost another great citizen yesterday when Billy Taylor died after 89 impressive years.  Taylor, a North Carolina native, moved to DC at a young age and became an important part of the Washington music scene. He studied music at Howard with the same instructor who taught Duke Ellington, and played with a Who's Who of jazz musicians: Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie among others, in a career that featured touring, making records, writing songs, hosting radio shows, working as a reporter for 'CBS Sunday Morning,' and educating his fellow citizens about the music he called "America's classical music" - a huge compliment to classical music in my opinion.


When I moved to DC in 1993 I was eager to take advantage of being a big and worldly city.  Within three months of moving here I had gone to a Redskins-Cowboys game at RFK, purchased a mini-season ticket package to the Bullets (seats behind the basket, row H or J, face value $28 a ticket, at the Cap Center one of the most minor league looking major league arenas in the US), and purchased season tickets to "Billy Taylor on Jazz" at the Kennedy Center.  


Four or five times a year, Taylor and his quartet would host a visiting musician, folks like Arturo Sandoval, Diane Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, to play and discuss jazz music for an hour and a half.  The series was usually held in one of the Kennedy Center's smaller theaters, so it was very intimate show.  And there was also a question and answer session with the audience.  


Taylor was great - knowledgeable, charismatic, genuine and funny.  His band was great, too, and very versatile.  For a redneck from North Carolina who had moved to DC from Tallahassee, Florida I felt incredibly sophisticated attending each show.  Alison and I would make a night of it, meeting for dinner somewhere in Foggy Bottom then walking to the Kennedy Center for the program.  It was a great introduction to DC, let alone a great way to learn more about one of the greatest art forms ever invented.


Tough year for DC losing two folks, Taylor and Abe Pollin, who made Washington a great place to live.


Other DC News

• Evan and I went to our first Wizards game of the season last night, mainly to see Tyler Hansbrough.  It turned out to be an enjoyable night as the Zards won a game, and Hansbrough played 21 minutes.  We picked up two tickets on the street from one of the nicest scalpers I have ever met ($100 for two tickets, whose face value was $135 each, at half court in the club section), ran into quite a few Tar Heels on the street and at the Green Turtle, and saw Washington make shots on their way to a 14-point win.  
• John Wall looked pretty good, at least with the ball in his hands.  He is not a great shooter and the Pacers were giving him jump shots all night. On defense, he was very passive, too.  But when the Wizards were running he was pretty compelling to watch.  Though he is only 20 this is clearly Wall's team.
• And it should be; he's clearly their best player.  A team like the Wiz are going to struggle no matter what; Nick Young is now the longest tenured Washington player.  The Post reported this morning that the team is shopping Andray Blatche, which is great news; that guy has some skills but absolutely no desire/drive/work ethic/smarts/savvy/whatever. Blatche is an athletic guy who thinks athleticism alone is enough when in reality it's only about 10 percent of the equation (for instance, uber-talented athletes like Jordan or Kobe owe 90 percent of their success to will and drive and hard work - and maybe Phil Jackson - not their physical gifts).  Any trade for Blatche would be a good one, but I hope the Zards can pick up a blue collar rebounder - the next Wes Unseld? - who can board and start a fast break with a great outlet pass to Wall.
• One last Wall note: the PA announcer last night repeatedly called him "Jimmy Wall."  When did that start?
• Hansbrough got some minutes last night, and finished with 7 points and 7 boards, plus 2 blocked shots in 21 minutes.  It's funny to see how small he looks, not just shorter but skinnier.  Injuries and illness have kept Psycho T's NBA career from picking up any momentum, but you did see flashes of the UNC-era Hansbrough, especially on the boards, last night.  The hustle and effort was there. 
• But on offense the Pacer's use their power forwards to set a lot of screens, and Hansbrough on the high post as a passer. It must be a huge adjustment for Tyler to be a facilitator instead of the instigator of the the offense.  But he did get open down low a few times, but three times had shots blocked,  Instead of going up strong Hansbrough tried a series of pump fakes to get open looks.  The explosiveness is not there, which I imagine is a by product of missing so much time the last two seasons to injury.  That will likely improve with time.  I am surprised, however, that Hansbrough has not taken many outside shots this season.  At Carolina he became a credible threat from 17-19 feet (and 22 feet in Cameron) but in the NBA he is still a banger.
• It may be too early to tell, but Indiana does not seem to be a good fit for him. Maybe coach Jim O'Brien wants Hansbrough to stay down low; that team has some shooters including Danny Granger, on the roster. O'Brien has not given Hansbrough steady minutes at the four spot, and Tyler did not look that energetic before the game or when he came out.  Granted, I was in the mezzanine section, but Psycho T didn't seem that psyched from where we sat.

That's enough for now.  Look for my look back at a terrible 2010, which will include my thoughts on Krzyzewski passing Dean (in the same year John Boehner took Nancy Pelosi's job; not a karmic coincidence), soon.

Odd

That the Tar Heels have won two of the last six NCAA championships yet my fellow alums are not making much of a dent in the NBA.  


The good news is there are plenty of Heels - 11 to be exact - playing in The League. 


The bad news is most Carolina alums have seen their careers stall.  The most recent case in point is Marvin Williams, who hurt his knee in what had been a career so far.  Due to the injury Williams came off the bench for the Hawks last game.  Unfortunately, Marvin's experience is not isolated.   Here's a quick synopsis:

• Recent all-star Antawn Jamison is coming off the bench for Cleveland, where he is joined by fellow Heel Jawad Williams.  Last season Jamison was averaging 20 points a game but has looked out of sorts since the trade to Cleveland in February. Jawad is getting more playing time this season, his second full season in the NBA.  The fact that Jawad has stuck in the league is almost good news when you consider the fate of other Heels in the NBA.
• Like Jamison, main man Brendan Haywood is coming off the bench for Dallas and barely playing behind Tyson Chandler.  Last season, Haywood nearly averaged a double-double (9.5 pts/10 rebounds) plus more than 2 blocks a game.  This year, it's too embarrassing to mention.
• Brandan Wright has NEVER found his mojo in Golden State.  Between playing for a coach who hated young players (Don Nelson) and injuries Wright has been a non-factor in the NBA.
• The same is true, hard to admit, for Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington  The combination of injuries, illness and a coach who doesn't see the value of Hansbrough in the rotation has kept him on the Pacers bench behind Josh McRoberts and James Posey of all people (a Dukie and a 3 taking his minutes at the 4).  And Ellington is more like Wright; he's lost the mojo on his jump shot and is playing for a coach and organization that is overloaded in the backcourt.  I hope both Hansbrough and Ellington get traded.
• Jamison's brother-in-law, Vince Carter. also has a career on the wane.  Vincanity was traded to Phoenix last week, and their style of play should play to Carter's strengths as a slasher.  However, as he's gotten older Carter has been content to jack up jump shot after jump shot, not his strong suit, and does not go to hoop as much as he used to.  Orlando thought he could consistently hit jump shots, thus opening things up for Dwight Howard, and when he didn't he got traded.  Here's hoping the old Vince returns in the valley of the sun.
• Jury is still out on Ed Davis, who is starting to play more for Toronto after a variety of injuries.
• The two most successful Heels, buy far, are Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton.  Lawson continues to get better as the heir apparent to Chauncey Billups in Denver while playing for George Karl.  In fact, Karl often plays Billups at two in order to get both point guards on the floor. Lawson continues to impress with his 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio, and his 11 points per game off the bench.  And Felton is playing like an all star, averaging 18 and 9, with 2 steals.  He is still turning it over a little more than 3 times a game, but Felton's play has helped turn around the Knicks this season.  With Rajon Rondo and Brandon Jennings having inconsistent seasons there is a decent chance that Felton could be named to his first All-Star team this year (behind Derrick Rose).

But the really bad news, at least for this Tar Heels fan, is who is NOT in the NBA.  In my opinion there is a real 'Need for Sheed' void.  The league is not the same without his gray spot bopping up and down the floor.  But at least Ra had a career, made a few all star games, and won an NBA championship.


Besides Ra, here's the list of some other Heels NOT in the NBA who should or could:

• Sean May.  Injuries and overeating/under motivation have derailed, probably permanently, what should have been a long NBA career.  After 3 years in Charlotte and one on the bench in Sacramento, May was cut in training camp by New Jersey.  Yes, the most outstanding player of the 2005 Final Four has been cut by the Bobcats, Kings and Nets in the last 2 years. Only teams missing from this list are the Clippers, Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Pirates. The final indignity?  A player who struggles with his weight is now playing professionally in a country named after a food: Turkey (though it's healthy food at least).
• Rashad McCants' NBA career is likely over, too.  After sulking his way out of Minnesota and Sacramento,  then sitting out a year/dating a Khardasian, McCants is toying with the idea of reviving his career in China.  He had been playing with the Texas Legends in the NBDL but two weeks ago left the Mavericks farm team to sign with a team in the Chinese Basketball League.  However, there are already problems with his prospective Chinese team so he has not signed or played.
• Danny Green has been cut twice this season, once by Cleveland in training camp then by the San Antonio Spurs after signed a 10-day contract with Tim Duncan's team.  Green will likely end up in Europe, joining Ed Cota (Lithuania), David Noel (France), Marcus Ginyard (Germany), Deon Thompson (Greece) and Bobby Frasor (Cyprus).  Mike Copeland is even drawing a basketball-related pay check, playing in the United Kingdom.

Anyway, here's hoping things turn around for Carter, Jamison, Hansbrough and the rest of the outstanding Heels in the NBA, and that we beat Rutgers tonight. 

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Ours was pretty great.  After a nice church service at Agia Sophia last night the kids actually slept in, at least made it to 8 am, and they seemed very appreciate of their gifts. 


As is our tradition, I'm the only one who showers, goes outside, and of course gets dressed (actually not a given I guess).  The rest of the family stays in their pajamas and counts on me to get the paper and bring in fire wood, go on the inevitable battery run to CVS, etc. 


I also smell better.


One Christmas mystery that I've been mulling about lately is the gap between Jesus' birth and the three years, from 30 to 33, after he was baptized by John the Baptist and seemed to acknowledge that he was the son of God, both human and divine.  That acknowledgment that he was the son of God was a gradual process, but his baptism launched his ministry.


It also marked the first time he started acting special or divine since his birth.  That's what makes me wonder about the three wise men and the shepherds who witnessed his birth.  From the gospels we hear that that night was a pretty big deal: huge star in the sky, a star the wise men followed for weeks; a child so impressive that even though he was homeless the wise men gave Joseph and Mary their gold, frankincense, and myrrh; trembling shepherds who were so afraid; King Herod trying to figure out if Jesus was the king of the Jews.  


Kings, wise men, and shepherds noticed.


But what did they think a few weeks, or a year later? 


Did the wise men and shepherds eventually say to themselves: "What ever happened to that kid?"


I think we know Herod breathed a sign of relief when he figured out that Jesus would not lead a revolt of the Jews, at least on his watch.


Did the wise men go back to Persia and get bitter: "We was robbed! Myrrh is hard to come by and we gave it up for what?"  Were they embarrassed to have been swindled out of their gold by a family they never heard about again (assuming they passed away in the 30 years between Jesus' birth and baptism)?


Were the shepherds ashamed at how easy they trembled? 


Did Joseph use the gold to expand his carpentry shop or open a second location?


What did Mary and Joseph do for Jesus' one year birthday?


I have no idea, and am obviously being pretty flippant (to overstate my point), so am open to ideas or folks who have a better understanding of those events. 


I'll close with a heretical suggestion in our church; the best thing I have read on the subject of Jesus' life between the manger and his baptism is Nikos Kazantzakis' "Last Temptation of Christ."  Kazantzakis ends the books prologue with "I am certain that every (person) who reads this book, so filled with love, will more than ever before, better than ever before, love Christ."

Crazy DC Sports Weekend

Has there been a crazier DC sports weekend, or week, than this past one?

Consider what happened in the last few days:

• The Wizards trade Gilbert Arenas
• Maryland practically fires Ralph Freidgen
• Donovan McNabb is benched
• The Nats go nuts in signing Jayson Werth
• and the Caps keep losing

I guess DC United was out of town this weekend.

Hard to figure what the biggest story was.  Generally you go with the Offensive Nicknames, but Daniel Snyder has done something that even the most cynical, inside-the-Beltway hack thought was impossible: he is making folks in DC apathetic about their Offensive Nicknames.

The ONs look especially dysfunctional this season, with Albert Haynesworth failing to get in shape or play, and then the demoting of Donovan McNabb a few weeks after signing him to a lengthy contract extension (but since the NFL has a terrible, co-opted union most of the money is NOT guaranteed). 

 

Last weekend there were thousands of empty seats in 'Raljon,' and a quick glance at Stubhub reveals lots of seats on the market for the remaining home game versus the Giants.  Of late Offensive Nicknames games have resembled Nats and Wizards games, with a stadium full of fans from Philly or New York, or there to root for Kobe or the Knicks.  

As a result nd fans are staying away.  That's how far the Redskins have fallen thanks to Dan Snyder.  Fans are staying home and worse, have stopped getting their hopes up.

Of course, that was par for the course for years here in DC when it came to the Wizards.  That changed when Washington signed Gilbert Arenas. Granted, the Zards only won one playoff series with Arenas but he made pro basketball relevant in Washington, which is a grassroots basketball hotbed.  

It seem like decades ago, but as a Wizards fan it's easy to remember that month in 2003 when Washington has the best record in the Eastern Conference, led by Agent Zero.  In January that month Gerald Wallace fell on Arenas' knee, and the injuries started to haunt Arenas.


Injuries, then the incredibly boneheaded gun play in the locker room a year ago, sunk Arenas - and the Wizards, too.  They literally unraveled after the gun incident, and now Arenas has been traded to the Magic for Rashard Lewis.  


With Arenas - and Jamison, Butler and Haywood - it was easy to forget that since the early 80s the Wizards had basically been the Clippers East.  Well, dust off those memories DC sports fans: with Arenas gone, and even with John Wall, we're entering the Clippers East; Phase II era.


A few more low notes:

• Six months ago the town was abuzz with talk about Wall and Stephen Strasburg.  Now there are both hurt, proving once more than the Curse of Les Boulez is real;
• Can anyone name the previous coach of Maryland's football team? I doubt it.  Like Arenas, he made Maryland football relevant again - without the gun play! Friedgen has quite a trifecta this year: going to a bowl, named the ACC Coach of the Year AND being offered a buy out to leave town.  
• The Caps have lost 8 in a row and are now in third place.  At least that's what Evan tells me.  I do know that losing 8 in a row is bad.
• Still not crazy about breaking the bank for Jayson Werth.  And trading Willingham is not the worst thing in the world, but what is the plan after the first four spots in the order?  Lest I remind folks, last time DC imported a high priced player from Philadelphia he was benched. 
• Despite the platitudes offered by Nats management at the Werth press conference it's hard not the assume this team is waiting for 2012 (which is the name of Evan's new blog, by the way).

Clever Headline Here

Is Jayson really werth 7 years?  Werth while signing? 

There's got to be one that combines 'werth' and 'dunn,' right?  "Are Nats Dunn Increasing Their Net Werth?" or something like that.

I am not sure what I think about signing Jayson Werth, or anyone not named Pujols or Halladay, for 7 years - seven - years.  You know how long that is?  Uber fan Evan Manuel, who has known only baseball heartache with our hometown Nats, will be in college when Werth will come off the books.  

Most of all, I'm not sure I buy Mike Rizzo's line about this 'makes us look serious,' etc. especially in the wake of NOT giving Dunn a fourth year. Sure, he's a defensive upgrade, and he's a real corner outfielder and power hitter, a plus athlete who can run and steal bases and play center field, etc.  

But Werth has never been the man, the center of an offense. Not only was Adam Dunn good at that, he also seem to enjoy it and was never bothered by the pressure of hitting in the four hole.  Can Werth handle that responsibility?  Bottom line for me:  I'd rather have Dunn for four years than Werth for seven.

I am also not crazy about the Nationals courting Carlos Pena to replace Dunn.  Pena was productive last year despite hitting below - yes, below - the Mendoza line, mainly due to lots of walks and timely homers.  And he is a very good fielder.

However, Pena is no spring chicken (is there anything better than chicken in the spring?  I guess not since there is no other seasonal poultry phrase), and I fear that his .196 batting average (.732 OPS, with a .325 on-base percentage) this past season is an indication that his skills are starting to decline. 

Hope Rizzo only signs him to a six-year deal.

Psycho Z!

What an exhilarating win for the Heels today against the Wildcats!  It was sloppy at times, but in general Carolina played an all-around game to win one they had to have.  Losing today, especially after the kind of effort the Tar Heels put forth, could have had devastating consequences for Carolina.

But now the converse is true: this is the kind of win and game that a squad can build a successful season on. 

There were plenty of star turns in this game.  John Henson was everywhere making every kind of play.  Blocks, passes, rebounds, getting good position (he was not pushed around tonight as he was in the second half of the Illinois debacle), and of course scoring.  He even made an important free throw late after air balling two in a row early in the second half.

Harrison Barnes had a three-minute stretch where he looked like an all-American especially on the soaring, put-back dunk in the first half.  He scored seven points during a nice, 9-0 run for the Heels.  Barnes' streakiness included that mini-run, AND a time in the second half where he single-handedly tried to hand Kentucky the win.

Even Larry Drew made some nice plays, setting up teammates, getting a steal or two, and a nice drive and two big free throws late.

My unsung hero of the game was Dexter Strickland, and not just because in the first half he hit a JUMP SHOT!  Rather, it was his defensive effort.  Strickland lead an incredibly solid defensive effort for the Heels, and in the second half he slowed down Doron Lamb, Kentucky's very impressive freshman.

The big story from today's game - besides saving the season - was that defensive effort. Carolina imposed their will on Kentucky's offense, and funneled the ball and Kentucky players to areas of the floor where we wanted them to go, especially towards Zeller and Henson.  As a result the Heels finished with 9 blocks; 5 by Zeller and 3 by Henson.  And when Carolina's defense was not directing the ball towards our big men it was forcing Kentucky into traps and double teams.   It was a great defensive effort, just great team defense.

The defense was key, but another outstanding feature of today's win was the team resiliency and perseverance. Carolina was playing well most of the game, but never opened up much of a lead and spent most of the game trailing the Cats.  But they never gave in, kept working, and made plays for the win.

After a back and forth few minutes to start the second half, a Kentucky mini-run left the Heels down 6 with just under 12 minutes to go. It even forced 'ol Roy to call a time.  Coming out of the TO Leslie McDonald came off a John Henson screen at the top of the key.  But instead of taking a three, McDonald took two extra dribbles and hit a floating 8 footer.  It was a smart, Carolina-style play by McDonald, who was our best player off the bench today.  Twice he passed up threes for an easier drive to the basket.

Two minutes later Justin Watts got a big rebound that he turned into an old fashioned three-point play.  And almost more improbably, at the nine minute mark Drew - told you he had a nice game - made his own three-point play off a rebound fast break.  The Kentucky run was over, stemmed by the unlikely three of McDonald, Watts, and Drew II.

Great resilience and focus - and smart, Carolina basketball.

In the last 8 minutes it was basically the Tyler Zeller show.  As good as the defense and resilience of this team was today, THE story of the game has to be Psycho Z!

First he tied the score off a nice feed from Drew - yes, a very nice game from LDII - at the 7 minute mark.  Down the stretch Zeller did everything: he was grabbing rebounds; blocking shots; taking charges; carrying Wanda's groceries into the house; running the floor; getting great position and hitting free throws. 

Despite that effort the Heels were down one with a minute and a half to play.

But we kept getting the ball to Zeller, he and Drew made their free throws, Carolina really tightened up on defense, and the season was saved.  

Overall is was an exciting game to watch, but more importantly an exhilarating win that the Heels really, really needed.  Last year, this stretch of games ruined the season.  Interestingly enough, the exact opposite happened last year: we beat a Big 10 team (Michigan State) but lost to Kentucky, Texas and College of Charleston.  And the season was lost.

Hopefully the opposite will keep happening, so we'll win 11 games in the ACC, etc. etc.   And the way the Heels competed, kept their cool, and made plays down the stretch it could happen. It was that kind of game, and that big a win. 

Hadditional Heels Headlines:

• Another great thing about today's win? It undoubtedly made Kentucky's wack job, Duke graduate Senator Rand Paul sad.
• Last year's win over Michigan State gave everyone a false sense about the 2009-2010 Heels, especially about Larry Drew.  The good news is the Heels' next few games - against Evansville, Long Beach State, then another rematch with Texas - can give this team a chance to build on today's confidence. 
• Justin Watts was another unsung hero of the Kentucky game. In the final four or five minutes Roy went to a line up of Zeller, Drew, Barnes, Strickland and Watts (keeping Henson's free throw shooting on the bench). The Durham senior delivered with shots, free throws, a nice board and a defensive stop down the stretch.  He even tipped Strickland's missed free throw into the air - killing a second or two - as the game clocked expired.
• Love having Henson and Zeller down low on both ends of the court.
• This was the worst collective game our 3 freshman have played.  Marshall was horrible and made a number of bad passes.  Bullock had a few moments with a key assist and board in the second half.  He also got some open looks that he could not knock down.
• Barnes had that one good, electrifying run in the first half but otherwise he once again forced the action.  One theory I have is that many high school players from non-basketball states can be somewhat overrated, while city kids may be underrated.  Consider Vince Carter and Jon Henson, who came to Carolina from Florida, a football and baseball state.  It took each at least a year to step their game up to ACC level.  Barnes, from Iowa, may be on the same trajectory.  Iowa is a nice place, but Barnes did not face the same kind of competition as kids from New York, New Jersey, California or even North Carolina or Indiana.  
• Look at Kentucky's Lamb, from Queens.  He was fantastic.  It's only one game, but it's not surprising that a kid from New York is ready to successfully jump from high school to big time college basketball.  Ditto for Duke's Kyrie 'Eleison' Irving, who is off to a much better start than Barnes.
• Then again, Tyler Hansbrough was from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, an area more Iowa than Queens.  He's the exception.  But the good news for Heels fans is we got a Tyler Hansbrough-esque performance today from Tyler Zeller.  Psycho T, meet Psycho Z!

In the gutter

The bad sports news keeps flowing.  

That could change today when the Heels take on Kentucky in Chapel Hill.   A win over another basketball blue blood would finally get this season started and restore hope in Tar Heel Nation, to say nothing of wiping away the dread left over from last season.

Like the Heels, Kentucky is young but unlike Carolina they have some decent wins this season.  But the game is in Chapel Hill, and Harrison Barnes and Larry Drew II HAVE to get better, right?

But it's not just Carolina that is hurting today.  Of course, the Wizards stink, and the Nats got worse this week when Adam Dunn signed with the White Sox.  The Nats didn't want to add a fourth year to their offer, which makes sense long term. 

However, failing to resign Dunn, something that should have and easily could have happened over the summer, makes NO sense in context of a terrible team trying to gain credibility with it's fragile fan base AND win games.  

In the wake of Strasburg's injury, by failing to resign Adam Dunn the Lerner's are in effect telling Washington baseball fans - "We've decided to stink for one more season, but we may try to be kind of decent in 2012.  Sorry about that, sucker!"

To compound matters, there really aren't any great options to replace Dunn, at least on the free agent market.  Best case for the Nats is they sign Carl Crawford to play in the outfield and move Mike Morse to first.  Of course, signing a player like Crawford or Jayson Werth is a huge long shot.  Bottom line, our hometown baseball team got a lot worse this week with no plan B from ownership. 

But the worst news of the sports week was the announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup, defeating the U.S. in the process.  There are a million reasons why the U.S. should have been awarded the world's most popular sporting event: we have the stadiums; our diversity; a president who is no longer George Bush; the previous U.S.-hosted World Cup is the only time every game was a sell out/we sold every ticket; we have gotten respectable in the sport; etc.

There is an equally long list of anti-Qatar reasons: it's going to be 120 degrees at game time; their economy is based on polluting the planet and causing global warming; they don't know how to properly use the letter Q (granted, neither do English speakers but grammar rules are grammar rules; where is the U, in Miami?); they really stink at football; etc.

But for me, the worst thing about awarding Qatar the World Cup is the cynicism, not just of petro dollars uber alles but the symbolism.  After celebrating Nelson Mandela and his movement's multi-ethnic triumph over apartheid by awarding this year's World Cup to South Africa, how cynical is it to award the World Cup to a country where a minority disenfranchises a majority?  Qatar is one of those Gulf States where there are half a million Arab citizens who rule over 800,000 guest workers, mainly from south Asia and the Philippines, who have almost no political or economic rights.  

Qatar even practices a form of modern-day slavery known as kafeel or kalafa (loosely translated as 'sponsor' or yes, 'master').  Guest workers can not enter or leave the country without a sponsor or their sponsor's approval.   The sponsor can also bar someone from reentering the country for 2 to 5 years and often garners wages collected from working in the gas fields or on construction projects in the country.  Many guest workers are expected to flood the country to build the new stadiums required to stage the 2022 World Cup.  Of course, as it was in South Africa under apartheid where business people from Japan were declared 'honorary whites,' exceptions are made for employees in the financial sector.  They do not need a 'master' to enter Qatar.

From Nelson Mandela to modern day slavery, in four years! Thanks FIFA.

FIFA's decision is both cynical AND unoriginal: the Olympics went from the cradle of democracy and civilization - Athens - to the bastion of totalitarian capitalism and oppression - Beijing - in four years, too.

The World Cup was the worst sports news of the week.  The saddest has to be the death of Cubs icon Ron Santo.  Santo is widely considered one of the greatest players not in the Hall of Fame. Clearly, he should be in the Hall.  For 15 years or so he was the best third baseman of his era in the National League.  He hit almost 350 homers, make nine All Star teams, and won five gold gloves.  He led the NL in on-base percentage and walks multiple times, too.

He was also a beloved broadcaster (check out David Maraniss' great piece in the Post today) on the radio for years in Chicago.

For a time I was a Cubs fan growing up, and their 1969 collapse is one of my earliest sports fandom memories.  And Santo was my first favorite player.  

After he retired it was revealed that not only was he an All Star but he battled Type I diabetes his entire career.  In fact, he was the founder of what went on to become the national and annual Walk to Cure Diabetes.  

His life demonstrates why we follow sports.   When your team loses, you feel miserable.  But think of Ron Santo when you do.   He battled diabetes, a terrible disease, his entire life yet was an All Star.  Perhaps best of all, he never became bitter or cynical.  He fought, he organized, he raised money, and demonstrated that if you fight you win (his cause of death was not diabetes but gall bladder cancer).  He inspired, and he inspires me.

Not encouraging

Last night's loss to Illinois, in Carolina's first road game, was discouraging on a number of levels.

One, and most troubling, was how horrendous our back court play was.  Our guards were responsible for 14 of our 18 turnovers.  You can't win, at home but especially on the road, when you throw the ball away that much.  

In addition to the turnovers, Larry Drew II continues to make absolutely no impact on offensive.  He simply has NOT been running an offense lately.  Actually I should take that back; for the first 15 minutes of the game Drew and Carolina's guard's were feeding the post, and Zeller, Henson and Knox were making shots.  But in the second half, after Illinois started packing it in on defense but especially after Zeller picked up his third foul, Drew was clueless.  

Strickland is a nice defender, and with his speed you can see why Roy was tempted into turning him into a point guard that could push the ball on offense a la Lawson and Felton, but man does his shot stink.   And he makes bad decisions with the ball.

But the story of this game is turnovers.  The Heels actually shot it well in the second half, but gave the ball away too often.

Once again, the offense looked better in the second half with Marshall and Bullock on the floor.  Marshall pushes it Lawson-style while Drew dribbles Adam Boone-style.  And I love Bullock's mentality; when he comes in he knows he needs to make things happen and looks to score.  He gets it.

I wish Barnes had Bullock's mentality.  Instead of making plays too often Barnes stands on the perimeter, overthinking things.  I imagine Roy urges him to put the ball on the floor more but for some reason Barnes does not seem to trust his overall game, only trusting his jump shooting.  I'd run some back screen lobs for him, or even an NBA-style clear out to get him to take it to the rack more.

But in addition to the lackluster and ineffective back court play and turnovers, last night's game showed we have no nO NO margin for error with our big men.  After Zeller picked up that third foul the game was over.  Henson gamely kept us in it for a while; he was the one bright spot, making a variety of shots down low on his way to 16 points.  But after Z went to the bench we stopped going inside, or the very tall Illini took that away, and we were never really in the game.

Turnovers are one symptom of a lack of concentration, of a lack of intensity.  One other sign of that is missed free throws.  The Heels made less than half, including another air ball from Henson.  And some of those misses were huge.  Carolina missed three early in the second half, free throws that could have stemmed the Illinois surge that bridged half time.  

It's distressing to lose any game when your a Tar Heels fan, but to lose due to bad decisions, bad passes, and bad concentration is even worse.  That's how teams like Clemson or Florida State or other talented but losing teams historically lose.  Obviously, that's NOT Carolina basketball.  

I hope Roy gets our back court to figure that out, and that Marshall gets more of Drew's minutes and that some of Bullock's mentality rubs off on Barnes, before it's too late.

Sports fans are the most miserable people in the world

Don't know who first that (don't think it was my favorite philosopher, Mike Tyson), but I second that emotion this weekend. 

Carolina played a little better today in losing to another middling team from a power conference.  Today they lost to Vanderbilt, by a similar margin to last night's loss to Minnesota, by six.

But losing is losing, thus the misery.  

On the plus side, Zeller and Knox had good games, Barnes had his moments, and the Heels responded to whatever ol' Roy said at half time. They started the final 20 by pressing and forcing turnovers.  The increased defensive energy resulted in Carolina erasing a 10-point half time deficit and even taking the lead twice (may three times, in fact).

But with about 6 minutes left the Heels started making bone headed plays.  Strickland had a few turnovers and bad passes, there were some missed free throws,  and McDonald and Drew looked clueless in the half court.  It was so hapless that with 4 minutes left the Heels had Zeller, McDonald, Barnes, Marshall and Bullock on the floor - 3 freshmen at crunch time. Bullock made a three to keep the Heels' hopes alive - and was the only guy to make shots late on his way to 10 points - but that one of the few plays we made down the stretch.

So we're 2-2 and the stench of last season is starting to drift back in.  It's only 4 games, but early on it looks like Larry Drew has not become Bobby Fraser (to suggest he should be compared to Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson is heresy) or even senior year Quinton Thomas.   He is stuck in the 'Adam Boone zone' which will soon be renamed the 'Drew II Zone' if he does not do a better job of running a half court offense.

In addition to Drew II, I am starting to naggingly wonder if guys like Strickland, McDonald and even Henson - who only played 16 minutes and had 6 turnovers to go with 8 boards and 2 points and 1 air ball on a free throw - are that good.  They keep making mistakes, mistakes that second and third years players should not be making.  Perhaps Roy will straighten these guys out, but one wonders if the talent is not there to work with.  The one exception is Henson, who is talented but needs to work on free throw shooting and decision making. 

Anyway, a depressing weekend.  We didn't even have field hockey, as the defending national champs lost to Maryland today to complete the quinella: football, basketball, soccer and field hockey all lost this weekend.

The Heels men do get a chance to right things in Chapel Hill on Tuesday versus UNC-Asheville.  However, after that game things get tougher with a revenge game - at home - versus College of Charleston followed by a road game at Illinois and a home game versus Kentucky on December 4th.  It was a similar stretch a - tough losses at Texas (who comes to Greensboro this year on Dec. 18th) and Kentucky, a neutral floor loss to Syracuse - that pierced the bubble and shattered the confidence of last year's squad.  Let's hope this team is tougher and more resilient, and that ol' Roy can figure out how to get this more talented team to get better and not worse.

Lost Weekend for Tar Heels

Where to begin in chronicling this horrible sports weekend?

A night after shooting 56 percent Carolina could not do anything right in losing to Minnesota Friday night, 67 to 72.  I can not think of a single thing the Heels did well; we looked so bad it would not surprise me if Carolina forgot the words to the national anthem or how to tie their shoes. 

Harrison Barnes failed to make a basket (though he hit seven free throws), twenty four hours after looking calm and confident Bullock and McDonald looked totally out of sync, and foul trouble kept our bigs on the bench for long stretches of play.  The crisp passing against a zone, evident versus Hofstra, was no where to be seen against an opponent from the Big 10.

There were momentary flashes from Zeller, Marshall and Henson, but they were fleeting.  The Heels never got into a rhythm - offensively or defensively - and were lucky to be in the game.  And Larry Drew was Larry Drew.  It was a disappointing and 'stink up the joint' performance worthy of last season. 

Yikes and yuck.

Redemption was not to be found in Kenan Stadium versus NC State.  In the first half it looked like the Heels would break their four-game losing streak to the Wolfpack.  But in the second half State controlled both lines of scrimmage, pressuring Yates, stopping our running game, and blowing holes in our defense when the Pack had the ball.

But NC State was also very, very lucky, too.  On fourth and goal from the 16 Russell Wilson's pass into the back corner of the end zone was batted down but caught - just inches off the ground - for a game changing touch down.

A sour senior day for a class that has tantalized Heels fans with legitimacy, bowl games, but also with a nagging, tooth-achey feeling that they could have accomplished much more.

Finally, putting a cherry on top of this mountain of bad news, the always reliable and defending national champion Carolina women's soccer team lost today, in the third round, to Notre Dame.   

But to end on a high note, the defending national champion women's field hockey team plays for the national championship.  So as always, we'll always have field hockey. 

I Saw Wayne Ellington Last Night

I know it's only one game, and it was against Hofstra, and it was only the second game of the season - but how great was it to see Carolina make shots?  The Heels shot 56 percent for the game on the way to scoring a Hansbrough-era 107 points last night in Puerto Rico.

But it was not a Hansbrough night; the win instead evoked Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Ty Lawson.  Safe to say the Heels have not shot it this well since the first half against Michigan State in the 2009 championship game. 

There were two distressing things about last year (of course, there were more than two; there we eleven ACC losses, and 17 overall).  For me, the two most distressing things were: the lack of offense, and the lack of getting what Carolina basketball was.

Last night's performance shows this year's squad may - again, it's only one game - get it.  Besides the great shooting and excellent passing and ball distribution, I offer this great quote from Leslie McDonald (a career high 16 points on 5-for-9 with four threes):  "We attack the middle, give it to the big men, they pass it out, and we're getting shots."

Not only are they getting shots - THAT'S Carolina basketball.

A few more notes before my battery dies:

• Harrison Barnes looked like an all-American in the first half.  He was pretty assertive and looked for his shot without forcing things.  He was scoreless in the second half but had an impressive game nonetheless.
• Zeller was a bit more aggressive last night, which was nice to see.  Loved the alley-oop off the patented Carolina back screen.
• Did not notice Larry Drew II in this game, which is good. He got the ball to where it needed to go, but it seemed like in the first half the game went through Barnes not Drew II.
• Kendell Marshall had 9 assists in less than 20 minutes.  Like this guy alot.
• McDonald had a beautiful stroke last night.  Excellent rotation.
• But in addition to the shooting, the story of the game for me was once again John Henson.  Not that his filled out the box score like he did against Lipscomb, but rather in the way he flowed and reacted.  He is some more comfortable this season.  Expect HUGE things from our thin power forward this season if he flow continues.

Tar Heel crossroads

Carolina's football season pretty much ended less than 24 hours after the new hoops season started.

The tantalizing football team, led by a calm and confident T.J. Yates, had it's season grind to a halt in the second half versus Virginia Tech on Saturday. Yates came into the game with only four interceptions, but doubled that season total versus the Hokies.  The biggest one turned a touchdown into an interception as the Hokies defensive back (a fellow Fayetteville native, BTW) wrestled the ball away from Erik Highsmith. That pass was a 50-50 ball, so it's hard to blame Yates.  

Yates has been lauded this season for not forcing passes into coverage.  On the interception he led Highsmith a little to much, but that should have been a touchdown.  A score there would have made the score 17 - 9 Heels. 

Hard to fault either Yates or Highsmith.  Neither player has been suspended or missed a game due to injury.  As I blogged last week, the players on this team - and their effort - are making the university proud.  Despite losing more than 30 players to injury or stupidity they are competing.   And a win Saturday against N.C. State will was the bad taste away pretty quickly.

Can't remember if I ever blogged football over Carolina basketball.   Perhaps I led with football since it's easy to assess the game against Virginia Tech.  Three days after the win over Lipscomb I'm still wondering what to write.

It was a sloppy, uneven game by the Heels.  There is plenty of good news.

John Henson looked great, tallying 17 boards, 10 points and 7 blocks.  More importantly, he looked comfortable on the court.  

The other good news is that Tyler Zeller eventually asserted himself late in the game. When Carolina finally put the game away the Heels went to Z down low.  I would love for him to become the center of the offense, and have us dump the ball down low to Zeller when he HAVE to have a basket.  Against Lipscomb he showed that, albeit very late in the contest.

And finally, there's Harrison Barnes.  He was a cool customer on his way to 14 points.  He took and made baskets from all over the floor, which was encouraging.   The only down side is he did not take that many shots, but I assume that will take care of itself.  As a freshman Barnes will need time to find the balance between 'letting the game come to him' and 'taking control of the game when he needs to' something a superstar talent like him will need to figure out if Carolina is be successful.

Fellow freshmen Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall also had very nice games.  Bullock was as advertised, a scorer who can hit shots from all over the floor.  His two three-pointers were very encouraging.  And Marshall looked great running the point, dishing and scoring.  He reminded me a bit of more offensive Derrick Phelps (probably a sloppy observation since Phelps was a lock-down defender and led the Heels to a championship).

The down side, as it was last year, was Larry Drew II.  As comfortable as Henson looked, conversely Drew looked like he was thinking way to much.  A third-year point guard with lots of minutes under his belt should be more confident and instinctual running the offense, and Drew was anything but for much of the game.

Drew's running of the offense led to a ragged performance by the Heels.  It was still a win, over a decent team, and the Heels did make shots and score 80 points something they failed to do in an AC game last season (chew on that for a while: the Heels failed to score 80 points in ANY conference game last year).

I hope that I'm over-analyzing one game, but Drew has very little margin for error.  And that makes Heels fans like me nervous as we start the season.  But we won, Henson, Zeller, Barnes, Bullock and Marshall looked good, so there is lots to build on.  And Roy - and Drew - should figure it out.

Right?

Coda

Not Ed Cota.  Rather, let's end this bad era.

The last 12 to 18 months were not that great.  Many of you have heard me lament how 18 months ago, in April 2009, I was in the White House to watch President Obama sign the Omnibus Wilderness Bill into law.  A few days later Tyler Hansbrough led the Heels to their fifth NCAA championship. 

Since then we've seen Duke win a national championship and the rise of ignorance/the Tea Party, otherwise known as Rand Paul.

But that era is now over.  

And the person to lead us out of the morass is . . .  No, not Barack Obama.  I'm talking about that proud son of Ames, Iowa - Harrison Barnes.

Yes, Carolina basketball begins anew tomorrow night. After a one year bad dream (I was going to say nightmare, but we all know the roots of that word are Doherty, Latin for night, and eightandtwenty, late Saxon for mare) the transition from the Hansbrough era to the Barnes one tips off Friday night versus Lipscomb.

Funny to think how at this time last year I was optimistic about Marcus Ginyard, Ed Davis and Deon Thompson's Heels, and full of promise about Larry Drew, John Henson, and Dexter Strickland.  Funny how ancient some of those names seems now, even though Deon Thompson IS the Carolina and Hellenic Blue blog since he plays professionally in Greece. 

The 2009 National Champs could not do anything wrong, but last year's team could not do anything right: shoot, rebound, make smart decisions, beat Duke in Cameron for a fifth year in a row, etc.

But Barnes is supposed to change everything.  He's even been voted a preseason first team All-American.  Not pre-season first-team ACC freshman team - first team NATIONAL All-American.

Despite the hype around Barnes - and fellow freshmen Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall - I'm more apprehensive this year than I was a year ago.  Just as I thought the election of Obama meant the U.S. had finally turned the corner politically into a mature, serious, problem-solving society only to see American politics tripped up by the Tea Party,  last year's season brought back all the anxieties and nervousness of the lost years of the post-Dean era.  I thought Roy had solved that malaise - he has won two national championships in six years!  But that's what losing can do, at least watching Carolina lose can do, to a person.

Things have got to get better.  Roy, like Obama, is too good to let a lost season/election cycle happen again.  Henson, Dexter Strickland, and Tyler Zeller - who if healthy could become a monster talent this season - will be a lot better.

But just like much of Obama's success will depend on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, ol' Roy will have to rely on Larry Drew II.  Drew's numbers were decent last year, but a point guard is not a numbers position.  You've got to lead, inspire, think on your feet, and deliver when needed - like Nancy Pelosi.  I think all the good people in the world are hoping that Drew - and Reid  - get their Pelosi on in the 2011 season.

GO HEELS!

One more Tar Heel topic: how about that thrilling win IN Tallahassee against the Seminoles?!  Their 37-35 win,  Carolina's first ever at Doak Campbell Stadium, helped wash the bad-election taste from my mouth.  The Heels fought the entire game, TJ Yates had another terrific game, and Carolina even got meaningful contributions from their fourth string running back, someone named Hunter Furr (do they wear that when they hunt? Really?).

Anyway, have to give some grudging props to Butch Davis.  He has held the team together despite suspensions, injuries and investigations.  I'm torn as to what to think about the guy.  

On second thought, give the props to the players.  The football program has clearly embarrassed the university, a sin for which there is almost no penance.  But the Tar Heels football team, the players who have kept their noses clean, are competing and making the university proud.

I assume Harrison Barnes will do the same, starting tomorrow night.