Why We Watch

This is why we watch, right?  A week after a home loss to Duke that demoralized me, a generally half-full kind of viewer of all things Carolina, the Heels are back and playing like, well Tar Heels!

The turnaround is another reminder that we are watching embryonic young hoopsters when we are watching college basketball. The cynicism, money and corporate control - NY Life ACC Tournament, with a logo underfoot athletes who will not get a dime - makes that easy to forget.

Carolina's play this week reminds us that kids aren't perfect and make mistakes - but kids can also improve and do so quickly. In the course of three games the Heels seem to have solved the three problems that have marred their entire season until now.

One, Marcus Paige has gotten some help. Granted, he made the biggest shot of the game versus Virginia on Friday night, but freshman Justin Jackson was our leading scorer. On Thursday, Brice Johnson was fantastic and it was Kennedy Meeks making big plays down the stretch on offense and defense. 

Two, the poise was there. Carolina was down 5 to Louisville at half but was steady and methodical in the second half to win going away. Better still was the poise displayed when Virginia made the inevitable run to cut the lead to one. On back-to-back possessions Carolina made great plays. Paige went to Meeks at the free thrown line, who in turn made the extra pass to Jackson for a lay up as the 35 second clock expired. On the next possession, after a time out with 6 seconds left on the shot clock, Paige dribbled into the lane, pumped fake right then pivoted left to hit the game-sealing floater. Classic Carolina.

Finally three, the Heels are spreading the wealth Dean style. Paige has continued his resurgence of late, Johnson has been excellent on both ends and on the boards, Meeks has made some big time plays and though plagued by turnovers J.P. Tokoto  has done the same and Joel Berry kept us afloat versus Louisville with a huge stretch in the first half.  

By far the biggest development has been the play of Jackson. He quietly has gotten more consistent as the season has progressed but he exploded versus Virginia. Much has been written about his 4 three-pointers but he hit shots from all over the floor. I loved that he was aggressive to the hoop a number of times and did not 'settle' for being a one-dimensional shooter.  

All this could add up to Carolina's first ACC Championship since 2008. Growing up, an ACC Tournament title was almost a birthright for born, bred and dead Tar Heels like myself.  What a great capstone to an up and down season, one dominated by tragedies like the Wainstein report and the death of Coach Smith, an ACC title would make.  

On top of that, a win over Notre Dame would be another reminder that this is a game played by college kids, kids who can look nothing like Tar Heels one weekend and very Carolina the next.

GO HEELS! 

Great Win for the Heels Today

Great win for the Heels today against Notre Dame, 29-24.  Carolina trailed for most of the game but their defense repeatedly made big plays.  The Heels picked off 2 passes - one for a touchdown to start the second half and another big one late in the fourth quarter - and recovered two huge fumbles including one to end the game on their own 7 yard line.

For much of the game Notre Dame moved the ball with ease against the Heels, but all afternoon Carolina refused to break despite lots of South Bending against the Irish. 

Though the defense carried Carolina, the offense played well in the second half, including a nice drive to end the 3rd quarter than ended with Sexton diving in for the go-ahead touchdown to start the 4th.  

The Heels are now 5-1 with a head of steam as they head into the meat of their conference line up.   In fact, the rest of their games are all winnable.  Next week they travel to Charlottesville to play a suddenly hot Virginia team. The next two games are home games against Boston College and Georgia Tech, followed by a trip to Maryland, home against NC State before finishing the regular season at Duke.  Carolina has an outside shot at 11-1; how crazy is that?  At a minimum Carolina should win their three home games and at least one of their road games, so at worst should finish at 9-3.

Ellas Wins Too

Hellenic blue had a good day of football, too.  The opponent, Moldova, is hardly in the same class as Notre Dame but Greece dominated in winning 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Piraeus today.  Christeas had two goals, including one off a nifty pass out of a free kick, with Katsouranis (off an assist from my man Fanis Gekas) netting the other. 

Greece plays Switzerland on Wednesday in Athens.

McCain defends Obama

In an attempt to stem some of the hate-speech and vitriol his supporters have been spewing towards Obama, we saw the old 2000 John McCain today.  McCain-Palin rallies have increasing turned ugly, but here's some video of McCain urging his supporters to show some restraint (still, you hear some boos when he does). 

Ironic that the only time McCain has looked presidential in the last month is when he's defended his opponent.

Red Sox, Reputation and Right-wing hypocrisy

I don't know why I keep picking against the Red Sox.  As good as their pitching is, as solid as their line up is, their number one asset is they know how to win.  A professional operation through and through.  

Now last night was just one game, and the Rays demonstrated amazing comeback power in regular head-to-head match ups against the BoSox.  Down the stretch Tampa Bay played well in Fenway.  But winning last night in the Trop - a stadium I campaigned against, by the way, when I lived in St. Pete primarily due to the fact that they built it on a small toxic waste site, a former transfer station for dry cleaning fluids or something like that - is big for Boston. 

Lost in all the talk of Lester and Beckett was the fact that Matsuzaka had a great season in his own right, winning more games than any other Red Sox starter.  He was a dominant, shut down starter last night, the kind of clutch performance you want from a starter on the road.

Tonight's game is big for two reasons: to see if the Rays, especially their offense, can bounce back; and to see how healthy Beckett is.   Should be another good game.

I'm also being proven wrong by the Phillies-Dodgers series, though the Phillies are being patient before they unleash their offense.  The first six hitters in that line up are impressive, but I didn't expect them to overwhelm Billingsley like they did last night.   

Game one was a tense play off classic, the kind of game where one mistake can do a lot of damage.  On Thursday it did, and it cost Lowe and the Dodgers.  That said, I still love Rafael Furcal.  Why the Braves let him walk is beyond me.

Carolina Football Update

Brand image still goes a long way, which explains why I am so focused on Carolina's game today against Notre Dame.  Carolina is the higher ranked team, and is playing at home, but still feels like the underdog against a team with Notre Dame's reputation and history.  

That said, I hope we beat them badly. Doing so would go a long way in cementing the notion that Carolina football is legit, which in turn should really help with recruiting especially in state with NC State being kind of down but also regionally.

Conversely, a win over the Fighting Irish may give fans and alumni the false impression that the rehabilitation of the football program is complete, an assertion that I imagine Butch Davis would reject.  Realistically, I doubt that will happen; it's my impression that alumni like it when the football team is decent and respectable but don't get that invested in the program.

Election Update

Interesting to see how the mean-spirited crowds at Palin rallies became a story this week.  Sadly, it's explainable when you look at the right-wing echo chamber in this country, namely Fox News, talk radio and certain blogs and websites.  You just don't see that kind of anger on the left, for better or worse (obviously for the better, though it would have been nice to see so left-wing anger over invading the wrong country in response to the attacks of September 11th). 

Their anger reminds me, again, that right-wingers are less patriotic than left-wingers in my book. They are much more ideological than the left, and certainly more angry then left is too. This vitriol reminds me of Duke and Carolina fans.  Dookies seem to hate us much more than we hate them.  

As exhibit A, look at how the right treated John Kerry's military service.  Kerry volunteered for Vietnam - unlike President Bush - and unlike John McCain - who flew a bomber - Kerry was on a boat and on the ground fighting his war.  Again unlike McCain, he was responsible for a squad of men, saw those men die, and perhaps more importantly saw the people he killed.  In short, all the attributes Republicans laud about McCain that Kerry displayed were mocked and challenged.

One reason liberals stayed quiet in the run up to the war in Iraq five years ago was the consensus that as a nation we have to support our troops (of course, the other reason is the President lied, etc).  The hypocrites on the right did not afford John Kerry the same respect or courtesy four years ago.