one shining moment

It's been a good week here in Chapel Hill. Several good friends came to town to watch the game and celebrate Carolina's win. Dustin AhKuoi even put in for vacation days several months ago just in case. That is love.

Here are a few videos to relive the experience. Starting off with the classic, 'One Shining Moment.' As a kid out at Webb Court (aka Jake's), this song was the soundtrack running in my head as I played basketball for hours. Enjoy the inspiration.



Cool time lapse shot of the celebration on Franklin Street. Can you see us? Another reason to Love Chapel Hill.


Timelapse: Franklin Street after the victory from The Daily Tar Heel on Vimeo.

Here's a longer video of the chaos.


Franklin Street: The Celebration from The Daily Tar Heel on Vimeo.


And as promised before, another picture with the green man.

let's dance

I flat out love this time of year. Nothing like it. Full of imagination, dreams, unlikely heroics. Maybe that's why it conjures up imagery from ancient epics and fairy tales... 'Cinderella'... 'David vs Goliath'...

So, here are my picks for the Final Four.

Midwest: Louisville; West: UCONN; East: Duke; South: North Carolina

This sets up the ultimate Carolina-Duke battle in the Final Four. I hope they never meet in a championship game. Someone might die and cities would burn. And apocalyptic horsemen would appear on the horizon. It would not be good.

In the semis, Louisville takes out UCONN, and Carolina moves past Duke in a triple overtime blood bath / offensive barnburner. Barnburner is a great term. Coach K and Roy find a new level of respect for each other that nearly borders on like. Meeting at halfcourt for the postgame handshake, Roy invites Mike to lunch on Franklin St. Mike laughs. They agree to carpool to 'the story' Bible study instead.

This sets up a final between Louisville and UNC. The Big East has a chance to prove that they are the best conference with the best team. But they fail miserably. Roy's classy paisley tie tops Pitino's sleazy white suit. The ACC is hailed as unrivaled and Carolina collects the crown. We all go dancing on Franklin Street and I get my picture taken with the random celebratory green man...again.



What are your predictions?

carolina / duke

This is a special day around here. It's not Christmas in Carolina, but it's pretty close. You can taste excitement, breathe anticipation.

With the gravitational pull of a Death Star tractor beam, 'The Game' locks onto every conversation, every train of thought, and drags it in.

It's classic. It's epic. It's Carolina-Duke. There is nothing like this in sports. Yeah, I said it. Nothing. A national rivalry between neighboring giants.

To prepare for tonight, do yourself a favor and watch this video. Consider this clip your pre-game warmup. Like layup lines for the soul. It captures the moment and meaning in image and word. It's written by Fred Kiger, a teacher from my high school, and one of my new favorite writers. His passion for the game, especially 'The Game', is pure and poetic. You can almost smell the Carolina pines in his voice.

So, suit up in your favorite shade of blue. Sip a little Cheerwine or your momma's sweet tea. And soak up the best that basketball has to give us.