Victories & Legends

This past weekend David and I made the annual UNC basketball trip. Despite the 8 hour drive, it was a great trip. For David, he was thrilled to be able to see both Belmont & UNC, his two beloved teams, get victories. For me, it was a weekend of basketball legends! For both of us, we got to visit two good friends, Brooke & Mike. Brooke played at Belmont when I was coaching and has remained a good friend. Mike, also played ball at Belmont and has become a great friend to both David and myself. David has enjoyed sharing the love of UNC basketball with Mike, as he was born and raised in Chapel Hill. They were married this summer and live in Chapel Hill while Mike is in Dental School. They were great hosts and we enjoyed catching up with them.

Friday, we all went to the Belmont vs. Campbell game. It was hands-down one of the greatest comeback wins I've ever witnessed. With 3:27 left in the game, Belmont was down by 18 points. We had about given up and even considered leaving the game early, but wait...a steal, a drained 3-pointer, a technical foul on our coach and suddenly we had ourselves a ballgame! SO EXCITING. Belmont ended up winning 87-84! It was unbelievable. In fact, we all had to keep telling the story of how it could have happened throughout the night simply to believe it had happened.

How could you top that??
David in front of the Old Well on UNC's Campus













Well, the next day we were completely focused on UNC basketball. After breakfast at a local hot spot, David and I went on our own to tour UNC. Call us crazy, but we love touring college campuses! We hit an amazing sweet spot, Sugarland's for a pre-game snack and visited the UNC bookstore. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and in the high 60s.

Yummy Gelato & Cupcake!

Then, we headed to the Dean Dome to start the process of finding tickets! That's right, we didn't have tickets when we drove 8 hours for the game...not a mistake we will make again. However, in the process we saw 2 coaches from the women's basketball staff, including head coach Sylvia Hatchell! And by "saw," I mean walked next to for a block! I was pumped.

Our original plan was to get to the ticket office early and wait in line for the returned tickets from Rams Club members. I had called and had been assured that they ALMOST ALWAYS have tickets returned. Score...we were first in line! During the wait, I visited the UNC basketball museum that David had told me about from his last visit without me. It was pretty sweet to witness all the history--Dean Smith, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter and on and on. There was even a letter from Coach K to "Mike" Jordan wishing him luck as he had not chosen to go to Duke! It was sweet.


So, after 2 hours of waiting in the ticket line, we were informed that no tickets had been returned...we had to buy from a scalper. Without getting into the gory details, let's just say it wasn't easy. Apparently this game, though against lesser opponent, Virginia, was a hot ticket because it was one of few Saturday afternoon games. 20 minutes before game time we scored 2 tickets! WHEW! Even better, they were some of the best tickets we had ever had for a UNC game--low, second level seats at half court.

"Jump Around!"


As excited as David was to see the TarHeels, my excitement came at half time when they recognized the UNC related individuals that had been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, of course, Roy Williams, and yes, THE DEAN SMITH were all present! I was so excited to be able to see in person, the basketball legend himself. Next to John Wooden, it doesn't get any better than that for me!

After the game, the legendary basketball trip continued. I made David take me to Duke with the hopes of getting to enter Cameron Indoor Stadium. I had always wanted to see Cameron--a basketball holy land! David refused to take off his UNC shirt, but I could tell that he too was impressed when we followed a staff member in the wooden doors! It was so unbelievably small and clearly one place where the dollar hadn't won out over tradition and history. I will never see it the same on TV again and although not a fan, have a greater appreciation for Duke fans! I can only compare it to Notre Dame football and a 4 inch wooden bench for your 12 inch rear!
Finally, with the Duke/UNC game at Cameron just days away, we had to visit Krzyzewskiville. WOW. At first we just saw a few tents and I assumed I had been fooled by a glorified ESPN story. Then, I turned the corner. It looked like a sea of tents. After talking to a student we got the full run-down of rules and events that take place leading up to the game. It's much too complex for this blog, but it was unreal. Basically each tent allows 8-12 students to camp out for tickets to the big game. They started December 26 and must always have at least one person in their tent. Security in blue coats patrol the area to scan ids and confirm tent attendance. Leading up to the day, random sirened checks are done and each tent must have every member present to "stay in."
He did tell us that some students that didn't tent would start a line a couple days before. These students can't leave this line and must always be present for ID checks. While we stood there, 4 nights before the game, the line started as 2 students laid down air mattresses on the concrete to begin the wait. CRAZY!
Needless to say, David and I both got something out of this trip. He--2 victories for his 2 teams, and me--Basketball Legends! It was AWESOME BABY!