University of North Carolina Athletics
Woody: Tar Heel Tidbits
January 24, 2000 | General
Jan. 24, 2000
Sometimes there will be items of interest related to the Tar Heels which don't require a full column. So from time-to-time I'll pull those items together and make a full column out them.
DOWN AND OUT...As expected, Carolina has dropped out of the Top 25 in men's college basketball. Just eight weeks ago the Tar Heels were ranked number two behind Cincinnati. Then came losses to Michigan State, Cincinnati, Indiana and Louisville, and they were out of the Top Ten. Defeats by Wake Forest and UCLA dropped them out of the Top 20. And, now--after two more losses to Virginia and Florida State--they are out of the Top 25 for the first time since February 6, 1990.
That's the year Dean Smith's team started 10-6 before putting together a five-game winning streak. Then the Tar Heels lost five of seven, including home games against N.C. State and Maryland. They dropped an overtime contest to Virginia in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, but recovered to upset top-ranked Oklahoma in the NCAA Midwest Regional at Austin, Texas. However, Carolina didn't climb back into the Top 25 before the end of the season.
Carolina was ranked for 172 consecutive weeks in the weekly Associated Press media poll. That's second only to UCLA's streak of 221 weeks between 1966 and 1980. The new leader is Arizona with 83 weeks, followed by Duke and Stanford tied for second at 66 weeks.
CONGRATULATIONS...Mick Mixon and I have worked together for 11 years on Tar Heel Sports Network. So I was pleased and proud last week when he was chosen by his peers as the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year.
Two years ago, in an effort to bolster membership, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, which is based in Salisbury, N.C., changed the voting rules for its year end awards so that winners from the past three years could not be honored again. I was very much in favor of the change since some of the streaks were ridiculous. Some broadcasters and writers from the West and Midwest had won 20 straight years. Certainly there had to be some younger guys in those states who were also doing a good job. Now they are eligible for some very deserved recognition.
Mick is the eighth color analyst to cover the Tar Heels during my 29 years on the network. Each of the others brought something personal and special to the assignment, but when Mick came back to Chapel Hill in 1989 he was the first full-time sports reporter to fill the position. His involvement stood out from the beginning, and he continues to bring a lot to our coverage of the Tar Heels.
FATHER'S PRIDE...I was doubly pleased last week with the NSSA announcement. The Sportscaster of the Year from Georgia is Wes Durham, the play-by-play broadcaster at Georgia Tech.
Now in his fifth year on the Flats in Atlanta, Wes is the oldest of our two sons, and a budding superstar in this profession. After graduating from Elon, he had worked at Radford, Marshall and Vanderbilt before getting the opportunity to get into the ACC. When he took the Georgia Tech job, I was asked how it would feel when we worked the same games. I really didn't know what it would be like for us, but it has been no problem. The Carolina coaches, who had watched him grow up, knew the Tar Heels would get a fair shake during his broadcasts.
Jean and I will spend this weekend with Wes and Lynn in Atlanta, but we won't talk much basketball. Emily and Will will get most of the attention. They're our nine-month-old twin grandchildren.
EX-UNC ASSISTANT GETS NFL JOB...Al Groh finally got his chance to be an NFL head coach when the Jets picked him. He has spent 14 years in the pros, most of it with Bill Parcells. They met as assistants at Army in the late 60's. They worked together at Air Force in 1978, and Groh was on Parcells' staff with the Giants, the Patriots and the Jets.
Bill Belichick, whose father coached at UNC in the 50's, was also on those staffs. Groh did work for Belichick in 1992 when he was head coach of the Cleveland Browns. And, he would not have gotten this opportunity if Belichick had decided to succeed Parcells with the Jets.
A former head coach at Wake Forest, Groh was a UNC assistant under Bill Dooley between 1973 and 1977.
TAR HEEL FLAVOR IN SUPER BOWL...If you don't already have a favorite team in Super owl XXXIV, then you might think about the St. Louis Rams. They will have a definite Tar Heel flavor Sunday evening in the Georgia Dome.
Dre' Bly, who had an interception in last week's victory over Tampa Bay, is on the roster along with linebacker Mike Morton and defensive tackle Nate Hobgood-Chittick. Dick Vermeil also has a couple of former Tar Heels on his coaching staff. John Bunting, who played for Vermeil and the Philadephia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, is the co-defensive coordinator for the Rams. He played for Bill Dooley at Carolina between 1968 and 1971. John Matsko is one of two offensive line coaches on the staff. He just moved to St. Louis this past season and is in charge of the line's pass protection. Another coach handles the run blocking. Matsko was Dick Crum's offensive coordinator at Carolina between 1978 and 1984.
There have now been Carolina representatives in 20 of the last 28 Super Bowls.
