University of North Carolina Athletics
Car-O-Lines
August 28, 2000 | General
Aug. 28, 2000
By Rick Brewer
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It is the best time of year to be in Chapel Hill.
Unless you're attempting to navigate the backed-up traffic on Manning Drive or Highway 54 at rush hour.
Or trying to get into almost any restaurant without dinner reservations.
Or looking for a parking place downtown or anywhere on the Carolina campus.
Students have returned for fall classes and the new semester also marks the beginning of a new year in Tar Heel athletics. With the influx of students have come the annoyances that always accompany the addition of 30,000 people to this town.
However, if it weren't for the students, none of us would be here. The town grew up around the University whose purpose, of course, is the education of young people.
And despite the problems that always accompany the start of each school year, it is a special occasion. I've found the arrival of students each fall to be a rejuvenating time. It helps keep you young, at least feeling that way, to have so many students around you.
While working in college athletics has become a 12-month proposition, the start of classes is really the beginning of our busiest time. So that kick-start of feeling good is helpful. The women's soccer and field hockey teams have already opened their seasons and the football team begins play this weekend.
Because of Carolina's incredible success in men's basketball over the years, most fans don't understand that actually the fall is our busiest time of the year. Administrators are helping freshmen get acclimated to college life, assisting coaches with the day-to-day activities of the fall sports and making arrangements for the winter sports season.
The most work in the fall centers on football, but preparations for basketball are also underway. So you're really heavily involved with the two revenue-producing sports, which attract the most fans and media attention, at the same time.
Carolina's facilities are so good that the University also ends up hosting a number of major Olympic sport events - soccer, golf, volleyball and tennis tournaments.
Plus, the Tar Heels' amazing success in both women's soccer and field hockey have basically turned those into major sports. It's almost a certainty that each will host NCAA Tournament games on campus once regular-season play concludes. The improvement Carolina has shown in volleyball, men's soccer and cross country recently indicates they are on the rise, as well.
So one better be rejuvenated when the fall season begins. Energy is needed, not only to keep up with what's happening on a daily basis, but to plan two or three weeks and even a season ahead.
There are problems in doing all this. It takes organization, thinking ahead, looking back at the past and even a little educated guesswork on what might happen and preparing for that.
And, of course, there's the problem of just battling one's way to the office each day.
But, the kids are back and there is optimism everywhere.
It's all worth it. That's why we live here and work where we do.
