University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Live from Late Night Recap
October 16, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 16, 2004
By Adam Lucas, Tar Heel Monthly
We'll be live from the Smith Center throughout most of Friday--including during Late Night itself--so keep checking back for the latest updates and Late Night preliminary activities.
11:45 a.m., Friday: Jones Angell and Ken Cleary are toiling in the Kenan Stadium production studio, putting the final touches on the videos that will run tonight at Late Night. Difficult decisions are made for the backing music: Onyx or LL Cool J? The Black-Eyed Peas or Terror Squad? It's tough work, but somebody has to do it.
Noon: A trio of basketball coaches heads out on their ritual walk. Roy Williams is fairly incognito in his "disguise"--a baseball cap and a Carolina basketball t-shirt.
12:15 p.m.: Stuart Scott arrives on the Smith Center floor. He tapes an interview for the internet Late Night broadcast--don't miss his recollections of attending games in the Smith Center as a fan--and then is briefed by marketing honcho Kris McGrath on the night's events.
1:35 p.m.: The battle to be first in line outside the Smith Center--where red tape and metal grates carefully mark the area--is officially over. Elizabeth Fleming, a senior from Rocky Mount, has a bookbag full of homework and is holding down the first spot in line. Her twin sister, Catherine, and a handful of other friends will join her in the hours to come. Fleming, a self-described "die-hard fan," says she doesn't think Fall Break will hinder attendance, as virtually every student she's talked to who is within driving distance plans to return for the event. And fair warning for those who think the crowds will be down: Fleming actually arrived four hours earlier this year than she did in 2003.
2:20 p.m.: Right on schedule, several boxes of this year's basketball poster and media guides arrive at the Smith Center. You can check out a shot of the poster on the front page of TarHeelBlue.com. The verdict on both productions? At first glance, they appear to be the best of their type that UNC has ever produced. On the poster, Jackie Manuel's socks alone make it a keeper.
By the way, if you're following along today and planning to follow along tonight, we want to hear from you. Use the email link below to send an email to Late Night headquarters. We'll do our best to answer as many as we can on the broadcast and possibly here in this space as well. Make sure you include your name and hometown with your question or comment.
3:35 p.m.: As far as anyone knows, the only place in the world tonight where you can find two Final Four MVP's in the same place is Chapel Hill, NC. 1957 award winner Lennie Rosenbluth and 1993 recipient Donald Williams are both on the expected guest list for tonight's festivities.
Outside the arena, the line has swelled from one to about 50 at the various Smith Center entrances. Balloons are being placed, microphones are being tested, the final nails are being hammered. It is starting to feel like basketball.
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3:40 p.m.: We've received emails from Michigan and South Dakota from fans planning to watch tonight's live internet broadcast. They join at least four other members of the Carolina athletic department traveling party who we've heard from. They plan to huddle around a laptop in the Marriott City Center in Salt Lake City to check out the festivities.
3:55 p.m.: Something amazing has just happened. Norwood Teague, the marketing honcho and one of the prime people--in addition to Kris McGrath and Michael Beale--responsible for making this evening possible, has just walked into the Smith Center. Here's the amazing part: he is in the building for all of four minutes, and his cell phone never rings. Note to Norwood: check operation of ringer.
4:25 p.m.: Gigantic Turn It Blue t-shirt? Check. Line of fans mugging for CSTV cameras? Check. 6-foot-9 potential All-American candidate shooting around on floor of Smith Center? Check. Sean May is officially the first Tar Heel in the building. Heckled by an onlooker, he promptly tosses in a 22-footer that rips cleanly through the net.
6:40 p.m.: The collection of humanity outside the Smith Center doors has gone from a group to a throng. The plaza near the flagpoles is stuffed with fans waiting for the doors to open. It's T-minus 50 minutes until the Mad Dash For The Front Row.
7:10 p.m.: The Smith Center ushers have been mobilized. There is more than one comparison to the bulls (not Chicago Bulls) at Pamplona. Folks outside who were once sitting calmly are now standing at attention. T-Minus 20 minutes until the Mad Dash For The Front Row. Jawad Williams and Melvin Scott just concluded a shooting contest that was held in full jacket and tie. When Jawad tries to remove his jacket to get a little better shooting form, Melvin calls a foul: "No no no," he says. "You know you've got to keep your jacket on." For the record, the shot goes in--even with the jacket.
7:29 p.m.:It's the last moment of somewhat quiet inside the Smith Center. Outside, the cheers of the fans waiting in line are drifting through the doors, onto the concourse, and down onto the playing floor. It sounds like they may be just slightly enthusiastic about the beginning of the basketball season. Smith Center director Angie Bitting yells, "The doors are opening!" to warn any unsuspecting people standing in the aisles.
 Freshmen Quentin Thomas and Marvin Williams |
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7:35 p.m.:The two center court sections across from the benches are nearly full, thanks to a mad dash down the steps by hundreds of Carolina fans. One particularly athletic fan hurdles the home bench in an effort to secure a better seat. Courtside judges give him an 8:7. The score from the Duke judge is thrown out.
7:37 p.m.: Up there where it says "nearly" full? Scratch that. They're completely full.
8:00 p.m.: The Sports Magic Team has taken the floor in front of a roughly half-full lower level. It is astounding what people will do when prompted by a guy with a movable basketball goal on his back. It's like a less-publicized form of hypnosis. "I have a movable basketball goal on my back...wave your arms and scream at the highest pitch possible...you must obey." How do you train for this job? It seems like the kind of thing for which you'd discover your talents at 3 a.m. in a dorm room.
Eric Montross will be along shortly. Since we're not going to burden him with a laptop, we'll also take questions for him at the below address.
8:40 p.m.: We just had an upset of Virginia-Chaminade proportions in the tug-of-war. But the best news: the free t-shirts are still holding out. There's nothing people won't do for a free t-shirt.
9:05 p.m.: While waiting for our interview with Roy Williams, which will air on the internet broadcast, one of the CSTV producers looked at me and said, "Are you talent?" Uh, no. At least not that I'm aware of.
The email inbox, meanwhile, is exploding. Bobby Hundley checks in from Tallahassee, where he's watching the volleyball Tar Heels take on the Seminoles. Gametime temperature inside the gym, according to the Hundley Weather Report, is below 55 degrees. Bill Guthridge could probably relate--it sounds similar to the time he took his team down to the Leon County Civic Center and had to play through a draft.
9:35 p.m.: Ladies and gentlemen, Eric Montross has entered the building. We know this because of the large group of people screaming, "Eric!" as he stood in one of the tunnels. Apparently it's hard to hide when you're seven feet tall and have your jersey hanging in the rafters. In addition to being one of the nicest guys on the planet, he's also a budding star in the television field.
9:45 p.m.: It's a real shame our broadcast didn't go live at 9:30, because a random person from the crowd just sang the fight song over the PA system while standing at center court for the listening enjoyment--well, maybe "enjoyment" isn't the right word--of the thousands of fans in attendance.
 Byron Sanders does his MC Hammer imitation. |
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10:00 p.m.: Two things of major importance just happened. First, a guy in a blue satin robe--and that's all--just strutted down the steps across from our courtside location. He may win the "best costume" contest.
Secondly, the High Voltage dance team, which is made up of four guys who are apparently very double-jointed, took the floor. The consensus at our table was that Eric, Jones, and I should take the floor and wave them off so we could show off our moves. Sadly, the microphone wires prevent us from doing so. The High Voltage guys will stay employed for another day.
We go live on Carolina All-Access in 15 minutes. Due to my complete inability to do two things at once, it's possible that the updates may slow down a little bit. But don't worry, we're still checking the inbox.
10:20 p.m.: We're live on the air. If you're not listening in, you just missed another great Roy Williams quote. When asked which of the coaches was the best dancer--they'll get the chance to demonstrate later tonight--he replied, "There is no cream in this crop." We'll see.
10:25 p.m.: Eric Montross just introduced Stuart Scott, tonight's MC. That's a pretty solid pairing. It's hard to beat Stuart's opening line: he walked to center court, pointed at the emblem on the court, and said, "That right there will be in your heart forever." He followed that up by hugging a fan in the front row and singing the fight song (yes, complete with the "correct" ending as we fans know it). We're about one minute from player and coach introductions.
10:40 p.m.: The lights are out in the Smith Center. The band is playing the fight song, the crowd is on their feet, and there are giant Tar Heel feet being spotlighted on the hardwood. We're about 60 seconds from player introductions, which will be complete with spotlights, smoke, and every bit of the glitz you'd expect from the best program in the country.
The emails are rolling in, and we want to say hello to Katie Sorensen, a former rower checking in from Los Angeles.
10:55 p.m.: We just finished player introductions. Plenty of personality from Rashad McCants, David Noel, and Jackie Manuel, and a little more understated from Jawad Williams and Melvin Scott. Don't worry--they'll have plenty of chances to show some flash in the minutes to come. Now Stuart Scott is giving a hero's introduction to Roy Williams. At least we think that's Roy. There's a rumor going around the basketball office that there may be a dead-on impersonation of the Carolina head coach coming later this evening.
11:10 p.m.: Jackie Manuel is a great defensive player who was a key member of last year's team. But from here on out, it's going to be very hard to look at him and not hear the song, "She Bangs!" running through my head. The rendition he just performed at center court of the Smith Center deserves to be memorialized in marble.
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11:25 p.m.: We can just end the night right now. While backed by David Noel ("Roy! Roy Roy Roy! Roy Roy Royyyyyyyy!") Wes Miller just put together the most dead-on impression of Roy Williams--right down to the wire-rimmed glasses--that you'll ever see, complete with waves to the crowd, a jacket thrown into the crowd, and a slap of the scorer's table right in front of your humble scribes and broadcasters. Wes actually watched game tapes to get ready for his performance, and said he'd nearly exhausted Carolina's library of video in an effort to nail his role.
11:35 p.m.: We were just treated to Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer back-to-back. And if you didn't believe the offseason reports of Byron Sanders working on his athleticism and coordination, he just proved it with his solo during "Can't Touch This." But there's no doubt that the star of that session was David Noel, who has already reprised his Divine Noel role and shown every indication that he might be able to follow up his recent idea that he may work in the theater after his basketball career.
11:45 p.m.: Melvin Scott just turned in a virtuoso performance to "What a Feeling." He's now back in the tunnel hoping the tape of this event meets a fiery end. Things have gotten a little more uptempo now, as we're at the grand finale of the dancing--which is sure to end with Roy Williams at center court showing off some rhythm.
11:48 p.m.: OK, so maybe "rhythm" isn't exactly the right word. And I'm not sure what to say about assistant coach Joe Holladay, but it involved some waving of his arms.
11:55 p.m.: During the intermission while the players are getting ready for the midnight scrimmage, we had a chance to interview Lennie Rosenbluth, one of the true Tar Heel greats. Not only did his 1957 Tar Heel team go undefeated, but his number-10 jersey will never be worn again. He'll be back in town for a couple of weeks in December, and if you see him around the Smith Center, let him know how much you appreciate his contributions to Carolina basketball.
 Melvin Scott is carried by C.J. Hooker, Jawad Williams and Jackie Manuel |
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12:05 a.m.: The team took the floor after a rousing introduction from Stuart Scott. Marvin Williams opened up the night with a windmill dunk--don't worry, he's got better. He's occasionally showed off a foul-line dunk in the early pickup games.
12:25 a.m.: The White team has taken a 22-15 lead over the Blues, who were immediately jinxed when I picked them to win this contest. Jawad Williams just checked into the game from our courtside location and couldn't enter before giving a high five to our broadcast partner, Eric Montross. A lot of points and rebounds in that handshake.
12:40 a.m.: The Blue squad, which is being coached by Joe Holladay (Roy Williams is simply observing from the scorer's table), just needed a little time to get warmed up. They've closed it to three points with two minutes left in the half behind 15 points from Marvin Williams.
By the way, on the third row behind the basket we've spotted Elizabeth Fleming, who has now put in 12 hours at today's Late Night festivities and deserves a little recognition for her dedication.
As we go to halftime with some players noticeably dragging, it's 45-41 White after a reverse dunk from Reyshawn Terry. Or maybe it's not halftime, based on the fact that they're leaving the floor. The beauties of live broadcasts, right there on TarHeelBlue.com. Every player on the floor scored except Damion Grant, and the big seven-footer contributed some valuable play on the defensive end, blocking a couple of shots and altering several others.
1:20 a.m.: Back home on the first officialy day of basketball practice. Roy Williams will gather his troops at 2 p.m. this afternoon, but unfortunately we won't be providing live updates from that particular event. Many thanks to everyone who emailed, both readers of this column and people who watched the broadcast on All-Access.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.
