University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tire Bowl Travel Diary (Dec. 30, 10:00 a.m.)
December 29, 2004 | Football
Dec. 29, 2004
By Adam Lucas
So maybe you're stuck at your desk today, where you're covertly planning your assault on Charlotte for tomorrow's Continental Tire Bowl. Don't worry--as long as you can hit "refresh," we'll keep you updated on all the activities of John Bunting and his Tar Heels throughout the day. It's a feature similar to our basketball NCAA Tournament travel diary that proved to be very popular (albeit about two weekends too short) last March.
You can find the official TarHeelBlue.com Tire Bowl Travel Diary on the front page all day long. We'll take you inside Carolina's final 24 hours of bowl preparations, from the meetings to the walk-through at Bank of America Stadium to any other detail that happens. Keep checking back for regular updates.
Most importantly, the readers are the ones that make this feature work. If you've got questions, comments, or travel tips, send us an email.
6:30 a.m.: After a late night at the Smith Center last night, we're officially on the road. Factoring in a quick stop at Bojangle's (note to crack sales staff: secure Bo's as Travel Diary sponsor) for a morning wake-me-up biscuit, estimated time of arrival in Charlotte is 9:30 a.m., just in time for a 10 a.m. Bunting press conference.
9:45 a.m.: Check-in complete at the Marriott City Center, the team hotel. A helpful tip for those of you checking in today: Trade Street is blocked off in front of the hotel. But don't let that stop you (at least not this morning), as you HAVE to turn down Trade St. in order to either use the valet parking or park in the parking garage. And if you choose the garage, here's another tip: if you're fortunate enough to find a space, don't plan on leaving it until after the game.
Any parking woes were solved by two instant pluses of the Marriott: Krispy Kremes at check-in and room keys that feature the Continental Tire Bowl logo. Let's be honest--they keys are nice but the glazed doughnuts are a five-star feature.
11:05 a.m.: The players and coaches just concluded a press conference in the Marriott sports bar. "I think we've accomplished a lot in a short period of time," John Bunting said. The North Carolina media contingent dwarfs that of the Boston College following. At last check, only one Boston television station was in town, compared to at least one crew from each of the Triangle-area stations.
Action in the hotel is starting to pick up. If you're planning to make the trip and haven't yet purchased your blue clothing, don't worry--Chapel Hill Sportswear is set up in the Marriott atrium area and has (at the moment) plenty of game-suitable blue apparel. On a related note, the atrium area is also where the Old Well Walk will take place tomorrow. With tens of thousands of fans expected to be in the area and space somewhat limited, it might be a good idea to arrive well before the 10:30 walk time if you want a good glimpse of the team.
We've gotten some emails regarding whether the stadium is within walking distance from the hotel. According to folks at the hotel, it's about a nine-block walk that would take about 10 minutes. Considering it would probably take you 10 minutes to get your car out of the garage, it might not be a bad option. 11:45 a.m.: Hank Stallings, who works nearby, dropped us an email to confirm the above parking tip: he says if you check in at the Marriott and have a space in the hotel garage, don't even think about moving your car before the game.
The Tryon Street portion of uptown (which is actually downtown, but here they call it uptown--got it?) that's blocked off is starting to come alive. Where there once were just orange cones and empty police cruisers this morning, there are now all sorts of booths and vendors. The highlight of the afternoon, of course, is the pep rally from 5-6:30.
Also, if you've been keeping up with us all morning, we've got a revised Old Well Walk time of 10:30 Thursday morning. Plan your breakfasts accordingly.
12:30 p.m.: The players and coaches are a few blocks away at a bowl luncheon hosted by the Westin Hotel. It's one of the last bowl-sponsored activities on the itinerary before tomorrow's kickoff, which is now about 24 hours away. There's little doubt, however, about which activity was the players' favorite. Yesterday's trip to Lowe's Motor Speedway, where virtually all members of the traveling party took a spin around the track in a stock car, is still drawing raves.
"You see it on TV and you just don't realize how fast those cars are going," Chad Scott said. "We were going so fast that when I got out of the car I had tears coming out of my eyes."
1:20 p.m.: Uh, we've got a question for our Charlotte readers: is anyone actually getting any work done in downtown/uptown Charlotte today? At the moment, Glenn Frey's "The Heat Is On" (don't act like you don't know it: "The Heat is Ooonnn...Oh-whoa-ho, Oh-whoa-ho," this is great stuff) is being played over some extremely well-functioning loudspeakers positioned directly so as to impact every building within one square mile.
1:35 p.m.: Jason Brown becomes the hit of the luncheon. With very little prompting, he grabs the microphone and belts out a tone by The Brooklyn Bridge. He receives a standing ovation from his teammates.
1:50 p.m.: Breaking news from the Marriott: we saw an actual, flesh-and-blood Boston College fan. He kept mumbling something about "Pedro can't be gone..." Not sure what that's about. Further reconnaisance on Tryon St. revealed that, in addition to very loud 80s music that was featured in major motion pictures pumping over the speakers, there are also a few Eagles fans walking around enjoying the street festival. Most of them looked a little nervous about the barbecue tent, though. Actual statement overheard: "So that's pig? What part of the pig, exactly?" If you have to ask...
The team bus leaves for the walk-through at Bank of America Stadium in about a half-hour.
2:35 p.m.: The best part of traveling with a football team at the bowl: traffic doesn't exist. The Tar Heel bus convoy receives a police escort to Bank of America Stadium.
2:55 p.m.: As it turns out, the walk-through is essentially just that--a walk through the stadium. The field is still drying, so no one is allowed between the white lines. The Heels go through a light walk-through on the sidelines.
3:45 p.m.: For those of you planning your wardrobes, approximately sections 325-355 were in the shade while Carolina was going through their workout. It was chilly in the shade, pleasant in the sun. Layers (in blue, of course) might be appropriate. This fashion update is brought to you by TarHeelBlue.com.
4:10 p.m.: The team arrives back at the hotel. The street festival is in full swing (current song: "We Are Family") and the players have a little free time until the pep rally. They spend it in different ways. One disappointing part of the trip is that the room televisions aren't equipped to handle PlayStation2 connectors, which according to Gerald Sensabaugh has severely hampered the usual free time activities. It doesn't particularly matter for him, though. He's a film room junkie and spent Tuesday night watching film of Boston College the UNC video staff had burned to DVD for all the players. See, those complimentary Continental Tire Bowl DVD players have already come in handy.
4:20 p.m.: We're getting a lot of parking questions from fans planning to roll into town tomorrow. We're not parking experts (we're not experts on anything, actually) but our biggest tip would be this: plan to arrive early if you don't have a reserved spot. After we inquired, the Tire Bowl folks pointed us to this site, which has a number you can call to get more information about available lots:
Have we mentioned that you should arrive early?
One good note: even with all the traffic on Trade and Tryon, we just now heard our first car horns of the day. Maybe the good folks from Boston finally got into town.
6:10 p.m.: The crowd is starting to swell around the pep rally. John Bunting and some selected players made an appearance on the stage, and most of the other Tar Heels were circulating in the crowd, where they were frequently asked for autographs and pictures. Most of the team seems to have enjoyed the completely pro-Carolina atmosphere in Charlotte over the past few days. "We got on a shuttle yesterday to get something eat and everybody on there was a Carolina fan," Chad Scott said.
"People say Carolina is a basketball school," Sensabaugh said. "But it seems like a football school to me. I can't believe how many Carolina fans we've seen."
Gerald might be right. If you add up the roughly 30,000 UNC fans that bought tickets to the Peach Bowl in 2001 and the expected 60-65,000 fans at tomorrow's game, the Tar Heels have taken almost 100,000 fans to their last two bowl games. It's tough to think of any other schools that can make the same claim.
6:50 p.m.: The team buses are loaded and on the road again, except this time they're not going to the stadium. The night before a game is Carolina's traditional movie night. Movie buff Jason Brown rates Ray as one of the best movies the team saw this year; Sensabaugh says it's a tie between Ray and Saw. "I like those movies where you come back to the hotel and guys are having a one-hour conversation about them," the senior safety said. "They have to be movies that make people talk."
Tonight, players will get the chance to pick the one they think will be the most conversation-provoking. There's a choice of four movies: Meet the Fockers, Flight of the Phoenix, Darkness, and Ocean's 12. Brown said he was likely to go with either Phoenix or Darkness. Chad Scott preferred Phoenix and Sensabaugh said he was likely to select the more lighthearted Meet the Fockers.
By the way, the team's most appropriate movie selection of the year came on the trip home from the Utah game. As Carolina's charter flight cruised home from the defeat in Salt Lake City, the on-board video screens showed Alamo.
9:35 p.m.: The team is back at the hotel, where they'll cap the evening--the last night as a team for the 2004 Tar Heels--with a mandatory snack and meeting. Many fans may not realize that the day before the game is actually one of the lightest, football-wise, of the week. "Yesterday was what would've been our Thursday practice in a regular game week," Bunting said. "That was our last dress rehearsal."
Next update: tomorrow morning from the team hotel.
Dec. 30, 9:05 a.m.: Finally, it's gameday. Today's pregame preparations will be much different from the last time the Tar Heels were in a bowl--the 2001 Peach Bowl was a night kickoff, which gave the team all day before having to make their way to the stadium. In fact, the squad spent two hours at the Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial.
That won't be the case today. Some players who plan to leave after the game (others are staying until tomorrow) will check out of the hotel starting at 9 a.m. Others will wait until after the game. No matter what their plans, though, everyone will be ready to leave for the stadium at 10:30,
If you're a fan coming to Charlotte today, be aware that the uptown area is already picking up and several roads are blocked off. The most important thing you can do is allow some extra time to be re-routed around town and locate a parking spot.
10:00 a.m.: The Marriott lobby is bustling, the Boston College band just assembled right outside the hotel, and you see blue everywhere you look. It's a long way from the cloud that hung over Chapel Hill in October.
With a basketball game and a football game in the same day, today presents some special challenges. Woody Durham and Mick Mixon will broadcast the football game and then zip to the Concord airport, where they'll catch a flight to Chapel Hill, ideally in time for the 7:00 basketball pregame show.
We hope everyone--all 60,000 of you--enjoy the game. The next update will come from Chapel Hill after the game.
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.
