University of North Carolina Athletics
Season Ends (3/21, 7:00 a.m. ET)
March 16, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2004
By Adam Lucas
DENVER--TarHeelBlue.com will have live coverage of the week's activities in Denver as Carolina prepares to take on Air Force in Thursday night's first round of the NCAA Tournament. Keep checking back in the coming days as we update this story regularly with the latest from the Mile High City.
7:50 p.m. Eastern: Carolina's team charter takes to the air with a full traveling party, including members of the band, in tow. For the record, tubas do not fit in the overhead bin.
9:25 p.m. Mountain: (All subsequent times are Mountain Time) The 737 touches down in Denver, where it is met on the runway by the team bus. Mercifully, that limits the exposure to the treacherous mile high air that we've heard so much about in recent days. Thankfully, no one needs an oxygen mask in the 100 feet between the plane and the bus. The team and coaches turn in for the night. Tomorrow is a busy day, with a practice at a local high school and then the NCAA-mandated open practice at 6:00 at the Pepsi Center.
3/17, 10:45 a.m.: A hurry-up-and-wait day begins with brunch at the team hotel. Players catch up on homework, coaches catch up on preparation for Air Force. The squad will leave for practice at a local high school at 12:20, but until then there is very little on the itinerary. For those who have been here before, it is somewhat strange to be getting used to the NCAA Tournament again. This used to be a regular part of the calendar, but after a two-year hiatus everything seems new again.
2:45 p.m.: The Heels are back from practice and it's time to...kill some more time. Such is the life of a college sports team on the road. They'll head over to the Pepsi Center in about two hours for the open practice. One loyal Tar Heel fan who unexpectedly wasn't able to make the trip is assistant coach Joe Holladay's son, Mathew Holladay. After being deployed in Iraq for a year, he was able to spend a few brief days in Chapel Hill recently and had hoped to see his first-ever NCAA Tournament game in person. Unfortunately, he was called back to his base in Italy and flew out yesterday morning.
3:05 p.m.: Important news bulletin. According to a column in this morning's Denver Post by Woody Paige (yes, just getting around to reading the paper because as you can see from the above, it's been a very busy day) the Pepsi Center is known locally as "The Can." Although possibilities abound, we're going to choose to take it as a taste of home. We've got the Tin Can, they've got the Concrete Can. Whatever works.
6:00 p.m.: Carolina takes the floor at "The Can" (hey, we've been here a day, we're local) to a round of hearty applause from the assembled Tar Heel fans, disproving a later question by a local TV reporter who begins his query by saying, "Everyone in the building will be cheering for Air Force on Thursday." Eschewing the usual dunk contest and layup drill, Roy Williams actually puts his team through a legitimate practice for 36 minutes before allowing a few dunks as the grand finale. The Blue team, which struggled somewhat in the day's earlier practice to execute the difficult Air Force offense, seems to be catching on.
7:15 p.m.: Roy Williams tells the media he plans to start Jackie Manuel tomorrow night. "It's not considered a demotion for Melvin," he says. "Maybe sitting with us a little bit will help him."
7:40 p.m.: Air Force senior Joel Gerlach tells the media something that should make Carolina fans everywhere smile. "We act like it's just another team, but everybody knows it's North Carolina. We'll be happy just to be on the same court with them."
11:00 p.m.: Last meeting of the day--a quick meeting and snack at the team hotel. No one envies Maryland. The Terps are facing a 10:40 a.m. local time tipoff tomorrow. If the Heels had that game, the pregame meal would be at 6:40 a.m. "Hey, Rashad, pass the Frosted Flakes."
3/18, 11:30 a.m.: The team meets for a light brunch at 11 before loading the bus for the five-minute trip to the same high school where they practiced yesterday. Today's practice will be lighter, mostly just an hour's shootaround. That's the typical road game routine, which means things are returning somewhat to normal after yesterday's day that occasionally seemed endless.
12:30 p.m.: The Heels go through their shootaround looking very aerodynamic. Perhaps trying to channel a bit of the Donald Williams magic from 1993, the team has shaved their heads. Don't worry, though--Roy Williams still has a full head of hair.
3:55 p.m.: The freshly-shaved Heels (including Rashad McCants, who is part of the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated) begin to gather in a hotel conference room for the pregame meal. The bus departs for the Pepsi Center in about two and a half hours. After almost 48 hours in Denver, it's finally game time. Next update: postgame.
6:05 p.m.: The Air Force players walk into the Pepsi Center to watch part of the Texas-Princeton game. They are greeted with a standing ovation by the "neutral site" crowd.
9:37 p.m.: Most of those fans are headed for the exits after Carolina claims the first-round victory.
10:05 p.m.: A member of the media asks Roy Williams if he plans to shave his head if Carolina wins the national championship, following the lead set by his team. The head coach smiles. "If we win the national title, you have no idea what I'm going to do," he says.
10:55 p.m.: The team bus rolls back into the parking lot at the local hotel. Denver is a long way from Chapel Hill, obviously. But the assembled crowd of exactly zero fans that greets the Tar Heels is still a little disappointing.
3/19, 10:45 a.m.: The Tar Heels get exactly one day to prepare for a top-ten opponent. At noon, the NCAA will hold a transition meeting at the Pepsi Center to go over the various details about tomorrow night--things most people never think about, such as which team will sit on which bench, etc. (For the record, it's organized according to where each team's fans are located, which means the Heels are likely to occupy the same bench they did Thursday night.) Administrative assistant C.B. McGrath and assistant coach Jerod Haase will be the coaching staff's representatives at that meeting. There's a late breakfast at 11 and then some free time for the players until time to leave for practice at the arena this afternoon.
12:45 p.m.: There has been some discussion of whether certain sportswriters should also shave their heads in a show of team unity. We asked Sean May his opinion on that very topic this morning. The verdict, as he tried to unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile: "Um, it's not for everybody. It definitely wasn't for me." We'll take that as a sign to hold off on the razor for at least another weekend. Speaking of which, the 10:55 entry above has drawn quite a bit of email. Here's an easy way to turn the situation around--Carolina's charter Delta flight will depart immediately after tomorrow night's game. Once the bus is loaded, security cleared, and all the other details are covered, the Heels are probably looking at roughly an 11 p.m. departure from Denver, which puts them at RDU around 2:30 a.m., which puts them back at the Smith Center around 3. We realize that most of the readers of this column have more important things to do at 3 a.m., such as sleep. But if you happen to be a youthful, energetic student (or a non-student with the enthusiasm of a student) there's no doubt that both the players and coaches--who regularly received such welcomes at their past job--would appreciate seeing a few friendly faces after four days in Denver.
2:25 p.m.: Tying up a few loose ends, we wanted to update loyal readers on the latest piece of wisdom from the Denver Post. In yesterday's edition, the sports section featured a segment on the origin of the name "Tar Heel." Thankfully, they did spell it as two words, so that's a plus. But in the explanation--they used the Robert E. Lee "tar on their heels" source--the paper indicated that that particular great Civil War battle was fought in St. Petersburg, Florida (instead of Petersburg, Virginia). At least the soldiers could go to the beach after a hard day at war.
4:20 p.m.: Roy Williams is officially asked the first, "Could you end your career happy if you never won a national championship?" question of his Carolina career. Counting his tenure at Kansas, this brings his career total to 3,672 questions on this topic, roughly the same amount as Dean Smith in the late 1970's.
7:30 p.m.: The team gets a break from the routine of having dinner in the hotel, as they eat out tonight. Game time (the tip is scheduled for 6:10 local time, 8:10 Eastern) is less than 24 hours away.
3/20, 10:30 a.m.: An update for anyone dedicated enough to actually consider meeting the team: it looks like it's going to be closer to 5 a.m., not 3 a.m., before the Heels return to the Smith Center. The bus heads for the Pepsi Center later this afternoon. Next update: from Chapel Hill early Sunday morning.
5:15 p.m.: The Carolina contingent at the Pepsi Center is on their feet cheering wildly trying to encourage Maryland in their comeback against Syracuse.
5:45 p.m.: After the Terps go down to defeat, a handful of Maryland players and coaches take several steps toward the UNC rooting section and point their fingers in a gesture of thanks for the support they got from their ACC brethren.
5:48 p.m.: As Carolina takes the floor, they hear a round of boos from the Maryland section, which then gives Texas a hand as the Longhorns come onto the court for the first time.
8:30 p.m.: It doesn't seem possible, but the Tar Heel season is over. Tears are in abundance in the Carolina locker room.
3/21, 6:45 a.m.: A handful of the heartiest Carolina fans you'll ever see meets the team at the Smith Center. Tipoff for the 2004-05 season is only about eight months away.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
