University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Always A Good Day To Be A Tar Heel
December 9, 2017 | Men's Soccer
By: TJ Scholl
If you've never been inside a final four locker room after a loss, don't. Just don't do it. Because you're going to want to help, and you can't.
You're going to want to help because you see the shock, pain, heartbreak (insert any other disheartening word here) of the players, coaches and staff and you will feel helpless; helpless because there's nothing you can do about what just happened.
What could you possibly say to the seniors who just wore Carolina Blue with theirteam family for the last time? To the guys who just lost their second consecutive final four? Answer. Nothing.
You want to pack up everything, get on the bus, and just leave. Don't say a word. Maybe if we just go back to the hotel and sleep it off we will wake up feeling better.
But then you remember that's not how this works. You still have to talk to media with the coach and players. You have to go to two players who just lost one of the biggest games of their lives and ask them to go answer questions about it. To fight back the tears, pull it together for a few minutes and talk about this season.
And you know what, they will.
They will because that's the kind of guys that play for us. They will because they know it's the right thing to do and because they would rather talk than have one of their teammates have to go through it.
And while you're waiting in the hallway for the players to come out for media availability you hear the players from the opposing team, the winning team, walking to their locker room, which happens to be down the hall. And through the screaming, hugging and high fives of the team that just beat you, you hear it from down the hall.
"It's a bad day to be a Tar Heel."
And you don't know what to say. Because it kind of is, right? Anytime you lose in the final four it's a bad day.
And then as you look around to see who else heard it, the players walk out, behind their coach, ready to face the media. Ready to talk about the feelings they are trying so hard to keep inside.
And as you're counting down the questions until they are released from the press conference you realize they aren't talking about the X's and O's of the game anymore. No, the discussion has turned from the game to what matters most to them, each other.
Head coach Carlos Somoano is talking about his love for this team and how he will miss his irreplaceable seniors. Midfielder Cam Lindley talks about his disappointment of not going to the national championship because that means he doesn't get to play with thisteam family again. And to put it in to context, senior Alan Winn jokingly said he wishes he could have redshirted or failed a class or two so he didn't have to graduate so he could play one more time with this team family.
It's there that it hits you. This is what it means to be a Tar Heel. This is what it means to wear the Carolina Blue, walk past the Bell Tower or Old Well and eat out on Franklin Street. It's the journey, not necessarily the destination that makes Chapel Hill and all those associated with it special. This is what makes us ateam family.
You walk out of the press conference proud of your guys. Proud of the way they handled the questions and dang proud that they are in Carolina Blue.
As you walk down the hall to the bus you kind of wish you would hear someone else say it.
"It's a bad day to be a Tar Heel."
Because now you know exactly what you will say.
"It's always a good day to be a Tar Heel."
If you've never been inside a final four locker room after a loss, don't. Just don't do it. Because you're going to want to help, and you can't.
You're going to want to help because you see the shock, pain, heartbreak (insert any other disheartening word here) of the players, coaches and staff and you will feel helpless; helpless because there's nothing you can do about what just happened.
What could you possibly say to the seniors who just wore Carolina Blue with their
You want to pack up everything, get on the bus, and just leave. Don't say a word. Maybe if we just go back to the hotel and sleep it off we will wake up feeling better.
But then you remember that's not how this works. You still have to talk to media with the coach and players. You have to go to two players who just lost one of the biggest games of their lives and ask them to go answer questions about it. To fight back the tears, pull it together for a few minutes and talk about this season.
And you know what, they will.
They will because that's the kind of guys that play for us. They will because they know it's the right thing to do and because they would rather talk than have one of their teammates have to go through it.
And while you're waiting in the hallway for the players to come out for media availability you hear the players from the opposing team, the winning team, walking to their locker room, which happens to be down the hall. And through the screaming, hugging and high fives of the team that just beat you, you hear it from down the hall.
"It's a bad day to be a Tar Heel."
And you don't know what to say. Because it kind of is, right? Anytime you lose in the final four it's a bad day.
And then as you look around to see who else heard it, the players walk out, behind their coach, ready to face the media. Ready to talk about the feelings they are trying so hard to keep inside.
And as you're counting down the questions until they are released from the press conference you realize they aren't talking about the X's and O's of the game anymore. No, the discussion has turned from the game to what matters most to them, each other.
Head coach Carlos Somoano is talking about his love for this team and how he will miss his irreplaceable seniors. Midfielder Cam Lindley talks about his disappointment of not going to the national championship because that means he doesn't get to play with this
It's there that it hits you. This is what it means to be a Tar Heel. This is what it means to wear the Carolina Blue, walk past the Bell Tower or Old Well and eat out on Franklin Street. It's the journey, not necessarily the destination that makes Chapel Hill and all those associated with it special. This is what makes us a
You walk out of the press conference proud of your guys. Proud of the way they handled the questions and dang proud that they are in Carolina Blue.
As you walk down the hall to the bus you kind of wish you would hear someone else say it.
"It's a bad day to be a Tar Heel."
Because now you know exactly what you will say.
"It's always a good day to be a Tar Heel."
Players Mentioned
M
/ Men's Soccer
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