Can I just say that it has been 12 long years since we won, when I was a wee lad of 17, watching the game with my granddad, soon to be off to college. My granddad and I are the only UNC alums in the family, and he was a cheerleader for them from 48-51, his class instituting the Victory Bell which has lived for many Duke/UNC football games. That day in '93, I piloted my old Jetta off to class with 15 foot blue and white streamers, which got soaked in the rain that next morning.

Much like that day, I approach my 30th birthday, watching a 75-70 victory (one of the many parallels to the 93 team, which had a 77-71 win over MI) with friends in Chapel Hill, in a bar my friend owns, and what a great moment, my first phone call being to my granddad, who at 78 was still about to jump sky-high off the La-Z-Boy when I called!

It's been a long time coming. When you think of this team, which has its roots at 8-20 with (overly-maligned) Matt Doherty, who had Coaches Smith and Guthridge in attendance, who had Michael Jordan in the locker room on gameday, which pitted #1 against #2 for the first time in 30 years (my birth year), which has been accused of not being a team in the past, you have to think you should have seen this coming. I had my doubts; I had my sweaty palms at times; but bottom line, those who doubted the Heels' heart and desire have now been silenced. This wasn't even a contest; UNC dominated the entire game, and brought a recent alum to tears, being able to celebrate this night with current students, old friends, and a granddad who may have seen his last Tarheel Basketball championship. Regardless of who leaves next year, we know which team had the real substance, who had the heart, who the best coach in the nation is, and most of all, we have silenced any doubt that Tarheel basketball is back, and back bigtime.

Did MI get to the final game?

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

"Not even a contest?" That's a good one. The Illini came back from an impressive deficit to tie it... how is that not a contest? Try talking to some IL fans about your man in the middle. You think the NCAA didn't want to give him a big b-day present? That guy travelled and pushed and shoved his was to victory...

NC deserved to win, and I while the officiating sucked big time, it did not cost IL the game. Poor shooting, bad shot choices, and missing some wide open shots in the stretch cost IL the game. It's just disappointing to see one team shoot 19 free throws and the other gets six... and the margin of victory is 5.

Head had a chance to tie with seconds left... I'd say that's a contest! NC is good, and they are the undisputed National Champs. But give IL their due, please. There is a LOT of heart to this team. The quality of team play and class was without equal in the tournament, as far as I am concerned.

Anyway, congrats on the win... but I'll stick with my orange and blue any day!

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

I guess my point is, that as good as Illinois is, I expected them to get past our defense better. Shooting % was way low, and we clearly rattled their top guys. Can't argue with that.


But yeah, point-wise, it was close, but it should have been Illinois by 8-10.

What? You mean Michigan didn't make it to the final?

Guess I didn't miss nothin'.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)