Just 48 hours until the Tar Heels start their quest for our 3rd 2009 National Championship!!!

In case you've missed the news, the Tar Heels men's soccer team will play the undefeated University of Akron "Zips"on Friday evening for the chance to play for the 2009 NCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer Championship on Sunday. The match will start at 7:30 pm in Cary's WakeMed Soccer Park and will follow the match between the University of Virginia and Wake Forest University. The winners of the two Friday matches will meet on Sunday at 1pm.

Just in case you've been away and didn't get the news, the Tar Heel field hockey team won the 2009 NCAA Division 1 National Championship (Carolina's six in the last 22 years) a few weeks ago, and our women won the 2009 NCAA Division 1 National Soccer Championship (our 20th in 28 tries) last weekend. What a fall for Carolina's non-revenue sports!

Now, another Tar Heel team is two matches away from bringing home Carolina's third NCAA Championship of the fall semester. This would be our men's second NCAA Championship in this decade! Need I tell you that they need our support AT THE MATCH! Yep, it will be chilly, but you and I will be in the stands in our 6 layers of warmth and gloves while the guys on the team and on the bench will be playing in their shorts and jerseys! The least we can do is to be there to cheer them on. If you live within an hour's drive of Cary, I URGE you to join me at the stadium. There will be 11 guys and a goalie on that field playing their hearts out for our alma mater. They love Carolina just as you and I do, and they are doing something about it.

The only way we can participate is to spend a couple of dollars and be in the stands cheering for them. Even if you've never seen them play - this year or any other year - they are a great team that played in the National Championship game last year, losing to Maryland 1-0. That match was not here, and you and I weren't there. That could have made the difference. Well, the Zips are undefeated (25-0) so we need to beat them to get the chance to play either the Wahoos or the Demon Deacons on Sunday. Of course, that game doesn't happen unless the Heels win on Friday night. Let's not get to Monday and wonder what would have happened if we had only been there! GO HEELS! See you on Friday night!

Friday is a HUGE day in Tar Heel sports - be there!

The Fall non-revenue sports seasons continue for two Tar Heel teams! At 8pm (EST) in College Station, TX, our Heels will take on Notre Dame in women's soccer. This is a semi-final game in the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. I am certain that you remember that our Heels won the 2008 Championship which was played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The winner of our match will play the winner of the UCLA/Stanford match on Sunday. In case you will not be able to attend the game in Texas, it will be broadcast on ESPNU. By the way, apparently it is very cold in College Station and the game-time weather is not supposed to be very good, but if you watch on ESPNU, it should be much more comfortable where you are than where our women are playing. GO HEELS!

Just before the match in Texas, our Tar Heel men will host Drake University at Fetzer Field in a quarterfinal match (I call it the "elite 8"). That game will start at 6pm. Please, please, please come out to support our guys who will be playing to take part in the 2009 NCAA Men's Final Four. Those games will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on December 11 and 13. Temps at game time should be around 50 degrees, and it should be partly cloudy. Parking will be abundant since it is Friday after 5pm. Remember - our Field Hockey team won the 2009 NCAA Field Hockey Championship a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, our women will be playing for the National Championship in women's soccer on Sunday. With your help and on-site support, perhaps our men will be doing that a week from Sunday.

There is no way to overstate the importance of all of us who love Tar Heel athletics and athletes. We owe these teams our support. See you at Fetzer? GO HEELS!

So much to be thankful for and that includes Tar Heel sports!

One month until Christmas and about 24 hours until we all give thanks for so much as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. And while my good health, my children, my family, and my friends head my list of things for which I give thanks, further down on my personal list are the young women and men who participate in sports on one of the 27 Tar Heel athletic teams. I am very thankful for their success, not only in athletics, but also in the classroom at UNC and for the joy I get every time I see them compete.

The next several days give every Tar Heel loyalist a cornucopia of Carolina sports events to watch. You know that the football team will play NC State in Raleigh and that the men's basketball team plays Nevada in Chapel Hill on Sunday evening. A football win may or may not change the bowl venue in which the team will play in late December or early January. A basketball win will be the 7th for the 11th-ranked Tar Heels. The football and basketball games just mentioned are on TV and are likely sell-outs.

But there are other games that are critical to UNC teams, they are not televised, and these two teams badly need our attendance to cheer them on to victories that will send the women to the National Championship round (Final Four) in Women's Soccer at Texas A&M and will send the men to the Quarterfinal round of the men's NCAA Soccer Championship. The women are 20-3-1 and face Wake Forest at 2pm on Friday at Fetzer. Home field advantage? Maybe not, unless you and I are there. This is Thanksgiving break at the University meaning that the students won't be there. It is up to us to be there, to be loud in their support, and to "turn it blue!" By the way, parking will not be a problem and the weather promises to be sunny with temps in the 50's. What a great way to cheer off some of the food that you ate on Thursday!

On Sunday at 2pm at Fetzer, the men host Indiana. Our men carry a 14-2-3 record into the match. A win would send them into a quarterfinal match against either Drake or Boston College the next weekend. A win in the quarterfinal round would send them to the Final Four to be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Again, while some of the students might be back in town from Thanksgiving break, it is likely that the support in the seats that the Heels need and deserve will come from you and me and others like us who love the Heels. I'll be there - how about you. Again, parking will not be a problem and the weather should be excellent!

But soccer, football, and men's basketball isn't all that is going on in the next several days. The 4th ranked Carolina Women play two games in that period. Today at 1pm, the women host Presbyterian, and on Sunday their opponent will be Charleston Southern at 12:30. Parking will not be a problem. Tickets will be on sale at the ticket office in the Williamson Building. Seating is fabulous (in the Dean Dome until late December when the games will return to a newly-renovated Carmichael Auditorium). This team also needs your support today and on Sunday. Last Sunday, they beat UNLV in Las Vegas and return home now to play two games before traveling to Michigan State on December 3. Remember, the students are away on break so it is up to us to cheer this team on. If you haven't seen them play this year, you have a real treat ahead of you. If you've never seen them play, you have missed an incredible team and an incredible sport! There is no time like the present to have the Carolina women's basketball experience!

The wrestling team is in action but in Troy, NY. If you, by some chance, are in Troy on the 28th, go by Lehigh University and pull for our Heels! By the way, in case you don't know, the men and the women both had overwhelming victories over the field in the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia last weekend. At this point in the season, the men are undefeated and the women have a single loss. Unfortunately, you will not be able to see these teams compete again in Chapel Hill until January 9 when the Clemson Tigers come to town.

In terms of sports, we Tar Heel fans have much to be thankful for. This fall season has been very good to us so far, and the soccer teams are likely to make it even better. My suggestion - show them how much you appreciate what they are doing for all of us and for our favorite university by being there for them on Friday afternoon (the women play at 2pm) and on Sunday afternoon (the men also play at 2pm). Between now and then, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The 2009 NCAA Field Hockey National Championship is OURS!

If you have read this blog over the last several weeks, you know that I have long described this year's Tar Heel field hockey team as a very special one with a real chance to win the Division 1 National Championship. Well, today my prediction came to fruition as our Tar Heels beat an undefeated Maryland team (last year's national champion) by a score of 3-2 to win its 6th Championship in the last 20 years!!!!

I hope that you had the chance to see this team play at some point during the season because it was very, very special. It spent most of the season at #2 in the national polls just behind Maryland. On the 24th of October, the Terrapins came to Henry Stadium and beat the Heels 4-1. Two weeks later, the Heels were beaten again by Virginia in the ACC Tournament. Some teams might have quit at that point, but not these women. On Friday, they beat Virginia 3-2 in the semi-finals, and today, against great odds and a terrible first half, they beat Maryland 3-2 with the last goal coming with 11 seconds left in the second half. They finished the season at 20-2. Maryland had a wonderful season and finished at 23-1 - the loss to OUR TAR HEELS!!!!

With no disrespect meant for our men's basketball team, Karen Shelton's teams have won 6 national championships in 20 years while it took the men 85 years to do that. I am not sure that it is appropriate to call this a dynasty, but I am thrilled to have had the chance to watch this team play all season. I cannot wait for next season to begin and invite you to join me in Henry Stadium next August!

Didn't I tell you how great the Field Hockey team is?

As I predicted weeks ago, Karen Shelton's Field Hockey Tar Heels will play for the National Championship on Sunday afternoon! That match with the University of Maryland will be played in Kentner Stadium on the Wake Forest University campus at noon. You'll remember that the Terps beat our Heels in Chapel Hill on October 24th by a score of 4-1. The Terps remain undefeated (they beat Princeton on Friday 7-5), and we owe them a beating! Have you ever watched a national championship game of any kind from the stands? As far as I can tell, this match will NOT be televised, but you can be there tomorrow to support our team and to cheer them to a victory. When we win, it will be our 6th national championship in field hockey. Celebrating after the win is fun, but you cannot imagine the excitement of watching it happen unless you've been there. I hope you can make it! GO HEELS!

And the Tar Heel beat goes on - WOW!

I love those weekends when the Tar Heel teams of all descriptions are performing at their best, and this past weekend was one of those times. You already know that the football team beat Miami on Saturday and that the men's basketball team beat Valparaiso on Sunday, but did you know what else happened this past weekend and the import of those events?

On Saturday, the Tar Heel Field Hockey team beat Ohio State 4-1 and followed that on Sunday by beating Wake Forest on the home field 4-1!!!!! In case you don't know why that is such exciting news, that was the 3rd time this season that we bested the Deamon Deacons, and they are an excellent team. So what you ask - that puts our Tar Heels in the Field Hockey Final Four!!! In case you don't remember, the Heels are now 18-2 and have outscored their opponents 82-11!! Are you excited yet? You should be if you are a true Tar Heel fan. So what's next? On Friday of this week (Nov 20) at 4:30 on the Wake Forest campus in Winston-Salem, the Heels will take on the Wahoos of Virginia in the semi-finals of the NCAA Championship tournament. You'll remember that the two teams met twice during the season up to this point. The Tar Heels won the first match 2-1 in OT in Charlottesville and lost the second match, again in Charlottesville, during the ACC tournament. This match is on a neutral field, and a win here sends us into the championship round where we'll play either Maryland or Princeton on Sunday for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! This has huge ramifications in the competition for the Director's Cup and would be the 6th time we have won it all in this sport! If you have any way to be in Winston-Salem on Friday, do it! These women have worked extremely hard to get to this point and deserve and need the support of Tar Heel fans every where. GO HEELS!

The weekend was also a busy weekend for the women's soccer team. The Tar Heels hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament and beat High Point on Friday 1-0 and also beat Georgia on Sunday 4-0. So far this season, the Heels are 19-3-1, have posted 15 shutouts, and have outscored their opponents 55-9!!! They now advance to the Sweet 16 and will host Maryland this Saturday at 1pm at Fetzer Field. This will be the 3rd match with the Terrapins this season. The women beat Maryland 1-0 in College Park and also won the second match at WakeMed Park in Cary in the ACC tournament 3-0. I know, I know - the football game with Boston College is on Saturday at noon, but if you aren't going to Boston, why not go over to Fetzer Field and cheer on our women as you enjoy the fresh air in Chapel Hill? Again, these women work extremely hard to represent our favorite university and both deserve and need our support! GO HEELS!

And that's not all. Since the beginning of November, our Tar Heels are 4-1! They beat NC State 3-0 on Nov. 3, beat Virginia 3-1 on Nov. 6, beat Virginia Tech 3-2 on Nov. 8, lost to Maryland at College Park 3-1 on Nov. 13, and beat Boston College in Boston on Nov. 14 by a score of 3-0! What a wonderful run for this team! There are 3 games left in the season - at Wake Forest on Friday, at Duke on Saturday, and at State next Wednesday, Nov. 25! We've beaten each of these teams this season and badly need to beat them again. If you are going to Winston-Salem on Friday to pull for the Tar Heels in Field Hockey, you should have something to eat quickly and then pull for the Volleyball team against Wake while you are still there. The game at Duke is at 7pm (well after the football game and women's soccer match), and the Heels would really appreciate you being there to support them against the Blue Devils. You know you are going to eat too much on Thursday so prepare for it by going to NC State on Wednesday at 1pm to pull for our Heels against the Wolfpack! There is no ACC Tournament in Volleyball so the NCAA Tournament is by invitation only. Winning these last 3 games is crucial to our team being invited to play for the NCAA championship. GO HEELS!

I keep posting that if you haven't seen Sylvia Hatchell's team play basketball, you have missed a major treat. On Friday night, the Heels hosted the College of Charleston and beat them 88-57! And that win was without Italee Lucas, Jessica Breland, and Candace Wood being able to play. This team is very special, and you owe it to yourself to see them play. Your first chance is on Wednesday, Nov. 18, when they will play Coastal Carolina at 7pm in the Dean Dome (the move to Carmichael Auditorium should happen in late December). There are lots of seats, there is plenty of parking, and these women need your support as they prepare for their first road trip of the season. On Sunday, they will play UNLV in Las Vegas, and on Wednesday, Nov. 25, they will play Presbyterian here in Chapel Hill at 1pm. Yep, that is a direct overlap with the volleyball team playing at State in Raleigh, but look at it this way. You have two incredible Tar Heel women's teams playing for all of us - take your pick - you'll love either game. On the subject of women's basketball, did I mention that you don't want to miss seeing this team play? Sylvia and her staff have these very gifted athletes running and playing great defense. You'll really enjoy cheering for this team! GO HEELS!

While they didn't compete this past weekend, the Swimming and Diving teams are moving through their respective seasons. As of November 17, the men are undefeated and the women have one loss. Remember, some of these athletes will be swimming for the US in London in the 2012 Summer Olympics. You'll have an easier time getting to see them swim here than you will in London! GO HEELS!

What would you give today to have seen Mia Hamm play at Carolina

The afternoon could not have been more perfect. The sky was Carolina Blue, the temperature was in the mid-70's, the field at WakeMed Park was in perfect condition, and the Heels were ready to play. Florida State had beaten the Heels in Tallahassee a couple of weeks earlier and would have loved to win again in the ACC Championship. As has been case 20 times out of 22 attempts, the Carolina women's soccer team was up to the task and sent the Seminoles back to Florida with a 3-0 loss! What a game and what an afternoon!

The invitations for the NCAA Championship field were published today. Carolina is a #1 seed and will be the host for 4 teams in Chapel Hill on Friday, Nov 13. Besides the Tar Heels, High Point, Georgia, and UNC-Wilmington will play here. Carolina's first round opponent is High Point. After the Heels beat the Panthers, they will play the winner of the Georgia-UNC Wilmington match on Sunday, Nov 15. In the next round, Carolina will face one of the following teams playing in an associated bracket - Monmouth, Maryland, Washington State, and Villanova. That 3rd round game will be played on either Nov 20, 21, or 22. Quarterfinal matches will be played over the Thanksgiving weekend.

So, you and I have at least 2 more chances to watch the Heels play in 2009 in Chapel Hill. That fact reminded me of how many of the past women Tar Heel soccer greats I've missed in years when I didn't have the time to attend Carolina soccer games. Perhaps, you, like I, have marveled at how many former Tar Heels have played for the United States in the Olympics and the World Cup matches in the last couple of decades. I would give a lot to have the chance to watch Mia Hamm play for the Heels on Fetzer Field one more time, but those days are long gone. My point - it is likely that some of the current Tar Heels will be on the field in London in 2012 and/or Rio in 2016 on the US Olympic team and/or on the field in Germany in 2011 for the next Women's World Cup. Perhaps you will be in one or more of those cities to see former Tar Heels play for the United States, but if not, you can see players who could be on those teams in Chapel Hill on November 13 and 15. I doubt that anyone could have predicted that Mia would have gone as far as she has gone in 1993 when she last played for Carolina. Is a future Mia Hamm on this year's team? Won't you be disappointed if you miss the chance to see that Tar Heel play? See you in Chapel Hill this weekend?