A man has dreams of walking with giants
To carve his niche in the edifice of time
Before the mortar of his zeal
Has a chance to congeal
The cup is dashed from his lips
The flame is snuffed aborning
He’s brought to rack and ruin in his prime

My world was calm, well-ordered, exemplary
Then came this person, with chaos in her wake
And now my life’s ambitions go, with one fell blow
It’s quite a bitter pill to take. – George Banks (Mary Poppins)

There’s a look on Mr. Banks’ face at this point of Mary Poppins that is completely dejected, but also puzzled — as in, “How in the heck did that just happen?”. That’s about how I feel this morning.

• I am a superstitious observer of Tar Heel athletics, to the extent that my behavior can impact the outcome (in my mind). But it didn’t matter what I did last night, I could not make it stop. (Even begging didn’t work: “PLEASE, make it STOP!”).
• What in the world was the Tar Heel Sports Network thinking by having Bill Guthridge as the pre-game guest and Hubert Davis as the half-time guest?! I love both of them, but seriously… (1) the coach of our last team to go to the Final Four in San Antonio, where we lost in painful fashion to Utah and had to endure seeing Antawn Jamison kissing center court goodbye; and (2) the senior point guard from our 1991 team that went to the Final Four and lost to: KANSAS! Am I the only one who sees the bad mojo here?
• I hope after last night that we never have to hear another word from those ungrateful Kansas SOBs that want to moan about Roy leaving.
• Billy Packer is an unwatchable tool. But then, you knew that.
• What the heck is up with that tie, Roy? It’s the Final Four; it’s okay to wear your school colors.
• As much pride as I have in seeing our team come back to within 4 after being down TWENTY EIGHT points, that deficit is shameful. I said to my brother-in-law before the game that Kansas was a great team and there is no shame to losing to them, but I was assuming a reasonably close game. That first half just hurt.
• On the whole, this was an outstanding season. 36-3. ACC tournament and regular season champs. East Regional Champs and Final Four participants. It may take a little longer to truly bask in the glow of this season, because of the way we lost the last game, but it was a heck of a year.
• I’m going to miss Quentin Thomas. It seems like he’s been around forever. He consistently showed himself to be dedicated, selfless, and a great team player. And after opening his career as an unexpected starter in front of his friends and family in a loss against Santa Clara and closing it with last night’s game, I declare Q to be the patron saint of painful Carolina losses. In the future, we should all pray to Q to help us pick up the pieces and move on.

I just got home, checked the mail: bill, bill, junk mail, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

There is PsychoT on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

They’re trying to jinx us. Cross your fingers. Hard.

WOO HOO!! The Tar Heels are going to the Final Four!

It has been said that Ty Lawson is the engine of this team.  Well, folks, if that is true, then Tyler Hansbrough is the clutch.

After being knocked all year about not having an outside shot, Tyler hit at least 4 shots from 17 feet tonight, with the two biggest coming back-to-back with under 3 minutes to play.  Those two CLUTCH shots gave Carolina a nine point lead and the Heels cruised to the win on free throws.  Hansbrough’s 28 point, 13 rebound performance that sent the Heels to the Final Four should be sufficient to silence any critics about his Player of the Year status.

WOO HOO! GO HEELS!