(Bruce Young, aka The Man of Many Talents, in spite of his horrible taste in music, is THI's social coordinator, official bureaucrat, available bachelor, photographer and resident Tar Heels' fan)
Having finished the toughest part of their 2016 schedule with a 5-2 overall record, the Tar Heel football team is poised to finish off the remaining games on the schedule. Like many of you, I cannot help but think the Tar Heels should be 6-0! As former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green once so eloquently stated, Georgia is exactly who we thought they were and we let ‘em off the hook! Virginia Tech needed a Category 5 Hurricane to beat the Tar Heels. I don't care what anyone says, under normal weather conditions, Carolina beats the Hokies by 3 touchdowns! Nothing anyone can say can change my mind about that.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, there is absolutely no reason why the boys shouldn't finish 10-2 and repeat as Coastal Division Champions. There is no team on our schedule that we shouldn't drag up and down the field. Duke and NC State are "must" wins for all of us. All games are must wins I know, but each person reading this column understands what I'm saying.
Virginia, this coming weekend in Charlottesville, should be a cake walk and the following week, we face Georgia Tech at home. In my opinion, Georgia Tech is the dirtiest team in the ACC by far, will do their best to chop and cut block out defensive personnel until they can't walk. This game concerns me as it always does, but our coaching staff will have the guys prepared for the sometime illegal tactics of the Yellow Jackets. After the Jackets come to town, we head over to face the Evil Empire in Durham; No Problem!!!! Then we have a glorified practice against The Citadel in Chapel Hill; No Problem!!!! Then comes the game I look forward to most each and every year, playing the Wolfpack of NC State in Kenan Stadium; No Problem!!! This will be Dave Doeron's last game at NC State and we should all show up and show him the door. He will be missed! But then again, they'll bring some other big name into Raleigh to take Larry Fedora's beatings. The best thing NC State could do is just suspend their program until Coach Fedora retires. I'm just saying!!!!
If you haven't been to Charlottesville this time of year, you owe it to yourself to make the trip on Saturday. Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, UVA is my favorite trip to make in the ACC. Their campus is 2nd only to Carolina in it's beauty. There's also tons of history in the surrounding areas, ie. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home place, which is a must see. I've been there at least 3 times in the past 6 years and see new things each and every time. If you are a history buff, you owe it yourself to make the trip.
Until the last several years, going to Charlottesville usually meant an automatic loss for our beloved Tar Heels, but no longer is this the case. This will be Mitch Trubisky's first visit to UVA since he threw the game winning touchdown pass against the Hoos as a freshman. Carolina's passing offense is one best in school history and our defense is coming off their finest game of the season against an athletic Miami squad. Carolina's running game has not been clicking most of the year, however, I believe they will get going against an over matched Virginia Squad. For the Heels to get where they want to be at the end of the season, Elijah Hood is gonna have to stay healthy and regain the form he had last year. If he does, the sky is the limit for Coach Fedora's squad.
Last Friday night, I attended Late Night With Roy at the Smith Center. I had many reservations about going to this event because last year's snooze fest was tough to sit through. Any of you that attended this year know this version of Late Night was something completely different. No more performance skits that put most of the fans and major recruits in attendance to sleep along with yours truly. This year's edition had more competition, i.e., shooting competitions, two on two skills competitions and a dance contest that most everyone enjoyed.
It was the first time I had an opportunity to see the freshman class up close and I left the Dean Dome, as most of the fans did, really excited about them and this year’s team. Tony Bradley, the freshman from Bartow, Florida, did not disappoint. The first couple of things you notice about this big guy is that he can run the floor with anyone and his wingspan is comparable to Brandon Wright or John Henson. Seventh Woods, the freshman from Columbia, South Carolina, showed the speed and quickness needed to run Roy's Williams' offense. The freshman that looked the most comfortable was Douglasville, Georgia's Brandon Robinson. The crowd and the event didn't seem to bother him at all, as Junior Theo Pinson stated after the night's events! I can promise you that this year's team is gonna have fun playing together and I know we're all gonna have a ball watching them play. There is no reason this years team cannot complete their unfinished business and win the National Title. GO HEELS!!!!!
