Daddy Was So Happy

I like to take a sneak peak at the TV when I'm drinking my bottle. There were all of these people in baby blue running around on a wooden floor. Daddy had a twinkle in his eye. About 3 minutes into all this running around Daddy put me down and starting working around the house, putting up a hook on the wall etc. He knew his team had won. He didn't just like the Tar Heels because he was from North Carolina originally, or because that UNC was his alma mater. He spent over 4 years working as an Operations Assistant in the Athletic Bands. He spent all that time playing his trombone and enduring abysmally mediocre football in order to be able to watch a good number of great basketball games in the Dean Smith Center. The marching band and basketball bands were essentially the same and were funded by the athletic department. Part of Daddy's education was paid by working for the Athletic Department.

Sports are all about symbolism and metaphors. I'm inheriting life in a country where sand seems to be shifting under us. The economy is changing and we're scared. We've spent years living in a system where taking advantage of your fellow man was sanctioned as part of keeping up with the Joneses. It was good for Daddy to see something dependable, and to feel a connection to it. There was no rooting for the underdog here. It was good to see a Brand Name in collegiate sports win what was theirs to take, based on merit, representing a part of the country where both working-class folks and high-tech upper class folks are equally struggling. It was not just a win for the Tar Heels, but a win for a state grounded in humble living, not living too high on the hog, and living with integrity. Those are the things Daddy misses most.

Daddy taught me a the school Alma Mater and Fight Song :

Hark The Sound

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true.
Singing Carolina's praises.
Shouting N-C-U.
Hail to the brightest star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina priceless gem.
Receive all praises thine.

I'm a Tar Heel Born

I'm a Tar Heel born
I'm a Tar Heel bred
And when I die
I'm a Tar Heel dead.
So it's Rah, Rah, Car'lina-lina
Rah, Rah, Car'lina-lina
Rah, Rah, Car'lina-lina
Go To Hell [Insert Favorite School]!