PAGE 14
SCOREBOARD
DERKE HOWLES
TRUE THAT... DOUBLE TRUE
Rational
analysts
a rarity
College basketball fans don’t
agree on much. Except
when it comes to one
thing, of course: the incompe
tence of the game’s announcers.
Want proof? Just look around
the ACC.
It’s a subject on which fans of
both North Carolina and Duke
can unite, as evidenced by their
joint pastime of relentlessly
smacking Billy Packer around on
Internet message boards, in bars
and at work.
It’s a subject that jacks up N.C.
State faithful, who wonder why
Dick Vitale, while calling a game
in the Big Ten, spends so much
time praising Roy Williams and
so little time discussing the mer
its of Herb Sendek.
And it’s a subject that irks
Maryland fans, who might say
Mike Patrick, a widely alleged
Duke rooter, has so much bias,
his first name should be Lenny.
In truth, the situation’s not
nearly as bad as many make it
out to be. The vast majority of
broadcasters including those
three are mostly fair and genu
inely enthusiastic. But it’s not like
there aren’t flaws, either.
Packer isn’t prone to ridiculous
hyperbole, but he does have the
annoying habit of picking one
topic and harping on it more than
that kid at the frat party who just
wants to convince you that, ‘Dude,
he is sooo drunk right now.’
There’s no doubt Vitale and his
kid-on-Christmas-moming enthu
siasm are positive for the game,
but it’s easy to wish ESPN would
take a T.O. of its own (baby!) from
Dickie V. every once in a while.
Besides, he needs some time off to
accept the lifetime achievement
award for overbearing announc
ers with only one good eye. Stuart
Scott will be presenting.
And, yes, sometimes Patrick
does seem just a teensie bit parti
san. After all, discussing the “bril
liant” shooting of TVajan Langdon
in the midst of a nail-biter is kind
of suspicious. Especially when
Duke’s not playing. Also consider
ing TVajan Langdon graduated in
1999.
All of which brings us to the
bigger question: Who exactly is
the best announcer in college
hoops?
He’s 62 years old. White
haired. Looks like Mr. Rogers.
Spews more random phrases
than Cosmo Kramer and George
Costanza put together. Always
gets accused by his partners of
never picking up a check. He
goes by the name of Bill Raftery.
For instance, Raf s the only
guy whom you can mistake for a
duPont commercial. (“Nothing
but nylon... and other assorted
materials” is a favorite synonym
for a swish.)
He’s the guy who patented the
phrases “take it to the tin” (drive
to the basket), “the kiss” (a shot
off the glass), “send it in!” (a fero
cious dunk) and “a little lingerie
on the deck” (for when a defend
er’s been totally fooled).
The guy who turned “man-to
man” into mantaman.
The guy who makes you smile
every time he calls a cheap foul a
“nickel-diiimer.”
The only 62-year-old guy who
can refer to a certain pair of male
body parts (“onions!”) and not
make you cringe.
We don’t get to hear him
much here in ACC territory
he’s usually teamed with Sean
McDonough and Jay Bilas on
ESPN’s Big East telecasts —but
when the next thriller between,
say, Clemson and Wake Forest on
WEAL becomes too insufferable,
try moving on up the dial to see if
Raf’s calling a game that night
After all, you can’t spell
Raftery without “rafter.” And if
there was such an honor for col
lege basketball’s greatest broad
casters, that’s exactly where his
jersey or headset would be.
Contact Derek Howies
at howlesd@email.unc.edu.
Sports Monday
SOFTBALL First place in Fun & Sun Classic
Hurricanes held at bay
NORTH CAROLINA FRESHMEN LEAD TEAM TO ROAD VICTORY
BY DEREK HOWLES
SENIOR WRITER
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -
North Carolina started the game
by scoring nine times on nine
shots once on each of its first
nine posses
sions.
Still, Miami
came back.
North
Carolina
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
UNC 80
Miami 70
recorded a rebound margin of
plus-11 an emphatic reversal
from its first meeting with the
Hurricanes in January, when it
was dominated on the boards.
Still, Miami kept it close.
Heels
outlast
pesky
’Pack
Wrestlers wrest
win from NCSU
BYAL KILLEFFER
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Throughout history, wolves
have been a source of trouble for
many people.
They’ve blown down houses,
dressed up in sheep’s clothing
even disguised themselves as loved
ones. Yet somehow, the wolves’
adversaries have always come out
on top.
On Saturday,
the North
Carolina wres
tling team had
its hands full
with its own
set of wolves
at N.C. State’s
ONLINE
The reason why
freshman
wrestler
Vincent
Ramirez is
called a mat rat.
Reynolds Coliseum.
But like their fictional forbears,
the Tar Heels avoided a number
of close calls and escaped with a
20-16 win.
“Last time we wrestled them,
we had a pretty bad match and
we tied them,” sophomore 174-
pounder Alex Maciag said. “So I
think coming back here today, we
had a lot of making up to do.”
Because of what he perceived
as a subpar performance in the
team's Jan. 20 tie against N.C.
State in Chapel Hill, UNC coach
C.D. Mock viewed that match as
a loss.
And even though the Tar Heels
(15-8-1,3-2-1 in the ACC) avenged
SEE WRESTLING, PAGE 13
Fencing teams end
season on high note
BY JOANNE CANNELL
STAFF WRITER
DURHAM - The North
Carolina fencing team sent its
seniors out in style this weekend.
In both teams’ final meet of the
regular season, the Tar Heels not
only finished 7-3, but did it in
their archrival’s house to boot.
The men’s team went 5-0
Friday, and the women’s team
came back Saturday afternoon,
despite a tough morning, to finish
2-3 at the Duke Invitational.
The men (24-11) dominated
the Blue Devils 19-8, and with
a solid performance from the
women, the teams earned a point
for North Carolina in the Carlyle
Cup.
“We really want to beat Duke,”
said foil Steve Piantadosi, who
finished 8-2. “That’s why we get
up in the morning, you know.”
The senior is affectionately
known by some on the team as
“the legacy.” His dad Steve also
fenced for North Carolina under
UNC coach Ron Miller.
When asked if his dad gave
him any advice Friday, Piantadosi
www.dailytarheel.com
GYMNASTICS Florida Ist UNC 4th
North Carolina turned it over
just 13 times five fewer than
its season average —and only five
times in the second half.
Still, Miami wouldn’t go away.
So Sunday night at the
Bank United Center, with the
Hurricanes finding an answer
for everything North Carolina
threw at them, the No. 23 Tar
Heels turned to the most unlike
ly of sources for its most impor
tant plays down the stretch:
guards Bobby Frasor and Marcus
Ginyard.
Typically relegated to the
shadows of players such as Tyler
Hansbrough, Reyshawn Terry
@ UNC 72 £. VIRGINIA 60
UNC STRUGGLES IN WIN
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THE CAVALIER DAILY/JASON WATSON
North Carolina's LaToya Pringle (30) goes up for a rebound against Virginia's Lyndra Littles (1) in UNC's
72-60 victory against the Cavaliers on Sunday. Despite the win, the Tar Heels got outrebounded 48-35.
said, “No, but he yelled at the ref
eree a couple of times.”
The Tar Heels didn’t need any
help from the referees, though.
Their domination was simply a
result of hard work.
The men’s epee team finished
first place at the invitational,
while the sabre and foil squads
took second and third, respec
tively.
“The men pretty much were
consistent all day long,” Miller
said.
They also had a solid game
plan in mind.
“Basically, we knew we had
to go out there and work every
single meet,” said junior epee
Mike Burkhart, who finished 11-
4. “We kept on moving, kept on
winning.”
The seniors were more than
pleased with how they finished
their careers at UNC.
“We’ve gained more experi
ence, and we fence better for it,”
said senior sabre TYavis Wherry.
“We come out with heart.”
SEE FENCING, PAGE
“In the second half I was more impressed
with my team than I have been at any
point this year.” roy williams, UNC COACH
and David Noel in crunch time,
the freshmen made several key
baskets in the second half to help
North Carolina pull away from
Miami for an 80-70 win.
After North Carolina (15-6,6-
4 in the ACC) took a four-point
lead with 17 minutes to go in the
second half, Miami fought back
to take the lead by one at the
12:26 mark. A Terry free throw
soon tied the game at 56, and
Doubles fail to spark win
BY GREGG FOUND
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Her fist was pumped before the
ball even touched the ground.
As soon as North Carolina’s
Sara Anundsen saw that her
Notre Dame opponent’s return
Would land out of bounds, she
knew she and Jenna Long had
just beaten the nation’s No. 1
doubles team.
“It was really exciting,”
Anundsen
said of the 8-
3 victory. “We
were prac
ticing tough
for doubles
WOMEN'S
TENNIS
Notre Dame 5
UNC 1
all week. We wanted to poach a
lot, keep moving, and come out
aggressive.”
Unfortunately for Anundsen
and Long, their victory in dou
bles not only failed to earn the
doubles point for UNC, it also
failed to dictate the course of
the match as the Fighting Irish
cruised to a 5-1 victory Sunday at
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
“We have three really good
doubles teams,” said Notre Dame
coach Jay Louderback. “So for us
to win the doubles point with
out winning at No. 1, confidence
ONLINE The men's tennis team goes 2-0 this weekend.
with 11:49 to play, a TV timeout
was called.
“At the 12-minute mark Coach
(Roy Williams) really got into us
to play defense,” said Frasor, who
finished with 13 points. “At that
point we did, and we got stop
after stop, Marcus got to the
offensive boards, got some bas
kets there and got fouled, and I
SEE MIAMI, PAGE 13
wise, it’s really good. Hopefully
our girls see they don’t have to
lean on No. 1 doubles.”
Anundsen and Long, the
Uth ranked doubles pair in the
country, jumped out to an early
4-1 lead against Notre Dame’s
top-ranked sister duo of Catrina
and Christian Thompson in the
featured doubles match.
The two tandems split games
to get to 6-3 before UNC won the
DTH/ROB LANGDON
North Carolina's Tanja Markovic serves the ball against Notre Dame's
Kristina Stastny on Sunday. Markovic lost the match in a tiebreaker.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
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North Carolina's David Noel (34)
goes in for a layup against Miami's
Guillermo Diaz (13) in the Tar Heels
80-70 win against the Hurricanes.
Team turns ball
over 20 times
BY DANIEL MALLOY
STAFF WRITER
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.
After flashy point guard Ivory
Latta and bruising post player
Erlana Larkins, there isn’t much
room in the hype surrounding the
No. 1 North Carolina women’s bas
ketball team to talk about junior
Camille Little.
Maybe it’s because she’s a little
shyer than the rest, but Little flies
under the radar for the Tar Heels,
despite making contributions in
just about every category of the
box score.
So it makes sense that even
though Little scored 16 points,
pulled down eight rebounds and
swiped four steals Sunday, in
UNC’s 72-60 win against Virginia
at University Hall, she wasn’t
brought out for the postgame
press conference. The media
requested Latta and Larkins
instead.
It was a little funny, consid
ering that Little made the two
biggest tide-turning plays of the
night to keep North Carolina
(23-1,10-1 in the ACC) from los
ing their second game in a row
UNC lost to Maryland in over
time Thursday.
The first one came less than
four minutes into the second half.
Virginia (13-10, 2-9) had just cut
North Carolina’s 15-point halftime
lead to five. A livid Sylvia Hatchell
called her second timeout in three
minutes.
On the ensuing possession,
Little got the ball at the top of the
key, pump faked and drove to the
hole for the basket and the foul.
The big bucket keyed a 15-5 UNC
run.
But the feisty Cavaliers
wouldn’t go away, and they
knocked the Tar Heels lead down
to seven with less than four min-
SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE 13
final two games, culminating with
the Irish’s out-of-bounds return.
“North Carolina made no
errors, lobbed a lot and served
well,” Louderback said. “I give
them a ton of credit.”
The Notre Dame coach could
afford to give them credit his
team didn’t drop a singles match
until after it had clinched the
SEE NOTRE DAME, PAGE 13