Sports Tuesday
JL
MIKE OGLE
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Endangered
Tailgaters
Need Help
College football. Beer. Grilled meat.
It all makes sense. They go together
like red, white and blue.
College football isn’t just a game -
it’s an American experience.
It’s a pregame. Parked cars and RVs
for as far as the eye can see. Team flags
flying proudly. Kids tossing pigskins in
the aisles. The smells and smoke of
barbecuing hamburger and sausage in
the air. Cases of Bud Light disappear
ing faster than Duke underclassman
basketball players.
It’s a game. Cleats flinging muddy
grass. Helmets exchanging school col
ors. Imposing linebackers that could
knock an opponent into next season
and outrun a thoroughbred. Cat-like
receivers and tailbacks that turn on
dimes and dodge outstretched arms.
Tens of thousands of fans chanting
fight songs and cheers while holding
their breath with each snap of the ball.
If your team emerges triumphant,
there’s also a postgame.
That’s what Saturdays in the fall are
all about. It happens on campuses
across the nation.
At West Virginia, Mountaineer fans
do it right. They show up a day early
in Morgantown to lay claim to a spot
in the parking lot adjacent to the stadi
um. They rise at the crack of dawn for
a night game so they can squeeze in
that extra meal and few drinks.
Stereos blare local sports talk shows
and broadcasts from other games of
interest. Strangers invite you into their
asphalt picnics for a brew, a dog and
some football-related banter.
Granted there’s not a whole hell of
a lot else to do in West Virginia. A full
Mountaineer Field (63,500 capacity)
holds more people than the population
of any city in the state, and the student
section in the upper level boasts a
chain-link fence separating the kids
from the “ordinary” West Virginians.
But similar tailgating scenes are not
uncommon. Schools in the SEC and
Big Ten are notorious for such festivi
ties. They even do tailgating right at
Carter-Finley Stadium. C’mon, State?
Not at North Carolina. Here the
tailgater is an endangered species
headed for extinction. Join with me,
environmental activists.
Save the tailgater.
In Chapel Hill, they have Tar Heel
Town. Has anybody ever been to that?
Does anyone even know what it is?
The town and University frown on
tailgating and general fun of any kind.
There are a few survivors out there
refusing to let their good time be
denied. Not all Tar Heels are wine and
cheese. Many are barley and hops.
They can be spotted around campus
on game day drinking from plastic red
cups, eating red meat and making you
proud. They are college football.
And major college football can
never be synonymous with UNC with
out major tailgating.
This is where the Carolina Athletic
Association steps in. The CAA now
has a shot to redeem itself for the dis
appointing hoopla surrounding the
Smith Center seating fiasco.
Note to Tee: In future negotiations,
different does not always equal better.
Here’s the task - provide an envi
ronment conducive to tailgating. The
No. 1 problem is there’s just no good
place to do it.
Parking is already a nightmare, so
why not kill two birds with one stone?
Level off the area around Kenan
Stadium as well as can be done.
Eliminate Stadium Drive and the
Ehringhaus intramural field. Make it
all a giant parking lot. Knock out the
trees on the other side of the stadium
and annex the Bell Tower lot.
Introduce Tar Heel fans to real college
football. They deserve it
But tell the construction company
to leave a few Porta-Johns. They will
be needed.
Mike Ogle can be reached at
mogle@email. unc. edu.
Tar Heels Open Season With Win
Curry Rules in Comeback
By T. Nolan Hayes
Sports Editor
Mike O’Cain was nervous before
Saturday’s season-opening game
against Tulsa.
That was understandable. The
game was
O’Cain’s first
as North
Carolina’s
offensive
coordinator.
Football
Tulsa 9
UNC 30
Also, he was calling plays for the first
time since 1985, when he was the assis
tant head coach at East Carolina.
But O’Cain had no reason to worry.
His offense worked just as he hoped it
would, enabling the Tar Heels to pick
gEL 11 'I -• %'
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UNC defensive end Ross McAllister wraps up Tulsa quarterback Josh Blankenship for a 13-yard sack. The Tar Heels sacked Blankenship three times.
Despite Early Struggles,
UNC Stomps Vols, Cavs
The UNC women's soccer
team exploded for three
goals in a two-minute span
in its win against Tennessee.
By Matt Terry
Assistant Sport Saturday Editor
It’s beginning to sound like a broken
record.
For the third time in its first four
games, the North Carolina women’s soc
cer team struggled out of the gate
Sunday only to rally its way to a lop-
sided victory.
UNC
scored five
goals in the
second half
against
Tennessee -
three within a
Women's
Soccer
Tennessee I
UNC 6
Virginia I
UNC 6
Volleyball Sweeps Foes at Carolina Fall Preview
By Adam D. Hill
Staff Writer
If Labor Day weekend’s 2000
Carolina Fall Preview is in fact fore
shadowing the upcoming North
Carolina volleyball season, Tar Heel
fans should be smiling - widely.
UNC won all four of its matches
Friday and Saturday, ‘rolling through a
field composed of Coastal Carolina, Blast
up 415 total
yards in their
30-9 victory
against the
Golden
Hurricane.
Newcomers
Provide Boost
With Scoring
See Page 11
“It felt great," O’Cain said of his first
true test at his new job. “It was good to
get that first one under my belt.”
The same could be said for head
coach Carl Torbush. UNC had dropped
each of its two previous season-opening
games with him at the helm.
“We needed to win this ballgame to
start the season off the way we wanted
to start because you can’t make up for
that first one,” Torbush said.
See FOOTBALL, Page 11
IsJi
two-minute span -
to put away the
Lady Volunteers
6-1 at Fetzer Field.
The Tar Heels
(4-0, 1-0 in the
ACC) controlled
the ball early but
did little with it,
misfiring on passes
inside the attack
ing third of the
field and on shots.
Tennessee (1-3)
had more danger
ous early-game
scoring chances
UNC forward
Kim Patrick
scored two goals
against Tennessee
after getting one
against Virginia.
and got on the board in the 40th minute.
Erica LaShomb got behind the UNC
defense and lifted a 15-yard chip over
Tar Heel goalkeeper Jenni Branam, who
had come to the top of the 6-yard box.
Top-ranked North Carolina, which
had never conceded a goal to the Lady
Volleyball
(Saturday)
Tennessee
State, Hofstra
and Pittsburgh.
“I was
pleasandy sur
prised,” UNC
coach Joe
Sagula said.
Hofstra I
UNC 3
E.Tenn. State 0
UNC 3
“Coming in here I didn’t know what to
expect, but I was very encouraged.”
UNC freshman Nicole Reis was
at Jr
DTH/JEFF POULAND
Quarterback Ronald Curry slices through the Tulsa defense on one of his
12 rushing attempts. Curry picked up a game-high 69 yards on the ground.
Vols in three previous meetings, found
itself down 1-0.
Then the Tar Heels woke up.
Two minutes after LaShomb’s goal,
UNC defender Danielle Borgman drib
bled a shot that got past Lady Vol goal
keeper Ellen Dean. However, defender
Lisa Tipton slid and knocked the ball off
the goal line before it reached the net.
Seconds later, Jena Kluegel found an
unmarked Kim Patrick in the middle of
the Lady Vols penalty area. Patrick, who
earlier sent a 20-yard side volley just
wide of the net, tied the game with an
easy header from Kluegel’s serve.
“We come out slow,” Patrick said.
“It’s like that one goal (we allowed) in
each game we played has motivated us.
We need to find something before the
game starts to do that."
Despite facing 1-0 deficits three times,
the Tar Heels have won each of their
See WOMEN'S SOCCER, Page 8
Volleyball
(Friday)
tabbed as the
tournament’s
MVP, leading
the squad in
kills in three of
the four
matches. The
hitter from
Pittsburgh 0
UNC 3
Coastal Carolina . .0
UNC 3
New York also contributed with 31 digs
and 11 block assists.
Reis was just one of many Tar Heels
UNC Offense
Could Be Its
Best Ever
The women's soccer team
scored 12 goals in two
games, causing assistant
coach Bill Palladino, left,
to say this year's offense
might be the best in
school history. See Page 8.
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S§ 'Hf
DTH/KATEMELLNIK
Freshman Maggie Tomecka, right, battles a Tennessee player for possession.
Tomecka helped UNC limit the Lady Volunteers to three second-half shots.
who performed admirably.
“Everyone played very well,” Sagula
said. “It was definitely a team effort. I
couldn’t be happier for everyone
involved.”
For the most part, the UNC squad
worked well together, passing, setting,
and killing like a seasoned, machine-like
unit.
With Jen Schimer delivering assists
from the digs of Malaika Underwood
INSIDE:
■ UNC field hockey
rallies to knock off
Penn State, earns
sweep in St. Louis.
Page 7
H Men's soccer team
drops tight match
but comes away with
split. Page 7
Defense
Frustrates
Hurricane
By Bret Strelow
Assistant Sports Editor
North Carolina football coach Carl
Torbush and linebacker Brandon
Spoon handled their nerves different
ly before Saturday’s season opener.
Spoon, anxious to play for the first
time since the second game of 1999,
threw up for five minutes before the
Tar Heels took the field to stretch.
Torbush, on the other hand, didn’t
let the pressure he faced to finally win
a season opener as UNC’s head
coach affect him. Torbush felt relaxed,
letting new defensive coordinator Ken
Browning do all the worrying.
Browning’s defense put any wor
ries to rest as it held Tulsa to 233
yards of total offense in the Tar Heels’
30-9 victory.
“I was probably a little bit more
relaxed than I normally am because I
didn’t have to call the defensive sig
nals,” Torbush said.
Browning made the correct calls
throughout the evening. The UNC
defense limited the Golden
Hurricane to 19 yards on 27 rushing
attempts.
North Carolina pressured Tulsa
quarterback Josh Blankenship all
night, sacking him three times. He
completed 45 percent of his passes.
Blankenship started off the contest
with a hot hand. He completed
4-of-5 passes for 33 yards after Tulsa
received the opening kickoff. The
Golden Hurricane marched 49 yards
on 11 plays to set up Chris Earnest’s
41-yard field goal, which gave Tulsa a
3-0 lead.
The UNC defense got stingy from
there. Discounting Tulsa’s final pos
session of the first half, which went
three plays before time ran out, the
Tar Heels forced three-and-outs on
seven of the eight possessions follow
ing the field goal.
See DEFENSE, Page 11
and Lisa Fryer, the Tar Heels set the
stage for an offensive attack unrivaled by
any other team in the field.
The combination of Krista Buchholz,
Laura Greene, Holly Strauss and Reis
formed a front line capable of overpow
ering any of the opponents’ defenses.
“We are really finding some chem
istry on the court,” Fryer said. “We are
See VOLLEYBALL, Page 8
14