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BEN COUCH
VIEW FROM THE COUCH
Tar Heels
impossible
to predict
y orth Carolina’s going to
I Xj the Tire Bowl.
•i> T| Did anyone see this
coming? Honestly?
Well, scanning through my
columns this semester, I might
have.
Or I’m just full of crap.
Here are the clips, so you can
figure it out for yourself:
Sept. 1: (Football’s) a team
coming off a 2-10 season that isn’t
expected to be competitive in the
ACC, let alone on the national
level.
Yeah... whoops.
Sept. 3: The Tar Heels enter the
2004 season with a varied, prov
en offense that likely will improve
on last year’s performance;
improvement is also likely for the
young defense, if only because it
can’t get worse. Special teams will
be a strength. Prediction?
(Alter-ego): I’ll give ’em the
first one, the last one and one
more for good measure. 3-8,2-6
in the ACC. I’m out. Peace.
Me:... I’m going to go out on
a limb and say four orfive rains,
with at least a 3-5 record in the
ACC.
Okay, so the team summary
paragraph is pretty much on
point. And even though I hedged
my bets by making two predic
tions, the second of which was
wishy-washy, both undersold the
team’s six wins and 5-3 record in
the ACC.
Sept. 7:... It’s OK to feelgood
about this team’s chances. At
worst, they’re going to give people
some problems. At best, they’ve
got bowl potential.
Giving myself more outs than
Doyle Brunson, I managed to
nail both calls. The Tar Heels
realized that bowl potential,
and they nearly ruined Virginia
Tech’s ACC championship sea
son before Darian Durant was
dropped for an 11-yard loss to
push Connor Barth out of field
goal range.
Oct. 9:... Every time I look at
the remaining schedule, I can’t
help but see games the Tar Heels
can win.
They only need three to save
Bunting’sjob.
Said when UNC was 2-3, it
turned out there were five more
games it could win. And the
team not only saved Bunting’s
job but earned him a two-year
extension.
Oct. 27: After seven games,
UNC has proven itself incon
sistent. There’s no way of
knowing whether Saturday’s
game against No. 4 Miami
willfeature a valiant losing
effort by the Tar Heels or fans
who are forced to entertain
themselves by guessing when
the Hurricanes will blow by the
half-century mark....
Bunting better be ready for
the Duke game Nov. 20 it
might just be his Mississippi
State.
Yeah... that’s the second
whoops of the semester. The
Miami game was the biggest
football upset in UNC history.
And the Duke game never
really came close to being
Bunting’s equivalent to
Ron Zook’s disaster against
Mississippi State the team
won big, a victory the coach par
layed into the aforementioned
extension.
Upon review, those eight
predictions break down to two
clunkers, two that were on point
and four that fall somewhere in
the middle. The lesson?
I probably don’t know what
I’m talking about.
But after reading “View From
the Couch” for the 18th time, you
should have realized that.
Since this is the last time you’ll
be hearing from me this year,
here’s a few more predictions
to keep you entertained during
finals:
North Carolina is going to
beat Boston College on Dec.
30. Bunting will receive yet
another extension once
Chancellor James Moeser recov
ers from tripping over Director
of Athletics Dick Baddour while
running to talk to the Board of
Trustees. And even if I’m right
on both counts, somebody,
somewhere, will still think that
I’m full of crap.
Contact Ben Couch
at bcouch@email.unc.edu.
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North Carolina fourth-year coach John Bunting guided the Tar Heels to a 6-5 record and an improbable bid to the Continental Tire Bowl. UNC will face future ACC foe Boston Colleqe
in the Dec. 30 contest at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium. The Tar Heels finished 5-3 in the ACC, good for a third-place tie, after being picked 10th in the pre-season media poll.
TAR HEELS TO GROUND
EAGLES WITH RUN GAME
Game and Time: No. 25 Boston College vs. North
Carolina in the Continental Tire Bowl. Kickoff is at
1 p.m. Dec. 30.
Site: Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
TV/Radio: The game will be televised by ESPN2.
The Tar Heel Sports Network will provide radio cov
erage; its flagship station is WCHL-AM, 1360.
2004 Records: Boston College is 8-3. North
Carolina is 6-5.
Series: Tied 1-1.
Personnel update: Boston College QB Paul
Peterson (broken hand) is expected to play. North
Carolina RB Jacque Lewis (broken foot) is out.
The key matchup: North Carolina’s multifaceted
running game against the Boston College defensive
front.
In their fourth game of the season, the Eagles held
Wake Forest running back Chris Barclay, arguably
the best back in the ACC, to just 57 yards on 24 car
ries.
But on Nov. 27, in a must-win game against
Syracuse to secure a Bowl Championship Series
berth, the BC defense surrendered a woeful 309
yards on the ground.
Nearly half of those yards came courtesy of
Syracuse safety Diamond Ferri, who was forced into
the Orange backfield after injuries to Walter Reyes
and Damien Rhodes. Reyes, one of the top backs on
the East Coast, did not even suit up against BC.
If that same Boston College rush defense shows up
on Dec. 30 in Charlotte, look for North Carolina to
control the game on the offensive side of the ball.
Despite the injury to back Jacque Lewis, the Tar
Heels’ power-speed combination of Chad Scott and
Ronnie McGill has proved difficult to stop.
Scott, previously a third-stringer who was forced
into duty against Miami because of injuries to Lewis
and McGill, has rushed for more than 100 yards in
Lilly hosts children s exercise program
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SENIOR WRITER
A young boy in glasses sat by himself,
staring at the walls of the Eddie Smith
Fieldhouse while the dozens of youngsters
on their backs around him pedaled their
legs wildly in the air.
Kristine Lilly quickly took notice, and
after she tapped him on the shoulder and
spoke words of encouragement in his ear,
she leaned back and began moving her legs
in the air in similar fashion.
After a moment of hesitation, her new
friend followed suit.
Encouraging the young boy to get active
was consistent with the theme of the day.
Officials from the School of Public Health
announced Monday that 76 percent of
third-graders involved in the six-week Get
Kids in Action program, a partnership
between North Carolina and the Gatorade
Cos., were reporting at least 60 minutes of
physical activity a day.
“UNC and Gatorade aren’t afraid to reach
for what some might see as something too
hard to achieve, to take on the epidemic of
overweight children,” said Lilly, a two-time
Olympic gold medalist and former UNC
women’s soccer player.
The Get Kids in Action campaign part
nered North Carolina student-athletes
with third-grade students at Pathways and
Hillsborough elementary schools to encour
age and discover creative ways to reach a
healthy level of physical activity every day.
But activities didn’t just include team
sports. After Monday’s celebration of the
program’s success, children ran in circles,
Sports
three of UNC’s last four games.
And McGill, hobbled by a sprained ankle that he
suffered Sept. 18 against Georgia Tech, seemed to
regain his top form in the Tar Heels’ season finale
against Duke, running for 101 yards.
Eagles coach Tom O’Brien and defensive coordina
tor Frank Spaziani will have to help the Eagle rush
defense regain its early-season form or else it could
be a long day in front of the UNC-partisan crowd.
Final analysis/prediction: The two teams enter
this game with emotions that could not be more dis
similar.
Boston College bungled an opportunity to travel to
Tempe, Ariz. for the Fiesta Bowl in its embarrassing
43-17 loss to Syracuse at home. The Eagles entered
that game flying high with a four-game winning
streak, including an impressive 36-17 win against
West Virginia in Morgantown.
The Tar Heels, meanwhile, finished tied for third
in the ACC despite being picked 10th in the preseason
poll. They also ended the season with two consecu
tive road wins to qualify for bowl contention.
The story is simple Boston College considers the
Tire Bowl a disappointment. North Carolina couldn’t
be more thrilled to play a bowl game in its home state
after winning more games this season that it had in
the previous two combined.
And while the two teams enter the contest with
a combined nine-game bowl winning streak five
for the Tar Heels, four for the Eagles something
has to give.
Look for quarterback Darian Durant to make it
six for UNC in his final game donning the powder
blue and white.
The bottom line: North Carolina 34, Boston
College 27.
Compiled by Jacob Karabell
made swimming motions with their arms,
turned cartwheels and danced the Hokey
Pokey.
“It could be organized sports, riding
bikes, playing or just chasing bees,” said
Dianne Ward, the program’s director of
research.
Student-athletes from UNC teams
including football, volleyball, field hockey,
women’s tennis, women’s soccer and wom
en’s rowing took part in Monday’s cer
emony.
The student-athletes, in fact, seemed to
enjoy the program as much as the children
did.
“College students can tend to look
inward,” said John Blanchard, UNC senior
associate athletic director. “This is a chance
for them to get out in the community, to
get outside the Carolina campus, outside
the athletic arena, and go back and work
with young kids.”
Get Kids in Action is a four-year, $4 mil
lion pilot partnership among the School of
Public Health, the Department of Athletics
and the Gatorade Cos. designed to fight obe
sity in children.
The success of the program bodes well
for its organizers’ goal of encouraging other
colleges and universities to adopt similar
initiatives.
“We’re a pilot with Gatorade, and we’re
hoping that we can partner with them and
spread the program to other institutions
across the country,” Blanchard said. “Once
again, Carolina will be a leader in having
student-athletes get involved in the com
munity.”
THE LOWDOWN ON THE TIRE BOWL
) jjjgjA, No- 25 Boston College
vs. North Carolina MjIL
(8-3) Bank of America Stadium, 1 p.m. (6-5)
HEAD TO HEAD
nrv and k Facing BC's freshman backfield duo of LV. i
BL S rvUSn VS. Whitworth and Andre Callender, both of J 52v
U NC's whom average more than 55 yards per game, r
Front Seven will be a difficult task for an improved-but- j[_l
still-struggling UNC rush defense. Edge: BC ‘ ■ '
R( -, Gerald Sensabaugh has helped the Tar Heel CT* 1
B '- s ( secondary immensely, but Eagles senior QB I Sv>
Pass VS. UNC S Paul Peterson ranks among the top signal
Secondary callers in the Big East If his injured hand is [Lq
100 percent he could dominate. Edge: BC ' " '
_ , Good luck, Boston College. UNC’s two-
UNI. S KUSh headed running attack of Chad Scott and
VS. BC's Ronnie McGill should thrive against a rush
Front Seven defense that surrendered 141 yards to a
third-stringer in its last game. Edge: UNC
...... In his final game just 100 miles from his
UNC S Pass hometown, UNC QB Darian Durant will look
VS. BC's to continue his all-star caliber play of recent
Secondary weeks. The Eagles' pass defense is solid, but
Durant will be on a mission. Edge: UNC
Both squads have solid special teams, but the
Special biggest disparity comes in kickoff coverage. JEL
frame Boston College is No. 1 in the country; the ultj
Tar Heels are No. 104. Aside from that the ll -
matchup appears dose to even. Edge:BC ' ■ "
The Bottom Line UNC 34, Boston College 27
COMPILED BY JACOB KARABELL
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Two-time Olympic gold medalist and former UNC women's soccer star Kristine Lilly (center)
participated in the Get Kids in Action celebration at the Eddie Smith Fieldhouse on Monday.
Participating third-graders kept activity
journals throughout the six-week program
and returned them to their teachers to tally
the results.
The student-athletes visited classrooms
weekly to lead the children in activities and
to help tally the results.
By the sixth week of the program, more
than three-quarters of the participants
were exercising for more than an hour
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2004
every day.
“He had more energy to do a lot more
things,” Carol Andrews, the parent of a
third-grader, said about her son. “I’m not
sure what specifically brought about the
changes, but I know he was motivated by
the student-athletes in the classroom.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
11