16
m
w
SAM ROSENTHAL
A GARDEN STATE OF MIND
Athletes
can be at
home in
class, too
Once upon a freshman or
sophomore year, Kelly
Davies approached me.
her mind ill-at-ease.
Davies, a volleyball player, need
ed to vent about a former Sports
Desker's article, which struck her
as, um. a teensy bit insensitive.
“There was some opinion piece
about what student-athletes
should be taking at Carolina,"
Davies rehashed with me last
week. “And it said that they should
be taking a modified what does
modified mean? exercise and
sports science curriculum.
“And basically the reason that
they should take this is that they
can't read, and they're incapable
which is bullshit."
Reading that out of context,
you might incorrectly label Davies
an Kbenezcr Scrooge. She's actu
ally as geniiil ;ts Santa Clause
—a bona fide extrovert. But as a
varsity volleyball player who also
spent one year of college as Jane
Student, undue criticism of stu
dent-athletes boils her blood.
But this criticism exists because
of the noticeable schism on cam
pus between athletes and the rest
of us aka "normies," “civilians."
Athletes walk around in their
team gear. (Wearing free Nike gear
makes no sense at all.) They live
together and throw team parties.
(Not like you’d ever live or social
ize with people you see daily.)
And they even eat lunch together.
(Sometimes in large parties.)
Granted, some athletes strut
about with more pomp than a
peacock, but a few bad apples do
not a rotten orchard make.
Yes. some student-athletes ride
for free on scholarships, but just
its many possibly more walk
on and pay tuition.
Rachel Schneider, a junior gym
nast. said, similarly. “Yeah, people
love coming to all the events, but
they think that athletes in the class
somehow don't do all of the work
or aren't as smart."
Said Bobby Frasor, the bas
ketball team's Scholar Athlete of
the Year: “Some students don't
realize how much time and effort
we put into this program, so they
don't like it if we get advantages.
Like, we get to register for classes
early because we can t take any
classes between 2 and 5 because
we’re in practice."
Folks, the yuck stops here.
By and large, student-athlete
Tar Heels comprise a remarkable
group of individuals who must
invest more time in their sport
than any scholastic concentration.
“I tell people that all the time,"
Davies said. “People ask me what
I'm majoring in at Carolina, and
I’m like, ‘Uh, volleyball.’"
At UNC, being a student-ath
lete means sacrificing a part of
yourself to a team, 24/7. It means
a part-time, volunteer job, often
with weekend shifts during the
off-season. It means somehow fit
ting schoolwork in. And it means
forgetting about going home.
“Home? Never," Frasor said.
“Fall Break, we re here; Winter
Break, were here; Spring Break,
we’re here."
Pictures of you line the walls of
every Franklin Street restaurant.
Six-year-olds wait in line after
games no matter the sport for
your autograph. Each year, thou
sands of college applicants choose
UNC, largely thanks to the prestige
the athletic program has conferred
upon the University .
Lastly, being a student-athlete
means that you can, in fact, read.
"One of my teammates is as
pre-med as you can get here at
Carolina," Davies said as she
concluded her venting. “There’s
many of us who’ve gotten into
this school without any help from
an athletic program."
Lest you forget: There are
more than 380,000 NCAA stu
dent-athletes, and just about
all of them will be going pro in
something other than sports.
Contact Sam Rosenthal
at samrose (SiemaiLunc.edu,
Sportsßeview
Field hockey captures perfection
Shelton, Dawson pile up honors
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The North Carolina field hock
ey team finished off the 2007
season with its fifth national
championship under coach
Karen Shelton with a shutout
win against No. 9 Penn State on
Nov. 18.
UNC’s choking defense left
even the strongest opposition
helpless, as in an Oct. 20 victory
when No. 2 Maryland was held
without a shot
Upon the conclusion of the
season, the Tar Heels (24-0)
have continued to collect acco
lades. Shelton was inducted
into the National Field Hockey-
Coaches Association Hall of
Fame in January, and was also
named the association's Coach
of the Year.
The team set a school record
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OTH FILE/IAUREN COWART
North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough led the Tar Heels to a school-record 36 wins this season. The All-American and consensus National
Player of the Year has yet to announce a decision on his basketball future along with teammates Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.
Tar Heels rule ACC play
Senior pair go in WNBA Ist round
FROM STAFF REPORTS
This was the year the North
Carolina womens basketball team
was supposed to fall backward.
After graduating Camille Little
and standout Ivory Latta last
year's top two scorers there
were doubts about the 2007-08
squad's potential.
UNC suffered another blow
when senior point guard Alex
Miller suffered a season-ending
knee injury November 16.
It sounded like the makings of
a rebuilding sear.
Instead, the Tar Heels made
program history.
They swept the conference,
going undefeated in the ACC for
the first time, and they added a
fourth consecutive conference
tournament title.
“People thought we were going
to drop back, step down,’ coach
Sylvia Hatchell said in a news
www.dailytarhe6l.com
for shutouts with 16, while tying
the record for wins. The squad's
102 goals on the season was also
a school record.
“We're absolutely euphoric to
have won the national champi
onship," Shelton said Nov. 18.
“We started this campaign a long
time ago. From the first practice
in preseason, to now, I've had a
team that’s remained remarkably
focused and hard-working."
Two days before the showdown
with Penn State, the Tar Heels had
to beat No. 4 Connecticut, the only
team in the final four UNC hadn't
met during the season.
The 3-0 victory against Penn
State at Maryland's Field Hockey
& Lacrosse Complex sealed the
perfect record. The Tar Heels
are only the fifth Division 1 field
hockey team to win it all without
conference before UNC’s season
ending loss to LSU.
“And in some ways we’re a bet
ter team this year than we were
last year."
There’s no question UNC’s
season ended in a letdown,
again without a national cham
pionship. The tears in Erlana
Larkins' eyes after her team’s
loss to Louisiana State in the
Elite Eight showed her disap
pointment.
But during a season when the
Tar Heels easily could haw taken
a step back, two new senior lead
ers took the reins.
Larkins and LaToya Pringle
increased their individual con
tributions and fueled the team’s
success,’leading UNC back
to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA
Tournament.
SEE BASKETBALL. PAGE 15
losing or tying a game.
“It meant the world because
there's always that doubt in your
head," senior Rachel Dawson
said. “That seed of doubt that
says. ’Maybe y ou're just not able
to. Maybe you’re just not cut out
to do it. Maybe it's just not meant
for you.’
“The fact that it did whew.
I'm happy now."
Dawson was at the head of the
class this season for UNC. After
taking last season off to repre
sent the United States in the
World Cup. she tallied a team
high 19 goals, including UNC's
second score of the champion
ship game.
The senior took home the 2008
Honda Award as the nation’s top
collegiate field hockey player. She
will hold the honor of being only
the third player in program his-
SEE UNDEFEATED. PAGE 15
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Senior Erlana Larkins led the Tar
Heels with 9.5 rebounds per game
and was third in points and assists.
She was picked 14th in the WNBA
Draft by the New York Liberty.
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OTH FILE/DANIEL VAN NIEKERK
UNC's field hockey team completed a perfect season with a victory against
Penn State, claiming its fifth national title under coach Karen Shelton.
HEELS FALL ONE WIN
SHY OF TITLE GAME
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The North Carolina men’s basketball squad
began the year ranked No. 1 in the country with
dreams of joining the 2005 Tar Heels and becom
ing the school’s sixth national championship
squad.
And after claiming the ACC regular season and
conference tournament titles, as well as steam
rolling through four NCAA tournament games, it
seemed as though all those early season expecta
tions were set to be fulfilled.
That’s exactly how North Carolina strolled into
the Alamodome. A team with dreams of a national
title, visions of completing a magnificent season by
hoisting the championship trophy high in celebra
tion.
But after 14 minutes of play April 5, those
visions were dashed. Instead, UNC saw a blue
and-red streak of Kansas Jayhawks who stole the
ball, raced downcourt and dropped in layup after
layup.
Try as they might to mount a comeback that
would have gone down as the best in history, the
Tar Heels tired out before they could complete the
task, falling to Kansas 84-66.
The team finished with anew school record
for wins in a season, but its final goal went unfin
ished.
“This bunch did some great, great things,"
coach Roy Williams said. “But we’re extremely
disappointed right now because we had a bigger
dream."
Kansas instead seized control immediately by
forcing turnovers, attacking at every position and
commanding the game's pace.
As the UNC crowd watched in horror and dis
belief, the score reached 40-12 with 6:48 left in the
first half. UNC (36-3) was getting beaten at its owu
game.
“It was like, that wasn’t North Carolina out
there," senior Quentin Thomas said. “I told some
one, it looked like we have never played basketball
before."
While the Tar Heels were able to muster a val
iant comeback attempt, eventually pulling within
five during the second half, they were not able to
overcome a superior Jay hawk squad that went on
to claim the national title with an overtime victory
against Memphis.
And after the game, it didn’t take long for talk
to turn from North Carolina’s flameout against
Kansas to the speculation of which if any —of
the Tar Heels’ standout trio will opt out of college
to the greener pastures of the NBA in this June’s
draft.
It didn't even take an hour.
SEE NBA QUESTIONS, PAGE 15
Boys of summer set
Omaha in crosshairs
FROM STAFF REPORTS
With the season winding
down, the members of the
North Carolina baseball team
are facing the same question
they thought they answered the
past two years: Are they good
enough?
To answer, the Tar Heels have
the same answer: Try and hit
us.
UNC leads the nation in ERA
with 2.15. That’s better than last
year’s average of 3.52 and even
lower than the ERA of the 2006
squad which boasted first
round MLB draft picks Andrew
Miller (Sixth selection) and
Daniel Bard (28th) in the rota
tion.
UNC’s 90 earned runs on the
season is 32 better than the next
best ACC team and more than 50
runs higher than the other two
ACC powerhouses, Miami and
(Thr Sailii Sar Brrl
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
Kyle Seager
and his
potent bat
have helped
lead the Tar
Heels to a 37-
6 record.
Florida State.
But most impressively,
North Carolina throws strikes.
Constant strikes, as they lead
the ACC in strikeouts by more
than 40 Ks.
Combine that with the pro
duction of Kyle Seager who is
leading the ACC in RBIs Tim
Fedroff and Dustin Ackley, and
the Tar Heels suddenly look very
formidable.
North Carolina ranks second
in the conference in hits, third in
SEE BASEBALL. PAGE 15