How I came to love Carolina Blue. Seems appropriate of the night of the Duke vs North Carolina Game, tonight.
All right, here is the scoop. I suspect that there never was a culture so influenced by NCAA Basketball. I grew up in West Palm Beach Florida, okay it was actually Lantana but except for the largest Christmas tree in the nation, Lantana has no real identity at the time. As a kid we were heavy into one of the largest CB radio clubs, the BullSkippers. CB Clubs were all the rage at the time. I remember many cookouts and Jamborees and as a young kid. I think this consumed most of my free time. My handle was “Brake Loose”, wonder where that came from?
So early in life I was not very into sports. At 11 we moved from Lantana to a small town in North Carolina. Princeton Elementary school was were I would spend at least some of my more formative years in education. An interesting side note was Princeton was the only school in the state at the time that you could attend from Kindergarten to graduation of high school. While I did not graduate there I was inculcated to love college basketball and in particular the North Carolina Tarheels. I was in the sixth grade and recess could only be about 15 minutes. That is all it took.
Not being a big sports fan, I do not think that I even knew what basketball was at the time but this first day, this first fifteen minutes cemented my love for the game and the team. As the new kid every other kid wanted to learn more about me, or at least the only thing that seemed to matter. They repeatedly asked me which time I liked. When they realized that I didn’t understand they became a little frustrated. It was honestly like they were trying to decide which team was the best through a popularity test and everyone had to vote. So I tried to explain, my words fell on deaf ears but their frustration was building. Finally, they agreed how they would figure it out. They took their notebooks from their backpacks, One Duke Blue Devils, One North Carolina State Wolfpack, One Wake Forest Demon Deacons and one North Carolina Tarheels and insisted “Pick One”. Well Carolina blue was most appealing to me so I became a Tarheel. I do not think I ever garnered as much attention from my classmates as the day I decided.
A few years later, I came to find out that at the time UNC and NC State were the two powerhouses, Dean Smith and Jimmy Valvano were the coaches. I started to follow college basketball and was treated to hear my first Basketball game on the radio. It was the Championship and in that game a guy named Michael Jordan saved the day and won the NCAA tournament for his team. In the years to follow I watched Jordan who in his college career was nothing more than an average tarheel, go pro and the rest as they say is history.
I cannot wake for UNC to beat Duke tonight… Go Heels.
Isn’t it funny how such a isolated event in childhood can change you forever? As a father I remember how long it takes to change a life and try my best to ensure that the small things as well as the big things I teach my kids are all positive experiences, so that I may change their life for the better. With one small, not particularly critical decision.
Fascinating stuff here ... highly informative and entertaining write ... thanks for this one!!
Best regards,
Robert
Reviewed by Walter Smith III
2/18/2005
Great story. i remember watching some of those games with you, and like most little brothers i assume. also became a tarheels fan. but so must have been the good lord above. sky = carolina blue
Reviewed by Aleta Krauss
2/17/2005
Hi, Mark. Great story! Why didn't I know this??? Did they win?? Aleta :)
"HOMEGROWN: The Making of the 1972-73 Providence College Friars" is a retrospective of that remarkable season as well as a history of the school's basketball program, which was responsible for drawing the local talent that propelled that team to succ
"HOMEGROWN: The Making of the 1972-73 Providence College Friars" is a retrospective of that remarkable season as well as a history of the school's basketball program, which was responsible for drawing the local talent that propelled that team to succ
"HOMEGROWN: The Making of the 1972-73 Providence College Friars" is a retrospective of that remarkable season as well as a history of the school's basketball program, which was responsible for drawing the local talent that propelled that team to succ
All right, here is the scoop. I suspect that there never was a culture so influenced by NCAA Basketball. I grew up in West Palm Beach Florida, okay it was actually Lantana but except for the largest Christmas tree in the nation, Lantana has no real identity at the time. As a kid we were heavy into one of the largest CB radio clubs, the BullSkippers. CB Clubs were all the rage at the time. I remember many cookouts and Jamborees and as a young kid. I think this consumed most of my free time. My handle was “Brake Loose”, wonder where that came from?
