Boo Hoos

Growing up in Virginia as both a UNC and Virginia Tech fan meant that I could fully explore my hatred of the University of Virginia. UVa is a bit like a slightly less objectionable version of Dook. UVa fans and people who go there look down on Virginia Tech and seem to think they're upper class citizens for some reason. UVa doesn't have a campus; it has the grounds. It doesn't have freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors; it has first years, second years, third years and fourth years. The school's founder isn't Thomas Jefferson; he is Mr. Jefferson.

Any way, Wednesday brought a day of the year that I always look forward to, when the Tar Heels play the Cavaliers at home and can whip those jerks. The Heels came into the game ranked No. 1 at 14-1 while UVa had been up and down, going 9-4 with wins over Arizona and Gonzaga, and blowout losses to Appalachian State and Utah. I thought this UVa team would give Carolina a run, and it did before the Heels pulled away to win 79-69.
Some thoughts:

• I took Susan to the game and it was the first time she'd ever been to a college basketball game. Thankfully it was a good game and she really got into it until the final couple minutes where UVa was forced to foul. Unlike after the last football game I took her to, VT-Duke, she said she will return to a basketball game.
• The fact that the Heels shot 37.9 percent from the field didn't bother me as much as the 63.4 percent on free throws. The free throws number was padded by some freebies in the final minutes because they seemed to clang them all night. They can overcome some of their shooting woes because they are good rebounders, but missing free throws like that will cost them against good competition.
• Virginia point guard Sean Singletary should get a lot more recognition. He only scored 14 points with 7 assists, but he carried the Cavs and kept them close all night. You could really notice a change in their team when he was off the court in foul trouble and Ty Lawson could not keep up with him.
• Despite his team losing focus against some opponents, I think Dave Leitao has the Cavs on the right track. In a couple of years he'll have them back in Top 25 territory after Pete Gillen sweatily ran the team into the ground. And I'm glad, it's not as much fun hating on a loser.
• It was good to see Roy Williams do his patented jacket toss, even if it was in anger at a ref and not his players. Nothing gets the Heels pumped up faster than when Ol' Roy breaks out one of his favorite angry moves: 1) slapping his hands while in the huddle; 2) throwing the clipboard to the ground; or 3) tossing the jacket.
• On another note, they really need to put some ATMs outside the Dean Dome. I guess they want to discourage scalping tickets, but it ratchets up the degree of difficulty when you realize you need a ticket and only have $10 in your pocket. But as I've found, there's always a way to get into a game...even if you have to get someone to come $30 off his asking price.