I was looking forward to watching the Virginia Tech/Carolina game all day yesterday. After watching Penn State systematically dismantle Temple in the early afternoon, the 'Rita was sufficiently happy with life to placate me by allowing the VT/UNC game to be on TV. It was gorgeous...all that beautiful Carolina blue filling the stands at Kenan Stadium. And it started out really nicely. Butch Davis has the Heels in prime position to make a serious run at the ACC title (now, whether that's a product of the Heels playing well, or just that ACC football is pretty terrible these days is another question; one which I lack the knowledge of NCAA football to answer with any authority). Even Corso picked the Heels to win on Gameday (Herbstreit didn't, but he's a dick).
During the first half of the game, I started to get wistful. Seeing commercials for UNC made me want to go there even more. The 'Rita and I started making plans to go down there for a weekend in January (she's got an aunt that lives down there), and maybe even see the Heels at the Dean Dome play U of Miami. I even got online and started looking at UNC merchandise. One of the things that caught my eye was a doormat with the UNC logo and the Dook logo with the caption underneath, "A House Divided". I thought that was funny...I should have known.
I was feeling pretty good about it...would be a great time for a statement win over one of the ACC's perennial powerhouses. And the game started out well...the Heels worked out a few of the kinks and held a 17-3 lead midway thru the third quarter, until...
Virginia Tech defender Orion Martin busted through the Heels O-line and got a pretty strong sack on Heel's QB T.J. Yates, which forced him to leave the game, not to return. They carted him off and x-rayed his left ankle (negative, thankfully). He was diagnosed with an ankle sprain, and will be re-evaluated today, at which point the Heels will know whether their collective gridiron destinies lie with him, the proven (and much improved) commodity, or in the hands of a double agent...a turncoat...a traitor; the redshirt freshman backup Heels QB, Mike Paulus.
I immediately got a weird feeling when I saw that name on the back of his jersey. I said to the 'Rita, "Um, I'm not exactly stoked that UNC's backup's last name is Paulus...I hope he's not related to..."
I was interrupted by David Norrie, ESPN play-by-play man for the game:
- "Mike Paulus, separated from his brother by eight miles and a shade of blue..."
Greg Motherf%&king Paulus. The Senior starting point guard for the Dook Blue Devils. A house divided!!!!!!
From the time Yates was taken out of the game, the tide turned for the Hokies. VT ended up ekeing out a 20-17 win. I blame Greg Paulus.
My main question is this...how did this slip through the cracks???? There should be a law!
Of course I'm overreacting. Mike's a kid, and he did make a couple of decent plays, but threw two interceptions in a quarter and a half. He'll get better if he's needed, and frankly, he's most likely the starting QB in a couple of years, so we're going to have to live with it. That being said, I'm still gonna look at that kid cross-eyed.
The Heels are the overwhelming consensus pre-season number one basketball team in the country (a fact that makes me just a little nervous), and it'll be a blast to watch them all season long. And I'll never ever forget the game that gave me the picture at the top of this column (that's Greg Paulus whimpering like a little girl in the bottom of the pic as Danny Green posterizes him, in last season's Heels win at Duke). Mike, I hope you're paying attention...because Tar Heel Nation does not trust you. You're tainted. You can rise above it, but it's going to take an inhuman performance to win us over. At least you chose the right school, so there is hope for you.
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