Odds and Ends, Part 11

Ram note:

Seems like there has been an abundance of short items recently, and I need to dispose of them before they become too untimely. I could have sworn that I wrote a small piece on Lee Corso, but I can't find it anywhere. Maybe it was in that article I wrote that disappeared from the face of the earth. I may write it again, but then again, I may not.


No Place To Hide

I missed the Ga. Tech., State and yes, the Miami games but decided to take in the Virginia Tech game. All week before the game, I kept thinking that I would bring the Heels bad luck with my attendance and that maybe I shouldn't jinx them by being in the stands. I don't need to tell you what happened.

One thing occurred, however, right before the game that I thought was worthy of note. As I parked in my regular pay parking space behind the old police station, I decided to show my Charlie Justice trading card to the couple who parked next to me. I had brought it with me because I thought I might meet someone at the Charlie Justice statue that was recently dedicated in front of the Football Center. After I had shown the card, the gentleman parked next to me said, "Aren't you Ramfanatic?" I answered in the affirmative, and he commented that he regularly read ramfanatic.com and added that he thought I would have written something about the Miami game but that he never found anything. I apologized and told him that I started several times to write after the Miami victory but never did. The Miami victory and the Boston Red Sox World Series win came at about the same time, and I told him I wanted to write about Johnny Pesky while the Red Sox euphoria still existed. He seemed to understand.

He asked if I didn't have a white van with Carolina striping, Rameses, and Tar Heels written on the side, and I told him I did. I didn't drive the van to the Va. Tech game, but I usually do and he probably saw it on one of my many previous trips. The van was also pictured in the October issue of Inside Carolina and he may have seen it there.

Anyway, we had a good conversation as we walked to East Franklin St. Someone told me the other day that they thought I enjoyed the "scene" at UNC football games as much as I did the games themselves. I have to agree with them on that count.

Conflicting Loyalties

I don't know when the publicity coming out of Chapel Hill regarding our teams and athletes will cease to contain information and quotes that trouble me. I realize I am much older than the teen age and early twenties athletes, but some of the things they say and do boggle my mind.

No more had we gotten over the now infamous "in jail" comments by Rashad McCants than another action by an athlete brings about embarrassment to the school and its athletes. At least for me.

Jackie Manual, who had become one of my favorite players on the basketball team, decided that his loyalty to the University of Miami football team was greater than his loyalty to the UNC football team. Or at least, I think that is a reasonable assumption based on the fact that, according to a reporter, he was decked out in a Miami t-shirt at the Miami football game. He tried to explain to the reporter that Miami football was big where he was from (South Florida) and he wanted to show support for them in the game with UNC.

Say what? Jackie is saying that his loyalty to another educational institution playing UNC in sports competition, is greater than his loyalty to the school that gives him a free ride for his college education. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy the argument that because he is from south Florida that it should be overlooked that he was rooting for our opponent in sports competition. I have to wonder what Coach Williams thought of the idea. How would Manual react if UNC football players came to a basketball game and rooted for the opponent on the grounds that they felt more loyalty to where they grew up than to the institution they attend. We have quite a few football players from Florida.

Probably the most painful part of the episode for me was when it was discussed on one of the UNC message boards, several UNC people said they didn't see anything wrong with what Manuel did. I am opposed to the large salaries that are paid to college coaches, but it's situations like this that cause me to have a better feeling about their pay. And to think that we can't possibly know all of this kind of thing that goes on in an athletic program. I'm sure the football players will understand. Yeah, right. Maybe the coaches do earn their high salaries after all.


Hark The Sound

I have written previously about the origin of the UNC alma mater, "Hark The Sound", but I received an e-mail several days ago from a professor in Illinois that has cast an entirely new perspective on things. He provided information of which I was not aware, and the two of us are having a great time trying to piece together bits of information discovered in our research. The folk song, "Annie Lisle" plays a prominent role in the puzzle and, so far, we have worked back to Franz Joseph Hayden, a classical composer from the 18th century. The current German National Anthem also plays a part in the sequence of events. There are two UNC web sites which state that the music to "Hark The Sound" originated with the song "Amici." The professor and I are determined to see if that can be confirmed with any degree of finality.

One other thing I learned that surprised me. The University of Kansas has the same tune to their alma mater as UNC. I bet Coach Williams has had a time keeping the words straight, but he shouldn't have had any trouble with the music.