The New U

Welcome one and all to the first sports-themed post on the blog.  I don't know how many of you out there are actually reading, but I imagine that most of you have an inkling of my sports affiliations.  For those of you that don't, here's a quick and easy list of teams I love and teams I hate:

NBA:
Love: Nobody.  The Hornets left Charlotte, Stockton and Malone are retired, and I refuse to pull for an organization that is being ineptly run by Michael Jordan.

Hate: Nobody.  Hard to pick one team I really don't like here.

NHL:
Love: Carolina Hurricanes.  I don't follow them religiously, but I'll pull for them over anybody, and will know at least a little about them.

Hate:  Not really any team I hate.

NFL:
Love: San Diego Chargers.  I love them.  Period.  Was beginning to understand football when they last went to the Super Bowl (1995, painful).  Also, Philip Rivers went to NC State. 
Carolina Panthers.  Was in NC before they started.  Hoping they can pull a team together and get an identity going (besides being a pushover).

Hate:  Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, KC Chiefs.  AFC West teams, all with annoyingly cocky fans.  NE Pats.  Because they're the most recent bandwagon team.

MLB:
Love: San Diego Padres.  Tony Gwynn is my favorite Padre.  They had a good team this year.  Hopefully they'll be even better next year.

Hate:  Yankees and BoSox.  Bandwagon teams.  I tend not to hate the other NL teams as much for the following reasons: SF-wins in a similar way to SD.  LA-Had a good roommate who loved the Dodgers.  CO-Fun to watch.  AZ-Does anyone take them seriously now?

College:
Love:  NC State.  Period.  Hands down.  Went there.  Was in the athletic bands.  Case closed.

Hate:  UNC-CH, Duke, WF.  Should be self-explanatory.

So now I've listed my teams.  And the ones that will never be my teams.  And yes, my wife knows that I struggle to be happy for her when UNC does well.  That's another story for another blog.  But now that you know my affiliations, you can take what I say with a grain of salt.  Or five.  Especially this time around.

Last weekend was bad.  State lost.  The Chargers lost.  It was bad.  Period.  This week things should be better.  State doesn't play and I'm lowering my expectations for the Bolts.  What does that leave me to talk about?

THE BUTCH BOWL!

We call the UNC-CH - Miami game the Butch bowl, as he was the former coach at Miami.  UNC has won the past three games with Miami, and looks to make a good shot at this one.  However, I don't feel comfortable enough with either team to make a good prediction.  UNC has two good wins against quality competition (ECU and Clemson) and 1 bad/mediocre loss (GT).  Miami lost to two good teams, FSU and tOSU.  They've beaten everyone else.  And they need this win to stay in the Coastal race.

While this game is important for both teams, each looking to win the Coastal, I think there's something even more important going on here.  Last year after beating Miami, Marvin Austin (a UNC player) said “We’re The U! F--k them! We’re The U!”  Thanks DTH!  With the shenanigans going on in the UNC football program and they're recent exposure (via Marvin Austin's twitter and NCAA followup), we'll be witness to something special on Saturday.  The transferring (at least in part) of a title.

Miami is no longer the U.  Gone are realistic chances for a National Championship.  Gone are the sanctions.  Gone are the agents.  Gone are the thugs (hello Florida Gators).  In all recent respects, UNC is now the U.  Sanctions are coming.  Agents are here.  So are thugs.  And so are the wins.  Well...okay.  If you count 8-5 with a bowl loss as U-worthy wins, then yes.  And at UNC-CH, a basketball/women's soccer school, that may be all the U mojo can get them.  So, while this Saturday's game may be the Butch Bowl, it's also the New U vs. the Old U. 

Stay posted for Sunday's science post.  And, as always, comments are welcome!