The Buie Knife

'Golden Era of Carolina Basketball': Shared in 'Blue Heaven'?

Watch this video on YouTube.com.

The Carolina Tarheels' blowout victory over Michigan State for the NCAA Title cements UNC Coach Roy Williams reputation, following in the great tradition of his mentor Dean Smith. Video highlights of the game. Williams has matched Smith's two national titles and who knows, he may bring off another one or two before he retires. It's fascinating to read how Williams was a small high school coach in Asheville in 1978 when Smith asked him to return to Chapel Hill to be an assistant on his staff. Read Keith Jarrett's piece, Williams' long-ago decision set career path. Now, Roy Williams is Hoops New Dean.

Add to this list of the greatest players in Tarheel history Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson.

Tar Heel Fan Blog: "UNC now assumes it’s place as the premier basketball program in the country.  In a matter of six years back in Chapel Hill Roy Williams has taken the program from the brink of imploding to three Final Fours and two national titles.  According to Jones Angel last night, UNC is 101-14 in the past three seasons.  Wow.  The senior class graduates with a record of 124-22.  We are living in a golden era of Carolina basketball one that rivals the 1991-1998 stretch in Dean’s final seasons and Bill Guthridge’s first."

I think of how much my college roommate, the late Larry Gang, and my father, the late John Buie, would have enjoyed this victory. In 2005, when I boasted on this blog about Carolina's last NCAA championship, Larry chimed in. I hope he and my father are enjoying this victory in Blue Heaven.

I'm trying to pass on the legacy to my 12-year-old son by playing basketball with him several times a week, teaching him the history and by participating in the Facebook UNC Basketball Fan Community. Alex usually beats his old man. He sometimes taunts my slowness on the court by calling me "granny." Recently I beat him in a close game and my retort was, "don't you feel humiliated, beaten by your granny?" Even though I'm not a lot of competition for him, I think I've had some role in the development of his confidence as a player, his improved ball-handling, and his enjoyment of the game. He's going to basketball camp this summer.

Illustrious Carolina Basketball History:

• Carolina Men's Basketball Championships
• 1957 Tar Heel Victory (Under Coach Frank McGuire) Over Kansas for NCAA Title
• 1982: Tar Heel Fan writes of "Daddy and the 1982 Championship Game"
• 1993: Carolina Defeats Michigan for NCAA title in dramatic final seconds
• 2005: Carolina Beats Illinois, 75-70.
• 2008: The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the UNC Tarheels in the national semifinals 84-66, one of the most humiliating of Williams' career.

Future:

• An Early Top 25 for 2009-10

Frank Dascenzo: 39 Memories From 39 Years as a Sports Writer in Durham

"It's not easy to say goodbye, but it's time. Thirty-nine years flew by so fast that trying to figure out what is the highlight of it became next to impossible. Well, there were those 26 trips to the Final Four. And that Duke-Kentucky game in 1992, which came a year after that Duke-UNLV game. Both came after a famous shot by a famous player in 1982, which came a year before a famous coach was seen in New Mexico, running across the court looking for somebody to hug. Yes, fabulous moments. Geez, has it really been this long?" Read the whole thing.

Today's Kids Far Less Comfortable Outdoors

Disturbing Trend.

Voice of the Coach (or the Teacher/Mentor) Reverberates

"Dead coaches live in the air . . . live / In the ear / Like fathers, and urge and urge. They want you better / Than you are. When needed, they rise and curse you they scream / When something must be saved." -- James Dickey, in poem, "The Bee."

"These days, if you want the sound of a gruff but kindly coach in your ear, ordering you to get the lead out, you merely have to go to a bookstore, where every coach with a decent winning percentage has had his wisdom scattered between hard covers." -- Dwight Garner, New York Times.

(Read in the context of the death of David Halberstam, a great journalist and a great coach/mentor to many journalists.)

Ragbrai: My Son Is Biking 472 Miles Across Iowa, With Lance Armstrong

For the fourth year, my son Matthew, 22, is biking across Iowa this week as part of RAGBRAI, "the longest, largest and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world," along with 15,000 or so riding companions. Started in 1973 by the Des Moines Register to prove that Iowa is not flat, the ride has evolved into a traveling roadshow or carnival. The Register's web site is doing a great job covering the ride on the web, displaying many photos and videos, including those shot by participants and emailed or uploaded, as well as blogs and message boards. Participatory journalism at its best. The enclosed photo is from the Register site, but it looks like Matthew (coming up from behind). Of course I'm sure there are a lot of young guys wearing sunglasses and helmets on the ride that could be mistaken for Matthew. Lance Armstrong is participating in part of the ride to dramatize the need for cancer funding. I tell friends Matthew and Lance Armstrong are biking across Iowa together. Actually, Matthew only saw Lance pass by him in a blur at 30-miles-per-hour with a crowd of other people trying to keep up with him. Lance is participating in only part of the ride.

Matthew reports that Monday's ride -- which he started at 7AM and didn't finish until 6 PM -- was the hardest he's ever experienced. It was blazing hot, the hills were steep and went on for hours, and "even the downhills felt like uphills." "Why did I choose to do this?" Matthew asked himself. But Tuesday was a breeze, and he's gaining a strong sense of accomplishment from the ride.

More:

• RAGBRAI home page.
• Des Moines Register's RAGGRAI web site, complete with dozens of photo galleries.
• Lance Armstrong on Ragbrai
• LanceArmstrong.com

First Fly Ball

Tonight is a crisp autumn evening. Egg-shaped moon. At the baseball field, my eight-year-old

catches his first fly ball, and exclaims: "That was amazing!"

This painting by John Newby captures such memories of childhood: "The batter swings and hits a high fly ball: it's coming to you! Heart pounding, you position yourself, glove extended, eyes riveted on the ball. It seems to hang, suspended above you, and then falls into your glove with a reassuring smack. Your first catch and the batter is out: your mom smiles and your dad is ecstatic." Check out his site. If you like what you see, post a comment here.

Baseball in Washington for the First Time in 34 Year!

Washingtonians are thrilled to have a home baseball team again. Washington Cheers As Long-Sought Team Makes Winning Debut. (Great slideshow on Washington Post site.) Also, check out the home page for coverage of the Nationals on WashingtonPost.com. My eight-year-old son and I had the privilege of attending Sunday's game between the Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks at RFK Stadium. What a barrel of fun! The Nationals won 7-3. It was their fifth straight win. We sat near NBC's Tim Russert, and Democratic political consultant James Carville. I brought a video camera to the game. Here are a couple of video clips from our experience.

You can now watch Nationals baseball online -- the local tv blackout doesn't include the web. www.nationals.com

Video clips:

Download 4jimandalex.wmv

Download 9carville.wmv

"The arrival of the Washington Nationals has changed...not just the way I look at sports, but more importantly, the way I look at Washington. For 15 years, I've felt like a resident alien here; now, a brand-new baseball team has made the city feel like home. " -- Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post.

Tarheels Carry on Great Basketball Tradition

Bragging rights: My Tarheels won the NCAA Basketball Championship tonight against Illinois, 75-70. A few weeks ago, Carolina was seen as an unlikely winner because not a single player had advanced past the NCAA Tournament round of 32, and the players didn't have "enough of a team attitude." The spinmeisters lose another one.

It is our fourth national title, having won in 1957 (with Coach Frank McGuire) and in 1982, and 1993, led by legendary Coach Dean Smith. This is the first sweet title earned by Coach Roy Williams. Here's a list of the greatest players in Tarheel history.

• Video highlights of the game

Skeet Shootin' and Huntin'

Some relatives in Southern Maryland invited us out for some skeet-shooting on Saturday. My seven-year-old, under strict supervision, did mighty fine -- hit four out of twelve clay pigeons. He was thrilled. He's got excellent eye-hand coordination.

For the past 20 years, I've lived in one of the bluest of the blue spots on earth,  Takoma Park, MD. Here, it's probably not cool to speak with great enthusiasm about using firearms, especially in allowing children to fire them, even if strictly supervised. But believe it or not, I do know some quite enlightened members of our fair community, even PhDs, who love to go hunting on the weekends.

My son's great pleasure and pride made me think I'd like to take him on a hunting trip some time. I've never been much of a hunter, but I do remember with fondness the few hunting trips I went on as a kid growing up in the rural South, once I overcame my guilt at trying to blow Bambi's brains out and clip Big Bird's wings. In truth, many animals would starve to death if hunters didn't kill them, so in ways hunting is quite humane and helps restore balance in the ecosystem.

My mother was passionately against guns, and my father never took much pleasure in hunting, so neither did I.

I'd like to give my son the experience, so at least he can decide for himself whether he likes it or not.