I strongly believe in metamorphosis. I've seen it on a personal level, on a business level, within groups, even regions. I believe that change is not a slogan, but rather a goal, and that winning and losing are habits on the opposite sides of the same coin. But neither is as much about luck as that both are so closely entwined.
As Jimmy Buffett pointed out, "There's a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.” Victory and defeat share the same border.
Not suggesting anyone adopt this view; simply sharing how I perceive Carolina football, which for me began at the age 5 when we moved to a house in Chapel Hill on Flemington Road, directly across from where Charlie Justice lived. A few years later my cousin played wide receiver for UNC, and that was that. Fan for life. Not sure I even had a choice as many of my earliest memories include amazing fried chicken on game days, and that my dad parked in the driveway of a colleague's house near Kenan, and the trudge to the stadium that followed.
Jim Hickey. Jim Tatum. Bill Dooley. Dick Crum. Mack Brown. Carl Torbush. John Bunting. Butch Davis. Everett Withers. Larry Fedora. And Mack Brown 2.0
So many Saturdays that began with promise and ended in heartache, as did seasons, and even the hiring of new leadership.
Reality says UNC will suck. Hard to not agree.
And yet, I don't. I actually believe UNC football will have a good team and program again in my lifetime. We've had spasms of success that were soon overshadowed with what one might insist is typical dysfunction. And that is not an invalid point of view. In fact, it's far more sane than what I choose to do.
One of my favorite moments in film comes from THE SHAWKSHANK REDEMPTION, when Red is on the bus headed to Mexico. As we see him peering out one of the windows, we hear: “I hope, I hope, I hope."
This riveting moment was set up in the note that Andy Dufresne left in the can for Red to find under that distinctive tree. The key line in that note: "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Not to suggest that Carolina football, in regard to sustained success, has been a good thing. Far from it. But Carolina as an entity, however, is a great thing.
I have unlimited passion for UNC. I know going into each basketball season, for instance, that my heart is likely going to be broken ... that Lucy is going to pick up that ball just as I try to kick.
I know it. And I don't care. I'm willing to commit, to take that chance. And accept the roller coaster for what it is.
This is far from a soap box plea to recruit others to join me in my folly; simply sharing my perspective.
I realize it is foolish. And again, i just don't care.
Each positive moment is such a keen high— Trenton Simpson's decommitment from Auburn last night certainly has potential as such and came at a perfect time. Clearly, what happened Saturday was a disaster. Yes, UNC lost that battle. But the war continues.
As John Hiatt suggested, “We can live in fear, or act out of hope."
I'm going with Ellis Boyd Redding.
I hope. I hope. I hope.
