First, the back story: As you may or may not know, our wedding day fell on a key day of college basketball. First, the Gamecocks were set to travel to Rupp Arena in Kentucky, but, more important, North Carolina was slated to play NC State.
The Heels vs. the Pack was, of course, was a slight point of contention, since it was a big rivalry game.
Well, this particular game in the rivalry was in Raleigh. So, with a game in Chapel Hill on the horizon after the honeymoon, I decided to tap into a valuable resource. Dave has an aunt and uncle who are original Smith Center donors, and, therefore have boss season tickets.
The request was simple — “I know it’s a long shot, but, if you know of anyone not using their NC State tickets, let me know.”
I had not thought of the request for a while, until the Monday before the game, Dave shot me an e-mail saying that a pair of tickets were available. It turns out, they were his aunt and uncle’s seats. They had a friend with lower-level seats that couldn’t go, so they sat low and gave us their boss seats at center court, facing the benches in the upper deck!
Well, on the Wednesday of the game, I took the bus into work, where I worked a half day before Melanie drove up, scooped me, and we were off to Chapel Hill.
We tuned in to Primetime with the Packman on our way out, and by noting the affiliates, we were able to stay with Pack all the way to Chapel Hill.
We arrived early, so we made a side trip to A Southern Season, where Melanie picked up some candy for her Aunt Linda and a pound of coffee for ourselves!
We then got parked and strolled over to the Smith Center. Since our last trip to Chapel Hill, UNC had opened their sparkling new basketball museum, so we took that in.
The first thing you do is check out this short film on the “experience” of Tar Heel basketball. It’s broadcast on a sort of mini-IMAX-dome, and one of the cool parts was a camera shot following the players from the locker room to the floor, and, it felt like you were actually running onto the floor with them.
All of the various pieces of paraphernilia were impressive. There were lots of displays, including several interactive ones. The main floor was set up like a basketball court, and various “shots” were marked on the floor, such as Michael Jordan’s shot to win the 1982 championship.
I admit I did feel a pang of jealousy when you come to the final room … the five national championship trophies.
After the museum, we went over to the Smith Center and settled in to our seats. As we watched the warmups, we saw Pack coach Sidney Lowe sitting with just his shirt and tie on the bench. We wondered if he wound don the red coat.
He didn’t disappoint!
Anyway, the location was awesome, and the game was a good one, as the Tar Heels won 89-80.
It made for a late night once we got back to Matthews, but, overall, it was well worth it!
If you want to check out photos from the museum and game, click the link!
