Why I have no faith in T.J. Yates

This may seem like a strange thing to post after UNC just upset Miami, but stick with me. The Tar Heels have an amazing defense and they are the only reason we win these games. Two of the touchdowns were on interception returns.

The running game is also very impressive: Ryan Houston played great today without Shaun Draughn to help out. Receivers have also gotten involved in the running game, which has been very productive.

But the quarterback, T.J. Yates, is mediocre at best. Yates will never win a game for the Tar Heels, he will only lose them. Best case scenario: he does just enough not to screw it up for Carolina.

I've spent many Saturday afternoons complaining about the awful throws Yates throws, so today I decided to keep track. I kept a list of all the bad throws Yates made today. I wasn't overly critical. If the receiver had a legitimate chance at the ball, I gave Yates the benefit.

Here's what I found. Yates threw 10 awful passes. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but here is the key: six of those were on third down.

The key to an offense is ball control and how they convert on third downs. With a run-based offense like UNC's, you will get into third-and-mediums or third-and-longs fairly often. Yates showed over and over again that he cannot consistently make the throw to get the first down.

In most of those third downs, the receiver was either past the first down or very close to it. In the first three series, Yates overthrew one receiver, underthrew another and threw one behind a reciever on third down to force punts.

In one series, Yates overthrew his buddy Zack Pianalto twice, on second and third downs inside the 10 yard line.

In the third quarter, Yates underthrew a receiver on second down and overthrew a receiver on third down in the same series.

He did have a pretty good day today. He threw for 213 yards and no interceptions. But he completed just barely over 50 percent of his passes. And when it comes down to it, I don't want the ball in his hands if we have to make a last second drive.

Yates isn't an awful quarterback, but he's not a good quarterback. He's mediocre at best and you need better than that if you want to become a top-notch football program.

Sports blogs!

Part of the reason that I have been less constant in updating this blog is that I'm spending most of my day writing about sports and not wanting to write about it again when I get home. I'm still working on ways to keep this blog updated (like reviewing an album that came across my desk recently...), but you can also keep up with my writing on two new sports blogs that I'm writing for the Lake Norman News and the Cabarrus News.

Here they are: Cabarrus Prep Sports and Lake Norman Prep Sports.

You can keep up with these and look at what I'm working on everyday and find out what's happening in the high school sports world north of Charlotte. I usually end up just posting very short blurbs here, so to read my more in depth articles, you'll have to check out the actual publications online.

Let me know what you think. Or, of course, if you have any news or information that you want published on those blogs or in the paper, let me know.

Lake Norman News and Cabarrus News

All the hard work the last month has finally paid off! On Wednesday, my four coworkers and I successfully launched the Cabarrus News and the Lake Norman News. So far, we have had very positive response, including an e-mail from a man who was going to cancel his Observer subscription until he saw our new section.

I had three bylines total in the two first issues, and one article that didn't have a byline. For the Cabarrus News, I wrote an article in a volleyball player at Concord High School who signed a letter of intent to play at Washington State University. I also wrote an article about a soccer game between Concord and Hickory Ridge.

In the Lake Norman News, I wrote an article on an indoor skate park that opened in August in Cornelius, and wrote a game preview that didn't have a byline.

The sections look great and I'm so excited that other people can finally see them. We're already wrapping up the second issue and moving onto the third. You can read another soccer game recap that I wrote last night and will be published in the second issue of the Lake Norman News.

And if you didn't already know, you can be our friend on Facebook and follow us on Twitter:
www.facebook.com/LakeNormanNews
www.facebook.com/CabarrusNews
www.twitter.com/NewsLakeNorman
www.twitter.com/CabarrusNews

Let me know what you think!!

Steve McNair

When I saw the news last night on my phone, in the middle of 4th of July festivities, I was completely shocked. I looked at multiple Web sites just to make sure it was true. Sure enough, Steve McNair was found shot to death. 

For some people this may not mean a lot: he didn't have the superstar quality of Peyton Manning or the pretty boy charm of Tom Brady, but McNair was by far one of my favorite quarterbacks and someone in the game I really respected. He was a big part of the reason I started pulling for the Tennessee Titans after their heartbreaking loss to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. 

The man was a tank. He would have five injuries on five different parts of his body and would still be taking snaps. I always loved when the broadcasters would pull up this little graphic that showed all the injuries he had sustained in a season and never missed a game. He was something to watch, especially when he had the help of running back Eddie George, who, coincidentally, is the one that broke the news to Titans coach Jeff Fisher. 

It's a tough day for a Titans fan and for the whole NFL. Let's hope this trend that started last week will finally come to an end....

Pictures!!

Good news, everyone! All of my pictures should now be up on Facebook! I know, get excited. Not all of them have captions, but I can add those later. Enjoy! I'm going to start working on video now....

And way to go UNC baseball! Staying alive in the College World Series!

WE DID IT!!!

So this is a week late. I know that. It's taken me this long to get back acclimated to that little thing I forgot about for three weeks called school. And on top of that, I've been battling some insane illness that has had me by the throat for over a week now. I just hacked up a lung while I wrote that sentence.

But you know what, none of that matters, because WE DID IT!!! Yeah, I can say "we" because I was there. I was part of the support staff, however minor my role was. I was with them in Greensboro, in Memphis (barbecue...) and in Motown. I was there when LSU tied the game up in the second half and it looks like the dream run would be cut short. I was there when we rolled the Zags. I was there when Blake Griffin realized that he alone can't handle the Tar Heels. I was there when the Wildcats were tamed and sent back to Philly. And I was there when Ty Lawson got a record-breaking eight steals; when the Heels broke the record for points scored in the first half of any NCAA championship game; when Bobby made a wide-open lay-up in the final minutes of the game; when Coach Roy Williams called a time out with one minute to play to put in the third string; when Tyler Hansbrough bear-hugged the entire bench; when over 60,000 people dressed in green and white were silenced. I was there when the UNC Tar Heels won their fifth NCAA championship!!

And it was awesome.

I don't get emotional over much, but Carolina basketball does it to me. Before the tournament started, I watched a recap of the 2005 season when the Heels won the championship. I got a little teary when Sean May pulled down that last rebound. But for about 39 minutes Monday night, I held my composure. I didn't want to get excited to early. But when Coach Roy called that time out, it was all over. The water works started and I couldn't help it. By the end of the game I could barely play "Carolina Victory" because I was choked up. You can hear the tubas playing it in the broadcast of the game, but I promise you I wasn't the loud one.

I watched a replay of the game just last night and got choked up. I just can't help it. I feel some special attachment to these guys because we were freshman together. I spent my whole college career watching Danny, Bobby, Marcus, Cope and Tyler grow up and improve. I was there when they lost a heart-breaker to Georgetown in the Elite Eight in 2007. I watched them fall apart against Kansas in the Final Four last year. Then I saw all of them come back for one more year. Tyler wanted a ring. And, man, it felt so good to see him get it.

Back at the band hotel, fans were still waiting to see us when we arrived at sometime after two in the morning. We had a "champagne" toast, where the band director really made it all sink in. He said, "Since 1793, three students have worn a mascot uniform when the Tar Heels won a championship. Thirty-six students were in cheerleading outfits when a national championship was won, and 87 band members. Welcome to an elite group. Cheers."

On the plane the next day, the boys and Coach Roy were tired. I heard they didn't sleep all night because they had to be on the CBS Early Show. But they were happier than I've ever seen them. Coach Roy came onto that plane clutching the trophy like someone was going to steal it from him.

Maybe it's because I'm getting ready to graduate and this chapter of my life is ending, but there was something special about this team, this group of seniors and this season that I will remember for the rest of my life. Alumni now say can say that they were there in '82 with Jordan, or '93 with Vince Carter, or '57 with Rosenbluth.

But now I can say I was there in '09 with Tyler, Bobby, Danny, Marcus and all the boys.

Way to go Tar Heels!

Dancing in Memphis

Graceland, blues, ribs and Mark Cohn. Welcome to Memphis!

After a nice drubbing of Radford University and sneaking past the pesky LSU Tigers, the UNC Tar Heels have made it to the Sweet 16. And I'm right along here with them.

We are in a ridiculously nice hotel, the Peabody, that has a unnecessarily large TV for such a small room. But the best part is the fountain. And the ducks. If you don't know anything about it, the Peabody is famous for the duck march, where the Peabody ducks march into the fountain in the middle of the lobby and hang out for the day. Then at the end they march back out. I can't wait to see it. Oh, and be sure pictures will go up.

But first on the to-do list is to enjoy what some call the best ribs in the country at Rendezvous Ribs, which is apparently right across the street from here. Then onto the blues clubs on Beale Street. And maybe a little trip to Graceland. I'm in Memphis, I figure I'll make the most of it.

Our first game is Friday night, so until then I'm a free man in the heart of Memphis. Go Heels!



Side note, this is one of my favorite photos from last weekend. Dook played Texas right after our game and the Texas cheerleaders took advantage of our "friendly" rivalry by involving us in the cheers. I'm also pretty sure that AJ stole this sign from the cheerleaders. Oh well.

--

Some other fun information:

Here's a great article on the newspaper industry. Some government officials are thinking about making newspapers nonprofits to save them some money. But that would mean that they can't be involved in political issues, like endorsing a candidate.

I also decided to set up some YouTube playlists so you can check out all the videos that I post on the site. I have a general one and one specially made for the Tuesday Guilty Pleasure series.

March Madness!!!

March is my favorite time of year. Spring is coming, school is wrapping up, baseball has started and, most importantly, it's tournament time.

The brackets are official, now it's time for the fun part. I've already filled out three different brackets with random -- and often unexpected -- upsets all over the place. But, of course, the big winner is always the same: UNC all the way. And I'm not alone. Four out of the five talking heads on ESPN picked Carolina to win it all. I hope it doesn't jinx us.

Over the next three weeks Carolina will fight for their sixth national championship and guess what? Your faithful blogger will be there every step of the way. That's right, I'll be traveling with the band as far as the team goes. So don't be surprised when this blog becomes a sports blog.

I'll be sure to take my camera and document everything that I can. First game is on Thursday against Radford. Unfortunately it's only in Greensboro, so no exciting traveling. But if we get to the Sweet Sixteen we'll be in Memphis, Tenn.

I'm so excited I have chills. Go Tar Heels!

In other news, the "About Us" page of the Carrboro Commons has been updated with the new staff members. Check out my picture and the corny bio that I wrote myself.

Bienvenido a Miami

If you know anything about Deerfield Beach, Fla., you know it's about 45 minutes north of Miami. Obviously I don't know anything.

I got off of our plane at the Ft. Lauderdale airport Friday afternoon fully expecting to be headed to our hotel in Miami. Visions of South Beach nightclubs and Cubans danced in my head.

My first inclination that something was amiss was our bus: an old, rusted and smelly thing complete with a "For Sale" sign in the front window. Perfect. But I figured the budget had to be cut somewhere since we had this awesome beach front hotel in Miami.

My second clue was when we came to a Miami exit off of Interstate 95 and didn't take it. Instead we took a Deerfield Beach exit. The bus driver must have his own way to get there, no worries.

Of course I was terribly wrong, but I didn't find this out for another few hours. I was still convinced that we were a mere few miles from South Beach in our quaint hotel (read: ridiculously nice suites with two flat-screen TVs and two bathrooms) until one of my fellow band members was trying to organize a trip to the city.

Me: "Oh cool. How far is it?"
Informed Friend: "Oh about 45 minutes."
Me: "..."
IF: "Yeah, we're thinking about getting a cab. It should only be like $100."
Me: "..."

So I never go to see Miami, but Deerfield Beach was pretty cool. It was your typical little beach town that is totally dead when it's not the summer. About a mile down the beach from our hotel there were some nice restaurants and little bars. It made for decent entertainment both nights.

Deerfield Beach is apparently also Couples, U.S.A., the hook-up capital of the world. Saturday night I was walking down the beach and saw countless couples making out in every possible way: on benches, standing on the sidewalk and -- the most popular option -- under a couple of blankets on the beach. I'm not kidding. I saw at least 10 couples under blankets. I can only guess at what they were doing. And the best part is that no one cared!!

Well I figured I would get to at least see part of Miami when we went to the game on Saturday. Not to be. Dolphin Stadium, the stadium where the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami Hurricanes play football, isn't in Miami. It's in Miami Gardens. Not the same thing.

But whatever. That game Saturday made up for everything. The first half was abysmal. I was ready to leave at half. Then something happened. Cam Sexton, yes, the same Cam Sexton that couldn't make a pass in 2006, led the Heels to a comeback victory that I still can't believe. I was caught by ESPN praying that Sexton wouldn't screw it up and throw an interception at the end of the game. The next play he threw the game winning touchdown.

But the last play of the game made my heart stop for a good minute. From our angle it was hard to see the end zone that the pass was thrown to. All I can see is a Miami player jump in the air, the ball hit his hands and him starting to fall. I just knew he caught it and it was all over. It took my friend turning to me and saying "Corey, he intercepted it!!" for me to realize what happened. It was like a movie: everything went into slow motion and sappy inspirational music came on. Awesomeness.

As we were leaving the stadium one Miami fan said "Just wait until basketball season. We'll beat you then."

Seriously? Let's talk about basketball. This was your chance to beat us.

Anyway, the weekend was good and I can't complain too much about being far from Miami. I didn't pay for a damn thing.

My favorite quote of the weekend from a man in the airport:

"Are y'all a ping pong team?"

Yessir, we're headed out to China to play in the world championship! Wish us luck!

Beautiful...

Just plain beautiful.

I'll post more about the game later, but right now I'm sitting in the airport waiting for our flight home. (Thanks free wireless at the Ft. Lauderdale airport.)

What a game, Go Heels!!

"UNC has a football team?"

So I know that Carolina isn't exactly known for their football team -- OK, since the '90s it's been pretty awful -- but I wouldn't quite take it this far:

This, after all, is one of the chief responsibilities of being a North Carolina graduate: Pretending you care about the football team. It isn't always easy.

UNC-Chapel Hill graduate Steve Politi wrote this and much more in a column for the Star Ledger from Newark, N.J., about his alma mater and their upcoming match-up with his new hometown team, Rutgers University. A lot of UNC fans and alumni have little affection for the football team, but I don't get why he's so negative. He was in school here during the heyday of UNC football in the '90s with current Texas coach Mack Brown.

The Tar Heels won the Peach Bowl when I was a junior in 1993, and that seemed like a big deal when it happened. Then the basketball team won the national championship that spring, with about thousands and thousands of people jamming Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, with classes canceled and parties lasting well into the next day and Dean Smith elevated from deity to full-fledged God status.

And, sorry, but what bowl game was that again?

Ouch.

I look forward to basketball as much as the next Tar Heel, but some respect should be given to the football team, too. I mean, it could be worse: we could be dook.

UNC Football and Slight Confusion

On Thursday, the Marching Tar Heels stayed 30 minutes after practice to work on a plan for how to make room for the aerial team that was supposed to land in Kenan Stadium with the game ball. It's happened many times before, no big deal, right?

Wrong.

When the band got to the point in pregame where they were supposed to split and make room for the parachutes, the band directors started scurrying around and yelling "Don't move!! We're not splitting apart!!" Everyone was confused and probably a little miffed that we had stayed after to work on this and it wouldn't even happen. It must just be bad weather in the area that kept them from dropping in.

Wrong again. They were just a little confused.

From The News & Observer:

Duke officials were a bit surprised when, at 6 p.m. Saturday, about an hour before the scheduled kickoff of their game against James Madison, two men parachuted into Wallace Wade Stadium and landed with a game ball.

Problem was, the Blue Devils -- who were warming up on the field along with their guests from Virginia -- weren't expecting it.

[...]

North Carolina was scheduled to receive the game ball for its contest against McNeese State via an aerial team at about that time in Chapel Hill.

According to UNC assistant athletic director for promotions Michael Beale, the plane was in the air but the jumpers from Virginia-based Aerial Adventures opted to cancel the leap into Kenan Stadium because of weather.

Evidently, when the clouds eventually opened, the pilot thought they were over the correct stadium, and the skydivers jumped -- realizing only when they landed in Wallace Wade that they were in the wrong place.

The two men immediately scrambled off the field with the game ball, and when UNC associate athletic director Rick Steinbacher was informed by a reporter of what had happened, he immediately called Duke officials to confirm the miscue and offer his apologies.

"In about five years, maybe this will be funny," Steinbacher said. "Right now, I'm just glad no one was hurt."

Classic. You just can't script things like that. But here's my problem. These guys are rigorously trained to do what they do and you're telling me they couldn't tell the difference between Wallace Wade -- a glorified high school stadium -- and the 60,000 seat Kenan. Let's have a look, shall we?

Here is Wallace Wade Stadium from the air:

Now for Kenan Stadium (sorry for the small size, Google images let me down):

See what I mean? Slightly bigger.

Too bad it seems like Duke was the better team in the ACC this week, winning handily over FCS school James Madison University, while the Tar Heels struggled through a two-hour lightning delay and a 35-27 win over FCS school McNeese State. The first quarter was great: Brandon Tate had some great returns, including one punt return for a touchdown. He also had a great 50+ yard reception that led to a second Carolina touchdown.

Then, after the rain and lightning subsided, the "new and improved" Tar Heels started to look a hell of a lot like last year's team. The same things that plagued them throughout the 2007 season were very present two nights ago: inconsistent and bonehead play from quarterback T.J. Yates, slow defense that didn't put any pressure on the quarterback and allowed him to pick apart the secondary, and sub-par running by Greg Little behind an offensive line that struggled against a defensive line they should have dominated. He's not going to get 1,000 yards that way.

The Heels have something to prove in two weeks against Rutgers. Right now, I'm not impressed.