Art Chansky, who has sounded lately like a guy who lost his glasses and can't
find his Prozac, has a piece up about the ghosts trudging over from
Carmichael to the Dean Dome. Eddie Landreth
repeats the theme.
Here's what the players say:
- Haywood: "We don't get to feel that
much. Our fans are good, but a lot of times they are not quite as loud as other
places..other places like Virginia and Duke put the students right on top of you. Our students are basically up in row XX. It's hard for them to give us that electricity. Tonight they got a chance to watch the game up close, and we really fed off their
electricity." - Cota: ÂIt was like we were playing State or Duke, but
better. Our (older) fans are great, but if the students did that every night, weÂd be hard to beat at home." - Capel: "That was great, that's what other teams have that we don't. We needed this. They were loud, rowdy, they rushed the floor. We needed that feeling again that everybody was behind us.
Even Gary Williams liked it, and it screwed him.
Maybe it's just us, but where's the disconnect? Is it more important for the
bigshots to sit close as you would in a funeral parlor - with less energy - or
to take advantage of a natural advantage? This place could be one of the
most frightening home courts around, but it would take some courage on the part
of some Rams Club members, and a willingness to subordinate themselves to a
higher purpose. What UNC should do is this: put a noise meter under each chair,
and then assign the seats electronically based on volume produced. They could
e-mail, call or fax seat assignments for the next game.
That's a pipe dream of course, or a nightmare if you are visiting. But
still, it's hard to imagine that even the richest donor wouldn't be willing to
move back a few rows. What are they there for if not excitement?