Do Southerners and college kids need a reason?

To celebrate?

Or as Three Dog Night and The Doors put it,
"Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the Music!" and "Light My Fire" as in Bonfire.

Last night our local Cagers, the UNC Chapel Hill Tarheels won their fifth National Men's Basketball Championship in convincing fashion.

This places them in rarified air with the UCLA Bruins, (11), the Kentucky Wildcats (5) and Indiana Hoosiers as the most storied programs in the last fifty years of the NCAA tourament.
Alumni Coach Roy Williams won his second in six years since coming 'home' from Kansas.

Our son, in his last semester at sister campus App State, themselves winners of three of the last four NCAA Division 1AA football championships watched with his roomies and ROTC buddies at a favorite sports hangout, MacAdoos on King Street.
I asked him how ROTC class and training meeting went today.
"Not too good. No one wanted to be there after last night"
"Good time?" I queried. "Oh, yeah Dad!"
No further elucidation was neceassary, I was young and in college once.

The game was never in doubt.
The Tarheels actually played poorly in the second half after scoring 55 in a flawless first half, and still easily won by 17 points.

Even though, being raised in Florida and having 'No dog in this hunt' as far as local ACC teams go, it was refreshing seeing a team with senior players who would normally have bolted for the NBA and big bucks come back to win one for their school.

Last years meltdown against William's former team the Kansas Jayhawks in the semi's left a bad taste in their mouths.

This year was a vindication and a mission of redemption from the first game on.

No Tournament game was closer than 12 points, and the Championship last night was a 17 point fanny kicking, with a coaching lesson given by Coach Williams to the very likable and talented C0ach Tom Izzo and his young Spartan team.

Their time will come, but facing a talented, experienced, well coached and driven group of boys in Tarheel Blue was just too much to ask this year.

Sometimes the best team does indeed triumph.

This is for my niece and nephew Heather and Luke and their kids, now in route to their new home in Sunny Seattle.

"TAR..............HEELS!"

GO BLUE, GO HEELS!

P.S. If you want a championship banner, or T-shirts let us know.