Well, it’s the first official day of the season for a lot of
teams including UNC. They take on the
Howard University Bison at 4:00. It’s also Homecoming weekend there so
just about every winter sports’ team will be in action. UNC plays two games, one today and another on
Sunday. I generally start and end my
homecoming weekend with them; but, have other things to tend to today. Thank God for my smart phone. We won’t miss it.
A lot of people are going
to be comparing this year’s team to last year’s team. Don’t tell Allisha Gray and the rest of the
team they can’t be just as good or better though. This team is
ready to move forward. Michelle Voepel
did an article for ESPN.
There are a lot of teams in action today. Several games started around 11am including
UNC’s former ACC rival Maryland who is hosting Mt. Saint Mary’s.
But let's focus. North Carolina’s 2014-15 Out of Conference schedule has a
bit of variety and UNC takes on a ranked team in their next two games following
today’s matchup. On Sunday #23 UCLA comes in with one of the top
freshman classes in the nation and on Wednesday, #21 Oklahoma State comes to
visit. We’ll need those tests before they fly out to the west coast to
play at Oregon on November 23rd, then on to Hawaii for Thanksgiving week where
they will face Stanford who are without an Ogwumike but still have Amber Orrange
running the offense.
This game starts a
string of 3 games that begin the day after Thanksgiving. Coach Vanderveer
is said to have put in a new system in this year, an up tempo style similar to
UNC; so, that should be interesting. I give lots of credit to the
addition of the Oregon game before the Hawaii trip. Hopefully they can
gradually adjust to the time change as they should leave the east coast at
least by November 21st. One word for that Hawaii trip.
JEALOUS! I’ve been there once. My husband
lived there as a child while his father was stationed there and due to his desire
to return, we vacationed there in 2002.
The place is just wonderful.
December comes in with a bang with the ACC/B1G
challenge. North Carolina is on the road
at #25 Rutgers December 4th.
Rutgers' Coach is fellow Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer. It'll be a heavy weight bout among friends. Coach Hatchell and Coach Stringer go back a long ways. (Images from mycentraljersey.com and espn.com)
After a game against Appalachian State, squares off with another
ranked team in #23 Oregon State. If you’re
keeping count, that’s four Pac-12 teams.
The team will take its annual trip to Myrtle Beach. They’ll play two games at the Myrtle Beach
convention center. One is against Maine
on Friday, December 19th and the other is against Elon on Sunday,
December 21st. Need to know
fact: UNC great Charlotte Smith is the head coach at Elon. She got the job there after several years as a
UNC Assistant. Smith still holds the record for the number of rebounds (23) in a National Championship game. She is one of two North Carolina Women's basketball players to have her number retired. Ivory Latta is the other. (images in order from Sports Illustrated, www.goheels.com and www.quazoo.com) 
After the team takes a Christmas break, they are back in action
at Carmichael Arena for two early afternoon games flanking the New Year’s
holiday. On December 30th
Albany comes calling. They gave UNC
quite a test in the first round of the 2013 NCAA tournament. Then on January 2nd the team has
its final out of conference game against frequent visitor East Tennessee State. These will be two good games to attend
especially if you’re looking for something great to do with your children during
their winter break. The conference
season starts with a big one. Rival
North Carolina State comes to Carmichael on January 4th.
Tickets to any home game are available online at www.goheels.com/tickets and/or by calling 1-800-722-HEEL (4335). There’s some extras to keep in mind. There are Theme Days like "TwosDays", Play4Kay, Ramses
Birthday, and National Girls & Women in Sports Day. There are Promotional Days. I know my children love these. Among the promotions, Family Fun Day Sunday
is back. Depending on when you arrive,
children can get faces painted and get a voucher for food at the concession
stands. Then after the game, the team
comes out for autographs. My personal
favorite is throw back Thursday. As a
mom and a single one, I love the ½ price concessions. There are t-shirt giveaways for the first 400
UNC students in attendance. Check www.goheels.com for more information.
It's going to be a fun season.
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