|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262 |
My second full day in NC turned out to be a very busy and fun day. Sara and I started the day going to a resturant called Mama Dips in Chapel Hill which is great down home Southern cooking. I had Liver and Onions, pinto beans with chow chow, zucchini casserole, fried green tomatoes, and a few glasses of sweet tea and boy was it good...so good I sopped it all up with cornbread.
After filling ourselves full to the point of combustion, we headed to UNC's campus to the Dean Smith Center (Dean Smith as many of you know is a Kansas native who is an alumn of Topeka High). The facility was purely breathtaking in size. It makes the Expocenter in Topeka look like a garage in terms of size. SIDE NOTE: The Smith Center was the host facility for the 1994 NCAA DI Championships in Wrestling.
We went to look at the Hall of Fame/Memorabilia room on the 2nd floor of the Smith Center and saw a wall of Olympians upon entering and then looked at all sorts of UNC Sports memorabilia. UNC for those who don't know are the equivalent to Dan Gable's Iowa wrestling teams when it comes to Women's Soccer and their dominance in that sport. (they have won 18 out of the 24 NCAA championships in the history of NCAA women's soccer, and there were only 3 championship games that they did not play in).
We drove over to another part of campus to view the area where the wrestling room was, but it was locked so we hit the pavement and went over the soccer and field hockey venues which were breathtaking and then to Carmichael Auditorium, where the basketball team played before the Smith Center was built in 1986 (so this is the court where Michael Jordan and all the other legendary Carolina basketball players played). This is now where the non-revenue sports, including wrestling, complete. Carmichael is a pretty nice venue and one that I think would be a wonderful setting for a venue like the World Team Trials since it is big enough but not overwhelming. The first year of "MatJam" was held here (when the ACC, Southern Conference, and CAA held their conference tournaments simultaneously).
We walked on back to the sweltering Carolina heat and on to the UNC bookstore where I was able to pick up some nice souvenirs before heading back out to enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the UNC campus. One of the things I was able to see also on the campus was the Old Well, which has some historic significance. I learned that UNC is the oldest public state university in the country, and the Old Well and surrounding dorms (Old East and Old West) were the first buildings constructed. The Old Well is still a working water fountain, and incoming freshmen are told that on the first day of class, they should take a drink of water from the fountain to ensure their success in college. (many other Carolina fans also believe in taking a drink from the Old Well on big game days for luck).
After the long day walking around we were able to get into the wrestling room. While the room was simple, and was nice enough with Carolina on one wall and Tar Heels on another. They had some fliers for some camps and contacts and I was able to get some of those and will be bringing them back.
After the day on the campus Sara and I headed back to her place where we were going to meet up with more members of the wrestling community in Jeff Breese (former NC State wrestler and now member of DII coaching staff at Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania. Jeff was in Reversal the movie...known for his line: "Ow Ow my wrist") and Elisa Galloway who is the sister of Penn State wrestler Nathan Galloway.
The four of us headed out for the night to enjoy the great weather by attending the Durham Bulls baseball game in the historic tobacco area of downtown Durham. While the Bulls weren't that spectacular, it was a fun night and we had some great time talking about wrestling and stuff in general while "watching the game". We joked a lot and had a great time and got a good kick out of the fireworks at the end, not to mention making fun of the girl that yelled at a car prior to the game when she thought she could stop it from hitting another car (parallel parking...not a strong suit in NC). (another side note - the Durham Bulls were made famous in a couple of movies - Bull Durham and The Rookie. Bull Durham actually was filmed at the old Bulls Ballpark, and the big bull on the outfield wall used in the movie is still a part of the ballpark. Sara says that when the Bulls hit a homerun, the bull's eyes light up and smoke comes out of his nostrils, just like in the movie. However, no Bulls hit a homerun so I'm not sure if she was just making that up... she also claims to have starred in the movie, clearly visible as one of about a thoussand extras in the stands during the game scenes, I will have to verify this by renting the movie when I get back).
My second full day ended watching the Carolina v. CS-Fullerton game on TV (the Heels won in extra innings, much to the delight of my host) and falling asleep on the couch exhausted and thus ended day 2 in Carolina.
(note -- we've taken a lot of photos and I'll be adding those maybe later tonight or tomorrow)
Yours in wrestling,
The Swayz swayz.wrestling@gmail.com recruiting help, promoting the sport& more!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,933
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,933 |
Originally posted by Aaron Sweazy: I had Liver and Onions, pinto beans with chow chow, What are the odds Aaron offended his southern host at some point later in the day?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262 |
Pretty good! LOL...actually she keeps feeding me, so she loves the fact I clean the plate...Day 3 I'll give you updates on later...I had Deep Fried Sweet Potato Pie today! YUM!
Yours in wrestling,
The Swayz swayz.wrestling@gmail.com recruiting help, promoting the sport& more!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,934
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,934 |
Okay, what were you sopping up with the cornbread? Left over corn bread is supposed to be eaten while mixed in with milk. As to Southern Sweet Tea, if you want to try the real thing, ask my wife. All southerners have a secret recipe that we don't tell anyone. Now to answer Sportsfan02’s question, I’d say right at 100%, which is likely what the humidity was there as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,262 |
Getting ready to head to the airport here in a bit...update of Saturday and today coming in another post within the next hour or two.
Yours in wrestling,
The Swayz swayz.wrestling@gmail.com recruiting help, promoting the sport& more!
|
|
|
|
0 members (),
9
guests, and
0
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Forums11
Topics36,091
Posts250,722
Members12,303
| |
Most Online1,305 Mar 13th, 2025
|
|
|
|