Two Shining Moments

It was a Monday evening in late March of 1982 and my face was glowing. Partly because I was allowed to stay up so late on a school night, which for a 7 year old is a really big deal. But my face was also beaming because it was glued to the TV screen. And I mean literally glued. OK, well not literally glued but almost. I was forced to sit/stand within arms length of our television set because the picture would only come in clearly when the dial (if you don't understand ask your parents) was held at a certain angle. That night my mom and I took turns squeezing the dial while the other jumped up and down and cheered on the North Carolina Tarheels to a national championship.

That experience is forever etched in my memory as the beginning of my avid, sometimes borderline insane, infatuation with the North Carolina Tarheels. I am sure there were games and moments prior to that spring night but none more memorable.

This past Monday I shared the same experience with my 7 year old. Dressed in our Tarheel gear, Calahan and I sat in front of the tv and watched the entire game (even the postgame interviews and the infamous "one shining moment" video) until after midnight. He too was pumped about it all. Staying up 5 hours past his bedtime, getting to see Tyler, Danny and others play their last game and watching them win "the trophy" which he has been asking about since the season began.

The sentimentalist in me hopes that one day he will be blogging about that night or at least telling his kids about it. Who knows, he may soon forget it entirely. But one thing is for sure. I won't! And now, instead of one shining moment...I have two!