UNC's Clash With The Titans (Men's Lacrosse)

Max Miceli

Well... it was interesting for a little while.

   With Carolina playing very sloppy ball early in the game at Fetzer field Saturday, Detroit was given an opportunity to make it a game, and for about a quarter it was.
   Jimmy Dunster opened the game with it's first goal about 2 minutes in, but the Titans responded quickly with a goal just about a minute later.
   While the Titans never had the lead early, they did tie up the game at 2-2 with 8:21 proving that they were ready to play ball. Having early success wasn't enough however, and despite the early sloppy play, Carolina began to pull away.
   In the final two minutes of the first quarter, it rained goals for the Tar Heels. After a great ride by Joey Saneky, UNC got the ball off a turnover, and rewarded Sankey with a scoring opportunity that he immediately capitalized on. Following the Sankey one man show, Davey Emala scored off an assist by Marcus Holman and drew a penalty.
   In the extra man offense, Pat Foster scored with 22 seconds left, giving UNC a 5-2 lead at the end of what was overall a pretty bad quarter.

   From that point on, it was all UNC however. To began the second quarter Emala gave Sankey his second goal off of a cross crease feed, and the slaughter ensued. The UNC defense tighten up, and UNC began to dominate possession.
   The Final score was 18-8, but it wasn't even that close to be honest. Three of the Titan goals were in the last three minutes without starting goalie Steven Rastivo in the game and most of the other starters out as well.

Analysis

  Overall it a solid performance for the Tar Heels. Scoring was spread out among a lot of guys, as you would expect out of a team with all the offensive talent we have. I was particularly impressed with the great play by the young guns again. Joey Sankey, Jimmy Bitter, and Chad Tutton had two goals a piece, and Tutton and Sankey had three goals between the two of them.
   After giving up two goals early, the defense only gave up three goals before garbage time. Rastivo had a decent game, but it wasn't that great. He had 8 saves (13 shots on goal) in 45 minutes of play.
   Somehow I always forget to mention this, but R.G. Keenan was fantastic as usual winning 16-18 face-offs. I guess I'm just used to him being insanely good.


STARTERS


ATTACK
Pat Foster
Joey Sankey
Marcus Holman

MIDFIELD
Jimmy Dunster
Duncan Hutchins
Davey Emala

DEFENSE
Jordan Smith
Kieran McDonald
Logan Corey

GOALIE
Steven Rastivo




UNC SCORING

GOALS
Pat Foster 2
Marcus Holman 2
Joey Sankey 2
Jimmy Dunster 3
Davey Emala 1
T.J. Kemp 1
Ryan Creighton 2
Jimmy Bitter 2
Jack McBride 1
Chad Tutton 2

ASSISTS
Pat Foster 1
Marcus Holman 2
Joey Sankey 1
Davey Emala 2
Will Campbell 2
Walker Chafee 1
Matt Shannon 1
Chad Tutton 2

No Chance (UNC v. Mercer Lacrosse Recap)

Max Miceli

   So we had the same starters as we did yesterday. If you want to see the starters just check out my post from yesterday.

   Today UNC played their second game in two days down in Georgia to open the season against Mercer, and it wasn't even close. Led by a real Tar Heel Trio of freshman, the Heels dominated the game from the start and won the game 20-7.
   With three goals and three assists by Joey Sankey (freshman attackman), Three goals accompanied with an assist by Chad Tutton (freshman middie), and two goals with two assists by Jimmy Bitter (freshman attackman), UNC's freshman class put on a show down in Georgia against a helpless Mercer team.
   To be honest they really didn't have too much of a chance from the start. UNC started the game scoring seven points in the first quarter.
   If there are any concerns about this game from the Tar Heel point of view, they would have to be about the defenses inability to limit the Bears to fewer goals.
   With that being said, Steven Rastivo was taken out at halftime, as were other starters. (as you would expect to happen with an 11-4 lead at half).
 

   In summary, This weekend was great for UNC lax. Our freshies stepped up, and so did our transfers Davey Emala and Jack McBride. Once Nicky Galasso comes back, the Heels may very well be unstoppable offensively as many experts expect, including ESPN's Quint Kessenich who put UNC as having the best attack in the nation.
   So Tar Heel Lax fans, Great start to the season. 2-0 is never a bad start, and mad props to Sankey, Tutton, and Bitter for great starts to what I expect to be nothing less than outstanding college careers.

UNC Lax Opens Season With a Win

Max Miceli

   Now I now that most of what we cover are the major sports, but their is a special place in my heart for lacrosse. So I will be posting about every UNC lacrosse game. Since coverage of college lacrosse is hard to find, I am going to do my best to let at least UNC fans see the good coverage lacrosse deserves.

let us start with the starters for UNC!!!
ATTACK
#1 Marcus Holman (JR)
#11 Joey Sankey (FR)
#41 Pat Foster (SO)
MIDFIELD
#20 Jimmy Dunster (SR)
#5 Davey Emala (JR Transfer: Georgetown)
#32 Duncan Hutchins (SO)
DEFENSE
#44 Logan Corey (RS JR)
#48 Kieran McDonald (JR)
#31 Jordan Smith (SO)
GOAL
#19 Steven Rastivo (RS JR)

   Like the devil, the Nittany Lions went down to Georgia, but instead of looking for a soul to steal, they were looking for a win against the #6 UNC Tar Heels. The Heels came prepared, however. they rosined up their bows and ripped corners left and right.
   Sophomore Mark McNeill proved that he had been working on his stick skills during the offseason and used his athleticism to score the first goal of the game.
   After a PSU goal that tied up the ball game, Jimmy Dunster scored, with a flag down, to give the Heels a lead they wouldn't lose for the rest of the game.
   Despite a low scoring first quarter, both teams ended with double figures in a game that UNC controlled to a 14-10 win.
   By winning 21 of 30 face-offs (R.G. Keenan you are my hero!) the Tar Heels Dominated possession of the rock took to the Nittany Lions, But the real story was the new faces. Keenan himself had a personal high with 19 face-off wins.
   out of UNC's 14 goals, 9 were scored by players new to the team. Davey Emala a Transfer student from Georgetown lead the game in scoring with 4 goals and an assist, and younger brother of Billy Bitter, Jimmy picked up where his older brother left off, opening his collegiate career with a hat trick on three OUTSTANDING plays. Jack McBride, transfer from Princeton, had a strong showing as well with 2 goals.
   Saying that this will help the Heels in the long run this season is an understatement. As the Heels move on throughout the season look forward to seeing one of the best offenses in the nation out of the Heels. because of guys like Emala, Bitter, and Joey Sankey (another Freshman attackman that started the game), UNC will be a big time contender in the ACC and the nation this year.


Oh yeah!
I forgot to mention, This was all done without the help of Sophomore superstar Nicky Galasso who is currently out of the line up because of a foot injury. With all this fire power it's going to be hard for the Heels to figure out who to put on the field (because no matter what happens they will always leave a big time offensive weapon on the sideline).

Look forward to a great season for the Tar Heels guys. It's gonna be good.

UNC  14
PSU   10

UNC SCORING
GOALS
Emala 4
Bitter 3
Holman 3
J. McBride 2
McNeill 1
Dunster 1

ASSISTS
Foster 3
Leighton-Armah 2
Campbell 1
G. McBride 1
Holman 1
Emala 1
Dunster 1

Do I Even Need to Make a Title for This?

Max Miceli

Y'all know what time it is!
It's time for the biggest single game of the year.

   The Super Bowl is coming up in just a few hours and the Trio have some picks for you.
While Andrew and I have lost any chance of our pre-playoff predictions being right, Walker has predicted the playoffs with Peyton Manning like preciseness, accuracy, and intelligence so far during the playoffs.
At the expense of my ego, both of Walker's Super Bowl teams defeated mine Championship weekend due to bad fumbles and field goals.

   Regardless, This weekend is about Eli trying to final out do his big brother Peyton and an Ugg wearing model marrying pretty boy trying to win a ring in his arch rivalries hometown.

needless to say, this is going to be a good one.

   We all know who Walker has in this one. He picked the Giants before the playoffs started despite his allegiance to Dallas. For doing this some would call him a traitor. I would call him a prophet.
   Knowing that Walker has picked the Giants, I am doing the smart thing and join the Walker Minot bandwagon. Andrew, however, is not convinced. He is picking the Pats to take win.
 
   So without further a due here are our scores

Andrew

Patriots   34
Giants     29

Max

Patriots   24
Giants     28

Walker (our resident soothsayer)

Patriots   27
Giants     31
 
 

Looking Back at Joe Paterno

Andrew Tie

Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passed away Sunday from lung cancer. Though many will remember him for his long tenure as coach and the winningest football coach in NCAA FBS, others will remember him for his ignominious firing in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation allegations. While I will discuss his role in the Sandusky case, I am here to say that we should all judge Paterno on his entire body of work. The good he did greatly outweighs the bad, though the bad is horrendous.

In 1965, Paterno began his coaching career as an assistant at Penn State. After 15 years on the staff, he was promoted to head coach. No one could have predicted what would ensue. In the next 44 years as head coach, he set records for the most years as head coach at one school and most wins (409). He also was a 2-time national champion and won myriad coaching awards. But JoePa, as many called him, was more than just a coach. By all accounts, he was a great man on and off the field. He was a father figure to all his players over the many decades that he was there, his players graduated, he donated lots of money back to PSU and he always showed class and humility.

But JoePa was more than just a football figure in Happy Valley, Pa. He was an icon that children looked up to in their football-crazed state for over six decades. The statue erected of him in front of Beaver Stadium tangibly cemented his legacy at Penn State, though it had been built up over many years. In the argument of best all-time football coaches, JoePa is easily top three, but I personally think he would be the best ever. We were all privileged to watch this man coach until he was 85 years old. Though I was never able to see some great coaches like John Wooden, Bear Bryant or Dean Smith, I can at least say I was able to watch Joe Paterno. Most people look to retirement around the age of 60, but Paterno continued to have that fire within him to keep coaching, an extremely admirable trait. Over the last few years, he had suffered from various injuries and health problems. There was a point when he was coaching in the box, rather than on the sideline, because he couldn't stand that long. At that point, you had to wonder how long he could keep coaching, but he just kept on going.

Now, regarding the Sandusky case, Paterno found out about the molestation allegations and did nothing. He didn't report it to the police as he should have. To allow for such monstrosities to continue is baffling, and you have to wonder what was going through his mind - was he willing to do anything to win? I like to think it was just a serious misjudgment on his part because his history does not lead me to believe that he would allow for child molestation to continue. As a father of five and a father figure to thousands of PSU football players, I wonder what he was thinking about those children that Sandusky abused.

But while this marked extremely low point in Paterno's life, I can't help but feel that the media and others calling for his head contributed to his death. It might sound silly, but his lung cancer was exacerbated by his occupational issues. By that, I mean he had been head coach for over 60 years, and when he was forced out, he may have lost his direction and purpose in life. While obviously he was old and had lung cancer, I just do not think it was appropriate for media members to say "the lung cancer is just him trying to deflect the attention away from the Sandusky case and seek empathy." While yes, maybe it did serve that purpose partially, why would anyone be lying about lung cancer? I just feel that some people lost their sense about JoePa and are remembering him for the wrong reasons. A great man and a great coach, the Sandusky case only showed that we're all human, and we all make mistakes. Let's hope the truth comes out and justice served with Sandusky, but for Paterno, may he rest in peace.

Who Was Right?

Walker Minot

The thing about blogging is that any mistake you make can and probably will be preserved forever in cyberspace. Luckily, anytime you are awesomely right about something, it is likewise maintained. Such is the case with my Super Bowl pick.

At the start of the playoffs I had a clear idea of who was going to make the Super Bowl from the NFC. The Giants had just soundly beaten the Cowboys and I recognized the Giants team from 2008 that went on an amazing run that culminated with them beating the best team I have ever seen (2008 Tom Brady-Randy Moss Patriots, led by Darth Vader himself). After watching that game I was confident that the Giants would be there. All the other teams in the NFC, though great, had flaws. The Saints and the Packers had no defense, and the 49ers had Alex Smith at quarterback and inexperience to deal with. The Giants are very balanced, Eli Manning is an experienced QB having a career year, their defensive line is healthy and formidable, their running backs are solid, and their receivers are fantastic. No other NFC team had that kind of balance.

The Patriots I was less sure of. I picked them for two reasons. The first was that I was less unsure about them than any other team in the AFC, and the second was that I really wanted to see a rematch of the awesome 2008 Super Bowl that featured The Catch.

My pick for the game remains the same as it was at the beginning of all this. The Giants are more balanced and peaking at the right time. The Patriots are very good, but their defense, particularly their secondary, will have to step up in a big way if they have any hope of toppling New York (their defense has been playing much better but I watched last weekend and wasn't too convinced in its excellence). I think Tom Brady is going to be Tom Brady, Belichick will be Belichick, but the Giants are more than one man and his Sith Master.

P.S. I really hate both of these teams, but there's some consolation in being right:)

P.P.S. I've been knocking on wood the whole time while writing this so as not to jinx my prediction for the game by being a smarmy little loser.

The Tiger's Name is Prince

Walker Minot

The Detroit Tigers announced today that they have agreed to terms with free agent first basemen Prince Fielder. The deal is reported to be nine years and worth $214 million.

This deal solidifies the Tigers' control over the AL Central. They are definitely the best team in the division and should compete for the World Series next year with the kind of lineup they have, plus the amazing pitching of Justin Verlander. Although star catcher Victor Martinez appears to be out for the year with a torn ACL, Fielder should be enough to compensate with some more on top. Last year the Tigers were fourth in the AL in runs scored, third in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage, and fourth in slugging percentage. It figures that Fielder will bolster all those categories, save perhaps batting average. Miguel Cabrera (I thought he was the AL MVP last year) and Fielder might be the best 3-4 hitters in baseball next year, and a few more to come.

In the short term this deal is a major boon for the Tigers and the city of Detroit. It replaces the lost Martinez and brings a big star to the city. In the long term however it may hurt them. Fielder is a huge dude who may have health problems and experience a decline in productivity. He's a decent fielder, not great and strikes out a fair amount. If it doesn't work out, a huge chunk of their payroll will be dedicated to someone who is not up to snuff. Long term contracts like this one carry with them a lot of risk.

A deal I compare this to is Alfonso Soriano's (I'm a huge Cubs fan by the way). As it is today, the Cubs find themselves burned by what was the largest deal in franchise history. Soriano's production is way down from his peak, it has been that way for several years, and will continue to be that way for the next three years, meanwhile by 2014 the Cubs will have paid him $136 million over eight years. I do believe however that the Fielder deal is much better for these reasons:

1) Fielder draws walks. Walks are very valuable and tend to stay the same despite age. Soriano has one of the worst batting eyes in the world and rarely draws a walk that isn't intentional.

2) As a teammate, Fielder is highly regarded and will enliven a Detroit clubhouse that has the tools to win a championship. His personality will also excite Tiger fans, who will respond with a whole lotta love for the Prince.

3) Soriano was 31 when the Cubs signed him, as a power hitter and speedster, you don't get better past age 31. In contrast, Fielder, at 27 years old, is four years younger than Soriano was at the time of his signing and is entering the peak of his career. Even if Fielder's production does slow down significantly like Soriano's has, the Tigers will at least have enjoyed several years of peak production from one of the best power hitters in the game and will be able to cut ties with him at age 36, as opposed to the Cubs, who are stuck with Soriano until he is 39.

Time will dictate whether or not this deal was a good one, but my sense (barring terrible injury to Prince) is that it will pay off. The Tigers already had a contending team, and the addition of Prince could push them over the edge.