You Stay Classy

There is something my wife noticed this season about North Carolina. She’s somewhat of a sports fan, but not huge, but she will always faithfully watch games with me, even when the games are boring because North Carolina is up by 20. And she does care about North Carolina, so don’t think she watches just to be with me.

But one thing that drives her insane is when coaches or players yell at the refs and don’t stop. Now Roy has yelled at refs, but he does not go off and get a technical just to prove him point (or at least I can’t recall him doing that). But some coaches and players just don’t shut it when it comes to officiating. I have some gripes with officials too, but I can drop it because they can’t hear me yelling through the TV.

The point of this article is class. North Carolina has it; other schools do not. A lot of the classiness has come from Dean Smith, which I appreciate. I didn’t follow North Carolina during the Dean Smith years because I was young, but anyone who is a fan knows that Dean Smith was classy.

North Carolina beams classiness to me. Pointing to the passer is classy because it shows players to recognize that they couldn’t have done anything without the passer. The jerseys are classy because we have two kinds and that’s it, while a team like Oregon has one for every week.

Another classy area that I like is the attire. Players wear coats and ties to and from games. Not all universities do that. Roy Williams always has a suit and tie, except in Maui or when he gets mad and throws his jacket on the ground. I like that. I don’t like Mike Brey, the Notre Dame coach, who wears the jacket, but just a shirt underneath it, and I especially hate the polo with the jacket (Al Skinner). UGLY. I’m glad Coach Williams dresses and has his players dress professionally because North Carolina is a professional institution.

Another reason I appreciate the classiness of North Carolina is that when students or fans start making a chant, like to Clemson “you can’t win here” – yes it brings a smile to my face, but Coach Williams is always quick to get on the mic and tell students to stow it because he won’t put up with it. Also, you won’t see anything like Speedo Man in the stands of the Smith Center making obscene gestures towards players.

You can go to school, but you can’t buy class. That statement is so true and North Carolina has built up its legacy and maintained classiness all around. You don’t hear of academic problems, recruiting violations, or anything like that at North Carolina and I know you won’t as long as Roy Williams is around. So, you stay classy North Carolina.