When you’re from North Carolina, you expect everyone to go a little crazy when March Madness hits. Just in case you’re not a basketball fan, March Madness refers to the NCAA college basketball tournament, which runs through the month of March. For basketball fans, March Madness is like the Super Bowl, the World Series, and Christmas combined. In other words: a really big deal.
Needless to say, when I moved to Alabama from North Carolina in 2008, I was in for a huge wake up call. No one cared about basketball- they were too busy obsessing over football! With a team like the Crimson Tide, I couldn’t really blame them. And while I made room in my heart for both the Crimson Tide and the Tarheels, it was a learning process.
For example, I noticed that during football games, many fans were decked out in houndstooth. One day, much to the horror of my fellow fans, I made the mistake of asking why. It turns out that Paul Bear Bryant, Alabama’s head coach for 25 years, who led the team to 6 national championships and 13 conference championships, did it all while sporting his trademark black and white houndstooth hat.
We Tarheel fans have our own legend, the late Dean Smith, who coached at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1961 to 1997 and retired with 879 victories. Under Smith, The Heels won two national championships and appeared in 11 Final Fours.
I’ve revealed before that my one and only tattoo is a Tarheel on my foot. Now that’s commitment to one’s team. But, if you don’t want to sport a permanent tattoo or hard-to-scrub-off face paint, there are other ways to support your team. Houndstooth is a pretty snazzy look, but so are these Tar heels.
For just $300 I could watch the big game while wearing a gorgeous pair of crystal pumps, bedazzled with the UNC logo:
Don’t worry-I haven’t forgotten about the Crimson Tide. If I’m already spending $300, what’s a few hundred more, right? After all, you can’t put a price on team pride!
There are even entire websites like GorgeousGameDay.com (see above) devoted to helping sports fashionistas get themselves runway ready before cheering on their teams. As for me, let’s just say I’m praying that this year’s “in” color for March Madness will be none other than Carolina Blue.
Happy Monday,
Mary
