Alright guys, this is for the Carolina fans. I can connect with your pain right now, because, you guessed it, I’m a Tar Heel. And I’m proud to be one. Yeah I’m the Sports Editor and maybe shouldn’t disclose that, but hey, we’re not set in the Triangle, and I’m not going to be bashing Duke or State.

This is simply being written because I need some therapy right now from the hurt I just experienced, and I figured my fellow Tar Heel fans could use it too.

If you’re reading the sports section of the Sampson Independent, you undoubtedly know the heartbreak that the Tar Heels experienced in the closing seconds of the National Championship game. So I’m not going to go into detail about what happened, and relive that nightmare again already.

Instead, I guess we’ll talk about some words of encouragement. We can say we have gotten through things like this before, but have we? Yeah, Austin Rivers in 2012 hurt a lot. But that was a ‘daggum’ regular season game. This was for all the marbles guys. And we watched it slip away. As helpless as could be. However, each day, the hurt will slowly but surely start to not be as bad.

In fact, if you’re not reading this until Wednesday’s paper prints, then you are probably feeling a little better already. The big thing is, to get through it one day at a time.

And some of you guys are thinking, “he acts like this is life and death here,” but some of you know the hurt I’m feeling right now because you felt it with me.

On Monday night, it may take you a long time to go to sleep. Goodness gracious, I’m writing this at 12:29 a.m. at the moment and haven’t thought about sleep yet. I’m too down and out to sleep. And I’m scared I’ll dream the same nightmare.

By next week, it is still going to sting. Somehow it’ll pop up on your Facebook timeline and you’ll be reminded that, yes, we were that close to playing five more minutes to deciding a champion.

In another month, you may even start to think about how the team may look next season. Getting a little more optimism in your system, yeah? At least I hope I will by then.

By November, a new season with new hope will roll around.

In a year, we’ll either be hurting again because we’ve not won a National Title, or we could possibly be celebrating our 6th.

I guess all I’m trying to say here is, it is okay to let this bother you, and to let it hurt. This team has taken us on a tremendous ride, including ACC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, and a trip to the Final Four. We have been blessed to watch Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson play for 4 years, as they are the kind of players that don’t come around all that often.

Isn’t that why we watch sports, though? I mean are we really such masochists, or do we just live for an opportunity like this? I mean, our team was playing for a championship. One of two teams in the country doing so. We’ll look back and talk fondly of this team, even though they didn’t hang a big banner. And believe it or not, we will get through this. We always do.

Reach Adam Capps at 910-214-9585

By Adam Capps

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