Last night, my beloved Tar Heels won their fifth national championship and their second in five years. As a UNC alumnus (Class of ‘06), it was certainly a great night.
It was also a little bittersweet. You see, during the game last night all I could do was think back. Yes, apparently I’m old! Four years ago, when it was a bunch of guys named Sean, Raymond, Rashad, Jackie, Jawad, Melvin, Marvin, and David cutting down the nets, I was a Junior at UNC. Those UNC students watching the game together on the big screen at the Dean Dome – Yeah, that was me. Those UNC students celebrating together on Franklin Street and jumping over fires – Yeah, that was me. Those UNC students waking up early to get the championship edition of the Daily Tar Heel and be the first ones at the Student Store to get the championship T-shirt – Yeah, that was me. Those UNC students piling into the Dean Dome to see the players return with the trophy – Yeah, that was me. No offense Ed, but #32 belongs to Rashad!
Yeah, last night was a little bittersweet. You see, after the 2005 championship, the whole team left - some graduated and some went pro. I was gutted. As a boy, I had fallen in love with UNC because of their basketball team. My aunt was a student at UNC in ‘93 when the Heels won their third national championship. From then on, I was hooked. I know it seems silly, but I wanted to go to UNC because of their basketball team. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great school and all, but …. well, you know.
And right before my Senior year, everyone was leaving. I mean, I was glad we won the championship and all in ‘05, but my diploma was going to say ‘06 and I didn’t want the team to be bad during my Senior year! Fortunately for me, some young Freshman came to the rescue. Guys like Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green, and yes, some dude named Psyco-T made my Senior basketball season FUN. True, they weren’t the ‘05 championship team, but they played hard and my buddies and I thought it was pretty cool pulling for these blue collar “under-dogs.”
Flash forward to last night and I watched those same hard-working, blue collar Freshman celebrate a National Championship as Seniors. It was all a bit bittersweet.
But it was also a bit sad. You see, last night, as I lay on the couch with my beautiful wife watching all the championship coverage, I got a little bit sad, especially as I watched Roy’s post-game press coference. The man mentioned recruiting. Yes, you heard me, recruiting. One hour after winning the championship and he’s already thinking about next year. But, I should be glad, right? That’s what makes him good, right? I mean, it’s not like the world is going to stop spinning. Old Roy has to get ready for next year and we want him to. After all, that’s what he did back in 2005 and we see where that got us!
But it’s just not Old Roy, it’s also the players. Juniors Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Deon Thompson and Freshman Ed Davis were all asked about their plans for next year. Again, after only one hour? It’s like, “Congratuations, so what are you doing next year?”
What’s my point? It’s all a bit sad, don’t you think? For four years, psycho-T and the rest of these guys have poured everything they have on a basketball court just for last night and all it takes is one hour for everybody to start thinking about what’s next. It reminds me of the book of Ecclesiastes which says that nothing in this world can satsify our souls. As the French philospher Pascal once said, our hearts have a God-sized hole which only He can fill. Yep, even NCAA championships don’t satisfy.
It’s all a bit sad, isn’t it? Kids like Tyler Hanbrough, Danny Green, Bobby Frasor, and Marcus Ginyard come-and-go. Four years, you blink and it’s over. Even the NCAA championship they worked so hard for comes-and-goes. Anybody remember who won it in 1999 or 1989? Didn’t think so.
And the feeling of winning last night? Well, Old Roy said he wanted to get back on the recruiting trail (as early as tomorrow) so that he could feel it again. Feel it again? One hour after winning the blasted thing and he uses the word again?
I guess the feeling doesn’t last, but then again, it never does. Not in 2005 and not in 2009. So, Old Roy is back – just like too many of us – searching for that feeling again.
To me, it’s a little more than bittersweet – it’s sad.
Yep. I’m still learning. I’m still learning what it means to wear big boy pants. It all started a while ago.
Long ago (and in a land not so far-away), my grandparents (mom’s side) first taught me to wear big boy pants and to potty in the toilet rather than in my pants. By the way, on a side note, if anyone knows why we call this ”going to the BATHroom,” please let me know. Thanks!
Anyway, my parents had dropped me off with my grandparents (not sure why) and they took it upon themselves to potty train me. To this day, my grandmother says that you need to potty train a child as soon he or she gives even the slightest indication of being ready. Apparently, I made such a sign (not sure what it was). Whatever it was, I’m glad I made it. In just one day my grandparents had potty trained me and, as far as I know, I never relapsed.
So, how did they do it? They took off my diaper and gave me some big boy underwear. Yep, they allowed me to suffer the consequences of a bad decision – to potty on myself rather than a toilet. History, I believe, has shown that I didn’t like soiling myself and so I quickly found the toilet a far better option.
For this (among countless other things), I am thankful to my grandparents. Taking away a G.I. Joe lesson of the day, I would say that growing up means learning how to “handle your buisness.” I means learning to wear big boy pants. Now, there is some stuff that we can’t handle ourselves, like sin and death. But there are a number of things which we can and must learn to handle ourselves (just like using the potty).
One of the biggest problem facing us as a culture right now is not an inability to use the toilet, but a fundamental inability to think for ourselves. Far too often, we are replicators and reproducers. Think about it. Most news outlets – papers, radio, tv – no longer report just the facts. They understand that facts are not self-interpreting. Example: my knowing that two cars crashed in front of my apartments does not, by itself, tell me why or how the wreck happened. We want an explanation and they are happy to give it to us.
Not that we mind. We’re far too busy to actually stop and think. There’s too much to DO and too little time! You know it’s true. We’ve got a million-and-one things going on. It’s no longer, “just the facts, ma’am.” It’s now, “just the facts and what they mean, ma’am. I haven’t the time to do it myself.”
I think it’s an insult to our created nature. Genesis 1:27 says that we are created in the image of God. I believe that this means we have the ability and responsibility to analyze facts and make rational decisions. Unlike animals, we have the ability to think for ourselves. We don’t need to have someone else simply tell us the way things are or what we should believe. I see this as an inalienable right endowed by our Creator in our very nature – imago dei.
Unfortunately, because of sin and its effects, we are far too quick to give-up this gift. Don’t forget that Genesis 3 says that Adam and Eve were deceived. They followed the smoke and mirrors that Satan offered. In what they thought to be a liberating act (”being like God”) they really gave up their freedom. “Oh, gee, you’re right. That tree does look good.” Cue the zombie like eyes and monotone voice. In effect, at the Fall, humanity traded its God-given big boy pants for diapers.
Amigos, Jesus Christ died so that we could wear big boy pants. He died so that we could live free of sin and its devastating effects. This doesn’t mean that we show our gratitude by living in our own subculture or living in a Christian bubble. Jesus didn’t die to create a subculture of Christians living in isolation only thinking about heaven and angles. No, He died so that human beings might reclaim their priviledged standing - walking in relationship with God as His image-bearers, learning to rightly think about all things in His creation.
2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we are to “take every thought captive” under obedience to Jesus Christ. Every thought means every thought. It doesn’t matter what works, what feels good, or what is easy. It means what is true, right, and noble. This is not pragmatic truth, this is inherent truth.
And this isn’t diaper stuff people, this is some big boy stuff!
