SOUTH BEND, Ind.–HLS caught up with North Carolina head football coach John Bunting, seeking comment about the upcoming Notre Dame-North Carolina matchup. When asked about the traditions among the two schools, Bunting said, “When you have a history of two traditional powerhouses matching up like this, it’s exciting for everyone. You look back at Notre Dame’s history, and you have the Four Horsemen, the 10-10 tie with Michigan State, the green jerseys, breaking Oklahoma’s winning streak, Montana’s comebacks, Knute, Ara, Lou. Then, you look at us and we have Dean Smith, James Worthy, and Jordan’s shot to beat Ewing and Georgetown.” Bunting continued, “Just two great schools with a lot of history between them.”
Asked what other intrigue the matchup had to offer, Bunting said, “Did you know Larry Brown spent more time here than he has anywhere else in his life? Including the homes he’s owned. That says something about our great traditions right there.”
HLS asked Bunting about some of the football tradition of North Carolina. “Football? Oh, man, you want to talk football?!” Bunting said. “We have one of the best women’s football teams in the nation! Did you know that Mia Hamm played here? She’s married to Nomar Garciaparra, you know. She won a gold medal. Fine woman, that Mia Hamm,” Bunting said, beginning to sweat and talk more quickly.
When questioned about American football, Bunting said, “Oh, yeah! We have some tradition there, too! Stewart Scott went to North Carolina, and look what he’s done for football in America! ‘Boo yah!’ ‘Boo yah!’ ‘Boil! Goes the pot! Pop! Goes the turkey nipple! And now we have Thanksgiving dinner!’ He says all sorts of stuff like that during football highlights.”
HLS persistently pressed further, to which Bunting replied, “Hey! Isn’t that Baseball Hall of Famer and Tar Heel Peter Gammons?” When HLS turned to look, Bunting disappeared.
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I can’t believe we were all so stupid as to fall for the “Hey! That’s Peter Gammons” trick.
Again.
Now c’mon. North Carolina does have the distinction of being the last football team Lawrence Taylor played for before he became addicted to crack.
Yeah. Like he never tasted nose-candy at UNC.
Oh. Wait. Crack. Ok, maybe he hadn’t done crack.
Quick child-hood story. I was teeing-off at a golf course in Myrtle Beach on a hole that ran along a rode where LT was, at the time, being arrested for posession. Ah. The Wonder Years.
Q,
The worst part was when we fell for the trick while Gammons was all aneurysmed up.
In all fairness, we were in a hospital at the time.