Winning Isn't Everything...

What is something pretty obvious? UNC Football is struggling.

At the beginning of this season and my senior year, I was so excited about this football season. The fall atmosphere, getting dolled up for game day festivities, chowing down on my roommate’s buffalo chicken dip… Nothing is quite like it. I grew up watching college and professional football with my dad all weekend, curled up on the couch, surrounded by my mom’s outstanding holiday decorating with a bag of chips and a Diet 百事 . Football is one of the main things that defines fall for me.?

Sure, UNC Football’s recent streak of losses is disappointing. One thing about me? I hate noon games. I am nowhere near a morning person, and on the weekends, if I have to wake up before ten in the morning, I am not a happy camper. One thing about this season? It looks like a good amount of noon games are in our foreseeable future. I also hate to see UNC lose. This university is basically my personality trait, and when I hear onlookers trash the thing that I love most, I feel the need to defend it like it was my child that was being teased by a school bully. You talk bad about my kid? I’m coming for you.?

For this blog, let’s say that games are being played in the evenings.

I would wake up around, ideally around ten, clean up my apartment some, and then turn on the noon games as my roommates and I craft up some delicious game day food. We get ready together, slipping on our Carolina Blue dresses and white boots, and have a fun, relaxing day preparing for the night ahead of us. We head to campus around 4:30 because we live 15 minutes away and traffic is terrible on game days and take in the surrounding atmosphere. Chapel Hill is electric… The Pit and the Quad are bustling with food trucks, activities, and games, the Bell Tower lawn is full of tailgating fans watching other games in preparation for ours, and overall, everyone is just so excited. Once the doors to Kenan Stadium open, we get a good seat in the student section, which is not too close where you can’t really see what’s happening on the field, but not too far up where you don’t feel like part of the action. When UNC scores a touchdown, you and your fellow Tar Heels jump with joy and cheer along with the rest of the stadium.

What did I not mention in that scenario? UNC’s football record.

If I am planning to attend a game, that routine does not change according to whether or not UNC had been successful in the weeks prior. Sports aren’t all about what is taking place on the field… It is about the experience and memories made in the process.?

This semester, I am taking Sport Sales and Revenue Production with Nels Popp for my Sport Administration major. He’s awesome by the way and so passionate about what he does… I highly recommend taking a class with him if you can. While learning how to sell a product, Dr. Popp has instilled in us that selling sports should not be based on winning. It is about the experience… Attending games with your dad as a kid on the weekends… Catching a t-shirt when the cannon shot around the stadium… Buying ice cream scooped into a UNC baseball hat that you can keep as a souvenir… These are all things that people remember about sports. If someone asked you what the final scores of the games were that you attended, there is a good chance you won’t remember, but you will remember the little things that happened during the event.?

Although UNC Football has struggled recently, fans keep coming back for their Tar Heels. Every fan has a unique story that brings them into Kenan Stadium, and although success is important for some, it is not the be-all and end-all for others. The sports product is about the experience. I know that losing isn’t fun, but there are so many other positives about game day than the final score.?

The next time that you think about not attending a game because your team isn’t performing the way you expect, try to get yourself to still go. The opportunity won’t be available to you forever, so take advantage of it. As a senior, this is something I constantly remind myself. One day when I don’t feel like waking up early for the game, I must tell myself that this will be over before you know it, and you are only a college student once. Live it up… You won’t regret it.?