Month: February 2026

UNC had one of its top-10 buzzer beating games in a victory over Duke this past week, and I was so, so lucky to attend for my first UNC vs Duke game, and check off one of my life goals.

The game was thrilling. Duke lead the entire way with their top NBA draft pic, Cameron Boozer, up front. UNC had both Caleb Wilson and their tall man Henri Veesar beneath the rim. This was the 88th matchup where both teams were ranked. If you arent from the area, its just an incredible rivalry steeped in tradition here in North Carolina. They play twice a year, meaning I have watched around 50+ games between these two.

The day was spent listening to podcasts to help get HYPED for the game. Jay Bilas said in one pod, each team brings the best version of themselves to this game, and neither team would be as good as they are without the other team making them better. This year, for this matchup, Duke is looking like a top 4 team, and UNC is looking like a top 10 team, so the favor is slightly in Duke’s corner, but anything can happen.

I was invited to go with my lifelong friend, Charlie Hiser, and his parents, who are longtime UNC Ram’s club donors. You may be thinking, “But Luke, you just went a few weeks ago”, and you are right. But this was different- going as a Ram’s Club member is a different experience than going as a normal plebian. Here is one big difference: The parking.

Going as a normal fan meant using the general parking deck, a 0.8 mile walk, and 150 foot elevation difference. At this point in life, that walk is largely with a child on your shoulders, indicated by the line in red above.

As a guest of the Ram’s club, the parking was right next to the stadium, a largely flat walk, and complementary golf cart shuttles to get you inside quickly.

There was a quick burger and a beer, and as a very fortunate guest, we got to enter the stadium through the tunnel that the Duke team uses, passing by their locker room, and enter the stadium via the floor of the Roy Williams Court.

Regina showed me around the floor for a minute before getting to our seats. We almost wondered onto the set of College Gameday, but a kind but forceful lady named “Janice” yelled at us for our folly. We got to see Jay Bilas and some warmups up close before the game, which was really cool:

At halftime, there was a big moment to highlight how special “TV Magic” is when watching from home. On ESPN, the halftime show is great. In Real Life, this is what the announcers are up against:

UNC lost by a large margin the first half of the game. After halftime, UNC bigman Henri Veesar got some of his momentum back with a few rebounds, and UNC was off to the races. They chipped away at the lead. At 8 minutes left in the game, they were behind 8 minutes. “I Have seen bigger comebacks, but this might not go our way” I was bracing myself.

At 4 minutes left, they were around 4 points behind. And if you have seen the final minutes, the game was tied, Duke went in the paint for a shot, missed, and UNC got the ball with 11 seconds left and called timeout. They ran the ball to the corner, and Seth Trimble nailed a 3 with 0.4 seconds left to join a very small club of buzzer-beating ‘Heels over the Duke Blue Devils:

Remember how there were 0.4 seconds left? The refs did too- the clock stops when the ball passes the bottom of the net after a shot. Neither the players, coaches, and especially the student section understood there was time left on the clock, and chaos ensued:

If the court is not cleared and the players allowed to finish the game, the victory could be vacated. What you didn’t see on TV was this:

Against all odds, the court was cleared, and the final play by Duke was a long pass that wasn’t caught, passing the last 0.4 seconds, and opening the floodgates for a second rushing of the court

Of all the chances to see a DUKE vs UNC game, this was a pretty good one. Thanks SO MUCH Regina and Charlie for thinking of me.

The Daddy Daughter Dance

ALSO this weekend, and not to be forgotten, was the Daddy Daughter dance at Westover Church (not our home church, but an awesome church in the area). This is our 3rd year going, Mercy’s first year, and a tradition I really enjoy. Here is a shot of us 3 years ago, and again this year. Bear in mind in 2023 there was not ice on the ground, so the pictures were outside.

The dance was EPIC as always. The event capped at 800 invitations, and sold out again this year. Our pre-dance dinner at the restaurant our dates got to choose was Moe’s, and the chips with queso really prepped us for a night of dancing.

There are lots of ways to do this kind of event wrong, but Westover Church does an awesome job. It is a hit with the dads from around the neighborhood I see throughout the year and for good reason. The songs are great, the food makes the kids feel special, and Rosie loves seeing all of her friends there.

We danced HARD- for 2+ hours, and I don’t regret it. Mercy had a blast, and we made it pretty late, but not til closing time on the very-packed dance floor.

Loved it.

We last left off evacuating town due to the threat of bad weather. There was a bit of guilt on this decision- Rosie really wanted to go sledding with her friends. I get it, this is important. Luckily, the layer of ice that fell was so intense, it didnt melt: and we made it home in time to go sledding with friends before all the fun melted away.

Luckily our driveway faces north, doesnt melt easily, and since we were out of town and didnt get a chance to shovel, this was the state of our driveway 4 days after the storm.

Rosie and her friends had a blast, they stayed for dinner and a movie, mercy’s friend had a wipeout but she was tough and stuck through it. It was great!

We got home on wednesday, but there was no school on Thursday or Friday- a whole week!

Date night was a great relief. As a sidenote, Taylor and I have season tickets to the Tanger Center- which gives us tickets to 6 shows a year (or so?). We usually sell 1 or 2, and it ends up being a pretty good deal. But, we got a chance to have a date night at a local restaurant, Pangea:

Dinner was great, so was the show:

You might be wondering, so what? That sounds great- and it was. However, right on the heels of this fun date night was another 11″ of snow- and a little more madness.

We didnt leave the house on Saturday. It was cold as crap- 20-30mph winds, and 25 degrees. We dont love that here in NC, so I figured to try something for the second time and grill some babyback ribs. This was my second attempt, and I learned a lot from the first time. With a grill that ties into the natural gas line (so the tank will never go empty, ever!) I could grill on low all day. This was a great idea- nothing could go wrong. The thermometer was set- all I had to do was take it off when it reached the magic temperature of 203 degrees, while it was 18 degrees outside. All the recipes said 5-6 hours.

In the meantime, a neighbor invited us to have a special bottle of wine, so of course we took them up on it. What could go wrong, that sounds nice? I know, I thought that too.

Sometimes the pipes that supply water from the city freeze. This was our front yard. We were excited to be out of the house during the bulk of that time, and it was nice- the threat of living 24 hours without water went away while we were at our neighbors house enjoying a fancy bottle of Chardonnay. We made it home from our neighbors, the water was fixed, and I know what your thinking: “that sounds nice, what could go wrong?”

Remember how there was two inches of ice on the ground? Then 11″ of snow on top? That is hard to walk up, and even though the ring camera couldnt catch it because of that light, you can hear when I wipe out and fall on my back. volume on for this video above. “Ahhh geez- that really hurt!” I groan. Mercy walks past and says, “What is happening?”. The city trucks are still in the road fixing the water.

We made it home- safe and sound. What. Could. Go. Wrong.

The ribs were still short of the ideal temp. Taylor went to bed, but I was determined to see this $14 purchase of meat cooked to perfection. All the recipes said 5-6 hours (if you dont wrap in foil). After about 10 hours, still short of 203 degrees, I pulled em off: they were WAY over cooked. Edible, a solid 5 out of 10.

The car couldnt make it up the driveway. And we couldnt safely walk down. It was slick as crap. We couldnt drive up. And taylor was set to leave on a work trip at 11 am on Sunday. There was no way to carry luggage down the driveway to the car- the car had to get up the driveway. With a fire in my heart, I got a spade and just hacked “X” marks into the ice, and got pretty aggressive hitting the gas to try and make it up the drive:

This was more of a proud moment than what the video indicates. Anyways, Taylor made her flight to New Orleans after rescheduling a few things. Some great friends were out sledding and we met with them for a pretty great run on the sleds; Mercy and Rosie are tough, and I am proud of how well they played together.

I was talking with my friends for a few minutes, and realized Mercy and her friend disappeared near the teenagers, who were busy making a ramp. Since dad wasnt there to say no, I guess the answer was “Yes, you can go over that ramp!”. So, before I could even get there, off she went:

Sledding was a blast. Mom came over for dinner. Taylor is gone for 3 or 4 days- I dont even know what day it is any more. There is a crazy amount of snow outside. The temps wont be above freezing for days. The car might not make it up the driveway next time. Kids wont go back to school until who knows when. What. Could. Go. Wrong.