Carolina Basketball On My Mind

QOTD: What's your favorite winning-game moment in basketball history? Share a Youtube video of that moment if it's available!

Yesterday, I had one of those surreal moments when something really exciting happens, but then after that moment passes you aren't sure if it happened at all. I was playing weiqi (围棋) with one of my friends in the Pit, which is the heart of UNC-Chapel Hill campus culture, after my last class of the day. A pomegranate Jamba Juice smoothie in hand, I was contemplating my next move when Kendall Marshall emerged from around the corner. 

It is not news that, following the Tar Heels' defeat in the Elite Eight and a short but intense period of fans waiting for an answer, Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall and John Henson all decided to enter the NBA draft. In fact, they announced their decisions yesterday, right before Marshall walked through the Pit, and I didn't even know the waiting game had been over until after he left and my friends told me. 

When I looked up and saw the tall, looming figure of Marshall walking in our direction clutching his own large Jamba Juice smoothie, I glanced at my friends with a sort of shocked, panic-stricken look on my face and then scrambled to my feet. 

I think I said something along the lines of, "I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Wendy," and then asked him how his day was after shaking his hand. There's no telling how often this happens to him on a daily basis, but Marshall introduced himself (I think? Again, it happened so quickly) and seemed pretty cool with all of this. And then, I told him that we were all extremely proud of him and what he had done for us this year. He thanked me with a smile, and I requested to take a photo with him. 

People of the world: This is Kendall Marshall, former point guard on the UNC-CH Basketball team! (Photo Credit: Marquis Peacock)

This was honestly the most exciting moment of the entire year for me so far. I never would have thought that I'd be lucky enough to meet one of the Tar Heels' best basketball players, much less get to talk to him and tell him how much he means to the Carolina community. Because even though there are a ton of local, state and national fans who are upset with Barnes', Marshall's, and Henson's decision to leave UNC-CH, I think inside all of us are proud of the way they have represented Carolina during their time here. 

Here is a confession: I didn't even know what Harrison Barnes looked like last year, or what our coach's name was (I know now, Roy). As a freshman, I still didn't really feel like I belonged at Carolina, much less care about UNC sports. It wasn't until this year, when I went to my very first basketball game and we won against Georgia Tech, that I learned my first lesson: Basketball isn't just about basketball. 

It's not just about how the crowd roars when Barnes catches a rebound or when Tyler Zeller makes a slam dunk. It's not just about the ominous cheers of Go to hell Dook! or I'm a Tar Heel born, I'm a Tar Heel bred, and when I die I'm a Tar Heel dead. And, believe it or not, it's not just about winning. It's about all of this taken together, and when the clock strikes 0:00 and the crowd rushes the court, it's about everything the team has done to get to that point. It's about how hard the Tar Heels have worked to get to where they are now.

We may not have won the NCAA tournament this year, but Carolina is still number one--and not just for the sports. I became hooked onto UNC Basketball this year after I realized how well our team members know each other--both on and off the court. Marshall was a good sport in deciding not to play in the Elite Eight due to his wrist injury, and I have seen the players be nothing but supportive of each other this entire season. In the end, it was the team's remarkably effective communication and clever strategies (aka Roy's coaching) that led us to beat Duke by 18 points earlier this month. And really, what else matters? 

Kendall Marshall in the UNC-Duke game on March 3, 2012. 
Carolina won 88-70. 

Many--but not everyone--see this move by Barnes, Henson and Marshall as quitting, but I don't see it that way. Don't get me wrong--I am also pretty disappointed that I won't be able to see these big three lead us to incredible wins next year. And I may still be a newbie to UNC sports culture, but if there's anything I know it's this: If you have the determination to go for your dreams and do what you think is best for yourself even when everyone else is telling you otherwise, then that says something. Our team did the best it could with the time and resources given to the players and despite the injuries. We've won five NCAA championships, including the 2009 tourny, and this sounds blasphemous, but we don't need to win every single year. 

Barnes, Henson and Marshall are all moving on to bigger dreams. We should too. 

And anyhow, who says UNC-Chapel Hill can't win next year? If anything, their departure will give way to a brand new team with fresh, talented players ready to make 2012-2013 our year. I see you, McAdoo and Strickland. We're counting on y'all to make some Carolina blue magic happen on the court. No pressure or anything. 

Thanks to Barnes, Henson, Marshall and Zeller for making me truly feel like I belong here as a UNC student and as a Tar Heel fan this year. We will miss them, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing them a lot on television. Besides, they'll be back to visit--like Kendall Marshall said, he will always be a Tar Heel at heart. 

Carolina Basketball On My Mind

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30-Day Challenge 9: Meet RES Turtles, David & Little Cloud

Question of the Day: What are some song lyrics that really mean a lot to you?

Day 09: Something you're proud of in the past few days.

Today, I played Frisbee with a friend for the first time in...well, a VERY long time! My Frisbee-throwing was pretty shaky at first, but after a few rounds I got better and was able to make a few good tosses. Even though I'm still a "Frisbee-ginner," it was great being able to brush up on my hand-eye coordination skills and, especially after hours of studying in the library, get some exercise in!

How do you find the time in your schedule to exercise and stay in shape?

One of my "Blog Resolutions" for this year is to showcase my two turtles on TRA blog! And I thought...well, why not today?

Turtle Fun Facts:

• I have had my turtles since August 2009
• I bought them at a Chinese New Year celebration in Boston, MA
• They were originally named Benjamin (now David) and Sera (now Little Cloud) but the names never stuck! Therefore...
• The bigger turtle's name is David (Da Wei) and the smaller turtle's name is Little Cloud
• My parents named them :)
• They were the exact same size when they first came home, and now look at the difference!
• 

They take turns "sunbathing" and "cooling off." What a great team! If you're wondering why there is a porcelain pig chillin' in the tank, he's there to prevent the log from floating around.

....and they also like to share space too! Sometimes, they will even stack up on top of each other while sunbathing, which is actually characteristic of Red-Eared Sliders.

Here is a photo of their complete habitat. Yes, there is indeed a floating mini log in the water. It looks weird when it bobs up and down but I think the RES like it. :) It's like an exercise ball for a mouse, except for turtles!

~~~

Got questions about David and Little Cloud, or about red-eared sliders in general? Leave a comment and I'll send an answer your way!

30-Day Challenge 9: Meet RES Turtles, David & Little Cloud

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Stay WARM and Stay ACTIVE....with a Shuttlecock!

Question of the Day: If you had to choose, would you rather deal with really hot or really cold weather?

I'd just like to answer my own QOTD for a moment and make a case as to why I'd rather deal with really cold weather. Well, personally I get nauseous in the heat and just like cool weather in general. My practical argument is the fact that you can always put on more clothes if you're cold. When you're in the sweltering heat, though, you can't just...like, peel off your skin. :/

Aaaanyway. On to today's post! x)

In China, when the youth got cold during the wintertime they would do anything they could to work out, exercise, move their body. Stay active. One of the most popular sports that they would play was with the shuttlecock, or as the Chinese call it, the jianzi.

You can buy one for yourself HERE or you can make your own!

You need these items:

1) scissors and tape

2) ribbon OR feathers OR strips of plastic

3) string

4) 3 coins (which allows the shuttlecock to land on its feet every time)

Last year, I learned how to kick the shuttlecock as part of my high school senior project. The shuttlecock is basically like a feather hackysack, and the actual sports game is similar to badminton. The Chinese enjoyed playing with the jianzi because it was cheap, fun, and warmed their bodies in no time. If you've kicked a hackysack before, you know what I mean! You have to constantly balance and twist and turn to make sure the hackysack never falls to the ground. You gain a lot muscle in your legs and you learn to balance.

The feather shuttlecock is most popular, but if you don't have any feathers you can still use plain old plastic or ribbon. Take a plastic grocery bag and cut it into strips of plastic. Fold them, starting at the middle, around a few coins and hold them secure with tape or ribbon or some other substance. It may not work as well and it may not be as fun to use, but the general idea is still there.

When you make a feather shuttlecock, you can find rubber bases in a Chinese supermarket. Twist the feather ends together and stick them into the base. Use glue or tape if you need it to keep the feathers in tact.

In that first photo, if you look close enough you can see the feather jianzi that have coins as the base. Tie the coins together with string. Remember, the more coins you use, the harder and faster the shuttlecock will fall to the ground, and the more strength you'll need to keep that shuttlecock in the air.

This is what a feather jianzi looks like after it has been put together!

Fun fact: In China, they use chicken feathers to make their jianzi.

It takes a lot of practice to be able to kick the shuttlecock well. You can play with it either on your own or with friends and family. In fact, it's even more fun when you kick it with other people! After you do it for a while, you won't even notice how good you've gotten! My dad kicked the shuttlecock a lot when he was younger, and got to the point where he could kick it over 100 times without dropping it on the ground or barely even moving from his original spot!

Stay warm! =)

~TRA

P.S. It's best to find a room in your house that has ample space and no breakable objects. If you don't mind the cold too much and if it's not snowing, you can even take the jianzi outside on the sidewalk or driveway for more room and to show off your new skill!

Stay WARM and Stay ACTIVE....with a Shuttlecock!

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Retold Blogfest: "David Speaks, Melinda Doesn't"

*gasp* Yes. Yes, I am writing a post that does not involve Harry Potter. That's because it's November 16th, the day of Sarah's Retold Blogfest at The Wit and Wisdom of Sarah. Congratulations to Sarah for keeping up such a wonderful blog and reaching her 100th post.

For the Retold Blogfest, we are supposed to write a scene from another book/tale/novel from another character's point of view. I just finished reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved this book and really admire Anderson's way of writing and bringing readers into the mind of her main character. Therefore, I have decided to write my Blogfest entry on the "Stupid, Stupid" scene from Speak, in which David Petrakis asks Melinda to come over for "celebratory pizza". I have written this scene from David's point of view.

I hope you enjoy.

David Speaks, Melinda Doesn't

There were ten seconds left in the last basketball game of the season. The air was thick with screams and shouts as a Hornet dashed towards the basket, but I could hear none of it. The scoreboard read 50-50. My eyes were glued on #12, who was dribbling to ball towards the goal, the key to our school's pride. As though in slow motion, #12 dodged two Coatesville Cougars and reached towards the gym ceiling. In one swift movement, the ball fell through the basket.

There was silence, and then there was an immense uproar. My friends and Dad and I sprinted up from our seats and screamed, clapped, and cried along with the rest of the crowd. We had won. How was that for the Horny Hornets of Merryweather High School?

"WE WON! WE WON!!!"

"Damn, that was one amazing shot!"

"He did it in just one move..."

"Legendary, man."

"WE WON! WE WON!"

"Didn't even get pushed on the way to the basket!"

"Faked right, duh."

I loved basketball and always had since I was a kid. This was by far one of the best high school basketball games I'd ever seen. That #12...whoever he was, he was going places.

We pushed through the doors, still conversing excitedly about the game. Suddenly, I caught sight of that Melinda girl, the one from Social Studies class. The one with blistered lips and a dumb, blinky-blink look when people asked her questions. I couldn't believe she was here. I barely ever saw Melinda at any school events or activities except for the Art room. Knowing my friends wouldn't miss me if I disappeared for just a few moments, I walked towards my lab partner.

"Melinda! Where were you sitting?" Blink, blink.

"Did you see that last shot?! Unbelievable! Unfreakinglievable." I pretended for a moment that I was #12, and mimicked his movements with the ball. I dribbled, dodged imaginary obstacles, dribbled some more, and then swished. Melinda's eyes followed my motions, but she never said a word. Go figure.

"I mean, seriously, where did that guy learn to shoot like that? Even before the end, he was already getting us some serious points. I bet he's gonna win a scholarship some day." I rambled on, hoping to spark Melinda's interest somehow.

This was crazy...I was talking to myself. I mean, I'm not a total genius or anything, but usually I can figure most people out. But Melinda? Nothing. It was like...whenever I tried to talk to her and dig in deeper to find out who she was, what Melinda was like, there was nothing but a brick wall to block my way. What I feared most was that there was nothing to find out. That she was a dummy.

Ding! Light bulb. I had an idea.

"Say, why don't you come over and have some pizza with me? Dad's getting three boxes for us to chow down back at my place...you know, to celebrate the Hornets' success!"

Blink, blink.

"Come on, Mel. You gotta' come with us! My dad told me I could bring anyone I wanted. We can give you a ride home after if you want. It'll be fun. You do remember fun, don't you?"

I thought I saw Melinda twitch for a moment...her lips. They had made some sort of movement, but no sound came out. She gave me a twisted look, a cross between a half smile and a grimace, and made the teeniest motion with her left hand. It was obviously a no thanks.

I shrugged. "No? Okay then, no. Suit yourself. See you Monday." I walked away.

As far as I was concerned, Melinda wasn't going places like #12. In fact, she wasn't going anywhere unless she learned how to speak.

~~~~~~~

So what do you think? =)

~TRA

Retold Blogfest: "David Speaks, Melinda Doesn't"

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China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

Question of the Day: Do you prefer a cell phone that has a touchscreen (like an iPhone) or one that has a keypad (like a Blackberry)? Why?

So basically I took over 400 photos while I was in China and had a pretty tough challenge before me in deciding which ones to host on my blog. I've decided to do 3 different posts, each one called China 2010 Scrapbook, but with a unique subtitle. The 3 scrapbook pages will be: Scenery, Food, and Fashion. There were loads of different foods that I ate and I'm sure you've probably never seen before, plus lots of clothing and accessories that I bought. Can't wait to share them all with you!

13-hour plane flight FROM Chicago (after the 2-hour connecting flight TO Chicago) TO Shanghai, China. I absolutely adore plane flights, mostly in part by the beautiful view from the sky. Honestly, you can literally see a map forming before your eyes as everything gets smaller and smaller and eventually turns into a whirlwind of green and brown. Love it.

Here, I was at Pudong, one of Shanghai's major skylines. It serves as the more contemporary side of the Huangpu river; on the other side (the side that I was standing on) is called Puxi and is made up of more historical and traditional buildings. I think it's so cool how that skyscraper to the right curves inward and looks like some sort of fish or knife.

Another photo of Pudong, but with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower, which is actually a tower that operates television. Isn't it beautiful? Also, you can see exactly how foggy and humid it gets in Shanghai...most days, the weather there is characterized by lots of cloudiness and fog.

This is Chen Hua Miao, aka Yu Garden, otherwise known as one of the busiest and most famous bazaars in Shanghai. I bought tons of little trinkets and oriental gifts there for myself and my friends. Rain or shine, there are always loads of people there. Plus, the cultural architecture is wonderful to view and admire. Nanjing Lu is one of the biggest shopping centers in Shanghai as well, and is particularly breathtaking at nighttime. As you can see, there are LOADS of people. Tons of malls and restaurants are located here showcasing the biggest name brands (Chinese as well as international), but the downside is that most everything is extremely expensive.

And here we are...pictures of The World Expo 2010!!! Over 200 countries from all over the world participated in the Expo, and each country had its own pavilion that they'd spent the past couple of years building in the Expo ground. The motto of the Expo was: Better City, better life.

This is China's Pavilion, one of the biggest and most noticeable ones there. Unfortunately, only VIPs were able to get in, but from what I saw on CCTV, the pavilion mainly has very oriental and professional performances with traditional dancing and singing. Everyday there were crowds of people waiting in line, sometimes for as long as 9 hours straight, to go into pavilion after pavilion. Underneath China's pavilion, you can see some other neat pavilions.
Welcome to the pavilion of the United Arab Emirates! I thought this was really beautiful...reminded me of a pot of gold, to be honest. There were loads of people in this pavilion, and it's not hard to see why. I realized that the first impression and architecture of the buildings have to be really impressive for them to be that popular.

I think Sri Lanka's pavilion was one of the coolest! It looked very oriental and centered very much around their culture. Unfortunately I didn't go in, but it was homongous and had lots of people in it, too!

Here is Argentina's national pavilion. If you look closer, you can actually see all the people standing in line, waiting to go in. Outside the pavilion, there was a really big television screen on the outer wall showcasing Argentina.

How could I have gone to the World Expo without seeing good ol' America's pavilion? Ours reminded me a lot of an airplane, hehe. The USA showed two large-screened movie clips and had a few performances led by American dancers and singers. They also had a small restaurant that served American food. We ate some burgers and fries, but it wasn't like the real thing. xD

Brazil's pavilion was pretty neat. Like Argentina, they had a giant screen showing (I think) Brazil in this year's World Cup (congratulations to Spain, by the way!)...but I may be wrong.
~TRA

China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

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