Who wouldn't want to spend Labor Day weekend in Chapel Hill?

I loved Labor Day weekend in Chapel Hill when I was in school there.  We were only about 2 weeks into classes so the stress levels were still pretty low.  No major exams to study for.  No end of term papers due.  Labor Day weekend is the start of the college football so the first home football game of the season was usually that weekend.  In 1996, I was at the game where we beat Clemson 45-0 to start off a 10-2 year.  Good times.

This Labor Day weekend as I await the kickoff of the Chick-fil-A season kickoff game featuring the Tarheels vs LSU, there are several people spending the weekend in Chapel Hill which I wish were not.  They are 13 players from our 2010 Tarheel football team.  This includes 7 starters from our defense which was set to be one of the best in the nation.  And to be balanced on both sides of the football, those players include our best playmaker on offense and our top 2 running backs.  Our new-found football notoriety couldn't come at a worse time.  After several dreadful years, we finally had hope that this could be the year that we made noise in college football.  We made noise alright.  Unfortunately, it was like passing gas in church.  And it does stink.

I've listened to commentators all week talk about how dreadful this is.  But, Kirk Herbstreit has instilled in me confidence that the backups are going to give it everything they have.  They'll throw caution to the wind.  Our backs are against the wall.  We've got nothing to lose.  Insert tired platitude here.  Bad thing is that we have a lot to lose.  Our entire season can hinge on this game's outcome and the outcome of the ongoing investigation.  Our next game is against GA Tech, last year's ACC chamption.  So we have a lot riding on the early part of the season.  And to make it worse, it could get worse.  Marquise Williams, a top 15 national recruit at QB, says he is still firm in his commitment to UNC (unless we go on probation, then he's gone, his words, not mine).  How many others would follow?

The game's about to start so we'll see how it goes.  Just to be clear, I have faith in my team, and I think we can win the game.  Hopefully, they just believe that themselves