After three and a half years of covering UNC sports, I have a new, permanent job as editor of CarolinaBlue Magazine.
Firstly, I want to say thanks for everyone at the Daily Tar Heel who made my experience there great. You all mean a lot to me and I had a great time working with you over these years.
*Added note: Yes, while I still a full-time student. I graduate in May.*
As for the new gig, the monthly magazine covers UNC hoops and football mainly but focuses on recruiting in both sports as well as sections highlighting Olympic sports and other features. If you're interested in a late Christmas gift, follow this link to subscribe to the magazine and its online digital component that comes out weekly.
I will still do breaking news and such, and you can find that at http://northcarolina.247sports.com/. There I will have some stories for anyone to view and others behind the paywall. Either way, a link will always be sent out on my Twitter.
It's a short post because I'm really bad at these kind of announcements. Thanks to everyone who has already sent their congratulations and I really look forward to getting started.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
He's Not Here up for sale
The bar affectionately known by many as "He's Not" is being sold by the owner for $165,000, according to a Craigslist post.
The post states that the bar is to be sold as-is and that the bar's owner would like to retire and has no desire to negotiate the price. Noteworthy: The $165,000 may seem low, but I've been told it's only the price of the franchise. That price does not include any expenses with land and/or rent.
The Craigslist post was made near midnight on Jan. 1, but I've been told it's been on the market since early to mid December.
He's Not, known by everyone who has ever been to Chapel Hill for its blue cups, is the absolute best bar to go to on Sunday nights when it's not frigid. The best time I ever had there was Graduation night in May where it was standing room only both inside and outside, but every other person you bumped into you knew.
My good friend Tori Stilwell wrote a piece on the bar last year for the Daily Tar Heel. In it, she mentions the bar losing 15 percent of its revenue each of the past three years. She also discusses how the owner had come out of retirement from him home in Nova Scotia to oversee the bar after firing a 33-year employee.
"Mark's an old man, I'm an old man, and we were just taking an old man's approach, and we weren't getting anywhere," owner Dave Kitzmiller told Stilwell. He credited poor upkeep as a reason for the financial spiral the bar had taken.
He's Not isn't in the best shape, but that doesn't stop the place from being packed on one of those incredible Chapel Hill nights in the spring, summer and fall. I'm told the owner wants whoever forks over the $165,000 to keep the franchise staples in tact: the name, blue cups and such.
But I think I speak for everyone when I say keep the $4 blue cups and karaoke. But if you want to get a dehumidifier or put a stall in the men's bathroom, that wouldn't be so bad
The post states that the bar is to be sold as-is and that the bar's owner would like to retire and has no desire to negotiate the price. Noteworthy: The $165,000 may seem low, but I've been told it's only the price of the franchise. That price does not include any expenses with land and/or rent.The Craigslist post was made near midnight on Jan. 1, but I've been told it's been on the market since early to mid December.
He's Not, known by everyone who has ever been to Chapel Hill for its blue cups, is the absolute best bar to go to on Sunday nights when it's not frigid. The best time I ever had there was Graduation night in May where it was standing room only both inside and outside, but every other person you bumped into you knew.
My good friend Tori Stilwell wrote a piece on the bar last year for the Daily Tar Heel. In it, she mentions the bar losing 15 percent of its revenue each of the past three years. She also discusses how the owner had come out of retirement from him home in Nova Scotia to oversee the bar after firing a 33-year employee.
"Mark's an old man, I'm an old man, and we were just taking an old man's approach, and we weren't getting anywhere," owner Dave Kitzmiller told Stilwell. He credited poor upkeep as a reason for the financial spiral the bar had taken.
He's Not isn't in the best shape, but that doesn't stop the place from being packed on one of those incredible Chapel Hill nights in the spring, summer and fall. I'm told the owner wants whoever forks over the $165,000 to keep the franchise staples in tact: the name, blue cups and such.
But I think I speak for everyone when I say keep the $4 blue cups and karaoke. But if you want to get a dehumidifier or put a stall in the men's bathroom, that wouldn't be so bad
Monday, January 2, 2012
Players, not donors, wear the uniforms
With UNC football's return to Twitter, the players have already offered up a few talking points in the days since their loss against Missouri.
The first of which came from Donte Paige-Moss, who released a few less-than-favorable tweets about his thoughts on UNC's fans, support and the coaching staff. (For the record, I had no problem with what he said about the fans--he was right. But don't sound off on the coaches like that. Anyway, neither here nor there.)
UNC DB Tre Boston tweeted Monday his wish to have better Nike jerseys. "Dear #UNC can we please have swag like #Oregon cause we have the colors to do it but have the tradition of cavemen #SpeakingTheTruth."
Boston's tweet echoed the sentiments of everything I've heard around the football team. They love the colors but find the jerseys to be basic. And when they wore the navy blue unis for the Thursday night game against FSU, that got the players up more than having the game on national television or Lawrence Taylor in the locker room.
It's believed the powers that be want to keep the uniforms traditional rather than go after the Pro Combat unis that Nike puts out or utilize those navy blues more often. Don't feel bad football team, this is kind of how all the females in Chapel Hill felt when UNC cut ties with Victoria's Secret's Pink collection a few years back.
While the older folks may not like the different uniforms and point to Maryland as the cautionary tale, the fact of the matter is it's not about them. It's about the players. And it's obvious the players want the jerseys.
Last season there was talk of silver helmets coming to the team. A photo of one popped up on Twitter but there it stayed, never seeing the field once. It may not be "classic Carolina," but it's something new. Virginia tried it in the Chick-fil-A Bowl the other night, and UNC quarterback Bryn Renner put it best on Twitter "Not a fan of the UVa helmets, but I respect them trying something new."
In my brief time covering recruiting, I've been told by two recruits that a major factor in choosing among schools is the apparel giant that sponsors them. One guy once told me, no joke, that N.C. State and UNC were neck-and-neck, but he was giving UNC the edge because the Tar Heels were sponsored by Nike.
If you can get people to choose your school over another based on who provides your gear, then don't you think you should use that to your advantage. All those scrubs at Oregon would still love being on the team if they were 2-10 only for the reason that they get to take home all. that. swag.
Swag up, UNC football.
The first of which came from Donte Paige-Moss, who released a few less-than-favorable tweets about his thoughts on UNC's fans, support and the coaching staff. (For the record, I had no problem with what he said about the fans--he was right. But don't sound off on the coaches like that. Anyway, neither here nor there.)
UNC DB Tre Boston tweeted Monday his wish to have better Nike jerseys. "Dear #UNC can we please have swag like #Oregon cause we have the colors to do it but have the tradition of cavemen #SpeakingTheTruth."
Boston's tweet echoed the sentiments of everything I've heard around the football team. They love the colors but find the jerseys to be basic. And when they wore the navy blue unis for the Thursday night game against FSU, that got the players up more than having the game on national television or Lawrence Taylor in the locker room.
It's believed the powers that be want to keep the uniforms traditional rather than go after the Pro Combat unis that Nike puts out or utilize those navy blues more often. Don't feel bad football team, this is kind of how all the females in Chapel Hill felt when UNC cut ties with Victoria's Secret's Pink collection a few years back.
While the older folks may not like the different uniforms and point to Maryland as the cautionary tale, the fact of the matter is it's not about them. It's about the players. And it's obvious the players want the jerseys.
Last season there was talk of silver helmets coming to the team. A photo of one popped up on Twitter but there it stayed, never seeing the field once. It may not be "classic Carolina," but it's something new. Virginia tried it in the Chick-fil-A Bowl the other night, and UNC quarterback Bryn Renner put it best on Twitter "Not a fan of the UVa helmets, but I respect them trying something new."
In my brief time covering recruiting, I've been told by two recruits that a major factor in choosing among schools is the apparel giant that sponsors them. One guy once told me, no joke, that N.C. State and UNC were neck-and-neck, but he was giving UNC the edge because the Tar Heels were sponsored by Nike.
If you can get people to choose your school over another based on who provides your gear, then don't you think you should use that to your advantage. All those scrubs at Oregon would still love being on the team if they were 2-10 only for the reason that they get to take home all. that. swag.
Swag up, UNC football.
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