Tar Heels Get a Big Send-Off

ABC News on Campus reporter Nadine Maeser blogs: North Carolina basketball fans sported their favorite powder-blue attire with an umbrella in one hand and a pompom or sign in the other as they cheered on players and coaches headed to Detroit for their 18th appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tournament. People of different ages and regions made it out to the send-off Wednesday with one thing in common — they love Carolina basketball.  Mike Thompson is an Appalachian State University graduate and doesn’t think twice about wearing his Carolina blue.   ”I’ve been born, bred and raised in North Carolina so, you know, you gotta love the Heels.”  Thompson says his favorite part about events like this one is the solid fan base.  “The fans are just so supportive of their team.  When they’re on a streak, the fans are on fire,” Thompson said.  But "Carolina fever" runs young and old.  Grace Hanlon, 15, of Chapel Hill, said, “There’s no option to not be a fan.”  Grace will  spend her spring break watching the Tar Heels with friends, family and food and, of course, rocking her Carolina blue every day of next week.  When I asked her what her favorite part about the team was, she hesitated but then  said she couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else or with any other team.  “You can’t beat anything like this,” she said. “The idea of just having the greatest team ever around you just makes it so great.” UNC alum Joanie Brooks ventured from Raleigh to see the boys off and was nothing but smiles minutes before the guys walked out the doors of the dome.  “There’s a lot of blue and white and that’s great,” said Brooks.  It’s a bittersweet goodbye for the Tar Heels as they begin this battle for the title.  “I love this team. I don’t know, it’s just a really fun team to watch, and I really get depressed at the end of the season.”  And so it’s the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end for the Tar Heels. The next time the team sees the Dean Dome it might have a national championship to its name.  And there’s a reason why Tar Heels fans stay true to their blue. No matter what, Roy’s boys won’t go out without putting up a fight.