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Tar Heels around the world...

BlueKicks

BlueKicks

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Mar 26, 2016
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Hi all,

Firstly, apologies if this is a thread that's reared its head on the forum many times over the years - as you can see I'm a newbie here...

I was just wondering what the make-up of Heels fans is on the board, and if there are any of you guys outside the States?

I'm from England and still live here, so as you can imagine, it's pretty difficult to talk Tar Heel sports with anyone around here. (I also appreciate that it's pretty unordinary for someone not from the States to be a pretty serious fan of a College team!)

Anyway it'd be cool to hear from you guys, wherever you hail from.
 
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Cheers! And thanks for supporting the Heels.

I'm a UNC fan living in North Carolina, so I'm fortunate that I can usually get to see the Tar Heels play live a few games each season.
 
Yeah, I could be wrong but I don't recall any regulars on this board who live overseas. Good way for you to get some Tar Heel talk though. Just remember to take it with a grain of salt. I'm in NC as well; we do have plenty outside the state, though.
 
Ah well, looks like I'm one of a kind. :rolleyes:

I've been looking for somewhere on the net to talk Heels, but couldn't really come up with anything until now. I (somehow) didn't realise Rivals had specific team forums, despite visiting the site a lot over the years.

Now I can chat about them with someone other than my dog. He's the only one who sits down to watch 'em with me!
 
I live in eastern North Carolina. Just curious, did you go to Carolina? If not, how did you become a fan from England? Glad to have you and welcome!
 
Welcome! So yeah I live in Florida. It's a small country south of Georgia. People here are a bit weird. They worship a gator mostly. But in large, concentrated pods around here you can find ex-pats that hail from as far North as that other country, New England. And of course we border South Florida, which I hear is a lovely country but I don't go down there much.
 
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grillheel said:
I live in eastern North Carolina. Just curious, did you go to Carolina? If not, how did you become a fan from England? Glad to have you and welcome!
Click to expand...

I haven't made it over yet, no. The closest I've got until now is Florida!

As for how I became an unlikely fan... I don't really have a coherent, definitive answer - come to think of it. I've never really stopped to collect why.

To have a crack at it, I'd say that I've always loved America's relationship with sports, and I've been watching from afar for quite a long time now. I started with the NFL, then the NBA - but I never really found myself settling on any teams to root for - it was more about appreciating and learning about the game.

As much as I appreciate the top level of such sports, and love watching guys like LeBron and Cam Newton throw down, the max contracts, bombing for lottery picks/draft picks, moving franchises from St. Louis to LA and all of those types of things don't really have me racing to fall in love with a professional team. (I know we could probably be cynical and find some ugly things about the NCAA too, but that's neither here nor there.)

The college game spoke to the 'fan side' of my brain though, right from the moment I started to pay attention to it. We don't have anything remotely similar to it over here - I played on the Soccer team at University, which is our main sport, and we'd get maybe 50 people to come and watch on a good day! To this day the college sports landscape in the US continues to blow me away.

All I knew was that I couldn't end up rooting for a team on the west coast - that would mean me staying up to even more ridiculous hours watching games! And eventually I found myself watching North Carolina more than any of the other teams in the country. I loved that shade of blue, if nothing else that I can recall now...

After that, I just took time to watch, read and learn about the school. I had no idea if they were respected sporting-wise, or had ever been, but it turns out I got lucky. After reading up on guys like Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Mack Brown and learning the backstory, I got in too deep. Even now, watching the likes of Marcus Paige and the humility that guy shows in whatever circumstance, it impresses me so much.

Now I'm stuck, apparently trying to self-diagnose myself with insomnia watching all these games at 3am!

I don't regret it one bit though.
 
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:cool::cool::cool:
BlueKicks said:
I haven't made it over yet, no. The closest I've got until now is Florida!

As for how I became an unlikely fan... I don't really have a coherent, definitive answer - come to think of it. I've never really stopped to collect why.

To have a crack at it, I'd say that I've always loved America's relationship with sports, and I've been watching from afar for quite a long time now. I started with the NFL, then the NBA - but I never really found myself settling on any teams to root for - it was more about appreciating and learning about the game.

As much as I appreciate the top level of such sports, and love watching guys like LeBron and Cam Newton throw down, the max contracts, bombing for lottery picks/draft picks, moving franchises from St. Louis to LA and all of those types of things don't really have me racing to fall in love with a professional team. (I know we could probably be cynical and find some ugly things about the NCAA too, but that's neither here nor there.)

The college game spoke to the 'fan side' of my brain though, right from the moment I started to pay attention to it. We don't have anything remotely similar to it over here - I played on the Soccer team at University, which is our main sport, and we'd get maybe 50 people to come and watch on a good day! To this day the college sports landscape in the US continues to blow me away.

All I knew was that I couldn't end up rooting for a team on the west coast - that would mean me staying up to even more ridiculous hours watching games! And eventually I found myself watching North Carolina more than any of the other teams in the country. I loved that shade of blue, if nothing else that I can recall now...

After that, I just took time to watch, read and learn about the school. I had no idea if they were respected sporting-wise, or had ever been, but it turns out I got lucky. After reading up on guys like Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Mack Brown and learning the backstory, I got in too deep. Even now, watching the likes of Marcus Paige and the humility that guy shows in whatever circumstance, it impresses me so much.

Now I'm stuck, apparently trying to self-diagnose myself with insomnia watching all these games at 3am!

I don't regret it one bit though.
Click to expand...
Great answer and, may I say, you have shown great taste in selecting Carolina to pull for!:cool:
 
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JuleZ '02 HEEL said:
Yeah, I could be wrong but I don't recall any regulars on this board who live overseas. Good way for you to get some Tar Heel talk though. Just remember to take it with a grain of salt. I'm in NC as well; we do have plenty outside the state, though.
Click to expand...

Doesnt State93 live in Ukraine or Poland or one of the Stans? Not that he is a regular any more.
 
I live about 40 miles from Chapel Hill.

Also, I am guessing you have an idea of how all the different forums work, but if not, here's a primer

OOTB is where all the intelligent, well rounded poasters congregate. We discuss most anything here, although please don't inquire about breakfast cereals unless you have a lot of free time. Many of us hop around to the other forums although Radar, in particular, has become especially tiresome this year. In fact, we had to conduct special operations and rape and pillage a few of their villages about a month ago as they were becoming particularly unruly.

Radar is the free basketball topic board and is run by a few sheriffs who have apparently been charged with identifying and yelling at anyone who believes that Roy or any player on the team is capable of even a minor fault. There are some good threads and generally Radar does a fine job of starting and maintaining Duke Sucks types of threads and those can be fun. When visiting poasters come by for a chat, they usually go to Radar.

Blitz is the American football free board. We will be happy to walk you through the intracacies of football if you have any interest- i have to imagine it is confusing to someone who hasn't watched since birth.

Then there are the payboards, both of which are good as the tone is more cordial than the free ones, especially Radar. Payboards are a much better source of inside information, but be careful not to believe anything WTZ/Cheap Whiskey says.

Also, you might be interested to know that a few of us are Premier league followers. I myself am a 3rd generation, lifelong follower of Everton FC and THN11 likes Arsenal or Tottenham or some such band of thugs from the south.
 
Last edited:
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@UNC71-00

Thanks, that's very helpful. I've been trying to work it out myself but hadn't captured it quite as clear as that.

Cool to hear some of you follow Soccer too. I see Charlotte has been chosen as one of the venues for the International Champions Cup this summer!

Kind of a 'meh' competition but certainly sweet to have some of Europe's best players on your doorstep, if it's your thing.
 
If you go to the radar board and you are not a cheerleader 100% you will get run down like crazy, constructive criticism is frowned apond over there but here it's alot more laid back!
 
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@BlueKicks

Actually I'll ask here. Who's your soccer team? And @UNC71-00 I used to be an Arsenal fan, but I'm tiring of them in a big way. The last 4-5 years, Crystal Palace has been the team I'm most interested in. Would love to go to a game at Selhurst one day.
 
BlueKicks said:
I haven't made it over yet, no. The closest I've got until now is Florida!

As for how I became an unlikely fan... I don't really have a coherent, definitive answer - come to think of it. I've never really stopped to collect why.

To have a crack at it, I'd say that I've always loved America's relationship with sports, and I've been watching from afar for quite a long time now. I started with the NFL, then the NBA - but I never really found myself settling on any teams to root for - it was more about appreciating and learning about the game.

As much as I appreciate the top level of such sports, and love watching guys like LeBron and Cam Newton throw down, the max contracts, bombing for lottery picks/draft picks, moving franchises from St. Louis to LA and all of those types of things don't really have me racing to fall in love with a professional team. (I know we could probably be cynical and find some ugly things about the NCAA too, but that's neither here nor there.)

The college game spoke to the 'fan side' of my brain though, right from the moment I started to pay attention to it. We don't have anything remotely similar to it over here - I played on the Soccer team at University, which is our main sport, and we'd get maybe 50 people to come and watch on a good day! To this day the college sports landscape in the US continues to blow me away.

All I knew was that I couldn't end up rooting for a team on the west coast - that would mean me staying up to even more ridiculous hours watching games! And eventually I found myself watching North Carolina more than any of the other teams in the country. I loved that shade of blue, if nothing else that I can recall now...

After that, I just took time to watch, read and learn about the school. I had no idea if they were respected sporting-wise, or had ever been, but it turns out I got lucky. After reading up on guys like Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Mack Brown and learning the backstory, I got in too deep. Even now, watching the likes of Marcus Paige and the humility that guy shows in whatever circumstance, it impresses me so much.

Now I'm stuck, apparently trying to self-diagnose myself with insomnia watching all these games at 3am!

I don't regret it one bit though.
Click to expand...
Reading this thread gave me goosebumps. Good stuff!

Also, I don't know why or how this came to be, but one time I was leaving a Carolina football game, and was walking through campus (Polk Place) and behind me I heard a Tar Heel fan with a thick, Scottish accent talking to his son about the game, and then talking to a friend about the class buildings around us and clearly reflecting on his time at school at Carolina. I have no idea what that was about, but it was definitely intriguing, as I'm from strong Scottish and English heritage (i.e., I'm your typical Southerner).
 
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TarHeelNation11 said:
@BlueKicks

Actually I'll ask here. Who's your soccer team? And @UNC71-00 I used to be an Arsenal fan, but I'm tiring of them in a big way. The last 4-5 years, Crystal Palace has been the team I'm most interested in. Would love to go to a game at Selhurst one day.
Click to expand...

My team is Leeds - that's where I'm from. If you've not heard of it before, I usually describe it to Americans who ask me as 'close to Manchester'... in the north of England. That seems to do the trick most of the time.

We used to be one of the best teams in the country in the early late 90's/early 2000's, but the club has been ran into the ground over the past decade. Management issues and crazy owners have killed us. We're in the Championship now (the league below the PL).
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
Reading this thread gave me goosebumps. Good stuff!

Also, I don't know why or how this came to be, but one time I was leaving a Carolina football game, and was walking through campus (Polk Place) and behind me I heard a Tar Heel fan with a thick, Scottish accent talking to his son about the game, and then talking to a friend about the class buildings around us and clearly reflecting on his time at school at Carolina. I have no idea what that was about, but it was definitely intriguing, as I'm from strong Scottish and English heritage (i.e., I'm your typical Southerner).
Click to expand...

Me too! I've never really thought about why I love following North Carolina. I just do it.

That's cool to hear. Maybe the person had spent some time studying over there or something.

I've wondered many times how many people from this side of the pond have frequented Chapel Hill over the years. Maybe I'll freak everyone out when I do make it over there one day.
 
BlueKicks said:
My team is Leeds - that's where I'm from. If you've not heard of it before, I usually describe it to Americans who ask me as 'close to Manchester'... in the north of England. That seems to do the trick most of the time.

We used to be one of the best teams in the country in the early late 90's/early 2000's, but the club has been ran into the ground over the past decade. Management issues and crazy owners have killed us. We're in the Championship now (the league below the PL).
Click to expand...
Leeds United, gotcha. Yeah I know about LUFC. It would be nice to see Elland Road added back as a Premier League ground, and for y'all to renew your extinct rivalry with Manchester United. We shall see I guess.

Crystal Palace should act as a beacon of hope for all Championship (and even League One) teams who aspire to make it to the Prem. A few years back, Palace had to get a result against Sheffield Wednesday (at Hillsborough) to stave off relegation. They got what they needed (can't remember if it was a win or a draw), which kept them up in the Championship and relegated Wednesday to League One. I think it was only two seasons later, the Eagles gained promotion.

I watch A LOT of English soccer lol.
 
BlueKicks said:
That's cool to hear. Maybe the person had spent some time studying over there or something.

I've wondered many times how many people from this side of the pond have frequented Chapel Hill over the years. Maybe I'll freak everyone out when I do make it over there one day.
Click to expand...
I did have a Scottish guy in one of my history classes while I was at Carolina. I'm not sure if he played a sport or not, but I don't think so.
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
Leeds United, gotcha. Yeah I know about LUFC. It would be nice to see Elland Road added back as a Premier League ground, and for y'all to renew your extinct rivalry with Manchester United. We shall see I guess.

Crystal Palace should act as a beacon of hope for all Championship (and even League One) teams who aspire to make it to the Prem. A few years back, Palace had to get a result against Sheffield Wednesday (at Hillsborough) to stave off relegation. They got what they needed (can't remember if it was a win or a draw), which kept them up in the Championship and relegated Wednesday to League One. I think it was only two seasons later, the Eagles gained promotion.

I watch A LOT of English soccer lol.
Click to expand...

Nice, good knowledge!

Yeah, I'd love to see us back up there again. We would be if it weren't for awful businessmen who milk all of our assets for their own gains. Leeds-Manchester is the NC-Duke over here - sucks that it's not a regular event anymore.

Have you ever caught a game over here?
 
BlueKicks said:
Nice, good knowledge!

Yeah, I'd love to see us back up there again. We would be if it weren't for awful businessmen who milk all of our assets for their own gains. Leeds-Manchester is the NC-Duke over here - sucks that it's not a regular event anymore.

Have you ever caught a game over here?
Click to expand...
Two. I saw an England-USA friendly at Wembley in May of 2008 (I believe the new Wembley had just opened?), and then I went to a Manchester United - Blackburn match at Old Trafford in like 2011. I despise Manchester United, but it was the easiest game to get tickets to, so my two buddies and I that were planning a week-long trip to London, flew into Manchester instead and attended the game, then took a train to London.

As an American sports fan and an avid drinker, I was quite shocked when I bought a beer in the concourse and then couldn't take it to my seat!! Good thing I happened to look up at the sign saying "Absolutely no beer past this point. Violators will be prosecuted" sign before I walked through the tunnel to the seats..

ETA: EPL game tickets are much harder to come by than I imagined. We tried to go to a Tottenham game while in London and could not get tickets to save our lives (without paying an astronomical sum).
 
You'll always be fine over here, but please do not, under any circumstance use the term "poast" to identify something someone has said on a message board. If you do, your post will not receive a 'like' from coolwaterunc. Those are very valuable 'likes,' I might add.
 
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TarHeelNation11 said:
Two. I saw an England-USA friendly at Wembley in May of 2008 (I believe the new Wembley had just opened?), and then I went to a Manchester United - Blackburn match at Old Trafford in like 2011. I despise Manchester United, but it was the easiest game to get tickets to, so my two buddies and I that were planning a week-long trip to London, flew into Manchester instead and attended the game, then took a train to London.

As an American sports fan and an avid drinker, I was quite shocked when I bought a beer in the concourse and then couldn't take it to my seat!! Good thing I happened to look up at the sign saying "Absolutely no beer past this point. Violators will be prosecuted" sign before I walked through the tunnel to the seats..

ETA: EPL game tickets are much harder to come by than I imagined. We tried to go to a Tottenham game while in London and could not get tickets to save our lives (without paying an astronomical sum).
Click to expand...

Haha. Conversely, my Dad was thrilled to find you can drink beers in your seat when we went to a Chargers game a few years ago (it was the only show on in town).

Getting tickets for teams in the south of the country can usually be quite difficult. Plus, the prices that some teams charge - especially Arsenal - are absolutely ridiculous. No wonder their fans are constantly irate.
 
BlueKicks said:
Haha. Conversely, my Dad was thrilled to find you can drink beers in your seat when we went to a Chargers game a few years ago (it was the only show on in town).

Getting tickets for teams in the south of the country can usually be quite difficult. Plus, the prices that some teams charge - especially Arsenal - are absolutely ridiculous. No wonder their fans are constantly irate.
Click to expand...
You've been to San Diego? I've never been to Southern California, but from everything I've heard, San Diego is heaven on earth.

And yeah, re: Arsenal -- like I said, I used to be a fan (got hooked when I was a kid and they had Henry, the best player I've ever seen in my lifetime when he was "on") but I've found out way too much about how their powers-that-be treat their fans and it's turned me off of them in a big way. They should've never left Highbury -- the Emirates is a library.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but at many college sports games, there's no alcohol sales at all (only soft drinks and food). Now, some schools like Texas and Louisville and West Virginia have started selling beer at football games in the past couple years, but UNC hasn't and probably won't any time soon. Luckily though, the staff at Kenan Stadium don't mind if you sneak liquor in, as long as you're somewhat subtle about it :D
 
Spurs fan here. Tried to get a ticket to White Hart and could not get one without spending the entire vacation budget. Wife would not go for it. Women just don't get it.
 
Billheel said:
Spurs fan here. Tried to get a ticket to White Hart and could not get one without spending the entire vacation budget. Wife would not go for it. Women just don't get it.
Click to expand...
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Spurs are lame :D

(White Hart Lane seems like an awesome venue though!.....too bad they're tearing it down)
 
Our cocks are to large for your jocks! Quote from my great friend who got me liking them about 20 years ago. Yeah it does suck that it's getting torn down. Bucket list item that will go unfulfilled.
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
You've been to San Diego? I've never been to Southern California, but from everything I've heard, San Diego is heaven on earth.

And yeah, re: Arsenal -- like I said, I used to be a fan (got hooked when I was a kid and they had Henry, the best player I've ever seen in my lifetime when he was "on") but I've found out way too much about how their powers-that-be treat their fans and it's turned me off of them in a big way. They should've never left Highbury -- the Emirates is a library.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but at many college sports games, there's no alcohol sales at all (only soft drinks and food). Now, some schools like Texas and Louisville and West Virginia have started selling beer at football games in the past couple years, but UNC hasn't and probably won't any time soon. Luckily though, the staff at Kenan Stadium don't mind if you sneak liquor in, as long as you're somewhat subtle about it :D
Click to expand...

I've been to America a few times, but only to the usual, touristy places (the WC and New York). If it was up to me, we'd be heading to the south!

Oh, and duly noted. I'll have to roll out the 'I came all the way from England for this, can you let me off this once?' line.
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
Assuming BlueKicks is legit and isn't one of us who's bored and got a new handle, should we compile a list of Southern colloquialisms and slang for reference? Could be helpful for @Hark_The_Sound_2010 as well? Just keeding!
Click to expand...

Ha, I was trying to work out how to add the Twitter button to my signature (I saw someone else had one a few days ago). I'm a real Tar Heel fan from England. Hard to believe, I know.

One of my favourites is the 'dawg'on' (sp?) thing that Roy always says in his press conferences.
 
BlueKicks said:
Ha, I was trying to work out how to add the Twitter button to my signature (I saw someone else had one a few days ago). I'm a real Tar Heel fan from England. Hard to believe, I know.

One of my favourites is the 'dawg'on' (sp?) thing that Roy always says in his press conferences.
Click to expand...
Haha yeah, listening to Roy is a good primer for learning Southern-ism's. I'm not sure if it's technically a word in the English language lol, but it's spelled "doggone." Don't forget Roy's frequent use of "daggum" too haha. They're just more socially acceptable words to plug in for "damn" or "f***ing" haha.
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
Assuming BlueKicks is legit and isn't one of us who's bored and got a new handle, should we compile a list of Southern colloquialisms and slang for reference? Could be helpful for @Hark_The_Sound_2010 as well? Just keeding!
Click to expand...

I can be the interpreter - probably picked up a decent amount of it while in Chapel Hill, and as a New Englander - may be the closest to being able to discern British English.

Also 2-0 in civil wars (counting the Revolution as a civil war from England) so have that one to hold over both of y'all bloody wankers as well.
 
Billheel said:
Spurs fan here. Tried to get a ticket to White Hart and could not get one without spending the entire vacation budget. Wife would not go for it. Women just don't get it.
Click to expand...

I've been to White Hart Lane once to watch my team play them in the FA Cup. Noisy old bunch down there - FAR better supporters than Arsenal, having been to both places.

Hey, we can all dream.
 
UNC '92 said:
"The thing about Arsenal is, they always try to walk it in."

-Maurice Moss
Click to expand...
And it's effing ANNOYING too. So many people say the Arsenal style (which is Barcelona-lite) is pretty, but it really isn't. Passing the ball endlessly along the top of the 18 is not attractive or fun to watch. Cracking shots on goal is fun to watch -- a concept completely foreign to Arsenal. It annoys me to no end. SHOOT THE BALL
 
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