This was supposed to be fun. And there were times that it was.
Sunday's return to Carmichael was not for the players. They know Carmichael Arena as the place where the women's team plays.
It was for you, or maybe for your dad. Or for anyone who could tell you that they sat right over there when Michael stole the ball from Rick Carlisle, or that they saw the Tar Heels beat Magic and Michigan State, or that they never ever gave up on the Heels, even when they were down eight points with 17 seconds left against Duke (there are hundreds of thousands of these fans, but strangely you never bump into someone who says, "Yeah, I was so mad I turned off ol' Woody on the radio and I missed every bit of the comeback").