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Calling Audibles Part XII: Reading Tea Leaves and Twitter Feeds

Chapel Hill is abuzz with predictions that a new football coach is on his way. Twitter feeds suggest possible timetables and scenarios while everyone waits for some official word. For my family and the other current coaches’ families we pretty much knew this day would come when they fired Butch Davis back in July. Many people came up to us when they fired Coach Davis and said things like “I’m so glad your husband didn’t get fired and that you all get to stay in Chapel Hill.” It is hard to explain to people that, while John and the … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part XI: Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair

Fair is foul, and foul is fair Hover through the fog and filthy air ~ from Shakespeare’s Macbeth The witches who prophecy Macbeth’s ascent to the throne in Shakespeare’s tragedy warn us at the beginning of the play that human lives rise and fall by both temptation and strange twists of fate. Macbeth’s actions hasten his own death as he sets in motion death upon death in order to realize the prophecy that he will be King of Scotland. By the end, Macbeth’s wife is dead from guilt and madness and he has lost his mind. He muses as to … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part X: Dear Haters–An Open Letter

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you… Do unto others as you would have them do to you. ~Luke 6 Dear Haters, You don’t know me. And you might prefer not to get to know me. I might be a threat to one of your favorite past times: hating the football coach or player of your choice. Now you also might hate an Athletic Director or maybe even a Chancellor in the case of UNC football’s current situation. I am pretty sure you know who … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part IX: Choose Your Demons

Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! What is your name? My name is Legion, for we are many. ~Mark 5: 8-9 Getting to know your own demons is a pretty painful process. The man who was controlled by his demons in Mark’s gospel was basically a raging lunatic. He lived in a graveyard. He couldn’t be restrained even with chains. He couldn’t sleep and he spent his time “howling and bruising himself with stones.” Once the demons were named and acknowledged, they left his body and he was in his right mind again. Even with how hard … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part VIII: Face Time

This Thanksgiving, as every Thanksgiving we’ve spent at UNC, we were blessed to have some of the players at our Thanksgiving table. Devon Ramsay is one of them. If you don’t know Devon’s story and you are a Tar Heel fan or any fan of college football, you should. He is a fine young man—someone to be proud of, someone to root for, and someone for whom UNC should be thankful. For John and me, Devon is someone who inspires us with his resiliency, his perseverance, and his desire to keep working toward his dreams. And for John and … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part VII: Black and White

Warning: If you are a white person, this post may contain material that is hazardous to your worldview. Please proceed prayerfully, not fearfully. The embarrassment I have felt during UNC’s NCAA investigation hit its peak last fall when accusations of academic fraud started coming out. The offense of cheating has always hit a nerve with me, but the prospect that people cheated was not what left me the most horrified. I have been a part of several stellar academic communities in my life—from the college campus I grew up on, Centre College, to Oxford University to Vanderbilt and Emory and … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part VI: Arrested Development

When you watch college football today there is one thing for sure, women will take up space in the spectacle of it in very limited ways. Most, if not all, of the women you will see will be cheerleaders or in beer commercials. There may be a few women reporters on the sidelines–there is only one who ever does play by play (ever)—a tepid attempt the networks are making to have some women around who are not simply “eye candy,” as I heard one sports radio host describe women at football games. If there is one place that football suffers … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part V: The Agony of Defeat

The Agony of Defeat–On the way home from Virginia Tech Crisp fall afternoons repetition, one more time details, instincts, well worn paths routes putting the pieces together of a winning combination step by step moving toward the present goal careful attention solid determination confidence builds coming into its own in time for the flurry the buzz of a night with lights blazing and expectations high don’t lose sight or hope don’t forget the process the steps the feeling those steps have you can do this one step at a time stay focused don’t flinch breathe and move in concert with … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part IV: Fan-Wise

Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise. ~Psalm 90:12 “It’s only a game.” This statement of seemingly obvious fact is what people often say to me when they are musing over why people care so much about football. The sentiment behind this statement is one of exasperation, judgment, and desired diminution. Football needs to get back to its proper place—to a game, a hobby, a past time that doesn’t carry with it the most important and profound parts of life. And the feeling is that those who make it more than a game … Read the full post

Calling Audibles Part III: The Winning Edge

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ~Colossians 3:14 During the twelve years that my husband, John, coached in the NFL he coached some great players and we met some wonderful people. While leaving the highest levels of the game is a hard thing to do in a competitive business like football, John made a choice to go back to college football because of what got him into coaching in the first place. When I met him in Oxford, England while we were both in college he was deciding what to do with his … Read the full post

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