I take after my dad in most things in life. Sensitive, stubborn, ambitious, and outgoing. He’s a storyteller too, and he knows how to tell them well. Him and I are cut from the same cloth, whereas my brother’s even-tempered, mellow and always kind nature comes straight from my mom. I got most of the Billings genes, Sam the Lawson side of things. But with this comes a major exception – when Carolina sports are on, I become my mom’s carbon copy.
Nothing rattles my mom, except the Carolina Tar Heels. She is the biggest fan I know, and this is just a common fact in our community. Lyn Billings knows her sports. Her allegiance to UNC comes from her 20+ years working as a pediatric nurse at UNC Hospitals, a career that has shown her some of the hardest things there is to see. These scenes don’t frighten her though, she is calm and collected in the face of chaos, one of the best nurses around. But when she’s off the clock, curled up on the couch watching her Tar Heels play, she can barely stomach the sight. My mom gets SO nervous that she often has to exit the room after only two minutes of play, keeping track of the score (on her GoHeels app) from the opposite end of the house. She wants them to win, badly. Not for herself, but for the players, for the program, for the people on that court. She loves the game and the stories that come with it, and she gave that gene to me.
Yesterday was my last Carolina v. Duke basketball game as a student, and man it was one for the books. As the clock ticked, I sat curled up in a little ball at my favorite spot in town, watching the big screen, as an absolute anxious mess. I held on tight to my best friend Sarah Cate, repeatedly screaming “I just want my mom!” I knew she was on the other side of town, just as nervous as I was. But Sarah Cate was feeling it too. And so were the other hundreds of students huddled around the screen, watching history unfold. I was exactly where I needed to be. Within a matter of minutes, the Heels became unstoppable, dominating Duke in the second half and punishing them in their own arena. And the icing on the cake – it was Duke’s head coach, Coach K’s, HIGHLY anticipated, final game on his home court. What a way to send him out.
And with that, we ran. For us seniors, rushing Franklin Street one last time was an absolute gift. We all learned the hard way just how quickly things can change, when traditions like this were stripped away during COVID. We had a sweet taste of what it really meant to be a Carolina student during our first year and a half, and then spent the next year and a half inside. The thought of rushing Franklin two years ago felt like a pipe dream. But last night, there we were. Arm in arm, tears (and expletives) flowing, in full force.
As a born and bred Tar Heel, I have had my fair share of victory laps. I’ve seen ACC and NCAA championships and been in the Dean Dome for buzzer beater wins. Last night’s win was different, a whole new breed. When the camera panned to Leaky Black’s face with three minutes left in the game, I saw how bad he wanted it, completely locked in. He’s been through it all with us these last four years, and then some, and he was on that court to rewrite the story. This win was special because it was ours. My class has lived through unprecedented times, in some pretty challenging circumstances. We were stripped of lots of wins, both on and off the court, and we learned the hard way to savor the ones you do get. And that’s why last night’s game meant all the more to the boys, to me, to all of us. It was well deserved and well earned.
To our basketball team, thank you for everything. Thank you for giving us the win we all needed and thank you for giving Coach K a proper Tar Heel send off. And to Coach Davis, thank you for continuing the Carolina legacy, this program couldn’t be in better hands.
And lastly, to my mom, I will always think of you when I am watching a game. Thank you for giving me the Tar Heel gene, and for teaching me properly which school is the better blue.
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