Down here in NC, basketball is the sport everything revolves around.  In particular, the teams of UNC Chapel Hill and Duke play out a long rivalry going back too many years to count.  Dukies, also known as Cameron Crazies, with blue faces, wigs and bodies, appear to cheer their Coach K team on.  Over at Chapel Hill, Coach Williams has taken his team to a number one spot with the Amazing Tyler Hansborough.  So Saturday night’s game was watched in households too numerous to count.  But wait: an amazing thing happened.

Earlier this week, the President of UNC’s Student Body was murdered, senselessly, for her car and her ATM and credit cards.  This bright, 22 yr old woman lost her life so thugs could use her cards, probably to support their drug habit.  The entire campus was outraged and in mourning.  That spread to the town and community and then to anyone in NC watching the news, as photo’s of her ‘alleged’ attackers were shown on television, trying to use her ATM card in her car, the driver wearing garb now identified as that of a Los Angeles gang member.

At the Saturday night game between these two teams, competing for first place in the ACC, everyone (yes, everyone, regardless of which team they were rooting for) were given and wore Carolina blue ribbons in Eve Carson’s honor.  Mothers wearing Duke corsages for Senior Night wore their blue ribbons on the other side.  The Duke team wore black bands on their shirts.  UNC’s Tarheels had EVE inside a black circle embroidered on their shirts.

There was moment of silence just before the National Anthem.  Ten thousand (yes, 10,000) hyped up fans fell completely silent.  Some had tears in their eyes.   Others shook their heads at this crude and cruel loss of life.

Once the game started, both teams played their hearts out.  Each camera shot reminded us they were playing for their team, their school, the rivalry, the win.  But each camera shot also reminded us they were playing for Eve.

Godspeed, Eve Carson.   You will be missed.  And your team won.