UPDATE: On the RSS feed issue. I think it is working now but Google Reader, for example, will not take just the plain URL, you need to use “www.tarheelblog.com/feed” to subscribe manually. You can also click on the RSS symbol above the SEARCH THB on the right side of the header to access RSS too. Please let me know if this isn’t working for anyone.
Not that anyone will really notice considering we only changed one word.
The site move went well, so well I only consumed one can of Diet Mt. Dew as opposed to downtimes at the office where I put down two 20 oz bottles of the nectar from heaven. Anyway, I am sure you are brimming with questions so I’ll answer a few.
What changed besides the name?
The underlying web host the site runs on has changed. As most of you are aware the site could be slow when traffic was higher. For the past almost four years the blog had been running on a shared web host. It is now on a virtual private server which means we have dedicated access to a portion of the memory, disk space and CPU.
So will that solve the site slowness?
We will find out tonight. On the new host I will have more control over server settings and the ability to monitor how just our traffic effects the server.
Why did you change the name?
It made sense at this point to drop the “Fan” from the name to make the blog looks less like a fan site. It has always been our goal to run this site as a source of news and analysis in a professional manner.
If the name of the site has changed what do we call you?
Since the site is no longer Tar Heel Fan and we have multiple authors anyway, I will be changing my byline from Tar Heel Fan to my real name. C.Michael and Doc will keep their names as is.
Any chance we can get our avatars back?
Well, I probably owe you that much but instead of allowing custom ones here let me point you to Gravatar. All you need to do is register there with the same email address you use on the blog then upload an avatar there and it will appear on the blog.
Anything else?
The new URL is www.tarheelblog.com. If you access this site via an RSS feed you will need to update your feed reader accordingly.
As will all transitions of this nature there may be minor blips. Please let me know via the contact form. Feedback from you, the reader, is extremely important in maintaining a stable web site. Don’t assume I know something is broken, please let me know so I can look into it.
Now that we have that out of the way it is time to get ready for UNC-Duke tonight and to do check out this video of former UNC players and coaches in this “I Am A Tar Heel” video.
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The difference in speed is quite noticeable
Might have some DNS issues. I can’t subscribe through Google Reader. Says the Feed can’t be found…
With this name change, I think you should get press credentials from Steve.
Changes look great! Heels tonight by 17!
Avatar insertion was easy, BTW.
I am looking at the RSS issue. It worked for me last night but I will look into it. DNS is probably not an issue or shouldn’t be one.
havent finished the proces…but to sign into Gravatar, i have to sign into WordPress. to sign into WordPress, i have to use all lowercase letters now…the blog might not be the only thing to change names.
I don’t understand all this computer talk.
Hey “Brian” —
It’d be super-neat to have all your analyses of old UNC hoops teams readily ‘clickable’ over on the left of the page, instead of just once a year.
Maybe also put a link (or several) to the compilation of team stats for all those old teams.
It would make the blog useful as a reference site in addition to providing the heated discussions and bawdy poems that we all love.
HTTE: I’m pretty sure that you don’t have to change names, since Gravatar selects based on your email address.
I appreciate all your efforts to make this a great site Brian! Just seems like yesterday this site got up and going. I am glad I joined in the early stages of it, when there were only just a few members. Wow, has it grown! It has been a terrific blog since day one!
“I’m pretty sure that you don’t have to change names, since Gravatar selects based on your email address.”
Exactly. Just use the same email as you do here and the username you choose for Gravatar will be irrelevant.
When’s our next game?
^We have a tough game against Va. this weekend, but I wouldn’t take tonight’s game lightly….don’t want to look ahead too much.
Looks like these name changes are also easier, typing wise. Chris is quicker the CMichael, and Brian even seems to be easier than THF. Will Doc stay the same?
Doc will stay the same because he is ex-CIA and cannot have his identity revealed….oh wait…I wasn’t suppose to tell people that?
Crap!
hm. well it told me to sign in as i would on WordPress. and then rejected my handle because of uppercase. i’ll go back…
I’ll second (and third and fourth) that you have all helped make this a terrific blog. Each of you are talented, informed, and thoughtful writers and I can’t imagine how much time it takes to tend to everything you do.
My thanks as well.
my college roommate’s son goes to Carolina, yes i’m that old, and i didnt quite grasp how difficult it is for students to go to games. this is the FIRST game of the season he got tickets for, and he only got them because he’s using his “senior status” early. it will be the only dook game he is allowed to see, at least via student ticket.
did the Dean Dome shrink?
we went to EVERY game back in the day. and this was at Carmichael. of course, it was determined by our effort back then, not by lottery.
Interesting article by Adam Lucas yesterday, on attacking Duke’s D, and a comment from Barnes that many teams run their offense against Duke closer to the halfcourt line (or they let Duke keep them there), rather than closer to the 3-pt. line. This is one of the things that unnerved me watching Miami the other day in the second half against Duke, and I’m kind of surprised they were able to pull it off.
I really liked the players comments about “taking it to them”, with an attack mentality, and one of the good things we’ve more of from Marshall lately. I hope to see that for 40 minutes tonight.
How about a “Beat Dook” topic and some Danny Green video?
Good luck with this step forward. Journalism is a tough road. But you guys are doing a great job. And it is really fun to see what you have on this site.
It is also nice that you are getting more regional and national recognition.
I hope that UNC will recognize your input as well.
Kudos.
HTTE, my niece is at UNC and she has to earn ‘spirit points’ (going to volleyball games, showing up for the well walk, etc.) in order to get student tickets to all the basketball games.
It’s the lottery, as well as the fact that students are often ignorant of the stand-by line(which I use to get seats frequently; they’re back behind the national championship banners, but it’s still fun and if the Dean Dome did get something right it’s the sightlines).
I actually used my “senior status” last year, since I could have graduated last semester(I didn’t, because graduate schools usually don’t accept students in the spring, so I might as well get in some more classes here), so I won’t be attending this Duke game in person.
Marshall watching Lawson film. love it.
and that bit about UNC PGs scoring above their season average, very interesting.
^i cant imagine missing out on Jordan vs Sampson because i wasnt a senior.
LarryS
In a close rivalry, each side studies the other. But this year, UNC has the tools to do something about it.
It has proven impossible to predict how this team will play, but if the comments from yesterday are an indication, the players will be focused.
If the guys aren’t psyched and ready for this one they ain’t gonna’ ever be ready.
need to avenge the ACCt final game last year.
and i didnt need to know this…
when the first game is in chapel hill, we are 0-4 under Roy.
we won by 14 last year at home, vs a much better dook squad.
Barnes is 21 pts from 1000. Henson is 26.
they will be our 66th and 67th 1000-pt scorers, most of any school, naturally.
^The DBR had an interesting bit in their (pretty balanced, I must say) report this AM:
The last 7 UNC/Duke NCAA champions are a combined 3-4 in the first game, but 7-0 in the 2nd. This makes sense when one considers that playing well in early March is much more important than playing well in early February.
“when the first game is in chapel hill, we are 0-4 under Roy.”
Trends exist to be constanly altered and reset. Win em’ both, and win ‘em all!
LarryS, Doc was my nickname at Carolina and is still how most of my UNC friends and fans know me anyway. Besides, every time I try to use my real name, it is redacted by the NCAA, so…
^All the more reason to stay in undercover mode, Doc, especially with that “CIA” thing.
It’s interesting that it’s so hard for students to get tickets to games, since the student section seems consistently not filled. I attended from ’86-’90 and then several more grad school years and I never missed a dook game. I think the computerized “lottery” has been a disaster for student attendance.
HTTE, I’ve been a volunteer usher in the Dean Dome for 10 years. Student attendance has been very odd the past few years. The student sections were not filling up and the athletic department reduced the allotment for many games and sold those seats to the general public. It seems almost every game the student sections in the upper level change. I understand student attendance is down across the country including (cough) Hansbrough Indoor Stadium. That being said, I believe the student sections for tonight’s game are at the 2010 allotment, so expect a loud house. Go Heels!
Don’t worry, Doc, I’ll put you in witness protection.
^^thanks, PRGuy. interesting. it’d be nice to surround the court, but i guess those days will never come again. not while half-million-dollar boosters exist.
as an usher, you have probably met Janice M. i knew her way way WAY back.
take care when we rush the court tonight.