Carolina Blue Is Taking On New Meaning After This Trip

It has been a lost weekend for the University of North Carolina basketball team.

On Thursday, the Tar Heels were beaten by Georgetown, 93-81, at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

On Friday, the Tar Heels, scheduled to play at the University of Iowa Saturday, left Newark airport on a TWA flight to St. Louis. They then caught a connecting flight to Cedar Rapids, north of Iowa City.

But when members of the Tar Heel party went to claim their luggage at Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport, it wasn’t there. As a result, the Tar Heels had to cancel practice Friday night. Their luggage arrived Saturday morning, 3 1/2 hours before the game.

“It never got out of New York,” said Rick Brewer, Tar Heel sports information director. “They found it on a Braniff carousel at the airport. How it got there, no one seems to know.”

Brewer said an equipment manager arranged to have an old set of uniforms flown in Saturday in case the original equipment didn’t arrive. The backup equipment arrived at the same time as the regular luggage, Brewer said.

“We could have had guys out there wearing James Worthy’s or Sam Perkins’ uniforms,” Brewer said.

The 17th-ranked Tar Heels probably could have used such inspiration. They lost to the unbeaten Hawkeyes, 87-74, marking the first time in Dean Smith’s 29 years as coach that the Tar Heels have lost four of their first eight games.

Trivia time: On Dec. 10, 1939, which team scored the first shutout in an NFL championship game?

Up close and personal: Unlike his predecessor, Pete Rozelle, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has taken the time to visit with players.

He recently met with players from four teams--the New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. He fielded questions about drugs, college eligibility, free agency and anything else on the players’ minds.

Steeler cornerback Dwayne Woodruff said: “I’ve seen a commissioner before, but it’s the first time I had a chance to talk to one.”

Eagle quarterback Randall Cunningham wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. He walked out in the middle of Tagliabue’s meeting, saying he had to practice his punting.

Get me out of here: When the Cleveland Browns went to Notre Dame’s indoor facility to practice last week, Clay Matthews, who played at USC, said, “How do you think an SC player feels about going to Notre Dame? It’s . . . sick.”

He can’t go too far: Viking defensive end Chris Doleman’s announcement that he wants to leave Minnesota because of dissatisfaction with his contract prompted quarterback Vinny Testaverde of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to say: “If we can’t get him, I hope he leaves our league, maybe our planet.”

Trivia answer: The Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants, 27-0.

Quotebook: Alvaro Riet, Roberto Duran’s interpreter, on Duran’s future after his loss to Sugar Ray Leonard Thursday night: “When Duran is 65 years old, he’ll be fighting for nickels in the street.”