Matt Harvey Rolls In To San Francisco

(Matt York/AP)

Matt Harvey's big league debut last Thursday did not disappoint.  He helped the New York Mets get only their second win since the All Star break by going 5.1 innings, striking out 11 batters and only surrendering three hits. He also provided the Mets with offense by chipping in with two hits becoming the only pitcher to strikeout at least eleven betters and get two hits in his Major League debut.
After the game Mets manager Terry Collins said "I want him to enjoy it and I want people to get excited about it. But I am also careful enough to know that my experience has been the first time you see a guy, the first time he pitches in the league,he can see a lot of success, and the next time he might not be as good".
Tuesday, Harvey will get the chance to build off his impressive debut as he will take the mound against the San Francisco Giants and Tim Lincecum. Harvey showed really good stuff on Thursday and has gave Mets fans a glimpse of hope for the future, which is much needed this summer.

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Tar Heels Represented in the 2012 London Olympics

The start of the 2012 London Summer Olympics are finally here.  Here is a list of the athletes that will represent their respective countries and the University of North Carolina.   Thanks to the ACC for providing the list.

Athlete	Sport	Country	Event
Illse Davids	Field Hockey	South Africa	Athlete
Rachel Dawson	Field Hockey	USA	Athlete
Katelyn Falgowski	Field Hockey	USA	Athlete
Jesse Gey	Field Hockey	USA	Athlete
Jaclyn Kintzer	Field Hockey	USA	Athlete
Amy Swensen	Field Hockey	USA	Athlete
Vikas Gowda	Men's Track & Field	India	Discus
Robyn Gayle	Women's Soccer	Canada	Athlete
Tobin Heath	Women's Soccer	USA	Athlete
Meghan Klingenberg	Women's Soccer	USA	Athlete
Heather O’Reilly	Women's Soccer	USA	Athlete
Shalane Flanagan	Women's Track & Field	USA	Marathon
Alice Schmidt	Women's Track & Field	USA	800m
Katie Bowen	Women's Soccer	New Zealand	Athlete

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New York Mets Promote Top Prospect Matt Harvey

The New York Mets have called up former Tar Heel and current top prospect Matt Harvey from Triple-A Buffalo. In Buffalo this year, Harvey is 7-5 with a 3.68 ERA and 112 strikeouts.  The Mets brought up their top pitching prospect due to Johan Santana going on the DL and growing frustration with the number 5 starter Miguel Batista.  Harvey was selected seventh in the 2010 draft by the Mets.  Harvey is a power pitcher who has K/9 ratio of 9.8 in his minor league career.  He still needs to work on his walk per 9 innings ratio which has increased after every promotion for Harvey.  Baseball America had Harvery ranked as the 54th best prospect in baseball entering the season.  Harvey will get his first Major League start Thursday night in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.  The Mets hope this move will help end their current skid, as they have lost 9 of the last ten and only have one win since the all star break.

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Marcus Ginyard To Play In Poland

Former Tar Heel Marcus Ginyard has signed with the Polish PLK team Anwil Wloclawek. Ginyard is coming off a season in which he received Eurobasket.com All-Israeli Team honorable mention, he averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assist and nearly 2 steals a game for Israel's Ironi Nahariya.  In 2010 Ginyard played in Germany with BBC Bayreuth in which he averaged 10.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assist a game.  Ginyard posted a photo on twitter of him signing his contract.  Anwil Wloclawek will start their season in late September or early October.

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Tar Heels Summer League Recap

(Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)

The 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas ended Sunday night.  North Carolina had six participants in the 5 game season.  Here is a recap of how the former Tar Heels performed:

Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors):  Barnes helped the Warriors go undefeated with a 5-0 record in summer league.  Barnes struggled shooting the ball as he was just below 40% from the field but shot 57% from beyond the arc.  Barnes did average 16.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.  I still feel like Barnes is going to be a steal at number seven and a Golden State starting lineup consisting of: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Barnes, David Lee and Andrew Bogut has a lot of potential.

Ed Davis (Toronto Raptors):  Davis quietly averaged 16.2 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. Davis is another NBA player that was drafted on "potential".  Davis will be entering his third season as he showed promise last season but still needs work on his offensive game.

John Henson (Milwaukee Bucks):  Some NBA draft experts said Henson would be the best pro of the four Tar Heels drafted this year.  Henson missed the Bucks first game due to the flu but nothing would slow him down the rest of summer league.  Henson averaged 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.  Henson also received NBA Summer League All Star honors.

Kendall Marshall (Phoenix Suns):  Like Henson, Marshall missed a game in the summer league but that was due to not being under contract when the summer league started.  Marshall struggled shooting the ball in his first three games but his finally Saturday night looked like the "Butter" we grew to love at Chapel Hill as he had a double-double with 15 points and 10 assist.  Marshall did lead all summer league participants with 6.5 assist per game.

Deon Thompson (Memphis Grizzlies):  Last I reported Thompson had just won MVP in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague tournament. He has started the first two games for Memphis but was replaced in the starting lineup because Memphis went with a smaller lineup.  Thompson's numbers actually improved when he was replaced in the starting lineup.  He averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds a game. Thompson expressed his gratitude towards the Grizzlies via twitter saying " Thank you to the Grizzlies for a great opportunity to wear their uniform and represent their organization this summer."  It will be interesting to see where Thompson ends up as he has a great work ethic and desire to improve his game.

Tyler Zeller (Cleveland Cavaliers):   Zeller averaged 11 points, 7 rebounds and one block per game.  Zeller also shot over 90% from the free throw line and 46% from the field.  

**Justin Knox played in the Orlando Summer League for the Utah Jazz but was let go before Las Vegas Leagues started.

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Tar Heels Around The NFL

With NFL training camps beginning to open up throughout the league, North Carolina has 35 players currently on an NFL roster.  Here is a list of former Tar Heels to keep an eye on during training camps.

AFC:
Baltimore Ravens: (Owings Mills, MD- July 27)
Michael McAdoo (OLB)

Buffalo Bills: (Pittsford, NY- July 29)
Da'Norris Searcy (SS)
Johnny White (RB)

Cincinnati Bengals: (Georgetown, KY- July 28)
Brandon Tate (WR)

Cleveland Browns: (Berea, OH- July 29)
Greg Little (WR)

Houston Texans: (Houston, TX- July 31)
Dwight Jones (WR)
T.J. Yates (QB)

Indianapolis Colts: (Anderson, IN- July 29)
Matt Merletti (FS)

My Top 3 Tar Heel Basketball Moments

Number 3:  No Timeouts!

When the Tar Heels won the championship in 1982 I was not even three yet so I have NO memories of this game.  Everything I seen was on a program that ESPN had in the early 90s that showed the highlights of past Final Fours.  There I lived the glory of 1982 and the disappointment of 1977.  In 1993 the Tar Heels were in the National Title game for the first time since 1982 and it was the first time I had butterflies for a game that I could not  control the outcome.  I watched Donald Williams stamp his legacy in Carolina folk lure as the Sophomore was MOP of the Final Four.  That honor would not come easy as the Tar Heels faced the Fab Five of Michigan, who lost in the title game the year prior.  Carolina held a small lead as Chris Webber grabbed a rebound with under a minute to play.  I watched as the refs let a travel go uncalled but the Tar Heels were resilient in defense and trapped Webber, on the corner, as he crossed mid court.  He then called a timeout Michigan did not have that allowed Carolina to capture its second title under Dean Smith and the first I enjoyed live.

Number 2: Danny's Dunk

Even though this was only a regular season game this is my second favorite moment as a Tar Heel fan.  I was at Wild Wing Cafe in downtown Charleston, SC watching the game with friends, one of whom is a die hard dookie.  I had on my Tar Heels gear including a hat that I have had since high school that my dook friend has told me on numerous occasions he is tired of seeing. He was wearing his new "Carolina Sucks" shirt that I was quickly hating.  Danny Green grabbed a rebound and went down court and posterized the "hated" Greg Paulus.  The most memorable thing for me though was the look disappointment and disbelief on my friends face.

Number 1:  Redemption

2002 was the most disappointing year for me as a sports fan.  For the first time in my lifetime, my beloved North Carolina Tar Heels not only missed the NCAA tournament but finished a horrible 8-20 missing out on any post season tournament.  It was a year that was very tough to watch.  My Tar Heels had always finished in the top 3 of the ACC but that year, dead last!  Freshman Jawad Williams, Jackie Manual and Melvin Scott did not sign up for this.  They came to Carolina because of their winning tradition and legacy.  One bright spot was that Head Coach Matt Doherty was bringing in 3 of the top 10 high school recruits Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton and Sean May.  Fast forward three years later Doherty had been fired and long time Kansas coach and Dean Smith pupil, Roy Williams was brought in to replace him.  Carolina did not go into the tournament as the favorite but would meet the favorite, Illinois Fighting Illini, in the finals.  Illinois went undefeated until the last game of the regular season against Ohio State.  Illinois had battled back from a 13 point first half deficit but the Tar Heels would not roll over.  On the back of Sean May's 26 points and 10 rebounds, Roy Williams got his first title as a head coach.  The 8-20 season was a distant memory and made this championship even sweeter.  I watched this game with no one, I paced back and forth yelling at the TV as if I was the head coach.  When Jim Nantz said "College basketball has a new Dean" I had chills and even let a tear of joy run down my cheek.

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Tar Heel's Summer League Updates

The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is well under way and the Tar Heels are well represented.  The NBA's mini season will run until July 22nd and showcases 13 of the top 14 picks (Anthony Davis is with team USA).  While former Carolina players have returned to Chapel Hill to play in pickup games, there are six former players that are playing in Las Vegas:

(Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)

Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors):  Barnes has helped the Warriors go a perfect 3-0 so far in summer league.  His outside shooting has been key as he is 7-10 from beyond the arc.  Barnes is averaging 17 points 5 rebounds and 2 steals a game.  Barnes however is shooting below 40% from the field as he struggles to finish when he drives to the basket.  I still feel like Barnes is going to be a steal at number seven and a Golden State starting lineup consisting of: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Barnes, David Lee and Andrew Bogut has a lot of potential.

Ed Davis (Toronto Raptors):  Davis is nearly averaging a double-double with 16.5 points and 9 rebounds in four games. Davis is another NBA player that was drafted on "potential".  Davis will be entering his third season as he showed promise last season but still needs work on his offensive game.

John Henson (Milwaukee Bucks):  Some NBA draft experts said Henson would be the best pro of the four Tar Heels drafted this year.  Henson missed the Bucks first game due to the flu but had a nice debut Wednesday night.  Henson had 20 points, 9 rebounds, a block and was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.

Kendall Marshall (Phoenix Suns):  Like Henson, Marshall missed a game in the summer league but that was due to not being under contract when the summer league started.  Marshall has played in two games and has played the role of a facilitator as he has five assist in each game.  Marshall said via twitter that the trainer has him wearing an elbow pad precautionary reasons.  Hopefully this was the reason for his 1-10 shooting night Wednesday.

Deon Thompson (Memphis Grizzlies):  Last I reported Thompson had just won MVP in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague tournament. He has started both games for Memphis and is averaging 24.5 minutes a game.  This is a great opportunity for Thompson to show off his skills for NBA scouts and coaches.

Tyler Zeller (Cleveland Cavaliers):  Zeller was the last Tar Heel picked in this years draft but is having the best Summer League of the four.  Zeller has started all three games averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds and almost 2 blocks a game.  He is shooting over 50% from the field and 88% from the free throw line.  Cleveland has emerged as a possible destination for center Andrew Bynum to help the Lakers land Dwight Howard.  If Bynum does end up in Cleveland, the Cavs will have a seven footer that runs the floor coming of the bench.

**Justin Knox played in the Orlando Summer League for the Utah Jazz but was let go before Las Vegas Leagues started.

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