x
Breaking News
More () »

Elite 8: Kevin Kennedy on the road in Philly with UNC

WFMY News 2's Kevin Kennedy is teaming up with photojournalist Sean Higgins to bring you the latest coverage as UNC battles it out in the Elite 8.

GREENSBORO, N.C. —

ELITE 8 - DAY 5

When I arrived in Philadelphia Wednesday my first thought was…please don’t let me be the guy that jinxes this team.

I would like to think I’m good luck. For about 35 minutes of the first game against UCLA it was not looking that way. However, thanks to some good luck…and good love (Caleb Love). UNC prevailed and advanced to the Elite 8.

Sunday’s game against Saint Peter’s was more of a coronation for the East Region champs than a contest.

UNC controlled the game from the outset and ended up winning by 20.  While buzzer beaters are certainly exciting and thrilling, I don’t think any UNC fan had a problem with a virtual cakewalk into the Final Four, especially considering what is looming.

For a team that had what most would say was a roller coaster type season a spot in the Final Four is representative of their hard work, togetherness, and never give up attitude.

There were some tough times for this team at the beginning of the season, but you need both rain and sunshine to grow.

Hubert Davis planted the seeds early on and while fans may have been worried about the storm that hit in January, back-to-back losses to Pitt and Miami the roots on this team were getting deeper and stronger.

Many UNC fans probably never imagined a Final Four run like this, yet here they are. One of just four teams still standing, it is truly a battle of the heavy weights in college basketball. Kansas, Villanova, Duke, and UNC.

So, I guess it is now time to talk about the elephant or should I say “Blue Devil” in the room. Who’s ready for Duke vs UNC Part Three?

The teams split their first two games. Both teams winning on the others floor in comfortable fashion.

The rubber match will not only determine who goes to the championship game, it will be the first time these two have ever faced off in the NCAA tournament.

Separated by less than 10 miles the teams will both prepare in North Carolina before heading to New Orleans for the biggest game of their careers.

Often called the “Big Easy” this game in New Orleans will most likely be anything but. Whoever wins…what a story it will be.

Imagine the bragging rights UNC fans will forever have if they can send Coach K into retirement with a win in the national semifinal?

Flip the script and think about the bragging rights Duke would have beating UNC for the first time in the NCAA tournament during Coach K’s final season?

Sign me up for the trilogy and let the trash talking begin!


ELITE 8- DAY 4 (Before game day) 

The day started with a bit of a hangover… not the alcohol-induced kind but the emotionally excited and draining kind. The games on Friday night were both epic and paralyzingly emotional.

While still soaking up and overcoming what we had witnessed the night before and with a less hectic schedule on Saturday, we decided to check out what the city of Philadelphia had to offer.

I’m embarrassed to say we did what some may do. We googled the best things to do in Philadelphia. To my surprise, we’d already gone to a few of them. 

We did have a story to put together. So, we decided to incorporate some of the sites into our news package. Our first stop was Independence Hall, located next to the Liberty Bell. So much history in such a small space, and while I was better at PE in high school, it was pretty cool to see.

Independence Hall is where the Declaration of Independence was signed. If you didn’t know, the Liberty Bell was not called that at first. The Liberty Bell was first called the State House Bell in the 1700s. It rang out for the first time in 1776 to gather the citizens to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Credit: WFMY

We then headed over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum is home to more than 250,000 pieces of art and artifacts. The steps that lead up to the museum are immortalized in the 1976 film Rocky. When Sylvester Stallone famously ran up the steps and held up his arms.

Credit: WFMY

A statue of Rocky sits outside the museum. On most days, a very nice gentleman who looks a lot like Sylvester Stallone is there to greet visitors.

I didn’t ask, but maybe he would take a picture with you for a few bucks. There are also vendors out front selling Rocky T-shirts.

Credit: WFMY

We then drove over to the Reading Terminal Market. What was once the main station for the Reading Railroad is now a massive melting pot of cuisine and people. The indoor market is home to dozens and dozens of food vendors. It has become a popular gathering spot for locals and tourists to find good eats.

I highly recommend Hershel’s East Side Deli and their corn beef and a pastrami sandwich.

We then drove by the Eastern State Penitentiary as we headed to Philadelphia’s Historic District. The area has tons of cute brownstones, eateries, and shops. Then, it was around lunchtime, so we decided to pop into a local eatery to get some food.

Credit: WFMY

Any guesses what I ordered? Well, I understand that Philadelphia is home to the cheesesteak.  I would like to formally offer the corn beef sandwich as a viable alternative. I again had a corn beef sandwich [hoagie]. It was delicious.

We did have some work to do, so we headed back to the hotel to put together our story. While working, we took in the other two elite eight basketball games. Our sports reporter, who I’m traveling with (A HUGE NORTH CAROLINA FAN), was having heart palpitations watching Duke roll Arkansas.

So here’s a question for all you North Carolina fans? How bad do you want to beat Saint Peter’s tonight? I was shocked to hear our sports reporter say he wouldn’t mind if North Carolina loses.

His logic is interesting to me. It all comes down to him not wanting North Carolina to lose to Duke in the Final Four.

The fear of losing to Duke and the possibility of them going on and winning a national championship seems to be bigger than his desire for North Carolina to beat Duke and possibly win a national championship.

All I know is that Saint Peter’s would be a great story. I can understand if you’re going to lose to any team, it would be tolerable to lose to St. Peter’s. To see this Cinderella team advance to a final four, I could never root against MY team.

With that said, I wish you all a happy Sunday. I know many of you will be watching tonight‘s games! GOOOOOO HEELS! 

SWEET 16 - DAY 3  GAME TIME

Oddly, two of the Blue Bloods of college basketball UCLA, and North Carolina could collide in a Sweet 16 matchup, and the crowd seemed a bit flat from the beginning. Most probably still recovering from the Saint Peter’s upset of Purdue minutes earlier.

The pro-North Carolina crowd was never able to fully get engaged in the game during the first half as UCLA seemed to control the pace and lead most of the way.

There were spurts in the second half North Carolina would take the lead, and the crowd would erupt only to have UCLA make a basket seconds later. With around six minutes left and North Carolina still trailing, it felt like they may never get over the hump.

Then something spectacular happened more specifically one’s play was spectacular. Caleb Love took over the game. He hit back-to-back threes to the delight of the North Carolina fan base.

While UCLA struggled offensively down the stretch, North Carolina finally found another gear. An Armando Baycot rebound and Outback the dagger.

The eighth seated Tar Heels had just knocked off the fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins. While this isn’t a 15 seed beating one seed and then a three seed. North Carolina is still dancing, and at this point, that’s all that matters.

Bring on the Peacocks!

SWEET 16 - DAY 3 (continued)

The Saint Peter’s Peacock, the little school from New Jersey, was just supposed to be a nice story. A team whose athletic budget is more minimum wage than CEO made it to the Sweet 16 after knocking off perennial power in Kentucky and Murray State.

"How" is the question everyone is still asking? This is a team that lost to Stony Brook and St. Francis BK earlier this year. Yet here they were in Philadelphia with the likes of Purdue, UCLA, and North Carolina. Certainly, their Cinderella season would end at the hands of the big bad Boilermakers from the Big Ten?

Purdue had a clear size advantage and early on it appeared they would simply exploit the smaller Saint St. Peter’s team en route to a convincing victory. Somehow the seemingly undermanned team from New Jersey wouldn’t be bullied.

At halftime, they were only down by four... which for a team that started the season 3-6 and lost to Rider (11-13) by 9 in February was fairly impressive.

Still, there’s no way they’re going to beat Purdue. Well apparently nobody told the Peacocks they weren’t supposed to win.

Slowly but surely the boys from New Jersey inched closer and closer to Purdue. When they took the lead in the second half the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center erupted. The team seemed to ride the momentum of the crowd and some hot shooting at the end of the game to what it hoped would be another monumental upset.

With 3:18 left in the game Saint Peter’s tied it at 57. Cinderella was not only still dancing she had found her slipper. They would go up by four with less than two minutes to go. The crowd in Philadelphia could now sense another major upset.

When Daryl Banks III made two free throws with 14 seconds left to give the Peacocks the lead by 4 it appeared over? Was this team going to Win? How did this happen?

Purdue then hit a desperation 3 to cut the lead to one. The rainbow shot certainly took some of the air out of the arena. Was this team that seemed primed to “dance” with destiny and make it to the elite eight going to lose?

After dangerous inbounds play and with four seconds left on the clock they headed back to the free-throw line after a Purdue foul.

Doug Edert calmly sinks both free throws to give the peacocks a three-point lead. With the crowd going wild Purdue inbound the ball.

Their star player, Jaden Ivey raced down the court as the seconds ticked down. He launched a shot from behind the ark. You could almost hear the 20,000 fans gasp as it sailed through the air clanging off the rim.

When the horn sounded it was pandemonium. The crowd was in a frenzy players from the Saint Peter’s team jumping up and down in celebration. The little team that could do.

Cinderella is still dancing and its next partner is the team with more tournament wins than any team. North Carolina.

For the rest of my life, I’ll be able to say I was at that game and I was on the floor when Saint Peter’s celebrated the biggest win in school history.

The only question is will it be the biggest until Sunday?

SWEET 16 - DAY 3

Can a day be both thrilling and exhausting? I certainly believe the answer is, yes. Case in point Thursday in Philadelphia covering the North Carolina men’s basketball Road to the Final Four.

My day started at around 8:30 a.m. Me and my colleague, Sean Higgins set out to find stories for our newscast. Unlike a Super Bowl or even a Final Four, there’s not a central hub where fans congregate. Believe it or not, finding a North Carolina fan in the city of brotherly love was like trying to find a person who doesn’t like Bojangles that lives in the south, sure you can do it but it ain’t easy.

Figuring fans were not up roaming the streets at 9 a.m. we decided to try and find a North Carolina connection in Philadelphia. So we did with any journalism team would do, we googled North Carolina in Philadelphia.

Guess what we found? A store named Carolina Food market. A 20-minute drive later we were standing in front of the store. The market has been around for more than 40 years and certainly appeared popular during the 30 minutes we were there. Paulino Rodriguez runs the place but tells us he really has no idea why it’s named Carolina. While not a huge basketball fan by the end of our quick visit we had Rodriguez chanting, "Go, Tar Heels." I’d like to think I’m responsible for helping to build the North Carolina fan base.

We then drove to the Wells Fargo Center and watched the North Carolina men’s basketball team practice, for the first 10 minutes, that’s all the time the media is granted.

It was then on to Geno’s and Pats cheesesteak place. Cheesesteaks or staple of Philadelphia and Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s are institutions. Less than a couple of basketball courts from each other the two cheesesteak stands were bustling around 11 a.m.

Credit: WFMY News 2
You gotta have a philly cheesesteak!

There is certainly arrival and loyalty that comes with the cheesesteak business.
Well, employees of both speak highly of the other ask if they would ever have a cheesesteak from the other place and their heads start shaking quickly. Two of the employees at Geno’s told us it was actually written in their contract that they can’t eat any other cheesesteak place. I don’t think he was telling the truth, but it certainly shows you there is a bit of a tour for when it comes to cheesesteaks.

After that, it was back to the hotel to start putting our stories together. I won’t bore you with this part but it typically takes 2 to 3 hours to put a story together.
Live shots at 4,5 and 6 were followed by a much-needed dinner. Not knowing the local cuisine as well as many we hit up Google again and found a nice little Mexican restaurant not too far from downtown Philadelphia. It’s hard to tell if I was just starving or the food was that good but it may have been one of the best meals I’ve had in weeks. Their homemade hot sauce packed a kick it was the perfect complement to a couple of chicken and fish tacos.

Credit: WFMY News 2
Gotta try fish tacos!

Back to the hotel we went but not before swinging by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. I wouldn’t say it was a bucket list moment but standing in front of Independence Hall and looking at the Liberty Bell was certainly pretty cool.
We then went back to the hotel put together our 11 o’clock story while watching the NCAA tournament. Shout out to Villanova, Arkansas, Houston and of course Duke for making it to the elite eight.

Credit: WFMY News 2
Liberty Bell stop

What a game that Texas Tech Duke game was! Coach K gets one more chance at the championship while winning his 100th tournament game.

I think we went on the air around 12:15 am and we’re back inside our cozy hotel at the Marriott Courtyard in the Navy Yard on Friday morning at 1 a.m.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about work and was told covering March Madness doesn’t count as work.

17 hours later I respectfully disagree, then again it was a blast!

Credit: WFMY News 2
Covering the Sweet 16

SWEET 16 - DAY 2 (continued)

If you visit New York City you have to visit the Empire State building. If you go to Washington DC you need to see the Lincoln Memorial. If you’re in San Francisco you have to drive or walk across the Golden Gate bridge. 

So, logic would suggest that when visiting Philadelphia you have to see the Rocky statue and run up the steps of the museum. I’m certainly not going to say you shouldn’t but there’s one thing that you need to do before anything else when visiting Philadelphia. Find a place and buy a true Philly cheesesteak. Then plop down on a bench outside and eat it while outside as cars pass by honking and people rush by to work or wherever.

Important Philadelphia tourist update: We're trying all the cheesesteaks. 

Here is part one: 

And part two: 

Now, I’m not going to tell you which place is the best, mainly because I don’t want to receive hate mail from people in Philadelphia for the rest of my life. There are, however, about as many cheesesteak places in Philadelphia as there are cactus in Arizona. Which one is the best depends on who you ask. They all claim to be the best and many will say their place is where the cheesesteak originated.
At Pat’s King of Steaks, we were told they were the first to ever put steak on a bun with cheese whiz. The storefront is right across the street from Geno’s. A turf war if you will. Both locations seem popular when searching online reviews and they both appear to have a loyal and dedicated fan base. One lady did however admit to us that she prefers Pat’s cheesesteaks and Geno’s fries.

Credit: WFMY News 2
Tasting a Philly cheesesteak sandwich

We asked a couple of guys that work at Geno’s what’s the secret to a good cheesesteak. “It’s all about the perfect blend of bread, meat, onions, and cheese, then you make it with love,” he said. We asked him if he was allowed to eat at another cheesesteak place in town, he could not have said, 'no,' quicker. Even telling us it was in their contract that they could not eat anywhere else. Part of me thought he was actually serious. When we asked the guy working behind the counter at Pat’s if he would ever eat at Geno’s, he just shook his head seemingly out of confusion and said, 'no.'

I may never find out who makes the best cheesesteak but I wasn’t going to come to Philly and NOT try to find out. One last tip, wherever you go, ask for plenty of napkins. 

SWEET 16 - DAY 2

We made it! Four hundred forty-three miles later, eight hours and 11 minutes in the car, and only one bathroom stop on the way. We have arrived in Philadelphia for the Sweet 16.

The drive from Greensboro was uneventful, bordering on painful because of constant rain. There were times you would get behind a big rig and the combination of the rain coming down and water kicking up from the tires would create an almost white-out situation.

The biggest highlight of the drive may have been my first encounter with a Wawa. The Pennsylvania-based gas station/convenience store is a lot like a Sheetz.

As you drive north into Pennsylvania these Wawa stores are about as common as an Armando Bacot rebound.. they come in bunches.

If you’ve never been, I recommend the cheese-stuffed pretzels made fresh daily.

The city of brotherly love felt more like Seattle last night, but we were greeted by a lighted Wells Fargo center with a March Madness banner draped from the roof.

Credit: Kevin Kennedy - WFMY News 2
Kevin Kennedy and Sean Higgins outside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia ahead of the NCAA tournament with UNC on March 23, 2022.

The basketball arena is right next to the football stadium where the Philadelphia Eagles play and the baseball stadium where the Philadelphia Phillies play.

Navigating our way to our hotel last night proved slightly eventful. To be honest, I’m still not exactly sure how the system works. We are staying at the lovely Marriott Courtyard and I believe it’s inside the naval compound. There’s actually a security/military person at a checkpoint that is blocked off that must clear you to allow access.

At first, we thought we had accidentally entered some sort of a military base without permission. In fact, we actually asked the nice card if we could just make a U-turn to get to our hotel. Our mapping however continued to tell us we had to go into the naval compound to get to the hotel. So, we went back and spoke to the nice gentleman who simply picked up the orange cone and moved it over allowing us to enter the grounds.

Credit: Kevin Kennedy - WFMY News 2

The good news in all of this is that I feel incredibly safe staying in this hotel. The bad news is that it is still raining and the chance of precipitation is as high as the UNC basketball‘s teams free throw percentage. While that may not be as high as fans would want, it sucks when you are a reporter and I have to go out in it all day.

I am however looking forward to my first official taste of the highly acclaimed and well-known Philadelphia cheesesteak.

Much like the Wawa‘s in Pennsylvania… or a Bojangles in North Carolina, there are literally dozens and dozens of options to get a cheesesteak in Philadelphia.

More to come so keep checking in.

SWEET 16 - DAY 1

If you would’ve asked a 5’8” Kevin Kennedy when he was a sophomore at Mira Loma high school in Sacramento if he’d ever be headed to the Sweet 16 he and certainly his friends would’ve laughed.

Back then I was what many would consider to be a shooting guard without a good jump shot. Most of my shots were taken in practice and most didn’t make it through the net.

After all these years, it was back in 1982, I don’t have my stats from my junior varsity year but if I had to guess I would say I averaged roughly 1.4 points per game. While those eye-popping stats have very little in common with UNC legend, Michael Jordan we do have one thing in common - I also did not make the varsity team as a sophomore. As many know, Jordan did not make the varsity team at Laney high school in Wilmington, North Carolina as a sophomore. While Jordan went on to probably average more than 20 points a game that sophomore season while having several games in the 40s. I believe my high game that year was eight points.

RELATED: When do Duke and UNC play next? Sweet 16 games on WFMY/CBS

I do however remember a game where I made two free throws with less than a second on the clock to win the game. Shout out to NBA legend Rick Barry, as yours truly shot his free throws underhand like the NBA Hall of Famer.
The heckles and giggles certainly subsided when both shots went through the hoop that night. I don’t recall if I was carried off on the shoulders of my teammates but I’d like to think I was. The similarities however between me and Jordan stop there. I did not make the varsity team as a junior thus ending my NBA dreams. Jordan, as most know, went on to be one of the top recruits in the nation following his senior year in high school.

One of the universities that recruited Jordan was UNC-Chapel Hill. Legendary coach Dean Smith fell in love with the prized recruit and eventually offered him a scholarship. The decision to sign with the Tar Heels proved beneficial to both Smith and Jordan when he famously hit the game-winning shot in the 1982 national championship game as a freshman. Ironically, I was a sophomore that year and had no idea I would never play organized basketball again. Side note, I did however go on to have a decent high school baseball career.

Fast forward 40 years and that skinny kid from Sacramento is on his way to the Sweet 16. At this point it doesn’t matter so much that I’m not playing, let’s just focus on the fact that I’m going. I am officially on the road to the Final 4. So take that coach (I don’t remember his name) for cutting me. I made it after all!

 UNC will take on UCLA Friday night at 9:39 p.m. on WFMY News 2.

WFMY News 2's Kevin Kennedy is teaming up with photojournalist Sean Higgins to bring you the latest coverage as UNC battles it out in the Sweet 16.

For the latest updates follow Kevin Kennedy on Twitter at @AZNewsKevin and Sean Higgins @Shiggon2

Credit: WFMY News 2
WFMY News 2's Kevin Kennedy and Sean Higgins are bound for the Sweet 16 as they follow UNC.

WFMY News 2's Amanda Ferguson and sports photojournalist Brian Hall will bring you the latest coverage as Duke battles it out in the Sweet 16. 

For the latest updates follow Amanda Ferguson on Twitter at @_amandaferguson and Brian Hall @Bhallwfmy 

 

Before You Leave, Check This Out