UNSUNG HEROES
FACES IN
THE CROWD SOME DIEHARD CAROLINA FANS BECOME PART OF THE FABRIC OF TAR HEEL SPORTS BY ANDREW STILWELL
PHOTOS BY SMITH HARDY & UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
C
arolina fans are some of the most passionate anywhere, and are extremely vocal while cheering the Tar Heels to victory. In nearly any fanbase, there are notable “Superfans” who bring their unique cheering styles to the stands, and are truly some of the most “unsung heroes” of an athletics department. Here are a few of Carolina’s most passionate fans:
Scholarship & Legacy Gifts. “Without a doubt, the Osternecks were a very passionate Tar Heel family. If anyone kept track of the number of home and away games they attended, as well as post-season, I’m not sure how many Tar Heels fans would have attended more. They were true Carolina Blue to their very cores.”
THE “RAM LADY”
THE BASEBALL SUPERFAN
Rhoda Osterneck was not a Tar Heel born, nor a Tar Heel bred. In fact, the Philadelphia-native didn’t even move to North Carolina with her husband Robert until well into her 40’s. However, upon arriving in North Carolina in 1973, the Osternecks adopted the University of North Carolina as “their” team. “[Robert] visited Duke, State, Wake and Carolina,” Osterneck said of her late husband’s choosing of a “new” home team during a 2011 interview. “He felt that Carolina was the classiest school.” Osterneck always had a special guest with her when she attended men’s basketball games: a stuffed Rameses. A tradition that began when the men’s basketball team played their home games in Carmichael Auditorium, Osterneck attended every home game in the Smith Center until her passing in 2011. She regularly would emerge from the visitor’s tunnel and send the student risers into a frenzy by waving her Rameses doll in their direction. She loved the students, and they loved her back. “Mrs. O” was an ardent supporter of multiple Carolina athletics programs and was one of the first to buy season tickets for UNC women’s basketball when the program began in 1974. The Osterneck legacy at Carolina currently lives on with five endowed scholarships across football, volleyball, swimming & diving, women’s lacrosse and wrestling. “I knew Rhoda, Bob and [Rhoda’s Mother] Minnie for a long, long time. In fact, I met them while still a student-athlete and remained friends with them for nearly 30 years until Rhoda passed in 2011,” said Sue Walsh, former UNC swimmer and the Rams Club’s Associate Executive Director of
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BORN & BRED
For fans at Boshamer Stadium, one voice, seated just to the right of home plate, often rings just a little bit louder than the rest. That voice belongs to 2006 Carolina graduate Tom Jensen, a self-professed Carolina Baseball “Superfan.” A lifelong baseball fan, Jensen was a mostly casual fan of the “Diamond Heels” until his senior year of college. A class with two Tar Heel outfielders was the catalyst for his transformation into die-hard Carolina Baseball fandom. “My final semester, I was in a class with Garrett Gore and Mike Cavasinni. I started going to all of our games to support them,” Jensen recalls. “It was a lucky coincidence that the 2006 season was when our program took it to another level. I’ve been going to almost all of our games ever since.” Jensen’s distinct approach to baseball fandom started because he hoped to lead the crowd by example. “I really felt like the team deserved to have a level of energy in the stadium that was worthy of the best team in the country,” he said. “We had a lot of loyal fans, but we didn’t have a lot of loud fans. I decided to lead by example by being really loud and hoped that other fans would join in.” Longtime patrons at Boshamer Stadium are likely familiar with Jensen’s emphatic yelling of “TAR!” and clapping at key points during a baseball game. While seemingly random, to Jensen, when to cheer is actually more of a science. “I think fans can affect the game with their cheering, and that it’s all about timing,” he said. “Cheering loud after we hit a home run is nice, but it’s more
