North Carolina and Duke meeting in the Final Four for the first time is good news for the NCAA and bad news for a certain group of Eric Church fans.
The country music star canceled his tour stop in San Antonio, previously scheduled for Saturday at the AT&T Center, on Wednesday for one reason. The North Carolina native wants to watch his Tar Heels.
In a letter to ticket-holders distributed by Ticketmaster, Church admitted the cancelation was "the most selfish thing" he had ever asked of his fans, but preemptively thanked them for letting him watch "any sports enthusiast's dream."
The full letter, published via Variety:
To the Church Choir.
This Saturday, my family and I are going to stand together to cheer on the Tar Heels as the team has made it to the Final Four.
As a lifelong Carolina basketball fan, I've watched Carolina and Duke battle over the years but to have them matchup [sic] in the Final Four for the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast's dream.
This is also the most selfish thing I've ever asked the Choir to do: to give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community. However. it's that same type of passion felt by the people who fill the seats at our concerts that makes us want to be part of a crowd at a game of this significance.
Woody Durham always said, "Go where you go and do what you do," thanks for letting me go here and be with the Tar Heels.
As you can imagine, the decision has led to a mixed reaction.
In fairness to Church, it was probably hard to envision his Tar Heels in the 2022 Final Four until about a week ago, much less them playing Duke in the final NCAA Tournament of Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski's career.
The dates for his Gather Again Tour were announced all the way back in April 2021, just after legendary coach Roy Williams announced his retirement following a disappointing 14-19 season. Heck, UNC was thought to be on the bubble a little over a month ago before a late-season surged that peaked with a win over Duke in Krzyzewski's final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Tar Heels have continued to surge since then, and Church will be hoping he sees that continue on Saturday.
