From Fan to Super Fan: What the Year Taught Me
November 13, 2025
Going all-in on UNC sports taught me lessons I didn’t expect. I learned the power of showing up. Athletes notice, coaches appreciate it, and fellow
A Tar Heel Year Like No Other — Dennis Goss’ New Book Is Here!
Dennis Goss is an avid UNC Tar Heels fan and his first book chronicles his year of being a super fan during the 2024-2025 academic year. Dennis is a 1982 Business/Accounting graduate of the University of North Carolina and also holds a 1988 MBA from UNC-Greensboro. He got his start in sports writing as a cub reporter for The Western Wake Herald newspaper in Apex, NC from 1976-1978 and covered Apex High School football and basketball. As a Senior at UNC, Dennis was a regular contributor to The Daily Tar Heel reviewing films. After 42 years with IBM, Dennis retired and spent his first year attending and supporting all 28 of UNC’s sports programs. Dennis is a member of Carolina Alumni, the Rams Club, the Diamond Heels Club, and the Chapel Hill Sports Club. He and his wife Amy reside in Chapel Hill, NC.
As a new retiree leaving the workforce in the middle of 2024, I wanted something fun to do with my newfound freedom. I thought about doing a lot of home improvement projects and a few other activities, but I just wasn’t passionate about those things. Being a lifelong avid Tar Heel fan, I decided it would be fun to go all in on Carolina sports for a year.I began a journey to attend 100 UNC games during the 2024-2025 academic year. It was a nice round number to talk about, but honestly, I didn’t put much thought into it. During my 10-month journey I recalled many of my favorite Tar Heel stories, from childhood to college to adulthood, and I wanted to write those down to pass them along to my extended family. Somewhere along the way, the journey to 100 games morphed into an obsession to attend the maximum number of events possible. Back in the early days of August 2024 at the first event, I had no idea about all that was ahead…
Step into Dennis’s unforgettable Tar Heel journey with moments captured from arenas, fields, tracks, pools, and courts across UNC’s
vibrant athletic calendar. Each photo reflects the energy, the passion, and the spirit of Carolina athletics.
Readers across the Carolina community are celebrating Dennis Goss’s inspiring journey through a full year of UNC athletics.
His story captures the passion, pride, and spirit that define the Tar Heel experience.
Going all-in on UNC sports taught me lessons I didn’t expect. I learned the power of showing up. Athletes notice, coaches appreciate it, and fellow
Going all-in on UNC sports taught me lessons I didn’t expect. I learned the power of showing up. Athletes notice, coaches appreciate it, and fellow
Most Tar Heel fans follow a handful of sports closely—basketball, football, baseball, maybe women’s soccer. But there is a whole world of Carolina athletics that