They pick the site before they know what teams will play. Lots of preparations are needed, and people need to schedule flights/hotels/etc months in advance, you know?

There are kickoffs for each half and after a team scores. The game started around 1530.

They are North Carolina; it's just easier to say Carolina.

And someone already answered about Houston, but really, it's because Houston is one of the wicked kick-ass places in the world and everyone should at least visit it. Yeah.

Obviously, you're not from Carolina. (I'm not either; I just live here.)

When you say "I go to Carolina," people know you go to UNC Chapel Hill. When you talk about Carolina Blue, they know you mean that pansy shade of blue that UNCCH uses. Ditto Carolina sports. People wear school shirts with 'Carolina Pharmacy' (for example) on them.

An area car dealership is Carolina's Ford Store, and their logo incorporates a map of the eastern half of NC.

When the Panthers first existed, they didn't really have a home. Now they live in Charlotte.

(And, come on, why not argue the New England Patriots? Which state are *they* from, eh?)

Heh... regarding the Patriots.

Since I work in Rhode Island, just about everyone in the store was rooting for the Patriots. "New England" works for them since, although their stadium is based in Foxboro, MA, (and they were named the "Boston Patriots" in their first incarnation), you can't go anywhere in MA, RI, or CT without seeing WAY too much Patriots paraphenelia (that, and somehow everywhere in New England is an hour's drive from Boston). New York is just weird.. and I can say that because that's where I'm from.

Heh, somehow arguing that _clearly_ they mean _North_ Carolina because everyone in _North_ Carolina knows that Carolina means North Carolina seems a bit specious. How would the peoiple who live in South Carolina respond to that i wonder? :)

By that logic, clearly everyone should know that "Washington" means Washington state, cause where i grew up, which just happened to be in Washington, everyone agreed that's what it meant. However people who happen to live closer to DC seem to disagree with me :)

I think the same applies to people from SC. Carolina sports (especially b-ball) are/have been a powerhouse for so long that people in the ACC know Carolina == UNCCH. *shrug*

Everyone I know refers to the capital as DC. Or downtown, like my grandmother.

No, it wasn't the second half kick-off, it was the first half, so i don't know what was going on before. Maybe they were doing practice laps or something?

Heh, maybe visit, but i certainly wouldn't want to live there =P