Mark Colone graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1983, then was sports information director at the school until 1998. Currently, Colone is a vice-president at Signature Sports Group Inc., a sports marketing company in Charlotte. He's been a dedicated fan of Charlotte 49ers sports for more than 30 years - and offers his thoughts on what today's game means to the 49ers.

I was torn. I watched my beloved alma mater UNC Charlotte Friday night beat a ridiculously strong Creighton soccer team 4-1 in penalty kicks. I wanted so badly to be in Hoover, Ala. But, there are things at home that need to be done like my daughter's first guitar recital this afternoon at the same time the Charlotte 49ers play North Carolina for the national soccer championship.

So, that trip to Hoover to see the most important game the Charlotte 49ers would play in any sport at any time can wait. Thank you for my DVR!

I also was torn on who to root for as our title game opponent. North Carolina and UCLA had played an unreal match, a battle of titans. As the top seed, UNC came back twice and beat an ultra-skilled Bruins team in penalty kicks as well. Now, the state had a matchup of UNC System schools. It's awesome and it's a tug, too.

I don't care for UNC's success. They seem to capture everyone and every moment in the state. We fight like crazy for just a bit of the spotlight. Now, they get to share it, too. As great a season as the 49ers have had, they are called Cinderella. They will certainly be called that again today. That is not a deserving moniker. This team is really good, resilient and five layers into the title game. They are deserving and already a champion.

But, that's what it is. UNC has always been the story. I used to get offended as a student, as a sports information director, as a promoter of all things 49ers. So, I wish we played someone other than North Carolina.

But, today's game is for much more:

It's for super fan Don "The Mayor" Stout, who battled cancer until his death in July - he should be here to see this. He spent so much time with so many coaches volunteering so many hours to drive the team vans, cheer his beloved and adopted 49ers and even raise money through the Charlotte Soccer Foundation he established with former coach Bob Warming and Rich and Karen Schwartz.

It's for Rick Zuber, who was the student's choice as the best economics professor the school had for 30 years, and who served as assistant to three coaches - always a volunteer, never paid a dime. He's in Hoover. Wouldn't miss it for anything.

It's for the letter winners who still gather at his house each year for "Zube's Super Bowl Party" and who remember all the "what if" and "so close" moments.

It's for the 1989 Charlotte team that won at North Carolina and then learned that the series was canceled.

It's for the first 49ers' soccer team to ever play an NCAA tournament game in 1991, and had to do so at UNC only to drop a tough 1-0 overtime loss.

It's for all the fans and letter winners who haven't had a chance to play this stellar UNC program but twice since 1991.

And, it's for coaches Ike Gardner, Steve Parker, Bob Warming, Frank Kohlenstein, John Tart and now the unnerving Jeremy Gunn, who always pushes the right buttons.

Warming took the vagabond program to the front of campus. There were no stands, no press box, no lights until 1988 and no fans outside of players' families and girlfriends. But, the students took breaks from intramural football to watch as the 49ers of Kohlenstein's program grew to a national power in the 1990s.

More than anything, though, this is our chance to do something no program has done in Mecklenburg County - win a national championship. So close in 1977 at the NCAA Final Four. So close with golf's third-place finish this decade.

Now, a chance for it all.

Play well.