As the UNC Baseball season came to a close, one diehard Tar Heel fan announced he will be retiring from leading the cheers for the UNC baseball program. For 13 seasons, Tom Jensen, a Chapel Hill resident, and director of Public Policy Polling was often known as the loudest person in Boshamer Stadium.
Jensen started going to the ballpark during the spring of his senior year at UNC in 2006. After meeting two freshman players, Garrett Gore and Mike Cavasinni, in his class, Jensen said he decided to use his free time to attend every home baseball game for UNC baseball.
“It just turned out that that first season I started going to all of the UNC baseball games all of a sudden the team became one best teams in the country,” Jensen said.
During the 2006 season, the Diamond Heels went to the College World Series for the first time in 17 years. Jensen said he got hooked, but was disappointed in the level of enthusiasm of the fans.
Tom Jensen during the 18 inning UNC win over NC State in the 2013 ACC Tournament (Tom Jensen)
“I eventually decided that I could complain to myself that the fans weren’t loud enough or I could just decide to do something about it myself,” Jensen said. “So when we opened up the new Boshamer Stadium in 2009, I sort of just decided from the get-go that I was going to be the sort of very loud and enthusiastic fan I hoped all of our fans would be and hopefully that would set an example for the rest of the crowd.”
Jensen said he noticed it only took a handful of people to begin cheering really loudly to encourage other fans who weren’t comfortable starting cheers to join in. Some cheers he would start call and response chants of “Tar” and “Heel” – something common at football and basketball games which Jensen said he decided should be incorporated into baseball games as well.
Tom Jensen with UNC former players Brian Moran and Colin Moran and their parents Bill and Diane at Brian’s major league debut where he struck out his brother Colin in 2019 (Tom Jensen)
Ultimately, Jensen said the decision to retire was a long-term health decision to protect his vocal cords.
He said he previously used to be able to cheer for an 18 inning game, but noticed his vocal capacity just wasn’t what it used to be. During the last game of this season Jensen said his voice was gone by the second inning.
“Most baseball players have to retire in their late thirties, because they can’t do physically what they used to be able to do, and it’s the same thing for me as a baseball fan,” Jensen said.
After 13 seasons as a leader in the stands, Jensen said he is proudest of the 100 percent positive manner of Tar Heel cheers.
“I just really hope that we’ll continue to have fans who support the team very enthusiastically always while showing respect to the opposing team and using 100 percent of their fan energy just to show love and support for the Tar Heels rather than bringing the other team down,” Jensen said.
Carolina Baseball fans shouldn’t worry, because Jensen said he looks forward to attending games next season – even if he’s not the one leading the crowd.
Lead Photo via Tom Jensen
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