Aug. 14, 2000

Go to your local hardware store and heft up a bag of concrete mix. Feel how heavy it is?

Give or take a few pounds, that's about the amount of weight Carolina offensive lineman James "Big Wags" Wagstaff has lost in the last two months.

From a high of 380, Wags is now looking good and feeling good at a svelt 346. And he wants to lose five or ten more pounds before the Tulsa game September 2nd.

"Bulldog (Strength Coach George Smith) set me up with a meeting with our sports nutritionist, Tausha Robertson," Wags said. "And one of the first things we did was she took me to the grocery store.

"I had my meal money but she told me what to get. Like instead of ground beef, we got ground turkey. I got skim milk instead of 2%, healthier cereals for my breakfast, healthier bread, lowfat mayonaise, skinless chicken. I pack my lunch now instead of just buying something on campus. It's all about building some new habits that I can carry on through life."

Even at nearly four bills, Wagstaff was no Fat Albert. Lumberjack strong and with good agility for a man his size, he could carry the weight and still play football. But not at his full potential.

"I guess I've just decided that it's time to play," he said. "I like Coach (Robbie) Caldwell and his system, and yeah, I know I have been given a gift in my athletic ability. I don't want to waste it. I want to cash in."

He likes his new look, too.

"I've got so much more energy," said Big Wags, a sheepish grin spreading across his round, but not as round as it used to be, face. "I'm not as tired during practice so mentally I'm more focused. My stomach area is cut down some and I'm more toned. I saw some film of myself last year and I was like, `Man, who was that guy?'"

Man, who was that guy?

That's exactly what defensive lineman might ask themselves this fall after they've been trampled by Carolina's newly remodeled senior right tackle, James E. Wagstaff.