North Carolina Basketball: Top-Ranked on the Court, Good Samaritans Off

The consensus No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels had quite the trip to Hawaii this Thanksgiving week. They embarrassed Chaminade by 45, seemingly yawned their way to a 29-point victory over Oregon, and then handled a very solid Notre Dame team by 15 in the Maui Invitational championship game.

They weren't finished.

As their plane was set to leave the airport, a flight attendant noticed an unconscious 45-year-old man who could not be revived. She screamed for help, and it came in the form of All-American Tyler Hansbrough and some others.

Athletes to the Rescue

On the way out of Hawaii after a Maui Invitational win, Tyler Hansbrough and a pair of other Tar Heels come to the aid of an unconscious man on their airplane. The teammates carry the man to paramedics, who are able to revive him. Click through to see some other heroes from the world of sports.

Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty Images

UFC fighter Goran Reljic saves the lives of two men whose car plummeted into the Adriatic Sea.

Eric Jamison, AP

Tony Romo is well known for being a star quarterback and the boyfriend of singer Jessica Simpson, but for one Texas couple, he's also a knight in shining armor. Returning home after Dallas beat Cleveland earlier this season, Romo pulled over to assist Bill and Sharon White, who were stranded on the side of the road after their car tire blew out.

Scott Boehm, Getty Images

Former college and NFL star Brian Bosworth came to the aid of a woman who crashed her car into a ditch in Canada this past July.

Bernstein Associates / Getty Images

On July 3, Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez came to the aid of man choking to death in a Huntington Beach restaurant. "Tony saved my life. There's no doubt," the Chargers fan said.

Greg Trott, Getty Images

Criminals should think twice before entering the home of Noah Herron. The Packers running back used a post from his bed to foil a burglar in June.

Getty Images

A man who tried to extort an acquaintance of Terrell Brandon in February got more than he bargained for when the former NBA star set a trap for the crook and then snared him with the help of a friend.

Andy Hayt, NBAE / Getty Images

NASCAR's Dario Franchitti was caught without his pants on, but not without his wits, when a would-be robber surprised him in his home in January. Franchitti, wearing just his boxers, used his car (naturally) to help track down the intruder.

John Raoux, AP

Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama and two teammates chased down a man who stole an armful of Wildcats football jerseys from a store in 2006. "I am glad we could help out," Tuitama said.

Elaine Thompson, AP

Benji Radach teaches an armed robber that it's never wise to mess with a mixed martial arts fighter. While Radach was out to eat at a diner a couple of years ago in Vancouer, he used his MMA skills to take down a man with a loaded gun who tried to rob the cash register.

Ross Dettman, Getty Images

Hansbrough, teammate Deon Thompson and video coordinator Eric Hoots then lifted 45-year-old Melvin Ridley into the air. Holding him chest-high, they carried him to the galley, where paramedics rendered aid for nearly 30 minutes.

"It was a scary situation," North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams said, "but I was proud to see how our guys responded. I'm sure there are some people who saw that and thought, 'Those are some really good kids on the North Carolina basketball team.'"

I agree. It's easy to get caught up in the hating game when it comes to North Carolina basketball, because you can get oversaturated with seeing them plastered all over the TV. Plus, they are head and shoulders better than any other basketball team. Jealousy breeds hatred, and when our favorite team isn't the best, we have a tendency to hate the best.

This selfless and classy act by two members of the Tar Heels team and one of their staff serves as a nice reminder that these are good guys. It's easy to say that any one of us on that plane would have done the same thing, but we weren't in the situation. It's a rare thing to get the call to help another person in a situation like this, and props to the UNC boys for answering that call.

As for the unconscious man? He had a seizure and he's reportedly on his way home today. His cousin has a message for the team:

"I wasn't able to tell those players how much I appreciated their help. We're going to do everything we can to get in touch with them and to let them know how much (their actions) meant to us. They were class acts."

I'm pretty sure they'll find out, one way or another.