A Sad Day for all the Ladies

Jackie's off the market, it seems:

Manuel bears down off the court
Jackie Manuel used a bear similar to the one pictured to propose to his girlfriend, Ronda Norman.
By ROBBI PICKERAL, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- To build a future with the woman he loves, North Carolina basketball player Jackie Manuel first had to build a bear.
The night before the defensive-minded senior tied a season high with 14 points Saturday in UNC's victory over Miami, Manuel proposed to his girlfriend, Ronda Norman, using a plush toy he created in the Build-A-Bear Workshop store at The Streets at Southpoint Mall.

He picked out the bear's clothes -- red shirt, black pants, red shoes, red bow -- then recorded the message that would play when she squeezed it: "Will you marry me?"

"I was going to take her out to Angus Barn and do it that way, but she had to work," Manuel said Tuesday. "She got in about 1 in the morning. ... I gave her the bear, and I said, 'Close your eyes and squeeze the bear's arm, and your wish will come true.' And she did it and when she opened her eyes, I was on my knees, and I asked her to marry me."

Norman, who graduated from UNC in December, cried four times, Manuel said. She quickly said yes.

The two plan to be married in late summer.

Story
Looks like Laura's gonna have to settle for me.