Duke & UNC: There is no substitute

Purdue v. Indiana. Michigan v. Ohio St. USC v. UCLA. Texas v. Oklahoma. Miami v. Florida St. There are lots of great rivalries in college athletics, but none is greater than Duke and North Carolina. Located less than 10 miles apart, you can throw the record books out the window when these two teams get together. For example, UNC, on their way to a National Championship last year, only salvaged a split against Duke by coming back from 9 down at home in the least three minutes. Even the woeful 13-18 Duke squad from 1994-95 when Coach K was out of action took the Tar Heels to double overtime at Cameron. So the fact the Duke is #1 in the country while Carolina is flirting with the edge of the Top 25 does not matter. Tonight's game will be a war.

20 years ago next month, I was a Freshman at Duke. We were on our way to our first Final 4 under Coach k, a 37-3 record, and a #1 overall ranking at the end of the regular season. But none of that mattered on the first Sunday in March. All that mattered to all of us on that day was avenging at that point one of our only two losses of the season, in Chapel Hill. Duke was ranked #1 in the country, UNC was #3. Spring Break had started two days earlier, but nobody was leaving campus until after the game. We all camped out, ordered pizza, drank beer, and waited, and waited, and waited. At the game we chanted "we're #1, you're #3", "We're Smart, You're Dumb" and other beauties. It was all worth it. Duke went on to beat Carolina. The fact that I still remember the score, 82-74, or running on the court with all the other students after the game, just shows how important this stuff is if you are part of the rivalry (cause I don't remember much from 20 minutes ago, much less 20 years!!!!)

The Duke fans and the Carolina fans get this. Most of us (myself possibly excluded) are normal, productive members of society the vast majority of the time. But when their team, whether it is the Devils or the Tar Hells, lace it up against the other, they morph into a slightly psychotic nutcase that resembles a rabid dog. We desperately want to beat the other one every time. We respect the other's programs, but we do not like each other. It should be noted that Duke men do like Carolina women, as they tend, on average to be more attractive than our own kind. The rivalry has gotten so big and so intense that two books have been or will be published just on the Duke/UNC rivalry: click here for more information: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/104-0308851-8647976?search-alias=aps&keywords=duke%20north%20carolina)

Duke has owned the rivalry lately, winning something like 15 of the last 18 or so. But they are all wars and they are all close and none of the wins ever feels diluted because it has happened more than usual over the past several years. So, tonight, Duke will try to stay unbeaten in the ACC, and Carolina will play with guts and heart and give us everything they have, and maybe a little more. It will be a dogfight. Fans like me will, despite trying not to be too loud so as not to wake the children, rave about bad calls and how much we do not like the other team and the other coach and the other players. We will utter our contempt for the other school on more than one occasion. Depending on our point of view, we will complain that Duke gets all the calls, or that the refs are not giving Duke any calls because of the recent press this topic has received. And, in general, it will be one of the two or three nights a year that all Duke and Carolina fans look forward to, when the best rivalry in sports is reignited.

And come 11:00 pm tonight, we will have kicked their ass!!!! Go to Hell, Carolina, Go to Hell!! Let's Go Duke.