My Duke-Carolina Secret

by


Patrick Kendall


Psst. I have a secret. Come closer. A little closer.


But before I blurt it out and start a cataclysm of comments and insults, let me first say how much I have enjoyed our time together. Any fan knows that misery AND jubilation are best enjoyed in like company so riding along with other Duke fans and UNC fans as the first half of this basketball season winds down (schedule-wise; not yet conference-wise) has been sweet. Even the mumbled, garbled rants of the loonies have made for some memorable sport and I intend to write for the duration of the regular season and throughout the Tourney as well so I hope you’ll all come along.


But now, on to the dark, terrible secret that will expose me as the worst kind of basketball hypocrite. Drum roll please.


Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


Hmm, hmm…I graduated from Virginia Tech.


Sigh.


Sigh again.


Yep. It’s true. I’m a Hokie. I even tried out for, and made (briefly) the team at one point, though the ACC was a long way from Blacksburg then (metaphorically speaking of course; geographically, it was right down the road in Charlottesville, but I digress.)

But before the eye rolls, groans, and “I knew its!” start flying, let me state that I am no FAN of the Virginia Tech program. I have nothing against them either, but I have a difficult time thinking of them as an ACC program because of my own personal experience. I still think of them as a Metro Conference laffer that Southern Miss, Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati (to name a few) all had their way with. Back then, we were as sure a thing (in terms of beating) as a paid off hooker on Prom night.

So, I am not one of THOSE Hokies (along with Bob the Terp here at the office, I also work with Megan the Hokie – she IS one of those). Anyway, that’s not the worst of it

The true secret is this:

I am a Blue Heel.

Now for those of you who don’t know what a Blue Heel is (and at this point I won’t insult your intelligence other than to explain EXACTLY what one is) let me enlighten you.


A Blue Heel is a fan of 1) Duke and 2) UNC. Here is the only way you can be a Blue Heel:


You can’t live in now or have ever lived in the state of North Carolina.
You can’t have attended either Duke or UNC for ANY academic or athletic purpose.
You must live in presently, or have lived in during your formative years, ACC basketball territory (i.e. Virginia, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, and now Massachusetts).
You can have no direct relationship (immediate or extended family out to the second generation) to any current or past (or even future) attendee of either school.
You must always be loyal to Duke over Carolina, to include unseemly conduct such as spitting at your UNC friend who you may have just drank beer with three days before while watching the ‘Heels beat some other ACC opponent.


If you meet all five of these criteria, then you can be a proud member of a small but powerful lobby of fans that by virtue of their very existence confounds the normal Duke and Carolina fan but in many ways represents the highest evolution of either. Think about that for a moment.


I should also mention (though I have to do it in a whisper otherwise I call down an ancient curse upon myself, my family, my children, my children’s children – well, you get the idea) that there also exists a bastardized version of the elegant Blue Heels.


They are a raucous, uncouth, uncivilized species that stands in stark blue contrast to Basketball Nature itself.


They are called Tar Devils.


And for the life of me, I cannot understand how they live with themselves.

Tarheels Fall Flat Against Hokies; Duke Rolls Over Miami

Tarheels Fall Flat Against Hokies; Duke Rolls Over Miami

By

Patrick Kendall


So, after calling Duke out for two atrocious games, they put together a nice road win against a Miami team fresh from its own road win over Maryland. Duke shot over 60% from the floor, scored over 80 points for the game and hit consistently from the free throw line. They also held onto the ball in the second half and never led by less than 10 for the last 25 minutes of the game. They reminded me of a Duke team I once knew and it was nice to see the effort. I'll withhold judgment on their resurgence until after I'm sure that they are resurging.


Also, Greg Paulus showed up IN UNIFORM. Welcome back, Greg. You were missed my friend, missed. And I might have to rethink my assessment of Jon Scheyer leading the team in scoring given how he lit it up on Sunday. If he continues to play with that kind of confidence it's easy to imagine him becoming Duke's best overall threat. But he is still a freshman, and I still think that leaves them vulnerable as conference play continues and tournaments loom. But, as a half-full kind of guy, I'll take the win on the road (coupled with MD's loss last night – Bob from work is going to have a LONG day today—I can tell you that).


Now, let's move on the shortest #1 stint in the history of UNC basketball.


This is a test. There is only ONE right answer and no room for essay responses. Take your time, relax, and good luck.


Okay, one of two things is true regarding the 'Heels/Hokies' game this weekend:


The Hokies are the best team in the ACC
Carolina looked right over Tech and got blindsided


If you take the position that Virginia Tech is the better team then one of the following is also true:


You're an idiot
You went to Virginia Tech
Both


If you knew going into the game that Tech would lead by 20 with 6 minutes to go you are either:


a genius
a point-shaver


If you believed, before the start of the game, that the better guard play would come from guys wearing blood colored uniforms with pumpkin colored accents then:


You're an idiot
You went to Virginia Tech
Both


But sadly, Virginia Tech outplayed UNC at every position. They outran UNC in transition; they out-hustled them on the important plays; they played with more energy for the bulk of the game; and basically, after UNC let Tech storm back in the first half and take a lead into halftime, the game looked over from my vantage point (in front of an HD screen – not a bad seat all things considered).


Actually the game has made me rethink my assessment about Carolina as a championship-caliber team. Champions win with heart. Carolina showed none. For that I blame Roy Boy Williams. His JOB is make sure his team is prepared and the 'Heels weren't. They came out and played for about five minutes before they decided that it wasn't worth their time. For their trouble they nearly got blown out of the building.


Then, for another five minutes they come back to the court, made the score respectable, then ultimately lost – and make no mistake, they lost like losers no matter what the score was, not winners. Winners play for an entire game; they don't turn it on and off the way the 'Heels did.


I get it; it's one game, but talk about lousy timing. They barely had the #1 ranking long enough to hold it above their heads and show it off before a team with the ugliest colors in the conference streaks past and rips the ranking from their hands and gives it directly to the chest thumping, long haired girl of a guy from Florida who I despise – so thanks 'Heels for THAT as well!


Carolina has no true point guard – Ty Lawson is a great talent, but I don't know if I believe he is a great basketball player. Not to put too much of a fine point on it, but Greg Paulus led the ACC in assists last year with only TWO true weapons at his disposal. Lawson has 16 weapons to use and that doesn't include the team manager who once erupted for 27 in a Team Manager/Janitorial Staff game in the Dean Dome in the off season.


What I'm saying is that as long as he is struggling to run the team, the team is OBVIOUSLY vulnerable. Now they have to go and play Clemson, a team with a huge chip on its shoulder after losing for the first time this season. This should at least show me what kind of heart UNC has inside of it.


My fear is that Carolina may be one of those disappointing teams that is described as having "all the talent" and "tremendous potential," but disappears into obscurity simply because history is replete with teams that "should have done more" but didn't.


Remember the Fab Five? No? I didn't think so.


They had all the talent and tremendous potential and should have done more but that was it. Hopefully UNC wants something more.

A Fan by Any Other Name

A Fan by Any Other Name
Okay kiddies, there seems to be some confusion over what a blog is and how it should be used. I was hoping to refrain from reacting to a specific comment about my blogs because my belief is that a blog should engender conversation – communication – even smack-talking. But FAIRNESS? Are you joking?
But in an effort to avoid name calling, I will henceforth and forever more – at least for the rest of this blog – refer to the specific person who sticks out in my mind (craw) as “Anyone.”
So, with that said, does Anyone know what FAN is short for? It’s short for FANATIC, which Webster.com defines as someone “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion.” A blog, according to this same source, is “a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.”
Now, I could be wrong, but nowhere in either of those two definitions does the term “fairness,” “partisanship,” or “unbiased” show up. For clarification, this site is dedicated to amateurs by amateurs. We aren’t paid for our work; we do it because we love college basketball: specifically Duke and UNC. And I don’t write articles, I write editorials, which my good friends at Webster.com (for payment I get to add a new word to their site each time I mention their name) defines as “a newspaper or magazine article that gives the opinions of the editors or publishers; also: an expression of opinion that resembles such an article .”
By the way, I must take umbrage with a criticism of my unfair, partisan opinion (because as a “fan” I’m entitled to be this way – same as Anyone): can Anyone tell me where my facts have erred? Furthermore, since nothing specific was pointed to when criticizing me (I promise I will ALWAYS be specific about MY criticisms to avoid confusion), I will assume that these errors were leveled at UNC and not Duke.
And so Anyone doesn’t creep out of her, uh, um, I mean, THE woodwork again to call my facts into question for EITHER Duke or UNC, let me tell you that my argument for Duke’s tougher schedule is based on CBSSportsLine.com’s ranking of both RPI and SOS (Strength of Schedule), which Ranks Duke as Number 4 vs. UNC’s Number 6 when considering both. Now those aren’t numbers that just Anyone can make up. They are based on formulas and variables that only NASA scientists could understand (provided that they attended Duke).
So, back to the question of “fairness….”
(pause)
(longer pause)
Sorry, I was still laughing about the idea of “fairness” regarding a website that calls itself RIVALBLUES.com. And to make sure that Anyone can understand my idea of a rivalry I return to Webster.com (another word for me – cha ching) for clarification:
Rivalry: the act of rivaling : the state of being a rival : COMPETITION.
I put my glasses on, looked really closely, and I still don’t see “fainess,” but I digress. Getting back on point, I think that it’s important to keep in mind that I never misled Anyone because I stated up front, and make no bones about the fact, that I am a Duke fan. But, because I like to poke, tickle, and generally irritate people by scratching in uncomfortable places I have also confessed to being a Carolina fan – when Duke is not playing them. I plan to write a blog defending THAT at a later date – but Anyone is invited to read it upon completion.
Okay, in conclusion, and in hopes of balancing this response more fairly, I now make the following declaration so as not to offend Anyone as we move forward with this site (read: rivalry).
UNC is the greatest school on the planet! (except for Duke).
Does Anyone notice how much bigger the font is for my statement about Carolina is than the one for Duke? Or how about the font type?
Believe me when I tell you that no other sentence in ANY of my blogs has been treated to that size font and I have never, EVER, in my life used Broadway as a font type – I swear.
But Anyone is invited to check my facts on that one as well. How is that for fair?

A Rivalry to Write Home About (UNC vs DUKE)

A Rivalry to Write Home About

For those of you just getting to know me (three blogs and growing), I have to confess that I (like many other fans) was a little nervous about what to expect from Duke Basketball 06 – 07. But rather than rehash why I felt this way I will instead focus on a small spark that I saw this weekend while watching Duke v. SJSU.
With a fourteen point lead in the first half and eight Duke players in the scorebook by that time (including Martynas Pocius, whom I affectionately refer to as Hocius Pocius for his ability to disappear from the stat sheet) Duke decided to take a little break from scoring while SJSU reeled off six straight and cut the lead to 34-26 by halftime.
A little more about me before I continue: I'm a glass half-full kind of guy so at this point in the game I chose to focus on the fact that Duke still held a lead and the Lithuanian Houdini – Pocius - had magically poured in four points. Of course, as soon as the game resumed SJSU went on a 7 – 2 run that cut the lead to three and had me pacing the room in a near glass half-empty malaise.
But here comes the spark I referred to: over the next three and half minutes McRoberts grabs an offensive board and gets fouled; hits one out of two. Duke clamps down on SJSU and gets the ball back; Jon Scheyer misses. Another stop by Duke and McRoberts steps out and nails a three pointer for a seven point lead and some breathing room. Then McRoberts rebounds on the next stop and fires it out to McClure who sails in for a layup. Two plays later Paulus hits a three and Duke leads by 12. At that point, even with 14 minutes to go, I could see that the game was over. So could SJSU.
Of course, SJSU is no UNC, but Dayton is no Duke either. So say what you want about Duke's schedule at this point, but when I peek at UNC's sched it is not so impressive itself on closer inspection. Consider the "marquee" games: a squeaker win over an Oden-less Ohio State team that was later DEMOLISHED by Florida WITH Oden; a nice bounce-back win over a surprising Tennessee team; an ugly win over an ugly Kentucky team that will be lucky to win eight games in its conference. And please, PLEASE, include Gonzaga in your really tough schedule (two games outside of the state of NC, both in NY, same place as Duke's out of state game – weird, huh?) argument – the same Gonzaga team that beat down the vaunted 'Heels and yet couldn't find the basket against the Blue Devils. Defense, anyone?
Now, before everyone in Powder Blue country gets in a huff over this, I'm not saying that Duke is the more talented team (they're not). What I'm getting at is that I saw something this weekend – eight guys scoring, none wilting – that suggests that Duke is not in the dire straits many of us feared, which leads me to believe that the rivalry between these two storied programs is more or less in tact and definitely gives me a reason to circle February 7 and March 4 on my "must see" basketball for another season.
I wrote in my last blog that I predict UNC will leave Atlanta this year as the NCAA champs and Roy Boy Williams will collect his second ring and I still believe that.
I just don't happen to think that UNC will leave Durham with a 'W,' which for us Duke fans will mark the '07 Champs season with an asterisk.
And given the youth of both squads, the future continues to look bright for this rivalry. Of course I believe that UNC fans will have to say goodbye to Tyler Hansbrough and Brandan Wright after this season, which tilts the balance back in Duke's favor for next season.
In the end, UNC may own the rest of the nation, but the battle for the state of North Carolina will be a split.
I think Duke fans can live with that…for now.