Remarks on the UNC-Duke Rivalry

Winston-Salem, NC -- This post has nothing to do with last night's 107-81 (second half) throttling of Duke by UNC. Rather, it's to shed some light on the great college baseketball rivalry between UNC and Duke, off-the-court. Before I moved to North Carolina, over two years ago, I associated the UNC-Duke rivalry along the lines of the Red Sox-Yankees, Redskins-Cowboys, Lakers-Celtics, Ohio State-Michigan, and Canadiens-Leafs. Yes, UNC-Duke is a big-time rivalry, but it's not the same type of rivalry as the aforementioned teams and schools.

• First, Duke has NO FANS. Everyone from North Carolina pulls for the Tar Heels. Why? Because it's the "public school" and everyone knows somebody or has a relative that went to UNC. Conversely, Duke is a small, private school. Most of the students attending Duke aren't from North Carolina. The fan base is equivalent to a match-up, such as Johns Hopkins-UMD, Vanderbilt-UTenn, or Emory-UGA.
• Second, the rivalry focuses on two schools located in one state. Everybody who I ran into yesterday asked if I was watching the game; it had a "state holiday" feel to it. When I lived elsewhere, say in Atlanta or Maryland, my reaction to the upcoming game was, "Oh, Dickie V. is calling the game tonight."
• Third, people not from NC, will usually pull for anybody playing UNC. The intimidating security guard at my office told me that she wished both teams could lose. She's from Tennessee.
• Fourth, girls who are ambivalent about sports will always choose UNC over Duke because of the school's COLORS. Yes, this bullet may be the most ludicrous item that I've ever blogged, but it's true. This fact only tips the rivalry scale more in UNC's overabundant favor.
• Fifth, upon UNC victory, everyone is measurably nicer and kinder on the following day. People who wouldn't normally wait to hold the door for you, will now wait the extra second.
• Finally, don't plan on going to a Carolina bar when the rivalry is played unless you're pulling for UNC, you love it when people yell on every possession, and girls scream at every UNC bucket.

I had no idea how many UNC fans there are compared to Duke fans. 15:1 ratio would be my guess.