The Greatest Rivalry in All of Sports

One day a while back, I received a pretty random text message from my brother who was featured in my last article. Bryce says to me, “If you got a basketball team together of Osama bin Laden, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin and had them play against Duke, I would root against Duke.”

A bit extreme? Not uh. That is how it goes in our family and in the greatest rivalry in sports. Being brought up by a father who loves the Tar Heels of North Carolina, my brother and I learned to hate Duke as much as we love the Heels. The rivalry between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils is as intense as it gets. The two schools are only separated by eight miles and have been playing basketball against one another since 1920. We have a number of incredible rivalries in sports; Yankees-Red Sox, Celtics-Lakers, Giants-Dodgers, USC-Notre Dame and even Patriots-Giants now. But the Tobacco Road rivalry tops them all.

Yesterday I played in a city league basketball game, today before UNC and Duke play, I will play an intramural basketball game and neither of the games that I participate in will get me quite as pumped up as Wednesday’s night game in Chapel Hill. It truly is the best game of the year, better than the Super Bowl, better than the Rose Bowl, better than the World Series and the NBA Finals. In this article we will go over what makes this rivalry more special than any other (and I will attempt to not take too many low blows at the Dookies).

ALL-WORLD CAST: You already know the stars of this show. The teams are led by Hall of Fame coaches Roy Williams of UNC and Mike Krzyzewski (from here on out he will be known as Coach K) of Duke. Roy Williams followed Matt Dougherty who played for the Heels along side Michael Jordan. And everyone knows about the legendary Dean Smith. Duke has been led by players such as Christian Leatner, Grant Hill, Steve Wojciechowski, Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng (can’t forget this guy or I would have been in trouble with the site manager), Mike Dunleavy, JJ Reddick, Shelden Williams, Kyle Singler and more. I had better stop bringing up so many of these guys before I get sick. A few more Tar Heels will be recognizable since most of them have actually made solid careers in the NBA (alright, low blow). Jimmy Black, Michael Jordan, Phil Ford, Kenny Smith, Sam Perkins, James Worthy, Ed Cota, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton, Sean May, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, Ed Davis.

And both teams have a few good players on their squad now. Carolina’s front line is the best in the country with superstar Harrison Barnes, super freak John Henson, and super, uh, consistent Tyler Zeller. Kendall Marshall is the motor that stirs the drink (ode to Charles Barkley) as the best passer in the country. And sharp shooters Reggie Bullock and PJ Hairston look to leave their imprint on the game from the outside. Duke is headlined by Seth Curry (younger brother of Steph Curry and son of Dell Curry). Their family can shoot the rock. Austin Rivers is the flashiest Duke player I have seen in a while and all of their big men, Mason, and Miles Plumlee and Ryan Kelly drive me crazy.

TEST OF TIME: These two rivals have been playing against each other for 92 years now. According to tarheelblue.com, UNC has the all time series advantage 131-101. So these two meeting isn’t a new occurrence. These blood baths have been going on since 1920.

EVERY GAME MATTERS, THEY ARE ALWAYS TOP OF THE CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS: You will not find too many rivalries where something is on the line each and every time they get together. Being at the top of the conference and almost nearly at the top of the national rankings, every game between these two is a big one. At times, it is about conference positioning and other times, like last regular season finale, the Conference Title is on the line. At the end of the season, when tournament seeding is being decided, you can bet the outcomes of the Tobacco Road rivalry games will be looked at.

The last eight regular season ACC championships have been won outright or shared by either Duke or UNC. They also offered some Fathead coupons. Last season’s regular season title was won by Carolina in the season finale against Duke and sadly Duke won the ACC tournament with a win over the Heels. Again, according to tarheelblue.com, Caroline has won the regular season title 28 times and Duke is second with 19. And the teams have captured 36 of the 58 tournament titles.

Tarheelblue.com tells us that eight of the last 30 National Championships have gone back to Chapel Hill or Durham. Carolina has reached 18 Finals Fours and Duke has gotten to 15. Carolina and Duke have combined to make four of the last 11 National Champions. No pair of teams in a rivalry mean more to a sport or have bigger influences on the national landscape. The only chop missing in this rivalry is a match up in the NCAA tournament and when that day comes… I can’t even imagine what that will feel like.

SIGNATURE MOMENTS: This rivalry is filled with them and you can see the images in your head. You can see Eric Montross bleeding all over his head and Jeff Capel hitting his miraculous half court buzzer beater (while wearing Duke’s ugliest jerseys yet) sending the game into overtime and sending the Cameron Crazies up the walls (Jeff‘s little brother, Jason, had much more sense in him as he enrolled at UNC just a few years later). Jerry Stackhouse’s baseline reverse dunk with an and-1 to cap it off was Carolina’s highlight of that classic that was won by Carolina in overtime. Tyler Hansbrough will never forget (this elbow was absolutely intentional; horribly dirty play) the elbow he took from Gerald Henderson in the ACC tournament that led to a bleeding Hansbrough leaving the court and having to wear a facemask in the NCAA tournament.

One of the greatest comebacks in basketball history happened on March 2, 1974. The Heels found themselves down by eight points with seventeen seconds left. A furious comeback was led by some clutch plays and some costly miscues by the Blue Devils. Walter Davis made a 30 foot prayer to send the game into overtime when the Heels eventually won. Look at that, I even managed to get a Duke moment in there. All the other ones were not signature for me and I am sure I have blocked them from my memory.

THE PASSION IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER: No game can get me more riled up. You can feel the intensity in the air. The moment the broadcast starts with highlights from previous match ups and the signature moments listed above, you can just feel how special of a game this truly is. Whether the Cameron Crazies are right on top of you or people are packing into the Dean Dome, the atmosphere is amazing. Attending one of these games is on my bucket list. I will need to warn my neighbors to not worry if they hear yelling from my apartment. The referees are always sure to save a crucial (and undoubtedly horrible) charge call for their Dookies. There will always be furious runs by both teams and I fully expect Austin Rivers to have the game of his life as he starts throwing in three points sky hooks. Tempers will flare and the game will get chippy. But I wouldn’t expect anything less.

College sports will always be known for the passion that the games are played with, the passion the coaches coach with and the passion which the fans cheer with. And that passion isn’t seen more anywhere else in the world during any other game in the world.

 

I literally cannot wait for this game. Paying attention in classes won’t be happening. If the Tar Heels win, it will be a great night. If (gag) the Blue Devils come out on top, I won’t feel like talking with anyone (I hope my wife is ready for this, she hasn’t seen me yet while this game is going on). But whatever the outcome, I will feel like I have just played in the game, exhausted and needing a rest. Hopefully another signature moment will happen (one I won’t need to block off) and another exciting chapter will be written in this storied rivalry. But what else would you expect?