UNC vs. Duke: A tale as old as time
"Duke is puke. Wake is fake. The team I hate is NC State. You can't go to heaven in red canoe because God's favorite color is Carolina blue." -Unknown
Ten miles separate Duke from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Battle for Tobacco Road, as it’s known, is one of the greatest rivalries in college sports. The heart of the rivalry is men’s basketball, a sport in which both schools have excelled throughout the years.
The two teams have been playing each other for over a century –– playing their first game on January 24th, 1920 –– but my first Duke/Carolina game was also my last.
I'd watched plenty of Duke games over the years, of course, but students are only guaranteed one in-person ticket during their time at Carolina and I was saving mine for senior year.
But then COVID-19 hit. I didn't think I'd ever get to experience the thrill of being in the Dean Dome again, let alone for a Duke/Carolina game ... but, somehow, things worked out. On February 6th, 2021, just months before graduation, I got to go to my first and last Duke game with an old friend, Rachel Eddy.
We decided to vlog the experience, our last Duke game as Tar Heels.
I recorded the iconic pregame light show to hype up the crowd.
A guy came to the game dressed as a yellow Crayon. Peak comedy.
"The ceiling is the roof!" - Michael Jordan
Rachel and I ran into her freshman year roommate, Sarah Renken, in the bathroom.
I ran into friends from freshman year, cheered with my classmates, and cried with our senior players as they finished playing their last home game. It was an experience I'll never forget. The Dean Dome was filled with members of Carolina's senior class and for the first time in a long time, it felt like all was right in the world.
To top it off, we won.
It's always a #GDTBATH.