Yearly Archives: 2011

Kelsey Kolojejchick and the Pride of the Badass

As we approach the first ever Erwin Cup match, this Saturday between Duke and UNC field hockey, I thought it’d be appropriate to have some coverage. Luckily, in a sports writing class at UNC last year, our professor sent us to interview UNC star Kelsey Kolojejchick. She was the team’s leading scorer, and we talked with her in a facility near their field. This was the result.

The Pride of the Badass

The first thing you notice about sophomore Kelsey Kolojejchick, besides that twisting, impossible name, is her ego.

Oddly enough, it’s not a bad thing. Not entirely.

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A Pilgrimage Into a Sea of Orange

 Each week, contributor and new parent Joey will post his thoughts as he undergoes the transformation from fanboy to father.

Any time you learn about a major event in your life, there comes a relative shift in your planning around that event. Think about it: you either take some time off of work for a move, clear your calendar around the holidays, train for weeks before a half-marathon, etc. If there’s a big to-do coming, chances are you’re going to incur some transitional time on either side of it.

On November 6, I learned that we were expecting our first child. From that date forward, I began viewing the most trivial of things in a “last gasp” light. I’d imagine that for most guys, you feel this twice: before marriage, and before the birth of your first kid. For example: “This is the last time as a single guy that I’ll be able to drive to get Gas Station Sushi and a Yoo-Hoo in my gym shirt and flip-flops.” Or, “This is the last time my wife and I can skip town last-minute and spend three days following a Styx tribute band through Iowa.” In that vein, I had a fairly strong feeling that as those nine months fell off of the calendar, “Guy Weekends” would begin going the way of the Dodo.

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Mason “I really miss Kyrie Irving” Plumlee

Mason Plumlee

I just dunked and now I'm going to give up a bad foul trying to block a shot on defense!!!

Look at those biceps.  They make me salivate with jealously and maybe a bit of romanticism. This, my friends, is Mr. Mason Plumlee.  A six foot, ten inch, 235 pound monster of an athlete. When he committed to Duke I was extremely excited.  He was oft compared to Josh McRoberts.  Fast, athletic, with a handle and impressive passing abilities.  Thus far Mason has shown flashes of potential, but has yet to live up to that billing.

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The Duke Football Essay Project: Boston College

Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

I still can’t believe this happened. After thoroughly outplaying Boston College on the road, in every facet of the game, Duke was going to break our hearts again. I look at the numbers today, and I can feel the anger from a hypothetical loss welling up. We could have had just our third ACC road win since 2003! We had 465 yards of total offense! The had 328! Renfree set a school record with 40 completions! Thompson averaged five yards a carry! Rettig for BC barely completed half his passes! We held them to 3.2 yards per carry!

SON OF A BITCH. WE SHOULD HAVE WON THIS GAME.

And then I remember: we did.

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Optipessimism Week 3: UNC vs. UVA

First things first: the Blue Zone was comically underfilled again this week, and it was a balmy, cloudy day. With the “hot in the sun” argument lost, I’m convinced more than ever now that

The Blue Zone... it's full!!! Oh wait, this is just a computer rendering.

Blue Zoners, if they’re showing up at all, are simply choosing to watch the game from the comforts of the indoor lounge. As I said last week, Carolina should just double-sell the Blue Zone seats at general admission cost, let of-age students turn the Blue Zone into the Drunk Tar Pit and make an experience of it. Actually, even better: move the traditional fraternity rows to the Blue Zone itself, since no one sits in the existing seats anymore anyway, tell them they’re special and they’re free to drink themselves stupid if they’re 21 or possess a particularly credible fake ID, and triple sell the seats. They still won’t get full. This makes too much sense to ever happen, but still.

I will admit, I struggled to sit down and write this week’s edition of The Optipessimist, for the simple reason that this was a depressingly poor, badly played football game. I know it sounds petty and fair-weathery of me to be complaining about a 28-17 win, Carolina’s first ACC opener win since 2000, but the game simply went rather than being played. In short, Carolina didn’t win the game so much as they didn’t lose it; they didn’t turn the ball over and generally let the Cavaliers’ own ineptitude lose the game. There, you can stop reading now. But if you’re game, read on:

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Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC?

CBS Sports and ESPN are saying they’ve applied for entry!

I guess that’s a quick way to solve the basketball strength of the conference. I think this is fantastic. Sound off in the comments, and don’t forget to make your picks with the Triangle Prophets below.

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The Triangle Prophets, Week 3

Every Friday, a group of fearless webmasters and sports fanatics from around the Triangle will gather to predict five college football games against the spread. Every Duke, Carolina, and N.C. State game will be featured, along with a smattering of high profile non-Triangle games. As the season goes along, we’ll keep the standings updated and see who emerges as the one true prophet. Make your predictions in the comment section. Every week, we’ll feature any and all commenters who pick all 5 games correctly.

Current Standings

1. John Watson, The Devil’s Den – 5 points
1. The Devil Wolf, TRB – 5 points
1. Tar Heel Fan Blog – 5 points
1. William Earnhardt, Site Designer – 5 points

5. Me – 4 points
5. Nate Friedman, UNC football correspondent – 4 points

7. Jim Young, Editor, ACCSports.com – 3 points

8. James Henderson, Publisher, Pack Pride – 2 points

 

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The Weekend Look-Out! (Plus Kelly Cobb Strikes Again)

Guess what, folks? We are just ONE WEEK AWAY from the first Erwin Cup showdown! On Saturday, September 24, Duke and UNC meet in field hockey, and the first points in Cup history will be awarded. The excitement is palpable. I might even attend the match. That’s how effing crazy this is getting.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before we get to the weekend, a quick note from last night. The #5 Duke women are ranked ahead of the Tar Heels, a rare occurrence, and they preserved their lead with a 3-0 win against the College of Charleston last night. Check out the highlights below, including Kelly Cobb’s sixth goal of the season and a nifty header by Natasha Anasi.


Now, then. Here’s what’s on tap for the weekend in Duke and UNC sports:

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The Rivalry Question of the Week

We’re going real simple this morning. This the is the shock grenade of rivalry questions.

What are the stereotypes of Duke or UNC students? Fans?

Obviously I know many of them, but I have a feeling I’ll be surprised by a few. These can be things you believe, don’t believe, or half believe. Let’s get them all on the record.

Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Triangle’s Creepiest Twitter Account – Nominee

Two weeks ago, after Kealia Ohai scored a pretty amazing goal against Houston (that link is just a recap- there is unfortunately no video, but you can see another great strike here), I looked to see if she was on twitter.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t, but my search produced another account. An account that made me laugh at first, but now kinda gives me the willies. Now I turn to my readers for their judgment; is this A-okay, slightly strange but no big deal, or off-the-wall bizarre? I present to you:

KEALIA OHAIS LEGS

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