Author Archives: Shane

The Rivalry Question of the Week

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Shane
27 Comments

We’re rolling out new features like crazy today. This week’s question is inspired by a comment in yesterday’s Erwin Cup rules post about the possibility of Duke and UNC meeting in the NCAA basketball tournament. I assigned the winner of this hypothetical game 30 points, the most of any potential match-up, because I think life might literally come to a halt on Tobacco Road if it ever happened. So, the question:

Would you want Duke and UNC to meet in the NCAA basketball tournament?

It’s never happened before, which is kind of insane. It’s almost like the sporting gods get together to plan it, start considering the fallout, and decide they don’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole.

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments

The TRB Comments of the Week!

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Shane
7 Comments

Every week, more or less, we’ll be choosing one comment from the previous week that made our hearts swell with joy, pride, or love. Then we’ll be choosing another that made the rest of our organs swell with shame, hilarity, or disgust. All comments are printed as written.

Positive

In last week’s rivalry post, which sought to determine whether an argument could be made for Duke-UNC as the greatest American rivalry, Zeke brought up an excellent point:

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Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The W.A. Erwin Cup: Rules

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Shane
25 Comments

The W.A. Erwin Cup is year-long competition between Duke and UNC to determine which school had the superior year in athletics. It takes every sport into account, and leaves no stone unturned. This is the people’s alternative to the insufficient Carlyle Cup. Don’t miss part one, which reviewed the history that led us to this point and explained the origin story of W.A. Erwin.

Now, it’s on to the rules! Please note that these rules are sort of like the draft you turn in just before the final draft. We welcome reader feedback. If you see a flaw in the system, or just have an idea for improvement, let us know in the comments. It will be helpful, I promise, and we’ll give you special recognition for having made an amendment.

Part Two: RULES

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments

The W.A. Erwin Cup: Background

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Shane
8 Comments

Part One: Background

Ladies and gentlemen, today is an important day in our historic rivalry. Today, we cease to be indebted to a tire company’s notion of Duke and Carolina. Today, we honor a man whose name spans two schools, and yet is all but forgotten to history. Today, we seek at long last to honestly measure the year-long merit of the schools closest to our heart. Today, the fight begins in earnest.

Thus, we introduce:

The W.A. Erwin Cup

The good stuff is coming, but bear with me now as I take you through a tour of the history and background that led us to this critical point.

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Posted in Duke, UNC | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Good Riddance, China: Player Grades After Three Games

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Shane
23 Comments

Mostly, I’m happy to be done with China. Countries with hideous institutional morals always make me slightly nervous. There’s something creepy about the fact that the spiritual decrepitude comes from on high; you can tell they actually don’t care about things like cheating. It’s the same thing that was so unsettling about the Soviet Union. You know the saying, ‘the ends justify the means’? That’s a very western idea, like it’s okay to be a dick as long as you can explain it with a good reason. ‘Hey guys, I know this looks bad, but I promise it’s for a higher purpose.’

In China, I’m pretty sure they don’t care one iota about justifying the means. It’s just: HEY, LOOK: THE ENDS! A sweet Olympic opening ceremony! (Forget the dead people.) A win over Georgetown! (Forget the horrendous refereeing.) A gold medal! (Forget that the gymnasts were 12.) A robust industrial complex! (Forget that we’re quite literally killing the planet.)

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous | Tagged , | 23 Comments

What if Duke has to Fight?

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Shane
3 Comments

Sometimes in life, you have to be prepared.

Tomorrow morning, at 8am, Duke plays their third game against the U-23 Chinese national team. This one’s in Beijing, the site of the now-infamous Beijing Brawl between Georgetown and the Bayi Rockets. Painful as it is to admit, the Hoyas lost that fight convincingly. Bayi is a professional squad affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army, and this wasn’t their first rodeo. Also, they were older than Georgetown and presumably trained in hand-to-hand combat. Georgetown has a reputation as a tough Big East school who recruits from the inner cities, but their guys were plainly not prepared for what the Chinese Army was laying down.

Duke, on the other hand, has a reputation for recruiting kids from middle- and upper-class backgrounds; kids that grew up in less gritty environments, with presumably fewer opportunities to fight. One thing I couldn’t help thinking after watching Georgetown get battered was, ‘holy shit, thank God that wasn’t Duke.’ It would have been even more vicious, and I would have been even more angry afterward.

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Posted in Duke | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Partisan Slam of the Day

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Shane
3 Comments

Once in a while, Tobacco Road Blues will be scouring Duke and UNC message boards for the funniest, saddest, or craziest example of partisanship. Hatred is a central tenet of the rivalry, and while we would never officially condone it, must less celebrate it, we’d be remiss to ignore it.

Today’s slam comes from user ‘bymorris’ at The Devil’s Den, and is simply a picture from an old UNC media guide:

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Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

“The Best Rivalry in Sports”

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Shane
30 Comments

vs.

Apparently SportsCenter did a “Top 10 Rivalries” piece yesterday, and this was the photo finish:

2. Duke-UNC
1. Yankees-Red Sox

I’ve probably seen a thousand of these features in my life, and that pecking order seems pretty standard. I’m not sure why it matters that we rank rivalries; I’m fortunate enough to have a stake in both of the two mentioned above, but it’s beyond me to put them in order. And because rivalries are regional, how would I ever be able to evaluate Ohio State-Michigan or Auburn-Alabama? Those teams mean nothing to me.

Actually, that’s not true; I hate them all. I wish all four schools would lose their funding tomorrow and be shut down by the state. Or maybe just burn to the ground. That’d be quicker.

But rivalry curiosity got the better of me this morning, and I googled “Top 10 Sports Rivalries.” Here’s how Duke-UNC finished relative to Yankees-Red Sox on a few different sites.

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged | 30 Comments

The Beijing Brawl

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Shane
5 Comments

Here’s what we know

-Today in Beijing, an exhibition game between Georgetown and a Chinese professional team called the Bayi Rockets ended when a fight broke out in the fourth quarter. According to Wikipedia and other sources, the Bayi Rockets are a military team, and their players all serve in the People’s Liberation Army. When Georgetown coach John Thompson III led his players off the court, the game was tied at 64.

EDIT: We now have video.

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

LIVE BLOG: The first (televised) (exhibition) game of the season!

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Shane
22 Comments

Okay, I am here. The game is on tv. I’m trying to infuse myself with some November excitement. No, screw that- MARCH excitement.

Don’t miss my Duke in China primer on Grantland, or the bonus content on this very site. Here’s a semi-appropriate blurry picture:

I’ll be time stamping by time remaining in each quarter. If you’re watching between 8 and 10 eastern, refresh for new content.

First quarter

8:04: Miles Plumlee with the first basket on a tip-in! There’s a lot of music playing during the game, and I guess every quarter is ten minutes long.

7:30: Seth Curry with a bomb! This is fun! Basketball!

7:15: Announcers are already saying China gets all the calls. A player they call “an excellent distance shooter” misses two free throws. White Raven with a vicious board, and Rivers gets a hoop plus harm. I think we’re all going to like that partnership.

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments