This week’s question is inspired by an email from Dan, who writes:
It’d be great if you write about the nicknames some time. I’m particularly interested in “dook.” I don’t know anyone from Duke who finds it insulting, or even annoying, but many UNC fans seem to treat it as a real “gotcha” stinger.
And also by a g-chat with William:
William: you should do a follow up to the dook fighting post about the heels fighting styles.
William: haha, sorry, i always spell it dook out of habit.
It’s the second one. Just as crazy as I remember. I do wish the camera was on the near side, but it’s nice to have it anyway, courtesy of GoDuke:
Last year, I was pretty lax about going to see non-basketball sports at Duke and UNC. I hit up most of the main football games, and I was definitely on the spot come hoops season, but I never went to a single soccer match, and only made it to a couple baseball, tennis, and lacrosse games in the spring. It’s lucky I did, though, because those late experiences kicked me into gear. I remembered how much fun it was to watch elite college sports of any kind, and I vowed to make an effort to get to more games this year.
Still, I didn’t know if I’d like watching women’s soccer this weekend at the Carolina Nike Classic. The defending national champs (Notre Dame) were in town, and sure, UNC has the most successful college program of any sport in the country, and yeah, I’ve been getting really into soccer over the past year and a half. But logic be damned- I was afraid to be bored.
Let me tell ya, I was one misguided dude.
What’s up, gang. A couple things before we move on. First, braggadocio: if you look quick, you can catch my name on the front page ESPN.com, just below Bill Simmons. While that will undoubtedly be a fleeting glory, you can read the article on Ric Flair that got me there here. And if you really want, you can hear me talk about it from a scratchy phone here or here (37:00).
Second, some quick things about the UAE game yesterday.
When looking back on one’s childhood, memories are often are attached to some sort of extreme emotion … fear, pain, excitement, joy, and the like. Other memories are tied to significant milestones or rites of passage as we reach new experiences along the way to adulthood- first kiss, the first thing you bought with your own money, or for me, the first time I was allowed to stay up late.
The year was 1986, and the special occasion that prompted my parents’ generosity was the men’s collegiate soccer national championship from Tacoma, Washington, which kicked-off well after 10PM Eastern time. Duke topped Akron 1-0 that night for the first ever national championship at a school that would become synonymous with winning. Now, when you see Duke dominating the competition in basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, golf, tennis and more, remember that it was Duke soccer that jump-started it all.
Every Thursday, correspondent Sean Grybos will be giving us a look at the weekend ahead in soccer.
Starting Friday at Fetzer Field, the UNC women host the Carolina Nike Classic, a four-team tournament. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils both play Notre Dame over the weekend. Houston also received an invite.
Notre Dame, the number-one ranked team in the nation as well as the 2010 NCAA champion, and the third-ranked Tar Heels (1-0-0) clash on Friday night. The Irish face the Blue Devils (2-0-0) on Sunday.
In addition to Notre Dame, Houston takes to the pitch against the Tobacco Road squads with Duke on Friday and UNC on Sunday. The Cougars, coached by former Tar Heel Susan Bush, can bank on traveling back to Texas winless.
They’re both out.
Here are five tough non-conference games for Duke, and five notable teams UNC will surely destroy on their way to an undefeated national championship:
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.