Category Archives: UNC

UNC-Georgia Tech: Can a Brother Get a Beatdown?

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Andrew Westney
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Dear Jack,

Long time no talk!  What’s up, brotherman?  How you been?  How was the trip to Maine?  Talked to Dad lately?  How’s the wife and kid, he reciting Shakespeare yet?  But before we get into all that, there’s something urgent to catch up on: you and your alma mater ready to get your stingers handed to you Sunday?

Big words, I realize, considering how little recent success UNC has to stand on against the Bugs and their repetitive motion offense.  Run, run, play-action run, run…and I’m not even trying to hear that Tech has come to embrace the advent of the forward pass in the last three weeks: even grinders get bored enough to throw after scoring 50 points.  But I’ll take my chances this Saturday with the boys in Columbia Blue, as the color commentator for ESPN called them during the UNC-UVa game, to the bewilderment of his partner and the country as a whole below 110th St. on the West Side.*

*It’s a real school, with an actual football team.  Marcellus Wiley admits to going there, and according to Wikipedia, Wiley “played tailback, defensive end, and kick returner for the Lions”.  Yes, Columbia let a defensive end return kicks, and considered itself lucky.

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Women’s Soccer: Is Duke better than UNC?

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Shane
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It’s crazy to think of this as a possibility, considering UNC’s ridiculous dominance since the NCAA championship was founded in 1982 (20 of 29 titles), and their uber-ridiculous dominance of Duke (33-2-1 all-time). But there’s a chance that we’re witnessing a changing of the guards. Here’s the evidence:

1. Duke is ranked 4th in the country, while UNC is 5th.

2. UNC needed overtime to beat defending national champion Notre Dame 2-1. Two days later, Duke smoked ’em 3-1.

3. Duke freshman Kelly Cobb (7 goals) looks better than anyone on UNC, including Kealia Ohai.

4. Against four common opponents (Notre Dame, Houston, Texas A&M, UNC-Greensboro), Duke is 4-0 with a +11 goal differential. UNC is 3-1 with a +7 goal differential.

These are just numbers, and nothing really matters until the teams meet in Chapel Hill on October 13, but to see Duke consistently outperform their Tobacco Road brethren is quite a novelty. Looks like I picked a good season to get interested in college soccer.

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Kelsey Kolojejchick and the Pride of the Badass

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Shane
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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

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Joey
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 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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Optipessimism Week 3: UNC vs. UVA

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Nate
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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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The Weekend Look-Out! (Plus Kelly Cobb Strikes Again)

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Shane
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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

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Shane
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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

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Shane
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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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Inception/Conception

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Joey
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Please welcome new contributor Joey, with thoughts on fandom and parenthood.

Since I arrived as a freshman at Chapel Hill in the fall of 1997, I’ve based most (if not all) of my social calendar around Carolina Sports, with heavy emphasis placed on football and basketball. If there was a Tar Heel game being played, I was either there in person, or planted in front of a television watching it. Hell, I had to get my wife to assure me that we could accommodate our wedding guests by arranging for a meaningless UNC/UVA conference basketball game in February to be on an accessible television. Bear in mind, this was a wedding reception that was held on-campus at UNC at the Carolina Inn, during which our guest mingled with Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, James Worthy, and other Carolina Hoops dignitaries (Naismith Ceremony at halftime of the game). Long story short, a huge chunk of my identity is wrapped around my fandom.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged | 6 Comments

UNC’s Mystifying Loss – Weekend Recap

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Shane
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For the first time in program history, the UNC women’s soccer team lost after leading by two goals.

I didn’t get to see this game, and on paper it doesn’t make much sense. Over the weekend, #10 Duke and #1 UNC played Texas A&M and UNC-Greensboro, but not each other, in the Duke Nike Classic. The Blue Devils pounded A&M into submission on Friday, winning 7-2, while UNC topped UNC-G 2-0 (UNC’s goals here). On Sunday, the expectation was that the Tobacco Road powers would grab two more wins. Duke held up its end, winning 2-0. After her great weekend, in which she notched two goals and four assists, Alaskan freshman Kelly Cobb was named TopDrawer’s National Player of the Week. You can see the Duke highlights below. Kaitlyn Kerr’s nifty goal is at 1:45, and Erin Koballa strikes at 3:30.

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