The Doldrums

This is the worst time of year to be a college basketball fan.  Let me explain.  In the springtime after March Madness we all sit around and evaluate the “what ifs?” and “should haves.”  As we move into summer we accept that college basketball is still far away.  We decide whether we want to watch golf, baseball or stab our own eyeballs with forks.  From personal experience I can declare that the fork stabbing is far more entertaining than baseball or golf.  We’re frustrated there isn’t college basketball, but we’ve come to accept it.

However, as we venture forth into fall we feel that college basketball is right around the corner.  We can almost taste it.  We want to see Sportscenter highlights of Duke or UNC crushing a team by forty.  We want to see Virginia Tech squeak by cupcakes and laugh as they don’t get picked for the NCAA tournament yet again.  We want to see Wake Forest actually lose to the Polytechnical School for the Deaf and Blind.  But we can’t always get what we want.

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Duke Earns Its First Erwin Cup Point!

The Duke football essay project returns tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s the wrap from the weekend.

-Check the scoreboard, baby! (Right sidebar.) Duke has its first point of the Erwin Cup, and it was well-earned. Visiting the #5 UNC Tar Heels, the men’s soccer team pulled out an incredible 2-2 draw. Luckily, Will asked me the day before the game what would happen in the case of a tie, and we decided that the difference in possible points earned would go to the road team. So in this case, UNC stood to gain 3 with a home win, and Duke would get 4 with a road win. The difference is 1, so Duke takes the point.

Riley Wolfe scored the game-tying goal for Duke in the 84th minute, and the Blue Devils are now unbeaten in their last five matches.

-UNC women’s soccer did a better for themselves, winning 4-1 at Miami. You can watch the goals here.

-Duke women’s soccer continued its incredible season, and Tara Campbell earned yet another shutout, in a 1-0 win over Virginia Tech. You can see the nifty goal, scored by Kaitlyn Kerr after a great headed pass from Chelsea Canepa, here:

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Optipessimism Week 5: North Carolina – East Carolina

Before getting to this week’s Optipessimism, I have to beat my own chest for a minute and explain to you, lovely readers, my commitment to Tar Heel football. Upon hearing that the night game against ECU would only be televised in my area on a channel called the CBS Sports Network, and I didn’t get it, I called up Comcast and asked what it would cost to just buy it for a day, like pay per view or something. I had to buy a whole “package” of sports channels for a whopping $5 a month, though the low cost meant I wasn’t too broken up about it (I know, I’m undermining my heroics statement). So I have officially spent real money now this season on Carolina football in absentia; and I promised not to donate any money to the program when they fired my precious Butch Davis! (I’m kidding. Seriously. Donating money requires, well, money.)

The reason I’m telling you all this is because part of the sports package included NFL RedZone. Which is, hands down, the most perfect sports channel for a football fan ever invented. It’s amazing. You literally miss nothing. I sat down at 1 PM on my couch on Sunday and watched, enraptured, for hours. I caught nearly every touchdown, almost all the important plays, and felt like I could carry a legitimate conversation about the flow of all 10 or so games. It’s incredible. And there are no commercials. My question: how the heck has no one done this yet for college football? (And ESPN Goal Line doesn’t count; they don’t cover all the games.) I can understand there would be some serious obstacles, namely:

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Triangle Prophets, Week 5

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. Each week, we’ll feature any and all commenters who pick all 5 games correctly.

Current Standings

1. Tar Heel Fan Blog – 10 points
1. Nate Friedman, UNC football correspondent – 10 points
1.
William Earnhardt, Site Designer – 10 points

4. Me – 9 points
4.
John Watson, The Devil’s Den – 9 points

4.The Devil Wolf, TRB – 9 points
4.
Jim Young, Editor, ACCSports.com – 9 points

8. James Henderson, Publisher, Pack Pride – 7 points

 

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Cobb’s Crossbars, Weekend Look-Ahead

It was heartbreak city last night at Koskinen Stadium, as Kelly Cobb hit two shots into the cross bar and #4 Duke was forced to settle for a draw with #7 Virginia. Post-game comments from goalie Tara Campbell (excellent all night), Cobb (strong but unlucky), and head coach Robbie Church:

Another positive from the match was Natasha Anasi, the defender who was on the end of every header and seemed virtually unbeatable on the ground. All in all, it was a very solid defensive performance for Duke, but aside from Cobb, the offense seemed to lack a little speed. UVA had an answer for every attack, and eventually it became apparent that the only way a goal was going to happen was if Cobb did something dynamic. And she almost did, twice.

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Tonight: #4 Duke vs. #13 Virginia, Women’s Soccer

I’ll be at Koskinen tonight, at 8pm, to check this one out. Not only because I’m curious, but because I’m working on a story about Duke women’s soccer that will culminate on October 13, when they face Carolina in Chapel Hill.

For the first time maybe ever, you can actually make a compelling argument that Duke is better than their Tobacco Road rivals. UNC’s greatness is established; 20 of 28 NCAA titles, 20 of 22 ACC tournament championships, and a 33-2-1 all-time record against Duke. Even on the rare instances when the Blue Devils won, Carolina finished the year as the better squad.

This year, though, Duke is ranked higher. They beat Texas A&M, who beat Carolina. They beat Notre Dame 3-1, who Carolina beat 2-1 in overtime. And tonight, they have a chance to beat a team that just won against Carolina for the first time in 25 years of trying.

The real test won’t come until Duke faces Carolina, but this is another baby step; progress toward proving to themselves that they have the superior team.

Last thing: check out the awesome Erwin Cup scoreboard Will put on the right side bar. We’re going big time, baby!

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Deconstructing Fandom…literally.

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

I’ve got to confess: I wanted to start out with some great literary comparison that I could juxtapose for this entry. I thought about various novels, tales from religion, historical feats, and the like. I had the idea that citing some examples from any famous Coming-of-Age tale would help illuminate just where I’m going with this.

Then I realized that was stupid, fake, and probably wouldn’t really depict what I was trying to say anyway. So I’ll just get to the real story…

One of the main things that will be a refrain in this space is what I’ve had to give up or let go of, in order to make an honest attempt at being ready for fatherhood. I’m very aware that this phenomenon isn’t unique; everyone goes through it, and it’s going to be different for everyone’s own individual experience(s).

For me perhaps, there was no more significant and symbolic act of transformation toward fatherhood, than turning my man-cave into a nursery for a baby girl.

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Looking ahead: Duke-UNC men’s soccer, Friday night

Stuff to know:

-The game is in Chapel Hill, and UNC wants to break the single-game attendance record. (Linke opens. pdf)

-The Duke women’s team is red-hot, but the men are entrenched in a year-long struggle. They started off ranked, but a series of close losses pushed them well out of the top 25. On the other hand, they’re now working on a 4-match winning streak in which they’ve scored at least four goals in each. Here’s video from their win against Presbyterian. Notice how the players don’t seem to celebrate even a little after a goal. Do they hate each other?


-Unlike Duke, UNC has had a dream season. They started off the year with a win over #1-ranked Louisville, and have lost just one game, a 1-0 road loss to Virginia Tech, en route to compiling an 8-1 record. Their last win, yesterday against #14 Old Dominion, should shoot them up even higher than their current #5 ranking.

 

I will be there for the second ever Erwin Cup match. If anyone attends, any kind of Erwin Cup sign will make the pages of this blog.

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Miles Plumlee Dunked on Kyle Singler

1:36 seconds into the video (below) Miles Plumlee takes a ball from Kyle Singler and dunks over everything. Miles Plumlee is an unstoppable force. Hell, just watch the entire video and savor that brilliant tournament. The 09-10 NCAA Tournament is probably my favorite sporting event of all time. I expected another early Sweet 16 exit but the Devils used brilliant defense combined with the “Big Three” and beat all comers. Once Lance Thomas half-dunked over the entire Baylor team I felt like we had a fantastic chance to make the final four. My nerves were firing during the Butler game and I still couldn’t believe how close Hayward’s last shot was. If his shot had gone in I would’ve quit sports forever. During March Madness highlights we would no longer see Christian Laettner banging his magical jumper, we would see Gordon Hayward knocking down a clutch half-court shot after Kyle Singler was illegally leveled by Matt “The Creeper” Howard. Enough reminiscing, we’ve got work to do.

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UNC Wins First Ever Erwin Cup Points

UNC field hockey player Elizabeth Stephens became the first athlete to score a point in the Erwin Cup last weekend, netting a double overtime goal to give UNC a 1-0 field hockey win over Duke.

Since the match took place in Chapel Hill, UNC earns 1.5 points. The current standings are:

UNC: 1.5
Duke: 0

For more information about the Erwin Cup, a year-long athletic competition pitting Duke against UNC, read here:

The history of W.A. Erwin and his Cup

The Rules

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