Red Eyes, Black Hearts, Can’t Lose

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Shane
27 Comments

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. Today, we’re changing it up. This morning’s post comes from Devil Wolf, a new contributing writer. It was originally posted here. As you’ll see, he’s a huge Duke football fan, and he wrote this wonderful essay to express what that label means. If you’re interested in writing for TRB, follow the contact link to the right. Enjoy.

-Shane

Red Eyes, Black Hearts, Can’t Lose

“Well, who do you cheer for during football season?”

And just like that, the conversation ended.

We were having a great time in Washington, DC last summer at this really nice outdoor bar in the courtyard of a downtown hotel. My friends and I were in town for a wedding, and like most conversations at most bars, we all began talking about sports. I ended up with a group from the other half of the wedding party, a nice group of folks with a passion for soccer hailing from Philadelphia and Chicago mainly, and I was holding court defending my beloved Reds from Liverpool against the group who were all Arsenal supporters. “Is soccer your favorite sport?” they asked. “Well, I love soccer, but where I’m from our first love is college sports,” I replied. “Yeah I bet, Tarheel country right?” But even that didn’t ruin the great mood I was in. “Big Duke fan,” I said. “We pretty much hate the Tarheels.” They laughed, and we shared a few jokes at the expense of the evil empire over there in Chapel Hill, and then it happened …

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The Champs!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Shane
12 Comments

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we’re going to be running two of the ‘greatest hits’ from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today’s afternoon post was written on April 6, 2010, the morning after Duke beat Butler for the national championship. As you will see, I had a bee in my bonnet about the perception of Duke and all the hate, so I felt the need to write this diatribe. This was me at my most partisan, and I hesitated to include it here just because it won’t necessarily be the tone of this site. But it did have an impact, and anyway, tomorrow we’re going to feature some Carolina writers. So this will be a final hurrah, a nostalgic tip of the cap to extremism. Enjoy.

-Shane

The Champs

Here’s the problem with all the Duke haters: they don’t allow for any gray area.

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Photoshops

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Shane
1 Comment

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we’re going to be running two of the ‘greatest hits’ from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today’s morning post is actually a compilation of all the “graphic illustrations” produced in the last year. I put that term in quotes because using it without them would probably insult anyone who did actual graphic illustrations. A great professor named Bart Wojdynski taught me how to use Adobe Illustrator at some point in February, probably thinking I would use the knowledge for something educational or morally uplifting. Didn’t happen. Everything that follows is crude, and the bias level is high in a way that will be less typical of TRB. Enjoy.

-Shane

 

My first effort, the “Choose Your ACC Team” flowchart, done in early January

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Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The 2009 Duke Season Preview!

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Shane
6 Comments

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we’re going to be running two of the ‘greatest hits’ from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today’s afternoon post was written on November 13th, 2009, as Duke prepared to play its first game against UNC-Greensboro. It was the season preview for the basketball team that went on to win the national title. I’m including this one because while going through my old posts, I couldn’t help but notice the first sentence under the “prognosis” section:

There’s no way this team contends for a title.

Even back then, my predicting instincts were keen. Enjoy.

-Shane

The Duke Basketball Preview

Let’s get (deep, restorative breath)….pumped.

First, hot off the presses, one of our starters is out with a broken wrist. His name is Mason Plumlee (younger brother of current Dukie Miles), and he looks like this: Continue reading →

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A Heartfelt Tribute to Psycho T

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Shane
12 Comments

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we're going to be running two of the 'greatest hits' from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today's morning post was written on April 6th, 2009, the night of the UNC-Michigan State national title game. It was the sixth post ever written on the blog, and the first one to attract any attention. Oddly enough for a Duke basketball blog, it got the most positive feedback from UNC fans and some negative comments from Duke fans. I include it to prove right off the bat that I'm capable of shedding my bias for minutes at a time. Enjoy.

-Shane

A Heartfelt Tribute to Psycho T

Friends of the blog, I don't have to tell you that I'm a Duke basketball fan. I'm tied to the school and the program for life. The relationship can be contentious at times, hopeless at others, and downright bitter at its worst. Sometimes I have fantasies about packing my things, changing my name, and taking the first plane west to become a fan of a school like San Diego State. But at the end of the day, my loyalties will always lie with the Devils. It's sort of like an arranged marriage you can never leave.

That being said, there are limits. Continue reading →

Posted in UNC | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

The Welcoming Committee

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Shane
122 Comments

Here we are.

After much pomp and circumstance, Tobacco Road Blues is afloat. In nautical terms, we’re as mighty as the Titanic, but hopefully less prone to tragedy.

In fact, I’m going to guarantee it. I’m going to go that far, because today is an exciting day: reading this website will not increase your risk of personal tragedy.

It won’t lower it, mind you, but I want you to feel safe.

Here’s our deal. As the tag line above says in no uncertain terms, this site is dedicated to chronicling the ongoing athletic battle between Duke and UNC. The best (and laziest) way for me to explain things is via the FAQ format, so let’s get right to it. Continue reading →

Posted in Duke, Miscellaneous, UNC | Tagged , , | 122 Comments