You can call them whatever you want lol. I just think it's silly to act like ESPN doesn't talk about UNC all the time. Because they do.
As a non-North Carolinian, it's totally understandable that this is your viewpoint, though. Again... it's no one's fault but Moo's that they aren't more of our rival. It's their fault their school is huge and churns out good engineers.... yet they have ZERO national presence as a university or as an athletic program.
Oh come on now, show me where I said that. You even highlighted where I said "very few" were seen as intense before becoming national. Hell, when I was in college at WCU, the battle for the old moutain jug was seen as one of the most intense rivalries out there and NO ONE outside of the mountains knew anything about that one. It was still pretty intense, though.
I silent cheered at my desk when I read it
Agreed on points 1, 3, and 4.
Now? I agree. And the absolute worst experience I have ever had was at a football game at CF back when I was in college. I didn't even sport my UNC stuff and I barely got out of there without a trip to the hospital.
Your argument was that the fight in the 60's wasn't a big deal because it wasn't a national thing. You use this excuse to dismiss it's importance in the rivalry and state that it didn't gain steam until later, which is false You can't say it wasn't a big deal because it wasn't national since nothing was national back then. By that logic, nothing that happen between moo and UNC was a big deal either.
Not all of the sports were around back then, but some were. You keep stating that the rivalry only exist because of basketball and espn. Basketball is the national face of the rivalry thanks in large part to the rise of espn, but the rivalry existed outside of basketball long before espn came along.
You bring up a good point about the presence nationally as a university. The UNC-duke rivalry exists outside of sports because of location, perceived influence as a university and culture. Both schools are considered nationally known universities and are well perceived in academic circles (rival fans insert afam joke here). You also have the public vs private school and locals vs outsiders. This stuff didn't all of a sudden happen because espn televised UNC-duke basketball games.
Please go back and read my posts and tell me where I said the rivalry existed ONLY because of basketball. I said the rivalry took off nationally because of ESPN and THAT component was because of basketball. Of course it existed with dook before then, as did the rivalry with Cow College, but back then it was primarily a basketball and football rivalry. This was because those other sports you used to prove UNC/dook was more of a rivalry NOW weren't around or as popular back then. I also never dismissed the importance of the rivalry before it took off nationally. I didn't say it wasn't a rivalry then, nor did I dismiss dook as a rival back then. I said it didn't mean anything to anyone outside of this region until it went national, but not once did I state it wasn't important or that it didn't really exist.
A lot of good points/stories in this thread. It's interesting to here from North Carolinians, as I'm not exposed as much to that side ironically. Let me tell you my perspective as someone who grew up in California and is a current UNC grad student in a program where maybe only 10-20% of my colleagues are from NC. I think we have as many people from India as from the state of NC.
That's basically how the rivalry is seen by anyone under the age of 50. For the older NC people who can remember the 10-15 year run that moo had where they were relevant, moo is still a big rival. @TarHeelNation11 is correct about the whole house divided thing as well. I had members in my family who went to moo and I knew plenty of other people who went to moo. I didn't know anyone who grew up in NC that went to duke. That feeds into the rivalry though and goes back to the whole cultural thing I mentioned.
I'll have you know that I just turned 49, ya dang whipper snapper!
Good poast. The only things I would mention is the following:
I do, too. But that was before Roy.
Yes. But my first love is UNC. I barely follow UMd now that they aren't in the ACC. But I'll pull for them if I stumble across a game.
@gauchoheel -- I'd like to especially highlight my point #3. You're from California so I'm thinking maybe you haven't traveled to many parts of the state besides the Triangle. I encourage you to go see other areas of the state (when you have time. I know grad school blows). North Carolina is a wonderfully diverse state with strong local pride. Eastern NC folks love Eastern NC. Folks from the Triad love the Triad, etc. It's really an awesome state.
If he does that, he might not want to mention he's from CA. I find that eastern NC politics and values don't always matchup with those from CA.
Agreed completely. And I wish I could get more exposure to areas outside the Triangle.
Thanks! I've been to Charlotte several times, Winston-Salem, and Asheville. That's about it outside of the Triangle. Planning a beach trip in the spring. I don't have a car so that limits what else I can see.
As far as recruiting goes, it hurts us. Not a lot in basketball since we have a history of success, but it hurts in football. @TarHeelNation11 can go into more detail on the football impact.
