University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Duke Stories
February 5, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2004
Congratulations to Jim Nance (Class of '75), who has won a copy of Dean Smith's new book, The Carolina Way, for his story about the 1974 UNC-Duke game. And thanks to all of our readers for sending in so many great stories about the greatest basketball rivalry in the nation.
Unfortunately, we were only able to publish a small portion of the stories that came to us. We hope you enjoy reading what other viewers have to say about the UNC-Duke rivalry and be sure to check back to TarHeelBlue.com for more interactive fan contests in the next few weeks.
The 1974 Game Was Special
Everyone remembers the 1974 "8 point, 17 second" game. I had secured, through sacrifice and coersion, 2 seats 2 rows behind the bench for me and my best girl who was a freshman at Davidson. I was a Junior at Carolina.
This was extraordinarily important to my courtship since her grandfather was the vice-president of Duke, her father and mother had attended Duke. She had somehow never seen Duke play in person and I needed to make a good impression with my double-dipped Carolina background.
At the time-out with 17 seconds left, I commented in perfect Tar Heel hyperbole, "This is the worst day of my life." Perhaps I expected sympathy. Her response was," I don't know. I'm kind of enjoying this." My love and devotion were being tested.
Needless to say the rest of the game was glorious, unforgettable, emotional, loud.
We drifted apart after that, but some 19 years later we reconnected and now when that old tape is shown, as it is every Carolina/Duke game, I can reach over, pat my wife on the hand and say,"Look dear, there we are right behind Dean."
Jim Nance -Class of '75
Great Day For A Baby
I am a 14 year old boy named Adam Clayton in Roxboro, Person County. Back in 1989 Carolina and Duke were playing for a conference championship. Carolina had just won the game, when my my mother jumped up for joy, her water broke. She was taken to the hospital and that was how I came to be. I guess also I was destine to become a Tar Heel fan because my first words were actually "tah hels." I've been a Carolina fan ever since.
Adam Clayton
The Greatest Dunk That Never Was
My name is Dallas Smith, class of '98! My experience of the Spring '98 home game against Duke was one to remember! To set the tone, I had been on crutches the whole week due to an ankle sprain suffered in an intramural basketball game, but I wasn't about to be denied, after camping out and finding myself with a couple of lower-level tickets! As game time approached, some friends and I began the trek down to the Smith Center from our dorm, Granville Towers. Now, that's a long walk for anyone, but on crutches -- well, let's just say it turned into an adventure. That I made it all the way to the Smith Center without busting my rump is still hard to believe. Nevertheless, we made it all the way to our seats without incident, and settled in (if you can ever "settle in" for the Duke game) for what would turn out to be one of the most enjoyable Duke games I have ever watched.
As the game unfolded, it became clear that our team, and specifically the core of Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, and Shammond Williams, was superior to the (Duke players). My satisfaction only grew as we continously throttled Duke from every angle -- dunks, layups, three-pointers -- what a thrill! The memories from the game that stand out, aside from the overwhelming satisfaction of total Duke domination, are a sense that we blew them out twice -- taking a big lead, and letting them fight back only to go on another devastating run that crushed them with the finishing blow. This second run, if I remember correctly, culminated for me in the greatest dunks ever that never was -- the Ed Cota lob off the backboard to Vince Carter that clanged off the rim due to the incomprehensible velocity that Vince had mustered to bring it crashing down. Alas, we mortals were not worthy of such an incredible show of athleticism on that day, hence -- the dunk that wasn't.
After the game, as we headed up to Franklin Street to celebrate, me on my crutches, I don't think my feet even touched the ground -- I think I "floated" up to Franklin Street is more appropriate! That victory still stands in my mind as the greatest victory over Duke I have ever witnessed in 14-plus years of following Carolina basketball, and is truly an experience I will never forget.
Dallas Smith, Class of '98
Raleigh, N.C.
Finding The Right School
Some Tar Heels are born and bred and others, like myself, undergo a radical conversion process. I grew up outside of Baltimore, Maryland, and in the land of Hoyas and Terps, Carolina blue is anything but fashionable. When I moved to North Carolina in my senior year of high school, I was ambivalent about returning to the Maryland area and really had no idea where I wanted to go to school. A friend invited me to visit Carolina and on March 3, 1991 we saw Carolina-Duke square off in the Dean Dome. About halfway through the game a rowdy Tar Heel fan accidentally dumped an entire (what felt like a bucketful) drink down my back. For a few seconds I was just cold and sticky. But then, I had an epiphany -- I was having a good time and I wasn't too happy that this Duke team had just taken the lead. I left the Dean Dome that night, hoarse from screaming, and managed to track down a Carolina undergraduate application. I filled out the application the night I got home and 6 months later was an official Heel. Since then, I have rooted for the Heels in Chapel Hill, Moscow, Munich, California, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, and places in between. I hated that Duke won that night, but was thankful that I saw the light (blue, that is).
Thanks the opportunity to tell a Tar Heel tale. My wife, a Tennessee Vol, thinks I'm nuts. Go Heels.
John Ireland
Class of 1995
For Love Of The Tar Heels
After graduating from UNC (class of '99), I begrudgingly left Chapel Hill for an internship in Chicago. While I ended up having a great time in the Windy City, my happiest memory involves the 2001 UNC victory over Duke.
The game took place on a Thursday night, and I had worked up plenty of excitement. The best part: my two friends, Sasha and Lauren (both class of '00), were coming up for a weekend visit and would arrive in time for tip-off. I had my fellow Tar Heels to cheer with and we were ready to go nuts for our team. That's when the Blue Devil-bred shenanigans began to work against us...
eing Chicago (the home of a certain head coach we all know) the temperature dropped to the coldest all winter (-17?F), which led to flight delays and other problems. Sasha and Lauren were delayed in Nashville because they couldn't fly in to Chicago's weather problems. That's when we made a deal. Sasha and Lauren would not watch the game or look for score updates in the Nashville Airport, and I would not turn on the TV and watch any of the game as well. Instead, I would tape it and we would all watch together as soon as they got into town. Pure torture - oh yes - but it just would not be the same if we all didn't watch the game together.
Finally around midnight that same night, Sasha, Lauren, and I were all in my living room and ready for some Carolina action. We put in the tape and clapped, screamed, cheered, and danced as UNC played an amazing game. Our excitement level was maxed out and we were on the edge of our seats as the last minute of the game clock slowly ticked away. UNC and Duke were down to their last shots and the game was stressfully close. UNC takes the lead - 58...57...56 seconds - Oh! Just hurry up clock, we want a win! 40...39...38.......
WHAT?! THE VIDEO TAPE RAN OUT!
In my dumbest move ever I didn't check the videotape before the game to make sure there was enough room. We wouldn't get to see the end of an unbelievable game! After ranting and raving for a few minutes we flipped to ESPN to at least see the final score tick by on the bottom of the screen. We waited and waited, and waited. ARGH! Who cares about Hockey? What is this, Chicago? Twenty full minutes of scores from every sport except basketball and we finally gave in. Fortunately, Sasha could get scores off of her pager, and we heard about the Tar Heel victory from her little Motorola. At that point it was past 3:00am, and a commercial popped up on TV that ESPN would be re-airing the game at 4:30am.
So what did we do? We set an alarm for 4:30am, went to sleep for an hour and a half, then woke up in the middle of the night to see the Tar Heels defeat the Blue Devils in amazing fashion. We were wide-eyed and ready to cheer for more at 5:00am on a bitter cold day in Chicago.
What do you expect? We are Tar Heels! Go Heels!
Kara Baldwin
