Crossing Party Lines

I have a confession to make. I’m a huge Duke fan. Huge. It’s hard not to be having been an undergrad there. So you can imagine that I’ve had to make some adjustments now that I’m living at the other end of 15-501 (the road between Durham and Chapel Hill). And with that, I give you the FSBCF framework: Four Stages of Becoming a Carolina Fan.

Stage 1 – The “No way, no how” stage: This is where any self-respecting Duke alum (or NC State alum, for that matter) convinces himself that under no circumstances will a Carolina victory be something to celebrate. Even if Duke wins the national championship and goes undefeated, the Stage 1 individual is disappointed with any success by a Carolina team.

Stage 2 – The “Definitely not basketball or football” stage: Reluctantly, you begin to rationalize passively supporting Carolina teams in sports like soccer or field hockey. You convince yourself that these are just hardworking college kids trying to get an education. They don’t have million dollar futures in front of them, so they don’t deserve your animosity. You’ll still pull for your Blue Devils in a head to head matchup, but you can’t seem to muster the white hot intensity of a thousand burning suns that once characterized your antipathy toward all things Carolina blue.

Stage 3 – The “Just as long as we’re not playing Duke” stage: Somewhere along the way, you’ve begun to internalize the Carolina fan experience. You catch yourself saying “we” instead of “they.” You get caught up in the excitement of ACC championship talk and Saturday tailgates. You even convince yourself that it’s okay for Carolina to do well in basketball and football, so long as it’s not at Duke’s expense.

Stage 4 – The “Stefan Urquelle” stage: For those of you lacking in 1990’s pop culture knowledge, Stefan Urquelle is the very cool alter-ego of this guy. In Stage 4, the Kenan-Flagler student has made a full transition from Steve Urkel to Stefan Urquelle. Phrases like “Carolina needs this game more than Duke does” start to creep into your vocabulary.

Having written this blog post, I think I would diagnose myself as a Stage 3 convert. If I were to poll my fellow Duke alumni (there are six of us in the first-year class), I think that would be true of most of us. With that said, we’re hanging on for dear life in the hopes that we don’t slip into Stage 4. Check back with me in April; basketball season will be the real test.

Shawn

TAR HEEL FEVER

Posted by Alex  

The first thing that you will notice when you arrive in Chapel Hill is the omnipresence of the light blue color everywhere in town. This is not your basic blue, it is the UNC blue, it is more than just a baby blue color, it is the Tar Heel standard. Welcome to Tar Heel territory!

North Carolina is known as the Tar Heel State but the Tar Heel moniker takes its full meaning in Chapel Hill. The inhabitants, the students and especially the UNC sports teams are the Tar Heels.

As an International student, I did not grasp the full extent of what it means to be part of the Tar Heel community until I went to my first UNC football game last summer. It really hit me then, seeing everyone wearing the Tar Heel blue: I mean, not just a few sections, the whole stadium was Tar Heel blue. The chants and other UNC slogans finally pushed me over the edge: I had become a Tar Heel too.

It is no secret that Football is not UNC’s greatest athletic strength in comparison to Soccer and Lacrosse, for example. But, what really defines UNC sports is Men’s (and Women’s) Basketball. Usually, the Tar Heel passion is all year round but the real Tar Heel Fever happens about two to three times per year: the 1^st home game of the Men’s Basketball team at the Dean Dome (which is conveniently located next to the Kenan-Flagler Business School), their last home game of the regular season (also known as Senior Night because it is their last game at the Dome) and, last but certainly not least, March Madness. March Madness is Tar Heel Fever! Every game is an opportunity to wear our color proudly and get together to cheer for our favorite team in blue.

You can imagine how ecstatic the whole town is as I write this post. The Tar Heels are going to San Antonio for the Final Four. Watch out, Kansas, here comes the Blue Hurricane!