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NEW ORLEANS – The time between North Carolina’s win over St. Peter’s last Sunday in Philadelphia and the coming clash with Duke in the Final Four “seems like forever ago,” Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot said Friday.
That is the perspective of a player who has been pulled in so many directions since arriving to The Big Easy on Wednesday night after a not-so-easy flight. All four teams have been swamped with the heavy mandates here at the Final Four. Perhaps that is why Philly seems like so long ago to the Heels, but it might be different for the fans at home.
The nerves have surely been building. The stress meter is starting to hit. How many slept well Friday night?
Oh, if only Texas Tech or Arkansas could have taken care of the Blue Devils this wouldn’t be an issue. Had UCLA closed the deal on the Tar Heels or Jersey City’s Cinderella gone one more step, this wouldn’t be a problem for Duke fans.
Nope.
It’s gonna happen.
Sitting back the last couple of days and checking out how the national media has approached asking questions about this apocalyptic matchup, they see it like this: The winner has eternal bragging rights, and some say the loser should simply pack up shop and move on to something else, never to dribble the ball again.
Or something like that.
This never really was supposed to happen because it was the one thing neither fan base wanted to see happen. It’s too much for the hearts of so many. And that isn’t really an exaggeration.
We all know a few people whom we will worry about later tonight when Carolina and Duke take center stage like never before because it’s gonna happen.
But let me tell you a little bit about these last few days, and perhaps this can help ease some of the tension building in so many Carolina and Duke fans:
Being at UNC’s presser at the Smith Center on Tuesday, then spending the majority of both Thursday and Friday inside the Superdome, and the vibe here is the players aren’t feeling any pressure. They think this is cool, not just meeting each other, but all the bells and whistles that come with being in the Final Four.
If the kids aren’t really stressed, why should anyone else? Instead, UNC and Duke fans should embrace this moment together, because it only exists in the manner it does and with the magnitude of something resembling a Super Bowl because of each other.
Carolina and anyone else ain’t generating this kind of buzz here at the Final Four. Duke and anybody else isn’t, either. Like it or not, Carolina and Duke are joined at the hip, and this celebration of a great sport and an even greater rivalry is its witness.
Throw your arms out, everyone, and wrap them around the reality that this is gonna happen and it’s great for both teams, schools, and fan bases.
Nobody, and I repeat, NOBODY, else has what Heels and Devils fans have. NOBODY will have it in most of our lifetimes, if ever.
You guys have something so special that it has fully crossed over into all other entertainment realms this week, and then some. There isn’t one rivalry in college sports that could do this. Not One!
There may not be one in pro sports that can, either. Game Seven of the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and Yankees drew a 19.4 rating and 31.46 million viewers. Saturday night could challenge that, though being aired on TBS will somewhat hurt the overall numbers.
TBS is carried in 78.8 million households, about 17 million fewer than CBS. But the game is there because they collaborated on the billion-dollar price tag. So, they share the games and this is TBS' turn to air the Final Four. Lucky them!
Oh well, it doesn’t change the fact that Carolina-Duke is special. Casual sports fans will tune in Saturday night and will see two of the greatest uniforms in sports, assuming Duke wears its traditional white threads. And they will see a rivalry unmatched in terms of competitiveness, sustained greatness and relevance, and one that is clearly going to carry on into the future maybe grander than ever.
This game won’t be the end for the loser because they will play again next year. It will stink big time for Duke fans if Coach K loses his last home game and last game – in the Final Four, mind you – to the hated Tar Heels.
And it will be difficult for UNC fans to overcome a loss to a man they deem the devil himself somewhat wiping away that amazing triumph in Cameron a month ago.
That’s understandable. But the rivalry will survive, it will thrive, and it will continue on for as long as college hoops exists. And that’s why North Carolina and Duke fans need to celebrate this occasion.
It’s gonna happen, and that’s okay, because both sides will survive the outcome.
