The five best cases of UNC-Duke smack talk

UNC students and players celebrate after the team beat Duke on Saturday, March 5, 2011 in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Photo by Andrew Dye/reesenews

As we prepare for the UNC-Duke face-off Wednesday, it is impossible to avoid the “Beat Duke” and “Go to Hell Carolina” banter. After all, we’re talking about the best sports rivalry of all time. Here’s a list of five cases of smack-talking that exemplify this rivalry, from the early ’90s to today:

1. Ian Williams’ column in The Daily Tar Heel: Why I Hate Duke elaborately lays out the reasoning behind the long-lasting hatred for Duke. “I hate Duke with an infernal passion undying,” he wrote. “I hate every leaf of every tree on that sickening campus. I hate every fake cherub Gothic piece of crap that litters the buildings like hemorrhoidal testaments to imagined superiority.”

2. At the 2010 McDonald’s All-American game, North Carolina recruit Reggie Bullock bashed Duke, saying the Tar Heels would win next year because Duke has “sorry wing players” and Coach K “looks like a rat.”  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QfKjcZenGo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

3. UNC chancellor Holden Thorp got involved, tweeting “Our students are talking about the future and asking smart questions instead of wasting time sitting in a tent. #USFutureEconomy” before last year’s UNC-Duke game in March. He retracted his comment and apologized almost immediately.

4. North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland expressed extreme confidence that UNC would beat Duke in the ACC Championship last March. Duke’s Nolan Smith responded that Strickland’s talk would only further motivate him and his team.

5. John Henson’s sister Amber is a freshman on the Duke women’s basketball team. But she said she will be rooting for the Tar Heels this Wednesday: “I’ll definitely be cheering for my brother.”

UNC-Duke smack talk amounts to nothing come game-time, but it’s fun, right? Leave a comment with your favorite examples of UNC-Duke smack-talking.

  1. Duke was so worried about the Tarheel game Wednesday night that they completely over looked Miami the other night…I heard the Tarheels sent over a case of D-con to the Duke campus to settle coach K;s stomach .

    Comment by Wayne on February 6, 2012 at 9:47 pm

  2. The good folks at StatSheet have a whole list: http://stat-smack.com/ncaa_basketball?good=north-…

    Comment by @AdamBSmith on February 7, 2012 at 8:07 am

  3. Another classic UNC-Duke game for the ages in the Dean Dome.

    Comment by UNC bred on February 9, 2012 at 12:22 am

  4. Best rivalry in all of sports. Bar none.

    Comment by Carolina on March 16, 2012 at 2:22 am