Saturday night's alright for fighting

Except this past Saturday wasn't so much of a fight. (Unless fight=lay down and die.) In case you missed it, this happened:

Thank you, Did Duke Win?.com. (Though, to be more accurate, maybe we should have a separate domain for Did Duke Get Annihilated?.com Or, even better, Did Duke Get Annihilated On Their Home Turf And Did A Bunch Of Crazies Cry?.com.)

After last month's devastating loss -- still heartbroken, still don't want to talk about it -- we had high hopes for Saturday's rematch. The roommate/bff/fellow Tar Heel, Karey, and I set out for our other bff/fellow Tar Heel Brandie's place on Saturday night to watch the game.

Both decked out in our Carolina gear, we got on the metro and sat in two seats facing each other, beside two boys. We each immediately noticed that vomit-inducing shade of royal blue peaking out of their jackets. But we didn't say anything. I saw the one beside Karey notice my Carolina socks, but still, he didn't say anything. We continued like this for six metro stops before they got off, I shot them a nasty look, and then Karey and I burst out laughing. Sometimes, D.C. is just too small.

We didn't think to take a picture, but I've created this artistic interpretation to fully set the scene.

Thankfully that was the closest we got to Dookies that night, which was closer than Duke ever got to Carolina in points. Which was closer than Duke was ever able to get to the basket. Which was closer than Duke ever got to hitting a majority of their three pointers, field goals, or free thows.

I took this picture during halftime. It's hard to read, but the little stat box is titled "Duke's First Half Woes." That's right, not stats, but WOES. As I'm a classy Tar Heel I will say nothing more.

This was also taken during halftime. We wanted photographic evidence of what Carolina Girls look like when their team has twice as many points as Duke.

We got a little tense when they got within 15, but good prevailed over evil and Roy's Boys did what they came to do.

Other things that happened:

• We had Bojangles for dinner.
• And wine.
• We also took a sip of wine every time a Duke player flopped. I know you know what I mean.
• As a result we were really happy all night. However, was that the wine? Was it the beating Duke part? Was it the Bojangles, the chips and dip, the girl scout cookies, and the peeps? Was it three best friends hanging out? I'll have to answer all of the above.
• We re-created the game with a good old fashioned Peeps Duel

1. Karey marks the UNC peep.
2. Peep Duel: Dook v. UNC
3. Brandie pauses the duel to re-align the swords. The refs look the other way.
4. Another UNC victory! While the UNC one expanded to twice its size -- much like our halftime lead -- the Dook peep, curiously, barely expanded at all. It clearly had a pact with the (blue) devil, too.

And just for fun, our first Peeps Duel, circa  spring 2006, when we were undergrads:



It was a good night all around. (Unless you were a Dookie or a Dook Peep.)

In closing, as part of the pre-game, I wore this shirt to work on Friday. Because nothing says professional like an angry ram on your chest. (And I may or may not plan on wearing the same shirt this Friday for the ACC tourney.)

What I Wore Wednesday (WIWW)

A blog I like, The Pleated Poppy, does a "What I Wore Wednesday" post where people post the outfits they wear each week. I like this because it's just average people posting the outfits they wear to school, work, or just around the house. Some are fancy, some are from Target, but it's fun to see and get ideas. I've thought about doing it because the deeper we get into a season the less I care about how I look. But I am never together enough in the mornings to have time to take a picture, and in the evenings I immediately start shedding layers and accessories as soon as I walk in the door.

But, as today is a Very Important Day, I decided to try it. Only, my phone died after taking this test shot and I couldn't get one of me actually wearing it. So it's more like "what I was thinking about wearing, and did wear, even though you can't see me in it Wednesday." Which rolls of the tongue so well.

Shirt: Carolina Sportswear
Jeans: Gap
Socks: Johnny T-Shirt
Earrings: Shrunken Head
Bracelet: Student Stores
Watch: Fossil/Jewelry store in Goldsboro

Basically, a walking advertisement for UNC, the basketball program, and the stores on Franklin Street. I really must branch out more.

So yes, Very Important Day = Carolina v. Duke men's basketball. Isn't that what everyone considers a VID? Because you should.

Even when it doesn't turn out as it should, like tonite, a bad day as a Tar Heel is still a far better day than as anything else. Like a Dookie.

Friday Soapbox

I saw this on the shelf at Marshall's a few weeks ago. I think this week is the perfect time to post it.

It's an odd thing to be selling, even for $1, given that it's half gone and there's a footprint on top. But then you see the name on the side and, suddenly, it all makes sense.


-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.

Go to hell Duke, ok?

Occasionally I'll think that maybe, just maybe, I'm crossing over into adulthood. I'm never happy about it and I immediately try to counteract it by putting my hair in pigtails or watching a Disney movie. (Both of which, in my opinion, are still acceptable adult behaviors, as long as done in the privacy of your home.) But then, someone says something derogatory about UNC, or worse, something derogatory about UNC and something nice -- shudder -- about Duke, and I feel my grasp on maturity slip away. And all I want to do is kick them in the face. Twice.

And in the mental list I keep in my head of "things a grown up would do" and "things a grown up probably wouldn't do," I have to say that a kick in the face is probably in the latter. I'm also sure it does not qualify as a classy thing to do, and since I endeavor to always lead a classy lifestyle, I guess I can't just go around kicking random people in the face. Even though they really, really deserve it.

Which leads me, finally, to the point. To quote Jay Z, as I have before, "you can pay for school, but you can't buy class."

I am of what I consider to be a rare breed of someone who was a fan of the school before she was a fan of the basketball team. Seriously, little ol' six-year-old me, playing on the elementary school playground*, talking about going to UNC one day, didn't even know what basketball was. But damn if I didn't know that early that I was in love.

Keep on paying your hundreds of thousands for that education, Dookies. It doesn't equal class, no matter how much you think otherwise. And for the record, my Carolina degree doesn't equal class either; no degree does. I just wanted to hate on Duke for a bit.

*True story.

The Google Test

Search for: i hate unc
Results returned: 233,000

Search for: i hate duke
Results returned: 1,920,000

How can you argue with Google? We all know they are the final arbiter of all life's decisions. (Not that most readers of my blog would think otherwise about Duke anyway.)

I always miss Chapel Hill during the basketball season most on Duke game days. When I'm somewhere else people are just walking around like it's a normal day. They ask about rush hour and deadlines and weekend plans. In Chapel Hill, I'd grab a DTH with everyone else to read Ian Williams' column even though we have it memorized. I'd spend the day hearing the random cries of well-deserved threats aimed at Duke, with even normally sedate professors chiming in. I'd be swept up in the half exuberant and half anxious energy enveloping campus that makes you think we can do anything.

Instead, I will fight rush hours crowds and make my deadlines and discuss my weekend plans in my Carolina blue shirt and argyle socks and Tar Heel earrings that no one else will notice because they don't understand it's not just another day.

But with 1.9 million reasons on Google, just from one side of the debate, I'm hardly alone.

Now if I can just get to sleep so I have energy tomorrow to yell
GO TO HELL DUKE!!!!

...And somewhere men are laughing, and little children grin, but there is no joy in K-ville - for DUKE HAS LOST AGAIN - DTH Cartoon

This post brought to you by 79 - 73. By Wes and Tyler and Reyshawn and Marcus and Bobby and on and on and on. By Paulus fouling out and Cameron Crazies not so crazy anymore. By being woken up by a phone call at 4 a.m. and lying in bed for an hour, grinning, and maybe even crying a little because I've never felt so close, and so far, from the things I love before.

A sample of the phone call I got from Mom, per my request, when she called to tell me the score:
Mom: Are you lying down?
Me: (Thinking: seriously, it's 4 a.m., of course I'm lying down!)
Mom: Because you aren't going to like this...
Me: Oh no...
Mom: WE WON BY SIX POINTS!!!!

Cruel Mom, cruel. But my own fault because I forgot to tell you I just wanted a "yes" or "no," playing with my emotions in the middle of the night is just wrong! But it's ok, because I'm not sure how many other mothers would make a trans-Atlantic phone call just to relay the score of a basketball game to their daughter. Love you! :-)

The worst part about being in London yesterday? Everyone was just walking around like it was a normal day. Talking about the weather and their jobs like it was just any other Wednesday. Whereas I, specifically decked out in a Carolina blue shirt, Carolina ring and bracelet, and my lucky Carolina blue socks, could barely sit still. Kept checking every sports site I could think of to see what they were saying. Kept going back and forth with friends over how much we hate Duke - a topic that can never be exhausted, and always brings forth previously un-explored reasons. To everyone else it may have just been a normal day, but we know better. :-)

In honor of last night's win, some pictures from the last Franklin Street celebration I took part in. From a night where four girls got the best senior gift ever - in the form of a Cameron Indoor win and a crying J.J. Redick. From the best senior night ever - for us.


Tar Heel "crazies"


View of a bonfire from Top of the Hill.


Close-up of fire - because of course, beat Duke, build fire.


NSATC on top of the world - or at least Chapel Hill.

God bless those Tar Heel boys...