Battle of the Blues

How do you market one of the most watched sports programs when it doesn’t have as grand advertising sponsorships as the Super Bowl? The answer is you let the fans advertise for you. The historic game I’m referring to is the infamous and arguably most intense rivalry in college basketball- the UNC Tarheels vs. Duke University Blue Devils. At least twice a basketball season, these two juggernaut teams battle it out for who is King of Tobacco Road (the literal 8 miles of road that separate each university).

The feuded rivalry between both schools is long and exhausting but no one has taken it any more serious than the fans and the schools’ students. These fans through word-of-mouth advertising taunt their opposing fans to the point where no matter what the current team’s ranking or accomplishments, everyone must watch the game between Carolina and Duke that will shut their rival’s jabbering faces. To some die hard fans it doesn’t even matter how great the season, if Duke didn’t beat Carolina or if Carolina didn’t beat Duke, the rest of the season hardly matters.

It also doesn’t help that not only bragging rights between fans are on the line, but each school’s newspaper gets in on the action and goads one another. This is truly the best representation of how the game should be advertised, capturing the essence of each school’s spirit. The day before each match Duke’s newspaper, The Chronicle, runs a phony page titled “The Daily Tar Hole” to ridicule UNC’s The Daily Tar Heel. To punch back, The Daily Tar Heel, publishes the “Insider’s Guide to Hating Duke” by Ian Williams. Also, to add gasoline to the flames, each newspaper has agreed on a bet to if their school loses they will place the logo of the winning team in their newspaper announcing that they are “still the best” and change their newspaper’s masthead to the opposing school’s color. Nothing could entice fans anymore to watch the big game than knowing that if their opposing team loses, that loss will be sensationalized in print.

The Duke and Carolina opposition is one of the best illustrations of competition itself and the definition of rivalry in college basketball. It is no surprise that it is one of ESPN’s most watched sports games each year. Next Wednesday, February 9^th, when the Tarheels and Blue Devils face again for the Battle of the Blues the ultimate reward for the winning school’s students will not only be the bragging rights, but to take part in the performance of their school’s celebration ritual (the massive crowding of people on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill or the bonfire of burning benches at Duke University). However, luckily for whatever team loses, both schools always meet at least twice each season, and the next matchup after February is scheduled for March 5th.

– JC Salter