I was sent on a mission this past weekend: to interact with Duke and UNC fans at a bar here and embed myself within the rivalry. I was a little worried things might get crazy, violent or someone might take a swing at me, since I was dressed in Carolina blue and was perceived as being a Duke hater.
VIDEO: ‘The Full Nelson’ Embeds With Duke And UNC Fans
I got some advice heading into the experience, and really what I wanted to do was not mock Duke fans, but understand why they seem to be such a persecuted species, as my colleague Bomani Jones told me. His advice was to be as positive as possible around Duke fans because they don’t take kind to negativity. He also said UNC fans were generally more fun to be around, which proved to be very accurate, but then again, their team was winning.
I didn't know what to expect but what I found were Duke fans that were very calm, a little low on energy but clearly very passionate about their school. Brian Zoubek, a former center with the 2010 national championship team, was there and was extremely kind. Most of the people were nice, but some of the Duke fans seemed to be walking stereotypes associated with the school, and we had a little fun with that. I hope Duke fans aren't too offended; it was all in good fun.
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