So, this analogy came into my life months ago (months! at least two, but perhaps three). I hate to be delayed in my reporting, but it didn’t seem widely important then. Honestly, it probably isn’t even now, but the fact remains: even months (two, perhaps three) later, I’m so pleased with it. It must be shared.
It all began in early July. My mom and I had tickets to see the Cards/Cubs series in Saint Louis during the interterm break at my summer job. While at Busch stadium, we got to talking about the rivalry (I suppose now it is appropriate to mention that, while I am a Cardinals fan, my mom supports the boys from Chicago) and how other teams felt the need to interject themselves unappreciatedly. Which made us start thinking about ACC basketball. And the following analogy was born.
In this analogy, the following pairings have been made:
Chicago Cubs / Duke Blue Devils
St. Louis Cardinals / University of North Carolina Tarheels (it pains me to have to make this association, but you’ll understand why in a minute)
Kansas City Royals / North Carolina State Wolfpack
Houston Astros / University of Maryland Terrapins
SO. The real rivalry, as everyone knows is between the Cubs/Duke and the Cards/Tarheels. It is both a result of long-standing excellence in both teams’ programs and geographical proximity (a three- or four-hour drive between Busch and Wrigley; a twenty-minute drive between Cameron Indoor and the Dean Dome). However, KC/NC State venomously hates against the Cards/Tarheels, thinking THAT to be the actual rivalry due to even closer proximity. Cards/Heels fans laugh at this. Meanwhile, the ‘Stros/Terps are not even relatively close geographically but have stepped in as Cubs/Duke rivals during particularly low points in the Cards/Tarheels history and thus consider themselves by this point a traditional rival; once again, the Cubs/Duke scoff.
These are the things my mom and I discuss.
I leave you with these, quotes that exemplify my opinion by experts in the field:
The rivalry between the Cubs and the Cardinals is probably the oldest and perhaps the best in baseball, no matter how the Red Sox and Yankees spit and spite at each other. That’s a tabloid-fueled soap opera about money and ego and sound bites. That’s a pair of bratty high-priced supermodels trying to trip each other in their stilettos on the runway. But the Cards-Cubs epic is about roots and geography and territorial rights. It’s entwined in the Midwestern blood and therefore refreshing and honest and even heroic. It isn’t simply two teams throwing tantrums at each other but two feudal city-states with eternal fans far beyond their own walls, spread throughout not only the Midwest but also deep into the South and the West.” (Buzz Bissinger, Three Nights in August)
There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind, baby — Duke-Carolina is the best rivalry in college basketball, and probably in all of athletics. Even a one-eyed broadcaster can see that! (Dick Vitale, forward to Art Chansky’s Blue Blood)
