Fate made me a Duke fan

“Yo Kevin,” my colleague R.J. said on his first day at the office. “If you ever have some space you need filling in that sports section, I’ll be glad to fill it with an anti-Duke column.”

I told R.J., a North Carolina native and Tar Heel fanatic that it wouldn’t be necessary, as I could probably find something pretty quickly off a wire service if necessary.

“Oh, it’ll be quick,” he responded while pointing to his forehead. “It’s already written up here.”

I’ve never had that level of intensity in the Duke-UNC rivalry, which is now just as relevant as ever with the chance the two schools could play for a national title in a few weeks. But I’ve always leaned to the Tar Heels, even before I’d ever met anybody from any Carolina or even anybody named Carolina.

I still remember the Christian Laettner game, when he went 10-for-10 from the field and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line against Kentucky, including the buzzer-beating turnaround “Rick Pitino, why didn’t you guard the inbounds passer” shot that is now college lore. He should have been ejected long before that for stepping on a Kentucky player earlier in the game.

The NCAA may have vacated any memories of the Michigan Fab Five era, but I recall when the early-90s Wolverines started five freshmen and made the title game, then repeated the feat as sophomores. Duke and Carolina beat Michigan those years, and I learned towards UNC then too.

After Duke beat Michigan soundly I thought, “So what? They just beat a bunch of freshmen.” When North Carolina sealed the game with technical free throws after Chris Webber called a timeout his team didn’t have, I thought, “The Tar Heels just beat an expeienced team and made the plays when it mattered.’

Enter this year. Like anybody who’s watched five minutes of college basketball this season, I’m aware of Duke freshman Zion Williamson and marvel at this generational athlete. He’s pulling off dunks better than high-school LeBron James, even though he’s carrying about 75 more pounds on his frame.

Our office decided to do something a little different than the normal NCAA pool. Each of the 16 participating employees got four cards, with each card containing the name of a team in the Round of 64. Four of the cards had two teams listed; those were the teams facing play-in games.

I won’t reveal the prizes outside of the office, but you get something if you’re holding the card of at least an Elite Eight team with the best prize if you’re holding the champion.

Before the draw, I told a coworker I thought the Final Four would be Duke, UNC, Tennessee and Texas Tech, and I begrudgingly said I thought Duke would beat UNC in the title game.

Depending on your outlook, the basketball gods smited me, or gave me good fortune. The first card I drew was Duke. I’m also rooting for Maryland and Tennessee, and I knew from the moment I drew Northeastern they weren’t winning their opener.

For the first time in my life, I’m a Duke fan. But don’t worry, R.J. It won’t last long.

Kevin Wilson is editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

[email protected]