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 Think you’ve experienced a true college rivalry? Not until you’ve lived through March Madness in the Triangle!While their football teams have had mixed success, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State are perennial powerhouses in NCAA basketball. The three are rivals in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and during basketball season, you’ll see fans decked out in their true colors: dark blue/white (Duke), sky blue/white (Carolina) and red/black (State). Perhaps the loudest are the “Cameron Crazies,” the Duke fans who camp out for basketball tickets, then shake the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium with their clever cheers. Dookies have reason to celebrate: Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s men’s team has won three national titles – most recently in 2001 – and always puts on a good show at the NCAA tournament. With 12-time national Coach of the Year Krzyzewski at the helm, Duke is a Final Four contender year after year. In 2005, the Blue Devils celebrated their 100th season of basketball. The women Blue Devils reached the Final Four in 2003 and have won five ACC tournament championships. Women’s basketball at Duke is led by Gail Goestenkors, who is in her 14th season and has won ACC Coach of the Year six times. UNC head basketball coach Roy Williams is in his third season with the Tar Heels. As the winningest active coach in college basketball, Williams brought the Tar Heels back to the NCAA Tournament in 2004. In 2005, the team beat Illinois to win the national title. Women’s athletics at UNC prove to be as strong as ever. Women’s soccer head coach Anson Dorrance made ESPN’s list of the Best Coaches of the Past 25 Years. The team went 27-0-0 in 2003 and clinched its 18th national championship in the past 26 years. Dorrance was named National Coach of the Year in 2003. Under head coach Karen Shelton, the Tar Heels women’s field hockey team went 20-1 in 2004 before capturing the ACC Championship title. N.C. State Wolfpack hoops loyalists have sold out the 19,700-seat RBC Center since it was built three in 1999. Under coach Herb Sendek, who has led the Pack for nine years, the team has made the NCAA Tournament each of the past four years. The Wolfpack women, under the guidance of Coach Kay Yow, have made an NCAA tournament appearance 18 out of 24 seasons. Yow was is in seven halls of fame including the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and is only the fifth women’s coach in history to win more than 600 games. In his fifth season as coach of the State football team, Chuck Amato has helped the Pack achieve greatness, bringing the Pack to its first 11-win season in team history. In 2003, quarterback Philip Rivers was named ACC Player of the Year. Elsewhere in the Triangle, rivalries among the area’s three Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) teams may get less media attention than the ACC rivals, but are just as intense. At North Carolina Central University, O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium hosts NCCU football action for a capacity crowd of 10,000 dedicated Eagle fans who were rewarded with a national title in 2005. Around November, McLendon-McDougald Gymnasium lights up with men’s and women’s basketball excitement. Head coach Henry Dickerson joined the Eagles in 2005. St. Augustine’s College, one of NCCU’s fiercest basketball rivals, has a well-respected overall athletics program and is ranked among the top 25 of the Sears Director’s Cup Standings for 1999 and is 2000. Falcon Pride is huge, especially on the baseball diamond and on the track. Three athletes from St. Augustine’s College won gold medals in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, all members of the same 4x400-meter relay. The maroon-and-white Shaw University Bears complete the local rivalry, not only in men’s and women’s basketball, but also in baseball, softball, track and tennis. The Shaw football team won the CIAA Championship and the Lady Bears basketball team went 28-3 in 2004. At the professional level, hockey and baseball keep fans cheering in the Triangle. The NHL Carolina Hurricanes play at the RBC Center and made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 2002. Summertime is baseball time and both the Carolina Mudcats and the Durham Bulls (of the 1988 hit film “Bull Durham”) field lots of action. The Carolina Courage (women’s soccer) also takes to the field each summer. Before the air turns crisp, August brings thousands of national sports figures, celebrities and spectators to Prestonwood Country Club in Cary for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic. CHARLOTTE OBSERVER FILE PHOTO Sports Ticket Information Duke University 919-681-2583 www.goduke.com University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill N.C. State University N.C. Central University St. Augustine’s College Shaw University Blue Jay Point County Park Carolina Courage (women’s pro soccer) Carolina Hurricanes (NHL team) Carolina Mudcats (AA baseball) Duke Forest City of Durham Parks & Recreation Durham Bulls (AAA baseball) Eno River State Park Jimmy V. Celebrity Golf Classic Jordan Lake State Recreation Area Lake Crabtree County Park Wake County Parks & Recreation Wake County Speedway William B. Umstead State Park |
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