TAR HEELS
If you are going to hate on the heels, do it rightBY MCKENNA NELSON ON MARCH 21, 2013
Carolina and Duke are divided by Tobacco Road; however, they are even more divided by college basketball. The Cameron Crazies bleed dark blue for Coach K and his team, who are consistently one of the best teams in the nation. Over in Chapel Hill, Roy Williams and the light blue-painted students get loud for their younger team that is full of surprises. The split runs deep between these two prestigious basketball schools, making each and every matchup a passionate battle between the two shades of blue. With this intense rivalry comes much hatred, disgust and mockery. It is hard to find someone who is impartial on this subject, and it is equally difficult to find a Duke fan who does not hate Carolina, and vice versa.
Being a born-and-bred Tar Heel fan, I detest Duke with every double helix in my body. I sometimes make jokes about the team or how a particular player performs because, after all, I am only human. However, unlike many people, I refrain from making rude and downright jerky jokes, like some Duke fans. I am in no way saying that all Carolina fans are perfect because I know they are not. I just only see the rivalry from the Carolina side, so I take offense when disrespectful (and most times incorrect) comments are made toward Carolina players or just Carolina in general. I choose to look at it this way: those who choose to “hate on” our team are merely threatened by our talent and athleticism. I get it, we have a great team almost every year, and other teams and fans are willing to do just about anything to beat us. If you want to make disparaging remarks about Carolina and our basketball program, feel free. It only encourages our players to play better. However, if you choose to centralize your argument around current issues surrounding our team or school, at least get your facts right. I will admit that I was disappointed when I saw the news article a few weeks ago saying that an overwhelming percentage of our athletes had low reading levels. However, I immediately realized that, like all things on the internet, it might not be true. So I researched. UNC’s statistics on athlete admissions show that between 2004 and 2012, UNC enrolled 341 men’s and women’s basketball players and football players. Of those, 34 students didn’t meet CNN’s threshold of “college literate” — an SAT score of 400 or 16 on the ACT. Contrary to what many people are saying, UNC is not trying to “brush this under the rug.” Many university officials have said that the conclusions that Mary Willingham came to are sad. The university investigating these claims, and they will respond appropriately if Willingham’s findings are confirmed. After this brouhaha took place, many fans felt the need to call our athletes “retards.” First of all, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! What makes you think that calling people retards is okay? Whether you are referring to a college athlete or one of your friends, the r-word is offensive and incorrect. To the Duke fans who asked if Marcus Paige could spell basketball or his own name, you have failed to realize that Marcus has been named to the Academic All-ACC team for the past two years, and he can, in fact, spell his name and spell basketball. He is performing pretty darn well academically in a university that is extremely difficult. Are you really so offended and threatened by his 6 nailed three-pointers in a row that you feel the need to incorrectly accuse him of having mental disabilities? Shame on you. I would LOVE to see you do what he does athletically and academically. The same opinion applies to Kennedy Meeks. Are you so blown away by his amazing ability to play D1 basketball despite his “stocky” build that you feel the need to attack his weight problem? First, that is not okay to say that to or about anybody. Would you want somebody that you do not know coming up to you saying “you are so fat” and comparing you to Fat Albert? If your answer is yes, then you have some serious issues you should take care of because there is obviously something wrong with you. I guess what I am trying to say is that it isn’t okay to say these rude things about weight and intelligence to anybody, whether it be to a friend or an athlete. If you decide that you cannot be respectful, and you continue to say bad things about Carolina and our players, at least get your facts straight before you say anything, unless you want to be embarrassed when you are corrected. HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
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