A sheep among wolves: what it’s like to be raised by State fans

With all of the controversy surrounding Grayson Allen and the Duke athletic program, it seems gross that anyone would have the audacity to be a Duke fan.  But before I came to UNC, that was my life. I feel like I need to explain why: State sucks and my family doesn’t root for UNC. Having a house full of rivals is hard, but its taught me a lot. Here’s everything I’ve learned being raised by Tar Heel haters and deciding to go the school they love to beat:

I know too much about State

Do you know Jimmy V? You know, the famous coach of the 1983 NC State Men’s Basketball champions? Growing up with NC State lovers, I was basically forced to memorize his ESPY speech. Just add that to the list of unnecessary State facts that I know.

State sucked, so by default I rooted for Duke

I love sports – who doesn’t – so growing up in North Carolina, I’ve played into the Duke vs. UNC rivalry my whole life.  Nobody in my family was a big Duke fan, but everyone disliked Carolina, so I was an ambivalent Duke fan. This made my acceptance to UNC awkward for a while. When I watched the games, I struggled to find that sense of pride that most life-long UNC fans found almost immediately. Obviously now I’m proud of our sports teams – and I’m committed enough to worry how our football team will fair next year, like any good fan. But there was a time when I was a default dookie. And it sucked.

Me in my favorite Duke hat

I was accidentally a dick to my future UNC fam

When I was younger, my heart condition forced me to have heart surgery. Ironically, I had a cardiologist who was based at UNC.  My arrogant ass walked into the hospital to get open-heart surgery wearing Duke gear!  The surgeon didn’t notice until I left the hospital in a Duke shirt.  He blew it off, saying, “Man, if I knew you were a Duke fan I would’ve left something in there!”  We all had a good laugh at that.

My family always hounds Carolina  

With the academic scandal coming to light you better believe I got an enormous amount of slack from my brother about how we’re “cheaters.” I understand the need for criticism – and I can take it – but your school coming under fire is much more difficult when you don’t really have anyone on your side.  On the other hand, having your parents not pull for UNC can make their (sometimes) support of the Tar Heels that much more meaningful! They came to the the UNC vs. Pitt football game and even wore UNC gear – even if my brother commented that the shirts should be burned after they were done wearing them.  To most students, having their parents wear Carolina garb is nothing but expected. But there is something about having my parents wearing Carolina blue that made me even prouder to be a Tar Heel.