Duke-UNC Live Blog

8:57-89th minute, USA still up 1-0. This is beautiful. Tim Howard is on top of things in the cage, and the States get a solid win over a quality opponent. This game was also televised on the Spanish channel, but I didn't watch it for much because I don't fully understand Spanish. I'm waiting patiently for Duke-UNC, and won't change the channel until this game ends.

8:59-The refs will add three minutes for stoppage time. Due to a red card on Marquez, Mexico has been down a man for a while now.

9:01-Michael Bradley just scored again! 2-0 and that will do it. Damn that Bradley. Coach's son, what a ballhog! I'm kidding, relax. It's Bradley's 4th career World Cup qualifying goal.

9:02-It's in the books. Dicky V time!

9:03-This match-up features the best offense in the ACC-UNC-and the best defense in the ACC, you guessed it, Duke. Not surprising based on the different histories of the teams. Duke is usually more of a scrappy defensive team, while UNC tends to be flashier on offense in years past. Wow, look at those Crazies!

9:04-It doesn't get any better or finer, like Vitale just said and we're underway. UNC gets first possession and Deon Thompson puts the Heels up 2-0 early. Evidently he's usually the fourth scorer for his team. This is gonna be good.

9:05-Henderson just made a gorgeous backdoor cut to tie it with a slam, and UNC is pushing the pace.

9:06-These teams are just exchanging buckets, but it has nothing to do with lack of defense. These teams are coming out of the gates charged up. God these schools hate each other and I love watching it unfold.

9:09-The first missed basket comes via UNC at 17:11 in the first half as Wayne Ellington gets fouled. Ellington makes both free throws though so it doesn't matter.

9:11-It's getting physical now. The gloves aren't off yet, but you better believe it's on to some degree. They just cut to a commercial and no one said anything as they replayed Hansbrough's dunk that put a Duke player on the ground and in pain. It wasn't too dramatic of a moment, but a silent Vitale is enough to make me worry. Standby. Sorry, a buddy called, gotta take this.

9:17-20-12 and more than six minutes in UNC commits its first turnover, but it results in a Duke offensive foul. Henderson just touched the ceiling in hauling down some glass.

9:19-Henderson at the other end with a reverse layup, he's Mr. Everything for the Blue Devils at this point. Henderson with a nice floater. If UNC wasn't responding to everything, Henderson could be beating North Carolina.

9:20-I just thought of something funny, and it goes like this: Take a North Carolina born kid whose parents and grandparents all went to Duke. The kid is a fine athlete, so he gets really good at basketball and decided to attend Duke. He's very proud of his home state, but detests his school's number one enemy, the Tar Heels. At the age of 18, after he has already signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Duke, he tells his friend, "I hate North Carolina." Obviously this is the University of said nomenclature, but it's funny because he doesn't hate the state, but just said so. God. What goes on in my head?

9:24-Deon Thompson and Bobby Frasor are a combined 7-8 field goals with 16 points for UNC. I told you this was gonna be good, and Duke just hit its first three-point shot attempt. It's 25-21. Dicky V is talking about things besides basketball. I like him, and in ESPN's poll, he wasn't one of the four guys voted to college basketball's Mount Rushmore. Personally I think he belongs on just a basketball Rushmore, but college? That's just ridiculous.

9:27-Rivalry week is really giving Syracuse its due. The Orange are appearing on ESPN in a game against Georgetown for Rivalry week, its second appearance for the heavily featured week.

9:28-Vitale just mentioned the Gameday crew, and this reminded me of the commercial I mentioned in the UConn-Syracuse live blog with Jay Bilas being the fun police in the college basketball control center. He rattled off the names of the Gameday guys, and called Bob Knight The General Robert Montgomerie Knight. This made me realize that Bob Knight also belongs on the college basketball Mount Rushmore. The other two? I'm gonna go with John Wooden and Tyler Hansbrough. He embodies the spirit of what a collegiate athlete should be, and what the game is all about. You knew his freshman year that he'd be staying all four.

9:31-The Crazies just pulled out the Airball chant, something they claim to have invented. I believe it. Vitale is going nuts, claiming that there's the Yankees-Red Sox, Ohio State-Michigan, but he'll take his North Carolina-Duke. I love Vitale, and he's one of the reasons along with Bill Rafftery why college basketball is better than the NBA. I love his passion and energy. It's unmatched by any commentator. As for vocabulary, that's all Rafftery. He had a good one as the 'Cuse-UConn game winded down but I can't recall it.

9:35-Greg Paulus just gave Duke its first lead and after a UNC miss, the Crazies just ate their feet as a Duke player sent an air ball past the rim.

9:36-During one of these timeouts UNC must have kicked each other in the nuts or something. Duke was once down 11, they're now up six.

9:37-Kyle Singler just had a nice drive to the hole, but due to his incredible whiteness, he couldn't get the dunk over the front of the rim. I find this inherently comical.

9:41-It's 40-38, and Danny Green just hit a free throw. Because of this, I now know that he's from North Babylon, New York, which is on Long Island. I'm presently on that island right now, so that's relevant.

9:44-UCLA and Arizona State are getting in on the action of Rivalry week, as is Louisville-Notre Dame. Free rivalries for everyone!

9:45-Dick Vitale just said how Duke is going to reload next year since they're bringing in two big recruits. What's great about this is that a few days ago I noticed a banner in Hofstra's David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. It was Steve Nisenson, who used to be the school's all-time leading scorer until Antoine Agudio passed him. His years though only numbered three, which confused me. He didn't play in the NBA, so why didn't he have four years? But then I remembered that back then, freshmen didn't play on the varsity. Wilt Chamberlain only played three years in college for Kansas. There was a freshmen team, which was essentially a collegiate jayvee. I think that's ridiculous, but it was the time period, so I can't hold it against anyone. What I'm trying to say is that it's wonderful how much of an impact freshman can have in college programs. Don't get me started on the NBA's one-year rule, that's not for right now.

9:51-52-44 Duke at the half, and almost a three-quarter court shot by UNC. Jeff Capel evidently hit one about that distance to win a game in this rivalry. Jason Capel was his brother, who played for UNC. I don't know the age-difference between the two, but I can imagine there being some interesting driveway games between the two.

9:53-I'm gonna get a haircut, I'll be back in the second half.

10:31-It's a commercial break, but I'm back and far less hairy. I'm currently blogging in a towel. Elsewhere in the ACC unranked NC State beat Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons have lost a slew of games, and Baylor is playing Oklahoma tight out west. What a night.

10:32-71-67 UNC. There's 9:38 to play and man it's getting good. Hell, it's been good all along.

10:37-Oh man, now St. Joeseph's and Temple are getting involved with the Rivalry Week business tomorrow night. It just won't stop. "Rivalries Never Die!" was just told to me by an intimidating voice as the game broke for commercials.

10:39-Vitale just said Heather Cox will be the next Al Roker. He said we need to have weather reports here at Duke simply because she talked about the temperature in Duke's bandbox of a gym. Vitale is a master of his craft, and what he brings to the table will never be duplicated. Ever. And no, I'm not overrating Vitale and I'm not putting him on a pedestal.

10:46-In my praising of a legend, UNC is starting to pull away with it as they lead 83-71. They have the ball with 5:22 to play. Wow, I missed it at first, but they just replayed Hansbrough's three. It was deep, and he had a guy in his face. He's so good. He works hard, he plays hard. A real hustler. Vitale just mentioned UNC, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh as potential No. 1 seeds.

10:48-JJ Redick called Hansbrough before this game to offer praise for him. He said he couldn't think of a better person to take his ACC scoring title from him. What a class act by both parties. It shows the mutual respect these guys have for each other, and it helps make the rivalry beautiful. So in light of that, make that either Hansbrough or Redick on the college basketball Mount Rushmore with Knight, Vitale and Wooden. It's fitting to have a Duke-UNC representative. Flip a coin.

10:49-Rivalry Week, duh duh duhhhhhh... It can be beautiful. I love the Rivalry Week theme. Again, what goes on in my head?

10:50-UNC up 85-71. Henderson just slipped. UNC is on an 11-0 in the last 3-plus minutes. And Duke misses again. Inside four minutes to play, and some commercials. He went to Jared! Ya know, I've never seen one of these Jared places. I hope whoever I propose to doesn't think less of me if I can't manage to find a Jared, The Galleria of Jewelery or whatever. Man, that's a lot of pressure.

10:53-I wonder what the word count of this blog is.

10:57-It's 90-76 UNC with less than three minutes to play. The Cameron Crazies won't quit, an admirable trait. I told my friends-one a Duke fan, the other a UNC fan, both diehards-earlier today that since I hated both teams equally, I would trash-talk to both of them. Regardless of the outcome, they'll both get a phone call after this one. It's been a good game.

10:59-Vitale just referred to the game as blowout city. He's talking about Favre retiring. JetsInsider.com, go to blogs and check out Mark Walters' to see how I really feel about Favre sitting down.

11:01-Duke just took a three and the guy got fouled. Dick called it just silly, and it's true. Don't foul. You're up 12 right now, hell, let 'em score quick. Eh, I take that back, you gotta play D, but you know what I'm saying. It's now 92-84 and Duke's not quitting. UNC may be counting their chickens.

11:02-Something I like about Duke's gym is that the benches are on the same side as the camera. It's unique. As Wayne Ellington goes to the line for the Heels, the Speedo guy comes to mind. 15 Duke turnovers tonight, that's a piss-poor stat. 10-point game now with 50.5 seconds to go. I think it's over, but I'm not saying anything.

11:05-Duke takes its last timeout, and they're down 10 with less than 40 seconds to play. Four different times it's been done that a team has won at Cameron five times in a row. UNC is on the verge of its fourth. Hansbrough may be able to say that in his career, he never lost at Duke. He has averaged 21.2 points against Duke and 12 boards. That's some stat-line.

11:07-North Carolina has won eight straight ACC games after losing to Boston College and Wake. Take this home court advantage: Five of the last six times Duke has played UNC, the visiting team has won.

11:08-The refs are discussing something, and they just flashed UNC's remaining schedule as there seems to be a clock problem. March 8, Duke at UNC. Senior Day for Tyler Hansbrough, a rarity in college football and especially basketball.

11:10-UNC gets 100, and with 22.6 seconds to play it's over, but again, the Crazies won't quit. Now Duke is fouling, and it's just getting silly. I hate this. I respect the refusal to die, but sometimes you just gotta let the game go. Like when you're down 14 with less than 30 seconds.

11:12-And that'll do it. Williams shakes Krzyzewski's hand at midcourt, and it's a final. 101-87, No. 3 UNC beats No. 5 Duke. Take care.