I’ll admit, I cannot tell you the name of a single player on either the UNC or Duke basketball teams. I also am not going to offer my take on who I think will win. I will admit I did a quick search and based on the fact that Duke is 9-0 and UNC is 6-3 in the ‘Atlantic Coast’ Conference, there is a chance that either team will win.
I am mostly going to post about how some of us experience the victories and I will share some brief accounts from other blog bloggers. Living just a couple of miles down hill from the intersection of Columbia and Franklin Street, I have occasionally rode my bike up when it was apparent a UNC victory was likely. It is a fascinating experience. The Chapel Hill Police, mindful of people’s urge to join in the scrum that happens on milestone basketball victories, barricade South Columba at the foot of the hill, only allowing local residents to pass.
It means that once I get to Merritt’s grill, I am riding up a vacant Columbia street and I happily roll right up the center of the street in a tranquil cruise towards the mayhem, which is only a short distance ahead. One of the last times I did this, I locked my bike behind the Ackland and marched towards ground zero. It gets pretty crowded, and fires will get started and other sorts of tomfoolery occur. Eventually tiring of the jostle, I retreated back to where I had left my bike, only to realize I could no longer see where it had been parked. There were so many people, my line of site to the bike racks was obstructed. I had to walk around the perimeter of the Ackland until I found the rack I had left my bike.
Things get crazy and I then slowly push my way west, down Franklin, eventually into a much thinner crowd and ride my way towards my usual hang outs to enjoy a celebratory pint before riding home.
Now onto some accounts from other Blog Bloggers (have one, send it to us [email protected])
I was on the corner of Franklin/Columbia after 2005 championship. First and only time I’ve experienced being moved by a mob with no ability to resist. It wasn’t scary per se because it was a joyous crowd but a little unsettling.
Our child was born early March, 2017 and later UNC won the championship and we were livid at all of the fireworks interrupting our 2 hours of sleep…. I asked my spouse if it would be rude to ask our neighbors to stop and they said “Yes”
I took this photo of an empty Franklin Street in 2022 as UNC threw away a 15 point halftime lead to lose the NCAA title against Kansas
The game was the final NCAA tourney some years ago and I watched from outside of the extremely crowded brewery in Carrboro. At that time, the brewery’s name was either “Yesteryear” or maybe already changed to “Vecino”. Either way, the place was packed.
When the horn blew at the end of the game, with UNC the victors, the place emptied out in seconds and there was a mass start with everyone running, and running hard towards Chapel Hill.
The runners seemed more intent on getting to the Columbia / Franklin St intersection than the runners for the 8km Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot run trying to win their race.
It’s only about 4,200′ between the brewery and downtown Chapel Hill, but I’m sure the runners got there in record time.
We would like to hear your accounts. And we urge people to NOT climb up the light poles should UNC emerge victorious. For now, we will leave you with the impressive, hand made neon sign a die-hard UNC fan made to commemorate the 2009 victory
