An unfashionable story

[jammsb]

I know that most anything praiseworthy about UNC basketball is usually unwelcome on this forum. Generally speaking I feel that way myself. However after a few years stewing about whether I should tell my story on this site, I decided to do so.
I have a good friend who is a big Tar Heel fan, not as big a fan as I am of Duke, but a strong UNC fan nevertheless.
One year he suggested that we attend a UNC-Duke game together. I asked how would we get tickets. Knowing that UNC at Duke is perhaps the most difficult ticket in all of sports, he decided to focus his efforts on a game at the Dean Dome. He told me that he had the tickets. He lives in New York. I live in Pennsylvania. We met in Raleigh and spent the day spending hundreds of dollars buying souvenirs and clothing - first at the Duke bookstore and then at the one in Chapel Hill. We went to the game early wanting to soak up the special ambience. After spending about half an hour walking around the arena, we decided to check out our seats. We were shocked and thrilled to see that we were a couple of rows up from the Duke bench. No sooner had we sat down than we were surrounded by about a dozen security people. It turned out that the tickets we had were meant for the president of Duke University. Apparently they had been fedexed to Duke, but had been stolen in transit. My buddy had bought them from a ticket broker in Atlanta. He probably paid many hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for them. We were brought to a small room where we were grilled and not quite threatened, but certainly not initially treated kindly. We told them our story. After about half an hour of questioning, they believed us and became sympathetic to our situation. Not only weren't we arrested or even thrown out, but we were also given two very good seats free of charge to the game. They were not quite as good as the President's seats, but they were pretty darn good. I doubt that this would have happened in any other arena in America. In Madison Square Garden we would have been lucky to not have been arrested.
The icing on the cake was that Duke won the game.

[oldnavy]

I know that most anything praiseworthy about UNC basketball is usually unwelcome on this forum. Generally speaking I feel that way myself. However after a few years stewing about whether I should tell my story on this site, I decided to do so.
I have a good friend who is a big Tar Heel fan, not as big a fan as I am of Duke, but a strong UNC fan nevertheless.
One year he suggested that we attend a UNC-Duke game together. I asked how would we get tickets. Knowing that UNC at Duke is perhaps the most difficult ticket in all of sports, he decided to focus his efforts on a game at the Dean Dome. He told me that he had the tickets. He lives in New York. I live in Pennsylvania. We met in Raleigh and spent the day spending hundreds of dollars buying souvenirs and clothing - first at the Duke bookstore and then at the one in Chapel Hill. We went to the game early wanting to soak up the special ambience. After spending about half an hour walking around the arena, we decided to check out our seats. We were shocked and thrilled to see that we were a couple of rows up from the Duke bench. No sooner had we sat down than we were surrounded by about a dozen security people. It turned out that the tickets we had were meant for the president of Duke University. Apparently they had been fedexed to Duke, but had been stolen in transit. My buddy had bought them from a ticket broker in Atlanta. He probably paid many hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for them. We were brought to a small room where we were grilled and not quite threatened, but certainly not initially treated kindly. We told them our story. After about half an hour of questioning, they believed us and became sympathetic to our situation. Not only weren't we arrested or even thrown out, but we were also given two very good seats free of charge to the game. They were not quite as good as the President's seats, but they were pretty darn good. I doubt that this would have happened in any other arena in America. In Madison Square Garden we would have been lucky to not have been arrested.
The icing on the cake was that Duke won the game.

As much fun as we like to have with the rivrarly there are good people on both sides of the aisle. My wife and kid had a similar experience at the ACC tournament a couple of years back. They were promised tics via Miami ticket office, but when they showed they were not there. A UNC ticket broker at the next table overheard their plight and hooked them up with great seats. Bottom line is most of my best friends and my dearest family members are UNC fans, and I can promise you they would give you the shirt off their backs. They would never ever cheer for Duke however! It really is a unique situation living so close to your arch rival, nothing quite like it. A lot of is has to do with good ol southern hospitality.

[Rudy]

Two years ago I bought tickets to the ACC tournament from a broker. Turned out we were smack in the middle of the UNC booster section. People couldn't have been nicer. There was good-natured bantering, of course. The only rankle I heard was when UNC lost in the semis (Lawson was resting his ankle) and the dad of the family in front said to his family, "We're not coming back tomorrow are we? I don't want to sit and watch Duke win this."

We've been to everyACC tournament except one in the past 6 years (we skipped Tampa) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The fans are generally gracious and knowledgeable about the game. The only fan ugliness I've seen has been from some Maryland fans.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

So what was the game you went to? You never said in the story.

[SeattleIrish]

So what was the game you went to? You never said in the story.

CC84: If you're referencing the OP, s/he mentioned it was the Duke/UNC game @ Dean Dome.

I've been to two games at the DD and I've also found the fans to be gracious. Perhaps it's just the one's that post on UNC msg. boards that lack grace?

s.i.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Don't be so quick to bad mouth the good folks at Madison Square Garden. When Duke plays in NYC (or NJ) each December, I buy many tickets for fraternity brothers and we have an annual basketball reunion. Three years ago, one of the brothers showed up 30 minutes before the game, after taking Amtrak down from Rhode Island, saying he'd left his tickets on the kitchen table. We went to the ticket office, and since I'm an Iron Duke and knew which seats he was supposed to have, they were able to call the ID office and confirm I had purchased the tickets. They issued replacement tickets at no charge for us.

We have not let Steve live down this episode, and each year since we all ask him if he remembered to bring his tickets with him...

[moonpie23]

i found the fans to be quite gracious in 1970 when i first attended a U. South Carolna vs. North Carolina. they were gracious throwing hot coffee and spitting on us as we left the game....

the birth of hatred...