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jmb
07-19-2010, 05:37 PM
There's a post spreading around various Big 12 blogs and boards called "If the Big XII teams were countries" (one such iteration: http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/48598-If-Big-XII-Teams-were-Countries).

Inspired by this, a UNC grad in the office and I decided to take a run at classifying the ACC:

UNC: USA - Has been successful and is perhaps the best endowed country of them all, but its inability reign in its ego and its internal blunders have prevented it from being seen as a successful leader by the rest of the world.

Duke: England - Most of the world hates it solely for having been successful. Its wealth and the level of influence it carries far outweigh its size. The only thing no one is jealous of is the female population.

State: India - Overcrowded. Lots of engineers doing low-quality work.

Clemson: Mexico - Pretty big, but not that productive. Would be nothing without its neighbors to the north.

FSU: Russia - One-time superpower will now resort to anything to try to compete.

BC: Canada - Fierce inferiority complex stemming from its inability to compete with its direct neighbors. Good at hockey. Hasn't figured out that no one else cares about hockey.

Miami: Italy - Gorgeous location with better looking women. Accomplishments driven by men of violence. Glory on the field may be behind it, but you should never count it out and you always want to be invited to its party.

Maryland: Argentina - Has the resources to be successful, and has shown flashes of mild success, but because of internal instability will never have a prolonged presence at the top.

Va Tech: Pakistan - Mountainous and in the middle of nowhere. Lots of violence. New to the big leagues and hasn't quite figured out how to handle that.

Virginia: France - Has all the tools to be successful, but has no sense of its place in the world. Sure, it can claim some modest accomplishments, but its consistent failures make everyone else view it as a joke.

Georgia Tech: Japan - Good at engineering and dominated by an all work and no play mentality, but as a result decently productive in the world. Strange fetishes resulting from lack of females.

Wake Forest: Monaco - Small, pretty, rich. Don't worry about them -- they're not going to bother you.

Orange&BlackSheep
07-19-2010, 05:44 PM
I think it is pretty good but Duke as the UK does not feel right somehow.

I was toying with UNC as China and Duke as the USA a bit but could not get it to work.

flyingdutchdevil
07-19-2010, 06:14 PM
Interesting list, but I don't think Duke is the UK. Today, people don't really hate the Brits. They aren't a country that gets targeted enough. I hate to say it, but I'd say Duke is France - egotistical, successful, a nuclear power, and everyone hates them. Their only supporters are their own countrymen (even their ex-colonies hate them).

uh_no
07-19-2010, 06:30 PM
UNC: its internal blunders have prevented it from being seen as a successful leader by the rest of the world.


ummmm did I miss something? because i'm pretty sure most of the time UNC is anointed king of the world.....ask most media pundits to name the most successful historical basketball programs...and you get UK, KU, UNC, and UCLA.....

-jk
07-19-2010, 06:31 PM
I think it is pretty good but Duke as the UK does not feel right somehow.

I was toying with UNC as China and Duke as the USA a bit but could not get it to work.

I have to agree with the OP. Even before I opened the thread, I thought of the UK - England, really. Old school values. Old school money. Old school influence. Old school ego.

It fits. ;)

-jk

JBDuke
07-19-2010, 06:31 PM
Interesting list, but I don't think Duke is the UK. Today, people don't really hate the Brits. They aren't a country that gets targeted enough. I hate to say it, but I'd say Duke is France - egotistical, successful, a nuclear power, and everyone hates them. Their only supporters are their own countrymen (even their ex-colonies hate them).

So, this would mean ... WE COME FROM FRANCE!

(Always good to get a Beldar quote in there...)

roywhite
07-19-2010, 06:32 PM
Interesting list, but I don't think Duke is the UK. Today, people don't really hate the Brits. They aren't a country that gets targeted enough. I hate to say it, but I'd say Duke is France - egotistical, successful, a nuclear power, and everyone hates them. Their only supporters are their own countrymen (even their ex-colonies hate them).

French President Mike Krzyzewski?

Blue Devils = Cheese eating surrender monkeys?

Naah...

To make this work, Duke is either the USA or China, and UNC is the other.

sorry for the crude insult to France...just don't see Duke in that role.

CameronBornAndBred
07-19-2010, 06:38 PM
I'd give Wake a lot more respect than Monaco. Maybe Spain. Not always on the world stage, but large enough to capture your attention and make noise.

Faustus
07-19-2010, 06:41 PM
I would suggest replacing Argentina with North Korea for Maryland - off at the edge of everything, absolutely no clue about the rest of the Civilized World, run by a crazy man who every now and then when forgotten by the rest of the Civilized World threatens to start a nuclear conflagration. Good at burning things.

flyingdutchdevil
07-19-2010, 06:56 PM
French President Mike Krzyzewski?

Blue Devils = Cheese eating surrender monkeys?

Naah...

To make this work, Duke is either the USA or China, and UNC is the other.

sorry for the crude insult to France...just don't see Duke in that role.

Isn't the Blue Devil a French WWI unit / platoon / something? And what's wrong with eating cheese? Camembert, brie, chevre, compte - delicious!

I stick to Duke being France. Makes the most sense to me. However, no one fears the French, and lots fear Duke. So you may be right. But I can't think of another country...

roywhite
07-19-2010, 07:04 PM
Isn't the Blue Devil a French WWI unit / platoon / something? And what's wrong with eating cheese?

Well, you're certainly right about the origin of the Blue Devil mascot name. Here's Why a Blue Devil? (http://library.duke.edu/uarchives/history/histnotes/why_blue_devil.html) from the Duke University Library archives.

Some of the "supporting actors" in this exercise are pretty good in the OP's post. But getting UNC and Duke cast correctly is pretty important.

CEF1959
07-19-2010, 07:07 PM
I'm make UNC either England or France. Historically one of the most important and powerful of all, but with an unjustifiably heightened sense of its own current importance. Not irrelevant, but not as dominant as it thinks other people should think it is.

I'd make Duke Germany. Small but not tiny. Enormous history and culture. Some painful years. But don't f$#k with it, or you might get creamed. Ascendent.

No one in the ACC gets to be the US. Sorry. There's just no dominance in the league that even comes close.

The rest of the schools I don't care a rat's patooey about. Are Va Tech and Miami even still in this league?

Lord Ash
07-19-2010, 07:33 PM
Hah, Maryland as North Korea made me laugh:)

hurleyfor3
07-19-2010, 08:25 PM
Yeah, we're either Germany or Japan.

wtm001
07-19-2010, 08:26 PM
There's a post spreading around various Big 12 blogs and boards called "If the Big XII teams were countries" (one such iteration: http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/48598-If-Big-XII-Teams-were-Countries).

Inspired by this, a UNC grad in the office and I decided to take a run at classifying the ACC:

UNC: USA - Has been successful and is perhaps the best endowed country of them all, but its inability reign in its ego and its internal blunders have prevented it from being seen as a successful leader by the rest of the world.

Duke: England - Most of the world hates it solely for having been successful. Its wealth and the level of influence it carries far outweigh its size. The only thing no one is jealous of is the female population.

State: India - Overcrowded. Lots of engineers doing low-quality work.

Clemson: Mexico - Pretty big, but not that productive. Would be nothing without its neighbors to the north.

FSU: Russia - One-time superpower will now resort to anything to try to compete.

BC: Canada - Fierce inferiority complex stemming from its inability to compete with its direct neighbors. Good at hockey. Hasn't figured out that no one else cares about hockey.

Miami: Italy - Gorgeous location with better looking women. Accomplishments driven by men of violence. Glory on the field may be behind it, but you should never count it out and you always want to be invited to its party.

Maryland: Argentina - Has the resources to be successful, and has shown flashes of mild success, but because of internal instability will never have a prolonged presence at the top.

Va Tech: Pakistan - Mountainous and in the middle of nowhere. Lots of violence. New to the big leagues and hasn't quite figured out how to handle that.

Virginia: France - Has all the tools to be successful, but has no sense of its place in the world. Sure, it can claim some modest accomplishments, but its consistent failures make everyone else view it as a joke.

Georgia Tech: Japan - Good at engineering and dominated by an all work and no play mentality, but as a result decently productive in the world. Strange fetishes resulting from lack of females.

Wake Forest: Monaco - Small, pretty, rich. Don't worry about them -- they're not going to bother you.

Nice list, I thought it was very entertaining.

kyriecrazy2013
07-19-2010, 08:52 PM
I'm make UNC either England or France. Historically one of the most important and powerful of all, but with an unjustifiably heightened sense of its own current importance. Not irrelevant, but not as dominant as it thinks other people should think it is.

I'd make Duke Germany. Small but not tiny. Enormous history and culture. Some painful years. But don't f$#k with it, or you might get creamed. Ascendent.

No one in the ACC gets to be the US. Sorry. There's just no dominance in the league that even comes close.

The rest of the schools I don't care a rat's patooey about. Are Va Tech and Miami even still in this league?

I agree completely!!! I was hopin someone would think the same. Duke totally is Germany.

Dev11
07-19-2010, 11:21 PM
I agree completely!!! I was hopin someone would think the same. Duke totally is Germany.

No way, dude. Germany is tough and innovative but always gets destroyed when it counts (see: the World Wars). I think I like Duke as England. Christian Laettner sort of had that King Arthur type of deal (pulling the sword out of the stone is The Shot, yeah? That was Arthur, right?).

I also completely agree about Maryland as North Korea. Perfect.

Dukeface88
07-19-2010, 11:51 PM
Are we talking historically or modern day? IMO, there's nothing that fits the Duke/UNC rivalry in Europe currently; the EU states are entirely too cooperative for that comparison to work. Ditto for Britain/USA (and as mentioned, none of the ACC schools are dominant enough to be contemporary America). You'd need to look at smaller, less powerful states for that knid of rivalry today, which doesn't really fit ACC basketball as a whole. Also hard to get State/UNC and Maryland/Duke right.

MisterRoddy
07-20-2010, 12:16 AM
Since I'm not a history buff, I'll submit that on DBR, Duke should be USA for the simple fact that we love both :)

left_hook_lacey
07-20-2010, 12:39 AM
There's a post spreading around various Big 12 blogs and boards called "If the Big XII teams were countries" (one such iteration: http://www.allbuffs.com/showthread.php/48598-If-Big-XII-Teams-were-Countries).

Inspired by this, a UNC grad in the office and I decided to take a run at classifying the ACC:

UNC: USA - Has been successful and is perhaps the best endowed country of them all, but its inability reign in its ego and its internal blunders have prevented it from being seen as a successful leader by the rest of the world.

Duke: England - Most of the world hates it solely for having been successful. Its wealth and the level of influence it carries far outweigh its size. The only thing no one is jealous of is the female population.

State: India - Overcrowded. Lots of engineers doing low-quality work.

Clemson: Mexico - Pretty big, but not that productive. Would be nothing without its neighbors to the north.

FSU: Russia - One-time superpower will now resort to anything to try to compete.

BC: Canada - Fierce inferiority complex stemming from its inability to compete with its direct neighbors. Good at hockey. Hasn't figured out that no one else cares about hockey.

Miami: Italy - Gorgeous location with better looking women. Accomplishments driven by men of violence. Glory on the field may be behind it, but you should never count it out and you always want to be invited to its party.

Maryland: Argentina - Has the resources to be successful, and has shown flashes of mild success, but because of internal instability will never have a prolonged presence at the top.

Va Tech: Pakistan - Mountainous and in the middle of nowhere. Lots of violence. New to the big leagues and hasn't quite figured out how to handle that.

Virginia: France - Has all the tools to be successful, but has no sense of its place in the world. Sure, it can claim some modest accomplishments, but its consistent failures make everyone else view it as a joke.

Georgia Tech: Japan - Good at engineering and dominated by an all work and no play mentality, but as a result decently productive in the world. Strange fetishes resulting from lack of females.

Wake Forest: Monaco - Small, pretty, rich. Don't worry about them -- they're not going to bother you.

This was a very entertaining and thought-provoking list. Thanks for the post JMB. I have to say I agree with most of your assessments 100%. There's a couple that I too tinkered with in my head, but I really couldn't come up with anything better than your original.

Some of the other suggestions are intriguing, but I would have to totally disagree with saying Duke=France. Even thought that's where our nickname comes from, to me, France is associated with being a quitter or soft, and Duke is neither.

flyingdutchdevil
07-20-2010, 06:39 AM
Duke being Germany really rubs me the wrong way. Maybe (probably) it's because I'm Dutch.

I don't think that Duke can be either Germany or Japan - no one really hates those countries as much any more. In Europe, only the lowlands and the French still have a "not so friendly" relationship with Germany.

I'm sticking to my initial recommendation of Duke = France: arrogant, despised by many, but once you're there, you become a huge fan of the culture and people (minus the Parisians). It just makes sense. Plus, look at our French WW1 mascot.

Other possibilities for Duke: South Korea (only recently prospered, faster growing economy than nearly all of Asia, developed), Brazil (countrymen are crazy about one sport only and they're damn good at it, beautiful place, only became relevant in the last 30 years or so), Switzerland (smart, clean, beautiful, good with money, balanced. However, no one hates Switzerland)

oldnavy
07-20-2010, 07:34 AM
Duke = Israel

Surrounded by radicals that want to annihilate us. Yet we are more powerful than any of our neighbors. Most of the world outside of our boarders hates us and wishes we would just go away yet we persevere throughout. We are concentrated in one geographical location, but we have ex-pats and countrymen spread out around the world. We have captains of industry, scientist, physicians, and lawyers all over in key leadership positions.

basket1544
07-20-2010, 07:47 AM
Duke = Israel

Surrounded by radicals that want to annihilate us. Yet we are more powerful than any of our neighbors. Most of the world outside of our boarders hates us and wishes we would just go away yet we persevere throughout. We are concentrated in one geographical location, but we have ex-pats and countrymen spread out around the world. We have captains of industry, scientist, physicians, and lawyers all over in key leadership positions.
I like this one best. But does that make UNC the Palestinians?

flyingdutchdevil
07-20-2010, 07:48 AM
Duke = Israel

Surrounded by radicals that want to annihilate us. Yet we are more powerful than any of our neighbors. Most of the world outside of our boarders hates us and wishes we would just go away yet we persevere throughout. We are concentrated in one geographical location, but we have ex-pats and countrymen spread out around the world. We have captains of industry, scientist, physicians, and lawyers all over in key leadership positions.

And we have a winner!

Wow - Israel never popped in my head when I was thinking about this

Devilsfan
07-20-2010, 08:23 AM
Yes, but I think uncch is more like Iran. Large in size, male dominate, although not in true numbers, with the thinking that their way is the only correct way. All other non coolaide drinking soles are infidels and some how below them in stature. Hate their rivals.

jdj4duke
07-20-2010, 09:19 AM
Duke: England. The only thing no one is jealous of is the female population.

This is a funny comment (did Matt Doh contribute that one?), but I will defend the Duke coed population with great vigor! While clearly a different scale than Austin, Gainesville, or Los Angeles, my memories of quad-sitting in the early fall and spring are filled with multiple images of women whose great looks were only augmented by their abilities to tote huge stacks of books and carry on any serious discussion in which you cared to engage.

I just verified those impressions with a quick look through my old Chanticleers, a couple recent Duke magazines, and a brief survey of my classmates. Love those Duke women-

sagegrouse
07-20-2010, 09:47 AM
... when the OP agrees with his UNC buddy that UNC gets to be the USA? Holy cow! UNC as the only superpower in the world? Who accepts this premise? I hope someone here can vouch for the authenticity of the OP, who has provided absolutely no biographical information.

Duke is clearly the leading superpower. The Devils have won more games, have more NCs, and been to more Final Fours than any other team over the past 25 years. And BTW the Devils won this past year and will begin the 2011 season as #1, proving nothing except that Duke is not going away. Their coach also heads the gold-medal winning national team. I mean , in the basketball universe, Duke and the USA are much more closely aligned than any other college team and country.

And if it's true that many sports fans dislike Duke, why isn't that just like the USA? I mean attitudes towards America are improving, but for most of the past ten years the US has been widely disliked throughout the world.

Ah, well, it felt good to get that off my chest.

sagegrouse

flyingdutchdevil
07-20-2010, 10:48 AM
... when the OP agrees with his UNC buddy that UNC gets to be the USA? Holy cow! UNC as the only superpower in the world? Who accepts this premise? I hope someone here can vouch for the authenticity of the OP, who has provided absolutely no biographical information.

Duke is clearly the leading superpower. The Devils have won more games, have more NCs, and been to more Final Fours than any other team over the past 25 years. And BTW the Devils won this past year and will begin the 2011 season as #1, proving nothing except that Duke is not going away. Their coach also heads the gold-medal winning national team. I mean , in the basketball universe, Duke and the USA are much more closely aligned than any other college team and country.

And if it's true that many sports fans dislike Duke, why isn't that just like the USA? I mean attitudes towards America are improving, but for most of the past ten years the US has been widely disliked throughout the world.

Ah, well, it felt good to get that off my chest.

sagegrouse

If this were solely about bball, then I'd have to agree with you. But considering that the thread concerns the university themselves (with a heavy skew to bball, no less), the US just doesn't fit. Duke is a tiny school with a high concentrate of bright people. I really like the Israel analogy - very fitting.

UNC would have to be Italy - a country that everyone loves without actually visiting it. Once they visit, they realize it's not as great as everyone thought. Plus, the country has produced some very unlikable individuals (Berlusconi, Il Duce)

Slackerb
07-20-2010, 03:57 PM
State should be Germany. Old historical power, but not much anymore. Engineering. Old rivalries with USA and England, but it's died down of late.

OZZIE4DUKE
07-20-2010, 04:27 PM
Duke has to be the USA, but I love the Israel analogy! :D

unc? Iran seems to fit nicely. :p

Maryland as North Korea just about made me spew my iced coffee, and it fits so well! :cool: