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View Full Version : I wore my Duke hat yesterday



KenTankerous
08-28-2011, 12:17 PM
Sure that sounds innocuous to you folks in most of the free world but I live in Louisville, KY. And was walking into the UofL vs UCLA soccer game (#1 vs #2 BTW).

But the coolest thing happened! A fully decked out UofL fan noticed my BlueDevil and said "Hey, nice! We (pointing to himself and his companion) went there!. Look kids, what is that on his hat?"

His five and seven (+/-) year olds turned and without more than a moment's hesitation said "LET'S GO DEVILS!!!" and did the five claps! The seven year old then told me that UofL's coach, Ken Lolla is a Duke Alumni!

UofL demonstratively won 2-nil and no one gave me any grief about my BlueDevil head gear.

Anybody else have a "I shouldn't be wearing this Duke shirt in Lexington, or Vegas, or Baltimore but it turned into a good thing" story?

ricks68
08-28-2011, 01:09 PM
Sure that sounds innocuous to you folks in most of the free world but I live in Louisville, KY. And was walking into the UofL vs UCLA soccer game (#1 vs #2 BTW).

But the coolest thing happened! A fully decked out UofL fan noticed my BlueDevil and said "Hey, nice! We (pointing to himself and his companion) went there!. Look kids, what is that on his hat?"

His five and seven (+/-) year olds turned and without more than a moment's hesitation said "LET'S GO DEVILS!!!" and did the five claps! The seven year old then told me that UofL's coach, Ken Lolla is a Duke Alumni!

UofL demonstratively won 2-nil and no one gave me any grief about my BlueDevil head gear.

Anybody else have a "I shouldn't be wearing this Duke shirt in Lexington, or Vegas, or Baltimore but it turned into a good thing" story?


Nope.:(


ricks

licc85
08-28-2011, 01:32 PM
Sure that sounds innocuous to you folks in most of the free world but I live in Louisville, KY. And was walking into the UofL vs UCLA soccer game (#1 vs #2 BTW).

But the coolest thing happened! A fully decked out UofL fan noticed my BlueDevil and said "Hey, nice! We (pointing to himself and his companion) went there!. Look kids, what is that on his hat?"

His five and seven (+/-) year olds turned and without more than a moment's hesitation said "LET'S GO DEVILS!!!" and did the five claps! The seven year old then told me that UofL's coach, Ken Lolla is a Duke Alumni!

UofL demonstratively won 2-nil and no one gave me any grief about my BlueDevil head gear.

Anybody else have a "I shouldn't be wearing this Duke shirt in Lexington, or Vegas, or Baltimore but it turned into a good thing" story?

I don't have a good story, but I have great "Don't wear out Duke gear in Lexington story:" I was wearing a Duke national Championship 2010 t-shirt a few months back while I was downtown in Lexington, KY, and I was hanging out with a lady friend of mine and her two very attractive friends, who I had never met prior. Almost immediately after meeting up with them, this attracted the ire of just about every single drunk dude in the area, because they were staring at my friend and her friends, and then at me, with my duke gear on, and probably hating Duke a little bit more.

At one point, 3 drunk dudes approached, and started very rudely asking about my shirt and making some very racist comments. Since I had just met up with my friend, her friends had no idea who I was, and acted as if they didn't know me. (Wow) My friend came to my defense, and it turned out okay, (the other girls realized I was with them) but then when we tried to get a table, we were one chair short, and being a gentleman, I offered the seats to the girls while I went to search for my own chair. I finally found an empty one that a group of people said wasn't being used, but then several minutes later, an angry looking guy came over and literally grabbed the chair from under me, and said it was being used, and gave no other reason as to why he was being rude. (I can infer) I'm surprised I didn't get into a fight that night, but I'm never wearing Duke gear out in Lexington again. It probably prevented me accomplishing anything positive socially that night.

dukebsbll14
08-28-2011, 03:03 PM
Sure that sounds innocuous to you folks in most of the free world but I live in Louisville, KY. And was walking into the UofL vs UCLA soccer game (#1 vs #2 BTW).

But the coolest thing happened! A fully decked out UofL fan noticed my BlueDevil and said "Hey, nice! We (pointing to himself and his companion) went there!. Look kids, what is that on his hat?"

His five and seven (+/-) year olds turned and without more than a moment's hesitation said "LET'S GO DEVILS!!!" and did the five claps! The seven year old then told me that UofL's coach, Ken Lolla is a Duke Alumni!

UofL demonstratively won 2-nil and no one gave me any grief about my BlueDevil head gear.

Anybody else have a "I shouldn't be wearing this Duke shirt in Lexington, or Vegas, or Baltimore but it turned into a good thing" story?

Wore my Cameron Crazie shirt to Franklin Street (was there for about 20 minutes to get fro-yo) and got 3 "Go Duke"s, no anti-Duke talk, and only one stare down. This was the day of the 2010 Duke/UNC game at Cameron. UNC was on spring break, so no one there cared.

aro24
08-29-2011, 07:59 AM
I had to travel to Connecticut for business a week after the 99 championship game.........I made sure to wear my Duke shirt on the plane while traveling. The airport was of course bursting with UConn championship gear....but at 6'6" 250, I dared anyone to make a snide comment......I didn't hear the first thing :)

ARo24

Dr. Rosenrosen
08-29-2011, 09:37 AM
The Good: On what seems like my bi-weekly trips to Home Depot/Lowes, I have little choice but to cross into enemy territory since the closest locations are in Chapa Heel. I ALWAYS make sure to wear my Duke hat. I get a fair amount of grief, especially in the checkout line. But recently on a trip over there, I had a really tall older gentleman stop me while he said to his wife, hey, check out his hat. I thought I was in for another ribbing. Turns out he was a former Duke football player and congratulated me on wearing my gear over there. What a nice change!

The Ridiculous: Two weeks ago I was in the airport on a busy monday afternoon and of course wearing my Duke hat. On the moving walkway, things were backed up and going nowhere while a lady up front struggled with her stroller and arms full of stuff. While a dozen of us waited patiently to get to the end of walkway, some tool walked up behind me tyring to shove his way through with a rude version of excuse me. When I pointed out to him that there was nowhere to go, he responded with "Oh, I thought it was because you were a Dukie." As I stared incredulously, he gave a half smile and I said, oh, you must be a tar heel. He proudly confirmed and then literally told me that, yes, he was an a-hole but didn't care. My response... "You know, I think I finally agree with a tar heel... you're absolutely right!"

fan345678
08-29-2011, 09:47 AM
It probably prevented me accomplishing anything positive socially that night.

The fact that it was a Duke t-shirt, or the fact that you went out in a t-shirt to begin with? : )

devil84
08-29-2011, 11:26 AM
I was helping my son move into his Wake Forest dorm room yesterday. We got in the elevator and in bounces an adorable blonde. She ended her cell phone call, then told my son, "I'm a Duke fan, too!" She pointed to his Duke shorts. They talked a bit, albeit awkwardly since his parents were in the elevator with him. Looks like the Duke shorts broke the ice!

The WFU stores are doing an interesting promotion. If you trade in a shirt from any college, you'll get 15% off of a WFU shirt. If you trade in any ACC shirt, the discount is 20%. And if you trade one from Duke, NCSU, or UNC, your discount is 25%. Upon reading the flyer, my son immediately quipped, "I'm not willing to part with my Duke shirts, but I'd really like another WFU shirt, particularly with a discount. I wonder if we can get a UNC shirt for a buck or two at Goodwill?"

TonyWR
08-29-2011, 12:30 PM
Wore my Cameron Crazie shirt to Franklin Street (was there for about 20 minutes to get fro-yo) and got 3 "Go Duke"s, no anti-Duke talk, and only one stare down. This was the day of the 2010 Duke/UNC game at Cameron. UNC was on spring break, so no one there cared.

A few years ago I 'had' to go to the dean dome (gag) for my step daughters cheerleader competition. This was a week after Duke had beaten unc and there was still lots of boo hooing there. I remember one kid there had on a unc shirt and my wife yelled "hey, how did you like that game?", neeedless to say we got an ugly look but he never replied back. Later on I went to the restroom and in the stall, painted on the wall in permanent marker was the Duke 'D'. I had to smile. Then as I come out of the restroom, the unc mascot was in the concourse and there was a small group around him, taking pics and high fiving and this one little boy yelled at him 'Go Duke'. There was silence, again I had to smile. And of course I had my Duke shirt on!

Bluedevil114
08-29-2011, 12:58 PM
Outside of work I wear Duke gear all the time. I get lots of snide remarks living in Maryland. But who cares they would rather destroy their town every five years when they pull an upset. They are not our rivals anyways. Go Duke!!

CameronBornAndBred
08-29-2011, 01:35 PM
I think it all comes down to the personality of the person/people you are with. Like in DR. RR's case, that guy was a genuine a-hole, the Duke gear just brought it out a bit more. I was on campus a couple months ago walking past Wallace Wade during youth football camps, and there were some parents unloading their car. They had Kentucky stickers on their bumper, UK sweatshirts on, and as I walked past I noted outloud that they were "missing a D and an E". They laughed, they got it was good natured ribbing. They may have run into someone later on campus with less of a humorous experience, but if so it wasn't because whomever it would have been was a die hard Duke fan, it would have been because they were a genuine jackass.
I've never really had any bad experiences on the hill either, excluding the good natured and expected ribbing of the type I relayed about above. On game days, I've never had a bad experience. The guy in the funny colored shirt below even agreed to take a picture with me.

2028

RockyMtDevil
08-29-2011, 02:01 PM
My best friend lives in Lexington and is a diehard UK fan. I was one of his groomsmen and another groomsmen was the Director of Basketball at UK. We played golf at the blue and white club on Tubby's membership and then went to Memorial Col. to play pick-up hoops. I wore a duke t-shirt and my authentic duke bball shorts. As I walked in, there were several UK players shooting hoops and one looked at me and said, "you can't wear that $@%^ in here." I just smiled.

We then played pick-up ball with the UK players watching for a bit. They were all ragging on the "dukie" (me) the entire time. Our last game we were all tied and I had the ball about 2 feet behind the nba 3 line with my UK fan guarding me. I launched a deep bomb and swished it for the win and proceeded to pull a "JJ hold the pose" and then blew them all kisses. I may have dropped something about 2.1 seconds and Laettner, but I was so happy I can't remember. My non-athlete closest thing to doing anything cool sports wise ever story....

I still smile thinking about it.

ikiru36
08-29-2011, 02:42 PM
My best friend lives in Lexington and is a diehard UK fan. I was one of his groomsmen and another groomsmen was the Director of Basketball at UK. We played golf at the blue and white club on Tubby's membership and then went to Memorial Col. to play pick-up hoops. I wore a duke t-shirt and my authentic duke bball shorts. As I walked in, there were several UK players shooting hoops and one looked at me and said, "you can't wear that $@%^ in here." I just smiled.

We then played pick-up ball with the UK players watching for a bit. They were all ragging on the "dukie" (me) the entire time. Our last game we were all tied and I had the ball about 2 feet behind the nba 3 line with my UK fan guarding me. I launched a deep bomb and swished it for the win and proceeded to pull a "JJ hold the pose" and then blew them all kisses. I may have dropped something about 2.1 seconds and Laettner, but I was so happy I can't remember. My non-athlete closest thing to doing anything cool sports wise ever story....

I still smile thinking about it.

Just envisioning it made me smile too. Thanks for sharing!!!

Go Duke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Blue Devils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTHCGTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

roywhite
08-29-2011, 02:49 PM
Wore a Duke hat for good part of a week on vacation in DownEast Maine.

No comments at all, good or bad.
Kinda nice to get away from it, must admit.

sagegrouse
08-29-2011, 02:55 PM
Wore a Duke hat for a week on vacation in DownEast Maine.

No comments at all, good or bad.
Kinda nice to get away from it, must admit.

The only negative experience I have had wearing Duke apparel was really a surprise: in the St. Pete-Tampa area during the 1999 Final Four. New Englanders (all UConn fans, natch) were a vocal and fairly obnoxious group -- and these were 60 and 70-year olds.

sagegrouse

AZLA
08-29-2011, 02:57 PM
The fact that it was a Duke t-shirt, or the fact that you went out in a t-shirt to begin with? : )

Years ago I was driving on I-95 with a few friends to Florida for spring break. Along the way we could see other carloads of students from all over the East (and even the Midwest) charging southward for party fun-time. This was just before cellphones stopped looking like the cinderblock phone from Pretty Woman, so hardly anyone had one. Instead, people would communicate by writing signs or just shout to each other with windows down at 90 miles per hour. This proved to be dangerous as one girl decided to show everyone in the now-massive caravan her bikini by sticking her legs up and out the open sunroof. At those speeds, and as small as she was, the negative air pressure literally almost sucked her up and out of the car. Anyhow, as we're driving we spotted a blond coed in a car that hadn't yet joined in the long caravan that was now abusing the left-lane like it was a NASCAR race. Being friendly, many in the caravan passed her by and waved. However, she didn't respond. Then we noticed she had a UNC parking sticker on her car. So, as a joke, we passed her by with a note on the window asking, "Couldn't get into Duke, huh?" About 20 minutes later, here comes her car, with the blond UNC coed at a blistering pace in the right lane. She pulls up next to us and holds up her written reply, "Only ugly girls get into Duke." And she floors it. Only, a few seconds later, she is passed by us again, with a note stating, "If that's the case, you should have received a full scholarship."

It sounds harsh in print -- but in reality -- it was friendly and in fact, it opened up a new dialogue as we communicated and got to know each other for the rest of the trip. She was actually pretty cool, and, yes, she was attractive.:) Point is, based on my experience, the anti Duke or anti UNC sentiments are actually good ice breakers when meeting new people in the office or on travel. I find that if the person actually is a UNC student, they're often cool about the rivalry. What I've noticed however is that where it gets personal or truly insulting are the fringe groups. Those people who aren't actually UNC students but who have latched onto cheering for all things UNC because it represents their resentment of ridiculous and festering stereotypes.

As for Kentucky fans. All they seem to know is that Duke nearly destroyed their collective will to ever watch basketball again and that Ashley Judd is the greatest actress of all time.

hudlow
08-29-2011, 03:28 PM
I have a T-shirt from last year's ACC Tourney final with the score on the back. I hear a lot of muttering at times...

hud

Dev11
08-29-2011, 09:35 PM
\Turns out he was a former Duke football player and congratulated me on wearing my gear over there. What a nice change!

Same story, but it happened at earlier this year at BWI, where I was wearing my Duke Football shirt. The guy behind me in the security line gave me this huge smile as he complimented it, and told me he graduated from the team in '03. Bias aside, he was one of the 2 or 3 nicest strangers I ever met.

magjayran
08-29-2011, 10:45 PM
I live in Carrboro and wear Duke gear somewhat regularly around town and in Chapel Hill. I don't get a lot of negative comments, mostly just a little bit of good natured ribbing and the occasional shock since you don't see a lot of it in Orange County. I've got some pretty cool vintage Duke gear which has even gotten me some props for being such a long-time die hard.

nocilla
08-30-2011, 08:17 AM
I got an interesting comment in Disney World. It was May of 2010 and I was wearing a Championship shirt. A guy said to me "I'm so glad you guys beat Butler, I was so tired of hearing how great they were and how long there winning streak was." It really caught me off guard because I had never heard that perspective before.

CLT Devil
08-30-2011, 11:58 AM
Years ago I was driving on I-95 with a few friends to Florida for spring break. Along the way we could see other carloads of students from all over the East (and even the Midwest) charging southward for party fun-time. This was just before cellphones stopped looking like the cinderblock phone from Pretty Woman, so hardly anyone had one. Instead, people would communicate by writing signs or just shout to each other with windows down at 90 miles per hour. This proved to be dangerous as one girl decided to show everyone in the now-massive caravan her bikini by sticking her legs up and out the open sunroof. At those speeds, and as small as she was, the negative air pressure literally almost sucked her up and out of the car. Anyhow, as we're driving we spotted a blond coed in a car that hadn't yet joined in the long caravan that was now abusing the left-lane like it was a NASCAR race. Being friendly, many in the caravan passed her by and waved. However, she didn't respond. Then we noticed she had a UNC parking sticker on her car. So, as a joke, we passed her by with a note on the window asking, "Couldn't get into Duke, huh?" About 20 minutes later, here comes her car, with the blond UNC coed at a blistering pace in the right lane. She pulls up next to us and holds up her written reply, "Only ugly girls get into Duke." And she floors it. Only, a few seconds later, she is passed by us again, with a note stating, "If that's the case, you should have received a full scholarship."

It sounds harsh in print -- but in reality -- it was friendly and in fact, it opened up a new dialogue as we communicated and got to know each other for the rest of the trip. She was actually pretty cool, and, yes, she was attractive.:) Point is, based on my experience, the anti Duke or anti UNC sentiments are actually good ice breakers when meeting new people in the office or on travel. I find that if the person actually is a UNC student, they're often cool about the rivalry. What I've noticed however is that where it gets personal or truly insulting are the fringe groups. Those people who aren't actually UNC students but who have latched onto cheering for all things UNC because it represents their resentment of ridiculous and festering stereotypes.

As for Kentucky fans. All they seem to know is that Duke nearly destroyed their collective will to ever watch basketball again and that Ashley Judd is the greatest actress of all time.


This reminds me if a great story, albeit between two of our rivals: I was a passenger in the car and only about 12 years old. It was 1993, UNC coming off their Natty Champ. We were behing a car decked out in Michigan gear - Stickers, Flags, the who shabang. We passed by a car that had a couple of pretty large UNC stickers on it in the right lane. I took notice because after we passed the UNC car it seemed to speed up and got to an even speed with the Michigan car. The UNC folks got right beside them and had everyone in the car, about 4 people pressed against the windows, give the 'Timeout' gesture with their hands to the Michigan folks, who most definately saw and actually cracked up about it.

As you can tell from my avatar we wore our Duke pride everywhere. I get good natured ribbing by all kinds of people all over NC, with Charlotte being a hotbed for UNC grads. When I suspect it's a "Tar-Mart" fan I usually ask what year they went there and that gets a laugh or shuts them up if they are annoying enough.