RIP to my favorite Dean Dome feature

[godukecom]

at the UNC game tonight, i noticed that they have redone all the banners. apparently they acknowledged that they have too many banners, b ecause they have consolidated several of their meaningless banners into one. for example, all NIT years are on one banner, not the absurd billion banners proclaiming NIT glory.

unfortunately, it seems that the 3rd place NIT banner did not make it into this new banner system, as the rafters no longer broadcast the domination of a third place NIT finish.

Does anyone know why this was eliminated (other than the obvious reason that a 3rd place NIT finish means absolutely nothing)?

[EarlJam]

at the UNC game tonight, i noticed that they have redone all the banners. apparently they acknowledged that they have too many banners, b ecause they have consolidated several of their meaningless banners into one. for example, all NIT years are on one banner, not the absurd billion banners proclaiming NIT glory.

unfortunately, it seems that the 3rd place NIT banner did not make it into this new banner system, as the rafters no longer broadcast the domination of a third place NIT finish.

Does anyone know why this was eliminated (other than the obvious reason that a 3rd place NIT finish means absolutely nothing)?

Do I detect some rather intense sarcasm in your post? Can we all act like mature adults here?

I mean really. To be honest, I must say I find your post to be quite insensitive, a bit dramatic and categorically 100 percent ACCURATE! :D

Great catch! How in the WORLD could they remove the infamous 3rd place NIT banner!? That was one magical season!

-EarlJam

[BluBones]

Duke should hang a "UNC-3rd Place NIT" banner in Cameron.

[blazindw]

How bout one that reads "2003-2004 UNC Men's Basketball: The Greatest 6th Place ACC Team Ever Assembled"

[colchar]

How bout one that reads "2003-2004 UNC Men's Basketball: The Greatest 6th Place ACC Team Ever Assembled"

Don't give them any ideas.

I wonder if the removed the Helms (was that what the "championship" was called?) banners?

[JasonEvans]

I wonder if the removed the Helms (was that what the "championship" was called?) banners?

http://www.21stcenturypaladin.com/pics/2007/06/helms.jpg

No idea if it is still there.

-Jason " as an aside, that 2005 ACC champs banner is a LIE!!" Evans

[HoganLake]

Back in the day... The NIT was a bigger tournament than the NCAA. They had a game before the final championship game to allow for third and fourth ranked teams.

Why UNC would show off that they were in the losers bracket, I have no idea.

[Carlos]

True, Hogan - the NIT used to be a bigger tournament than the NCAA. But that day wasn't in 1973. By then the NCAA was the main draw with 25 teams and the NIT was a 16-team field.

Maybe they've taken down the banner and are going to replace it with one that reads:

1973 - 28th best team in America

[msdukie]

There have for the past 2 years or so been TWO Helms banners. Remember, they now have the FIVE "national championship" banners on one end zone, that mysteriously look just like Duke's 3 NCAA banners, except that, oddly, they display team records. (There is also, yet another perfect season 1957 banner now). Plus of course they have all of the NCAA first place banners. So, they still have 11 banners up recognizing 4 NCAA titles and 1 joke.

The '05 banner is technically not a lie as it says regular season. Unforyunately, last December, we started hanging such inappropriate accomplishments on banners in Cameron as well.

As for the NIT 3rd place banner, every time I go to the DeadDome for Duke-Carolina, I always take a picture of it. This always leads to the people around me of the lighter persuasion saying "Oh, you admire our banners." Then I point out the stupdity of the banner and explain that I took the picture b/c it is so ridiculous. It makes them very mad and I always feel satisfied. If it is truly gone, it is a sad day. As for the reasons behind this change:

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121307aaa.html

Looks like only the NIT championships may be left :(

I'm still waiting for the 2001-2002 ACC participant banner.

[godukecom]

As for the NIT 3rd place banner, every time I go to the DeadDome for Duke-Carolina, I always take a picture of it. This always leads to the people around me of the lighter persuasion saying "Oh, you admire our banners." Then I point out the stupdity of the banner and explain that I took the picture b/c it is so ridiculous. It makes them very mad and I always feel satisfied. If it is truly gone, it is a sad day. As for the reasons behind this change:

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121307aaa.html

Looks like only the NIT championships may be left :(

I'm still waiting for the 2001-2002 ACC participant banner.

Ha, i always point out that ridiculous banner to UNC fans around them and ask about it. unfortunately, it seems it has finally been removed.

The 1924 Nat'l Championship joke banner still hangs in the end zone. Every time I ask about that one, the ignorant answers i receive amaze me. My favorite was:
"we won the ACC and the tournament, so why shouldnt we be National Champions?"
needless to say, there was no ACC in 1924

[EarlJam]

Duke should hang a "UNC-3rd Place NIT" banner in Cameron.

Awesome.
:D

[Devilsfan]

Do they still do that silly headfirst slide in formation at the start of each game! You won't see that in Cameron. That's why DUKE is DUKE!!!

[Duke09]

There have for the past 2 years or so been TWO Helms banners. Remember, they now have the FIVE "national championship" banners on one end zone, that mysteriously look just like Duke's 3 NCAA banners, except that, oddly, they display team records. (There is also, yet another perfect season 1957 banner now). Plus of course they have all of the NCAA first place banners. So, they still have 11 banners up recognizing 4 NCAA titles and 1 joke.

The '05 banner is technically not a lie as it says regular season. Unforyunately, last December, we started hanging such inappropriate accomplishments on banners in Cameron as well.

As for the NIT 3rd place banner, every time I go to the DeadDome for Duke-Carolina, I always take a picture of it. This always leads to the people around me of the lighter persuasion saying "Oh, you admire our banners." Then I point out the stupdity of the banner and explain that I took the picture b/c it is so ridiculous. It makes them very mad and I always feel satisfied. If it is truly gone, it is a sad day. As for the reasons behind this change:

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121307aaa.html

Looks like only the NIT championships may be left :(

I'm still waiting for the 2001-2002 ACC participant banner.

"What's impressive when you see all those ACC championship banners in a row is that there are so few missing years," Haase said Wednesday as he watched the transformation take shape."

How about the huge gap between 1998 and 2007?

[heath_harshman4]

tell me this doesn't sound like good, unbiased, wholesome reporting...

The primary reason was simple: space was getting tight. The NCAA Final Eight and ACC championship banners from 2007 originally had to be hung behind the existing 2006 banners rather than in the circular chronological method that's been used throughout the life of the Smith Center. With five HUGE championship banners occupying one end zone and 43 jerseys (with the imminent addition of a 44th for Tyler Hansbrough) filling the opposite end zone, rafter real estate was very limited.

(from the aforementioned article)

HAHAHAHA, This is close to the huge gap between 1998-2007 ACC Champs quote....too good...

[msdukie]

Well, they did have to hang the 2001 ACC Champions - Regular Season Tie and 2005 ACC Champions - Regular Season banners.

(As an aside, why do WE now hang regular season banners?)

Ugh...probably a decision made by the same person who added black to our white home uniforms in 2005-06 and to our blue road uniforms in 2004-05.

Of course, I'll just blame Joe Alleva. :eek:

[snowdenscold]

Duke should hang a "UNC-3rd Place NIT" banner in Cameron.

I love it.

[Indoor66]

Well, they did have to hang the 2001 ACC Champions - Regular Season Tie and 2005 ACC Champions - Regular Season banners.

(As an aside, why do WE now hang regular season banners?)

Ugh...probably a decision made by the same person who added black to our white home uniforms in 2005-06 and to our blue road uniforms in 2004-05.

Of course, I'll just blame Joe Alleva. :eek:

It's my understanding that in the early 90's the ACC began to recognize the Regular Season Champion and the ACC Champion (Tourney Winner). Duke then began to recognize the RSC. Carolina began recognizing the RSC back in the 60's at the decision of that arbiter of class, Dean Smith.

[weezie]

Duke should hang a "UNC-3rd Place NIT" banner in Cameron.

Heck yeah, or maybe just have it painted inside the toilet bowls.

[Olympic Fan]

It's my understanding that in the early 90's the ACC began to recognize the Regular Season Champion and the ACC Champion (Tourney Winner). Duke then began to recognize the RSC. Carolina began recognizing the RSC back in the 60's at the decision of that arbiter of class, Dean Smith.

This comes up every year.

Just to be clear, what happened is that the ACC Tournament Champion has, since the beginning if the conference in 1953-54, been THE ACC champion. For 36 years, that was the only championship recognized by the ACC -- although that didn't stop Dean from hanging banners claiming "regular season" titles for what were really first-place regular season finishes.

In 1990, the ACC voted to recognize the "ACC regular season championship" -- essentially to allow Clemson, an original ACC member that had never won anything, to celebrate their first-place finish that year. So from that point on, there are two championships -- regular season and tournament.

HOWEVER -- and it's a big however -- the conference made it clear that the tournament champion is still THE official ACC champion. They did specifically authorize banners to celebrate the regular season title AS LONG AS THEY WERE CLEARLY MARKED AS "REGULAR SEASON" TITLES.

So retroactively, UNC's first-place banners were authorized, although the idea of hanging a huge "ACC champions" banner with a small "regular season" notation underneath is certainly pushing things.

Of course, now that we've copied them and hung similar banners in Cameron, it's hard to muster much outrage.

But I do have an idea for a way to trump them and show them how ridiculous their Helms banner is. We ought to make national championship banners -- just like the three that hang from the rafters now -- for our seven No. 1 finishes in the AP poll (1986, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006). Then we'd have a string of 10 national title banners (albiet covering eight years) hanging in Cameron. We could claim eight national titles to their "five".

Of course, knowing UNC, their response would be to hang banners for their No. 1 finishes. But they only have five such finishes (1957, 1982, 1984, 1994, 1998) so banners would be equal 10-10 ... and since they won real titles in 57 and 82, they would only have eight championship seasons ... the same as us.

Please understand, I'm not seriously suggesting that a final No. 1 ranking should be considered a real title, and certainly not equal to an NCAA championship. But if they're going to claim that ridiculous 1924 "national title" as equal to an NCAA title, we'd be just as justified in claiming our No. 1 AP rankings.

Heck, a final No. 1 AP ranking has got to be worth more than a title awarded 18 years after the fact by a bread company executive with no basketball background.

[msdukie]

I am aware of the Clemson story and the reason for regular season banners (they started handing out regular-season mini-trophies at that time too, though they differ from the real ACC Championship trophy in all sports).

However, my outrage is based on the fact that we decided to copy them. We were the only school who thought regular-season titles weren't worthy of a banner.

What's next, will we cut the nets down in Cameron while wearing our white with blue/BLACK trimmed jerseys when we achieve a first place finish?