The better team on Saturday night at “The Wally” won on Saturday night.  That’s how it often works but not always.   To say that the game was not as close as the final score (33-30) would be correct but is simply too painful to write so I won’t.

The Fighting Fedorians simply did not fight or block or tackle well enough to beat Duke.
 
During a period of recent history not overflowing with upbeat positive news for Carolina fans, “losing to Duke in football” is about the last happening we needed to happen.   In the priority of plaques, does “losing to Duke in football” come before or after “rivers of blood” and “raining frogs”?  
 
Is “losing to Duke in football” the worst news any Carolina fan could hear?  No; the worst news any Carolina fan could hear would be:
 
Dan Kane wins The Lottery (and a Pulitzer) and will marry Kate Upton next Tuesday. 
 
Everything is relative.  Feel better now? 
 
I don’t pretend to be an expert at assessing the talent on a football roster.  I see guys running and jumping and hitting one another and usually think the team I prefer to win does those things better than the ones in the other color jerseys.  Unless the other team is from the SEC or the NFL.   I think Carolina has more talented players than Duke, but the difference may not be as significant as my partisan opinion thinks.   Duke simply outplayed Carolina this time. 
 
If “we” played them again next week the results might well be different.  We don’t play them next week but I sure hope the results are different any way.  Next week we play  . . . .  Well, you know who we play next week.
 
I swore an oath to myself a number of years ago that I would NEVER spend my own money to attend a game at The Wally.   I haven’t and I won’t but I had media credentials for this one, so, yes I was there.  The barbecue in the Duke Press Box is OK.  The Lyonnais potatoes are very good.   I had seconds on them. 
 
For years I wrote about the horrid public restrooms on the Visitors side at The Wally.  They were worst than field latrines in the Hindu Kush. The 3-4 years ago the Duke Public Restroom Dept spent a great deal of money upgrading those facilities.  They did a fine job.  Every time I am at The Wally I visit that facility as I like to think I was responsible for their being built.  Visiting my creation was the highlight of my most recent visit.
 
Whenever Carolina loses a “big” game; and often even when Carolina wins a game…. some UNC fans say / write some very unusual comments relative to whoever is the Head Coach at the time.   Those “some fans” targeted Larry Fedora for this one.
 
“Does he not realize Duke is a big rival?”
“Send that yahoo back to Mississippi……”
“How COULD HE . . . ??”
And, of course, the inevitable
 
“At least Butch never lost to Duke.”
 
I haven’t checked directly with Coach Fedora but I’m going way out on a limb and saying He is a LOT more upset over that loss to Duke than all those “some fans” put together.   I bet he is unhappy with (1) himself, (2) his staff and (3) his players.  All three entities will have a very unhappy day or so . . .  then move on to new challenges.
 
I parked waaaay across the Duke campus in some parking garage.  It might have been in Roxboro.  Leaving, I got totally lost trying to find the garage and my vehicle.  A 100 acre gothic rock pile is easy to get lost in. 
 
Wandering aimlessly for 45 minutes, I came upon some people on a loading dock at a Duke hospital facility.  They felt sorry for me.  They offered to give me a ride to my vehicle in their vehicle; but I had to sign a waiver in order to ride in their vehicle.  It was a mobile morgue used to transport dead bodies. 
 
Talk about a perfect ending to a very painful night at The Wally.
 
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