The oldest rivalries are seeing some new faces.

I saw a tweet from ESPN on Tuesday that promoted the Yankees Red Sox game last night as “a New Chapter” between the two teams. It got me thinking about how we inherit new generations of our favorite rivalries.

My family moved to Chapel Hill in 1993 and became instant fans of all things Carolina. I’ve watched Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty and Roy Williams coach at Carolina, but Mike Krzyzewski has been the head coach for the Men’s Basketball team at Duke since before I was born. Over the next two years, both UNC and Duke will have new head coaches in their Men’s programs, creating a new chapter for this rivalry as well.

I watch sports differently now that all college players and most professional players are younger than me. Grimacing at the sight of Coach K used to be as natural as breathing, but now that I’m older and getting closer to the coaches’ ages than the players’, do I still have it in me to love and hate like this forever?

I’m a true-blue Chapel Hill kid that married a die-hard Duke fan, so the feeling of watching a rivalry game is equal parts exciting and stressful. But there’s something with any UNC and Duke match-up that feels safe and familiar too. For nearly two decades, I’ve known that no matter what, twice a year Coach Williams and Coach K are going to meet on the courts that are named for them and for the 40 minutes that follow I’m going to be reminded that the two programs combine to make the most magical rivalry in sports.

As fresh, but familiar faces take over in the next two seasons, I’m sure that I’ll adjust to the chapters that lie ahead. I’ll find new things to love about Carolina, and new things to almost hate about Duke.

The names and the faces may change, but the passion of the rivalry will always be the same. How lucky are we to be in the middle of something so special?


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