Used to Pray for Times Like This

“Let’s gooooooo!” is something I have screamed at my TV while watching Carolina basketball games for the past 10 years of my life. It’s always sweet watching UNC greats like Joel Berry, Marcus Paige, and Luke Maye torch our opponents.

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But it’s always a bit sweeter when it’s against that team from Durham.

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There’s just something about this rivalry that amps you up and sets the whole sports world on fire. The gravity of the matchup brings people who barely even watch basketball to the TV screen.

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I grew up watching Carolina basketball in the living room and felt like I was a part of the game. My cheering and screaming at the TV after a Tarheel run and slam always felt like it meant something.

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Especially against Duke.

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You can imagine my surprise when I found myself in the 5th row of the UNC-Duke game a week ago. It was like the inner child in me came back out. I don’t think I ever could have imagined myself to be that close to the action at THAT game.

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And man, it did not disappoint.

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From an RJ Davis dagger in the closing minutes to a Bacot dunk at the end of regulation, my Heels beat Duke in the Smith Center for the first time since my freshman year at UNC.

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And so I ran.

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I ran all the way down to Franklin Street shouting and cheering with people I have met over the years in classes and from pickup basketball. I ran and high-fived people I didn’t even know, and I joined the mosh pit formerly known as Franklin Street where the Tar Heel faithfuls hold their (mostly) yearly celebration.

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The only way to describe the scene there is just cheerful chaos. You never know quite what is going on, but you are happy to be there either way.

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What’s funny about this story isn’t that we beat Duke or that I got to rush Franklin Street for maybe the last time as a student, but rather that our reaction was caused by a game.

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A game where people put a ball through a metal hoop has the power to unite people beyond political affiliation, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

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That is the beauty of sports. They draw out intense emotions of victory, despair, and fellowship. They rally people together from all walks of life and take a deep root in our communities, creating legends of heroes and villains that stand the test of time.

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I’m just glad the good guys won this time.

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