Duke of Chess-Stalemate

A Story by Abishai100

Portrait narrative of college athletics rivalry hyperbole making for lines and words of simplified Earthling (American) chalk.

College athletics media/commentary fiction for Xmas-week. Thanks for reading,

DISCLAIMER: This work of sports fanfiction contains images/references with no commercial/explicit ties to any person(s)/body (e.g., Duke basketball) and is cast as purely a 'personal' expression for social art (for 'open' translations).

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I recount the national college men's basketball game on TV in 1990, watching the now-storied Duke Blue Devils team, winners of countless regular season ACC titles, numerous regular-season #1 rankings, and a whopping 5 national titles, all under the tutelage of the legendary Coach K, get swamped by a power-house UNLV team huge. One year later, Duke would avenge this loss to UNLV and go on to become a hallmark of media/TV culture for student-life access windows media for athletics (wow). Well, the ascension of Duke came with a story about a quite-special rival, from across the roads, in the Carolinas --- the Tar Heels of North Carolina (a team boasting the legend Michael Jordan in its history-ranks). Duke made a believer out of me, for fan-superstitions (Facebook-like!).

This tell is about a 1995 moment in the annals of Duke-Carolina (Blue Devils and Tar Heels) history of games-storyboard records. Well, Duke was down-and-out in the national title running, struggling to rebuild its now national title winning 'force' after its stars left as seniors (etc.). North Carolina (UNC), meanwhile simply soared in 1995, still toasting its 1993 national title run, defeating Michigan's team of fabulous athletes who sought avenger-image after losing the 1992 national title contest (to who else but Duke?). Wow, Duke was slumping by 1995, and UNC was streaking, with the new-gen talents Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. This was great social media/TV for the Carolinas (ok).

Duke was down big-and-early in this 1995 game to UNC; and suddenly, Coach K wondered if Duke's quest for more than just 2 national titles ('91, '92) would simply be fantasy for sports. It wasn't. This '95 midseason game was just a taste of what'd become a storied image of college athletics rivalry for show and storytellers. Folks, the Duke-UNC rivalry would become unlike anything else in televised college sports for men (ok). Man, this was more heated than Notre Dame and Penn State (college football!). This was also great for college culture spotlights for TV-culture and the emerging Internet-generation; and it gave young high-school students window-views into what made student life (and basketball) a high art for (all) things human.

I told my girlfriend what I'd love more than anything for Xmas-'24 was a DVD recording of that 1995 Duke-UNC game for my TV at home in New Jersey (sure). I in exchange would gift her a special college-admissions portrait concept novel for her son (from her 1st-marriage). I told her about that '95 game, between the Blue Devils of Coach K and the Carolina Tar Heels, which went into a double-overtime heater following a timeless buzzer-beater long-range miracle heart-sinker launched by Duke's guard Capel that no one expected would lengthen the contest now in Tar Heels hands for good. Wow, my girlfriend agreed to the gift-exchange concept, for college culture IQ-storytelling. This was our Selfie-age no doubt (for good Earthling chandelier).