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letter from the editor February 2009 “I’m not much of a sports fan.” Mainly because
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RIVAL MAGAZINE • volume 5 • issue 3
editor-in-chief
courtney roller
duke managing editor unc managing editor web site editor graphic design editors
kaitlin atkinson elizabeth lilly brad piland
COVER DESIGN BY AMANDA MICHELSON
Courtney Roller Editor-in-Chief
content
amanda michelson adrienne wollman
editorial directors emily mcginty jessica stringer unc contributing writers brecken branstrator sabina ion alison ives elizabeth lilly brittian mcneel mary lide parker claire schmitt kathie sun kelly thore clare white duke contributing writers kaitlin atkinson lysa chen sylvie spewak kathie sun becca ward columnists valerie henry jessica stringer
COVER PHOTO BY JAN KOOK
I’m not much of an athlete. I got benched for the season on my kindergarten soccer team for picking flowers on the field. The only basket I ever came close to scoring during my stint as a Michael Jordan prodigy was for the other team. In my entire five-year softball career I only caught one ball that careened its way into my right field territory. I nearly drowned during the first week of swim team practice and was subsequently banned from all swim meets at pools with water over four feet. Which was all of them. In high school I jogged track and somehow managed to come in last place for every practice activity, meet and tournament in which I participated. Though I never quite found my niche in the sports world, something kept me coming back to practices year after Courtney Roller year. Despite my lack of fitness and finesse in the athletics department, I liked being part of a team. I liked all Roller is a senior journalism the parts of playing sports except for the actual playing. I major at the University of liked the sound of a whistle blowing. I liked hearing cheers North Carolina at Chapel Hill. from the stands. I liked to push the squishy button on the She can be reached via email orange water cooler. But most of all I liked the connections at rcourtne@email.unc.edu. I made with my teammates. Perhaps the only thing keeping me from ruining the winning record of an intramural sports team right now is Rival magazine. I wouldn’t call producing a magazine a sport. OK, I would — but the student organization’s handbook won’t let me. But the fact is, we do work hard. We may not have the athletic skills, but when it comes to dedication we rank right up there with Marcus Ginyard and Brian Zoubek. It is my hope that this Basketball Edition not only shows you the amount of dedication our basketball teams have, but that it also highlights the connections that tie our universities together as rivals and friends. From the crazy fans we know you’ve seen — and heard — on the sidelines to the secret life of a college mascot to the best (or worst) rivalry-reinforcing T-shirts, we’re covering all aspects of the game. Not everything in this issue is fun and fluffy, though. We look at some serious inequities in sports like the lack of fans for our extremely successful women’s basketball teams and the status of cheerleaders as not-quite-athletes. Not to mention an in-depth analysis of N.C. State University’s obsession with being our rival and an exclusive interview with the West Coast hip-hop group Pac Div. Working on this issue has not only kept me from joining the intramural flag football team for a few more months, but it has given me an appreciation of all aspects of the game. So even if you don’t consider yourself a die-hard sports fan like me, keep reading, because there is a lot more to the game than what happens on the court.
sports writer
staff designers contributing photographers
evan sandoval danielle cushing alison ives brittian mcneel pamela tseng kelley wollman jan kook emily mcginty amanda michelson brad piland adrienne wollman
business
marketing director treasurer unc faculty adviser
clare white dave williams bill cloud
Rival is a joint publication between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that seeks to reinforce and redefine the historic rivalry. Rival is independently recognized at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is also a member of the Duke University Undergraduate Publication Board. Funding for Rival Magazine was paid for in part by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Student Congress and the Duke University Publications Board. All content, pictures, graphics and design are the property of Rival Magazine © 2009-2010. All rights reserved.
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