SU Fans need to be the last to utter the "R" word

[Townie72]

I watched it for years. Maryland fans, who root for a team with a proud basketball history, were defenseless against a single Duke cheer, “You are not our rivals”.

The cheer communicated that Maryland lacked the status to be Duke’s rival. It was humiliating to the Maryland fans, especially because of how much they hated Duke, how much the MD v. Duke games frequently meant and how strongly they felt that Duke really was a “rival”.

But of one side says it isn’t a rivalry, it’s not.

The Dukies know from experience how effective this tactic is, so if SU fans say there’s a rivalry, the Dukies will say there isn’t …. Regardless of how much evidence there is (e.g., Duke vs Maryland). It’s a no-win situation.

If the two teams stay good, especially if UNC recedes, it’ll happen. K seemed to say that in his post-game comments. I think he sees the value to Duke in a strong competitive relationship with SU

But SU fans need to be the last to say such a thing exists. Say the “R” word and you are walking into a trap.

Here’s how we have used the “Not your rival” gambit:

A poll on the Rutgers football board recently asked, “Which school do you hate the most?” The overwhelming winner was “Syracuse”. A school they no longer play and with whom there were very few meaningful games. Their complaint was that “We never gave the respect they thought was due. We would never admit to a “Rivalry”. They still feel the sting of that disrespect. (And most of us didn’t because we thought that Rutgers lacked the stature to be an SU rival and that what Rutgers was trying to do was hitchhike on our history as a way of making their program appear bigger and better than it actually was.)

 

[sufandu]

In another thread, Maryland was a school I specifically mentioned when I said we wouldn't be a rival to Duke or UNC the way they are to one another. The only way we become a primary rival of theirs is to absolutely own the league for a while. Only then will the hatred from their end grow enough for them to consider us a rival.

 

[Charco]

As a fanbase, being so delicate about these things makes you seem weak. It's not a position of power.

It's like stammering, "I won't say 'I love you' until she does." Who give a sh**?

Both coaches have already admitted it's a rivalry. If duke fans don't want to admit it, then maybe they don't feel like they're worthy of a rivalry with the #1 team in the country.

 

[moqui]

In another thread, Maryland was a school I specifically mentioned when I said we wouldn't be a rival to Duke or UNC the way they are to one another. The only way we become a primary rival of theirs is to absolutely own the league for a while. Only then will the hatred from their end grow enough for them to consider us a rival.

and then our tagline becomes "you're not our rival, you're our bitch"

 

[Garbs]

can't be a rivalry until Duke wins one

 

[Trueblue25]

Hope we sweep them this year.

I don't care if we have a rivalry situation. I want dominance.

 

[JohnCuse44]

We are there rivals, but we will never be their main rival and they will never be ours. There is a huge difference.

 

[Townie72]

and then our tagline becomes "you're not our rival, you're our bitch"

Well, that's unlikely to happen, but if it did that would be great.

There's a lot of Duke fans in the US (aka Frontrunners) but there are a lot of people who hate em. It would be nice to be the anti-Duke, the hero to all who don't like Duke and especially don't like the way the press and commentators fawn over them.

 

[sufandu]

We are there rivals, but we will never be their main rival and they will never be ours. There is a huge difference.

Exactly. The question is who IS our main rival? We probably won't really know that for a few years.

 

[Millhouse]

I watched it for years. Maryland fans, who root for a team with a proud basketball history, were defenseless against a single Duke cheer, “You are not our rivals”.

The cheer communicated that Maryland lacked the status to be Duke’s rival. It was humiliating to the Maryland fans, especially because of how much they hated Duke, how much the MD v. Duke games frequently meant and how strongly they felt that Duke really was a “rival”.

But of one side says it isn’t a rivalry, it’s not.

The Dukies know from experience how effective this tactic is, so if SU fans say there’s a rivalry, the Dukies will say there isn’t …. Regardless of how much evidence there is (e.g., Duke vs Maryland). It’s a no-win situation.

If the two teams stay good, especially if UNC recedes, it’ll happen. K seemed to say that in his post-game comments. I think he sees the value to Duke in a strong competitive relationship with SU

But SU fans need to be the last to say such a thing exists. Say the “R” word and you are walking into a trap.

Here’s how we have used the “Not your rival” gambit:

A poll on the Rutgers football board recently asked, “Which school do you hate the most?” The overwhelming winner was “Syracuse”. A school they no longer play and with whom there were very few meaningful games. Their complaint was that “We never gave the respect they thought was due. We would never admit to a “Rivalry”. They still feel the sting of that disrespect. (And most of us didn’t because we thought that Rutgers lacked the stature to be an SU rival and that what Rutgers was trying to do was hitchhike on our history as a way of making their program appear bigger and better than it actually was.)

why in the world are you posting this today?

 

[PoppyHart]

"Rivalry": Meaning whatever you want it to mean since 1492.

 

[Townie72]

why in the world are you posting this today?

I'd hate to see us walking into the same trap. It's for future reference if you feel it has any value whatsoever as advice. If not, ignore it.

 

[Millhouse]

I'd hate to see us walking into the same trap. It's for future reference if you feel it has any value whatsoever as advice. If not, ignore it.

a better post title would help me know to ignore it

 

[orange79]

There's a lot of Duke fans in the US (aka Frontrunners) but there are a lot of people who hate em. It would be nice to be the anti-Duke, the hero to all who don't like Duke and especially don't like the way the press and commentators fawn over them.

I think, across America, when SU and Duke play, many (I'm looking at you, UConn/NC St/etc.) are praying for a ceiling collapse.

 

[Townie72]

a better post title would help me know to ignore it

 

[Townie72]

Sorry to waste 10 seconds of your valuable time. In the future I'll try and use titles descriptive of the content.

 

[normaliswear]

Duke will be A rival, just not THE rival. Will that stay GTown even if we sign on to play them every year? Maybe, but a pre-conf game in Dec is hard to sell as your main rival long term. I'm thinking LVille may become that. Four elite programs, end each season with a Duke/UNC and Cuse/Lville double header.

 

[CusefanATL]

Yeah, but the entire country is calling this a rival.

NC State fans are telling UNC fans they are no longer Duke's rival
I had a 2 random friends (1 illinois, the other neutral) say they couldnt wait to watch this rivalry unfold.

No one other than maryland fans thought too much of duke-maryland.

 

[bevosu]

When SU, Louisville, and maybe Pitt dominate the old guard they'll beg to be our rival.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Highest rated college basketball game in twelve years. Their board has about 6 threads on us, but no chance of being a rival.

Isn't this the same guy who expected us to have 4 to 6 losses by now?

 

[sufandu]

a better post title would help me know to ignore it

When you hover over the title with a cursor don't the first few lines of the post come up? It does for me, so I knew exactly what the thread was about before I opened it. Regardless, once you clicked on it, you could have easily backed out once you saw what it was about. I do that quite often, without commenting, with threads I'm not interested in.

It's a legit thread that continues the discussion about new rivalries in the ACC.

 

[teamco]

I saw an article in some tobackie road newspaper after Dukes loss to us stating , 'Sorry Syracuse, You're Not Our Rival and Never Will Be.' Got a pretty good laugh out of that- as if we have mommy and daddy issues and need their approval. However, that one statement does speak volumes about Duke's insecurity stemming from our joining the ACC. The correct headline should have been, 'Sorry Duke, There Is a New Big Swinging Dick in the Conference, and it's Name is Syracuse.'
That said, I would counsel your time would best be spent concentrating on trying to catch up to us in the conference standings . . . . . . if you can. Buh-bye.

 

[CusefanATL]

Highest rated college basketball game in twelve years. Their board has about 6 threads on us, but no chance of being a rival.

Isn't this the same guy who expected us to have 4 to 6 losses by now?

im lazy... can u link the forum?

 

[Delmar]

Everything is so up in the air with conference realignment that who knows who is going to be whose chief rival. Good bye UConn, good bye Georgetown. Hello, …? It's going to happen organically. (and Saturday took a giant step in that direction with Duke). My guess is that Louisville will assume a pretty big hunk of our attention when they come in next year because we are both new to the conference, and have had some great games especially in the last two years.
Back in 1979 or something, I had the experience of watching the famous Duke UNC game in a room full of fans from both teams where it was 7-0 at halftime. These teams and fan bases have been at it a long time, and they are only miles apart. We aren't ever, ever going to be Duke's main rival, and it's not because they are being haughty towards us.

 

[CousCuse]

They are not our rivals. They resorted violence when they were losing and don't have enough CLASS ( Jay Williams ) for them to be considered our equal. Tell me when one of the multitude of Syracuse sportscaster would use their position to complain about a call or few calls?