To Love or To Hate - Which Is More Satisfying?

Which image gives you more joy?
















or...















I think I know my answer.

Watching the dook Blue Devils narrowly escape Belmont last night reminded me once again of a question that I frequently come back to: Do I love Carolina as much as I hate dook?

Obviously my hatred of dook started with my love for Carolina, but at some point did my spite for the evil side actually surpass my affection for the good and pure? I think it did.

Now...how far has it gone? After much deliberation I decided that I would have rather watched dook lose last night than watch UNC win the national championship. Ridiculous? Yes, I fully admit that. But Carolina's already got the hardware, and will likely win more. The high of seeing your team win one is great, but it doesn't last forever. At least not after your cherry's popped and you've witnessed more than one. Plus, one team each year wins a national championship. Only four #2 seeds have ever lost to a #15.

Getting to watch dook do that, with 8 FREAKING MCDONALD'S ALL AMERICANS and a HALL OF FAME COACH (anyone else getting sick of hearing each year how dook overachieves when they're perennially blessed with an embarrassment of riches?) would have given me a deeper satisfaction than UNC winning another title.

I would have been more visibly excited to the outside observer about the title, and certainly would have gotten muc drunker in celebration, but watching dook choke on a scale that large would have given me inner peace lasting for years.

Of course, the reason I hate them as much as I do is because they were so damn successful for a long stretch there in the 90s and early 00s. And on the heels of dook's '01 championship season came 8-20, the unthinkable. dook had peaked and we hit rock bottom. The national media fully embraced a dook and coach k lovefest. The worst part for me was that kids like Jason Williams were so much fun to watch. It was a gross time.

Everything's been coming up Millhouse for UNC since those dark days and all is now right with the world: Roy's in charge, we got another title in '05, and we have the current #1 ranking and #1 overall seed in the tournament.

Plus, dook's empire is showing plenty of weakness. The national media is for the most part off the bandwagon, and the general public again hates them, as it was meant to be.

But the return of great basketball in Chapel Hill coupled with dook coming down a step from their lofty perch has not even begun to quench my bitterness. The series of events in 2001 and 2002 changed me forever.

I think it's true, I think I'm a dook hater first and a Carolina fan second.