Reviews
by Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 2/23/2009 2:00:00 AM
BATTLE FOR TOBACCO ROAD
(HBO, Monday, Feb. 23, 9 p.m. ET)
In the vein of 2007’s Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry, HBO Sports visits a well-worn war, this time on North Carolina hardwood.
These combatants are two of the four top-winning programs in college hoops with 31 Final Four appearances and seven national titles between them.
Separated by just eight miles, the differences are evidently instilled at birth for many and carried out in defining characteristics of the institutions, with UNC, the nation’s first public college, home to middle-class students, 85% of whom hail from the Tar Heel state. Conversely, Duke, where the Cameron Indoor Stadium crazies roam in Durham, is a private school, attended by the rich and mostly outsiders.
Never the twain — even among family members — will meet, except twice yearly on the court, and sometimes thrice if they square off in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament or the Big Dance.
Bloodlines also give way to the sanguinary in this doc, as high-profile dustups left Duke’s Danny Ferry and Carolina’s Eric Montross and Tyler Hansbrough splattered in red.
Points about the rivalry, which trace to 1920, with 17 of the first 19 contests in the Carolina column, are punctuated by interviews with many notable participants, including UNC’s James Worthy, Phil Ford and Mitch Kupchak, and Duke’s Grant Hill, J.J. Redick, and Christian Laettner. His Airness, Michael Jordan, also makes several appearances.
Former UNC coach Dean Smith and his counterpart Mike Krzyzewski also take center stage, as they have in the series’ denouement over the years. Their slow starts and combativeness are explored, with K famously declaring the existence of an ACC double-standard favoring Carolina. Some would say those tables have turned in Duke’s direction over the years, with one UNC fan likening an angry K countenance to that of a rodent.
Less examined is Smith’s role in helping to integrate Chapel Hill, with more attention focused on UNC’s first big-time black recruit, Charlie Scott. Meanwhile, ESPN’s influence upon Duke’s emergence as a brand and program — following its titles in 1991 and 1992 — that many love to hate, is barely touched upon.
The film concludes on a more conciliatory note: the teams engaging in a moment of silence for the UNC student-body president who was slain on campus just days before their 2008 meeting at Cameron.
Whether you prefer either shade of blue, or loathe both, Battle For Tobacco Road: Duke vs. Carolina is a worthwhile watch.
Review: 'Battle For Tobacco Road'
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