Hi there! Welcome to a new installment of This (Non) Sporting Life, a blog post about sports written by a guy who does not know a lot about sports.
Today, the topic is shoes.
Here in North Carolina, college basketball is HUGE and it doesn't get any HUGER than the rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and the Tarheels of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). That rivalry reached a HUGEST pinnacle in advance of their first meeting for 2019 on Wednesday night.
Carolina's having a pretty good year but they were heading into the home den of the nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils with an unstoppable man mountain on the team named Zion Williamson. This game was going to be tough but the edge seemed to belong to Duke.
I tend to pull for Duke because I prefer dark blue to light blue. It's as simple as that. So you can see I haven't put a lot of thought into my sports fandom.
Still, I felt confident enough to engage in a little trash talking.
"Good luck tonight," I said to a few Tarheel fans. "Maybe we won't beat you too badly."
"We." Why do people do that? Like I'm going to suit up for Duke and play on the hardwood myself.
Although if I had played Wednesday night, I might have played longer than Zion Williamson.
I had barely settled in at the Fortress of Ineptitude to watch the Duke - Carolina game when tragedy struck just 36 seconds in.
Zion Williamson took a tumble to the floor when his shoe exploded. Coming down on one foot while pivoting to make a turn, Zion's Nike sneaker came apart at the seams. He lost his footing, his leg extending in a way he had not intended to extend it, his knee twisting in a direction it was not made to go.
It was a most surprising development for Zion and for everyone in attendance, including Barack Obama who could be seen on camera mouthing the words "his shoe broke".
Zion limped off the court with a knee injury that took him out of the game.
And he was missed. After 36 seconds, Zion was down. Two hours after that, so was Duke, losing to Carolina 88 - 72.
Given Zion's regular game, it's very likely he would've put a good 15 to 20 points on the board that Duke otherwise did not get. On top of that, Zion's considerable defensive skills would've shaved off about 10 points or so from Carolina's total. For want of a shoe, Duke could've won this thing by double digits.
It doesn't bode well that Duke was so discombobulated by Zion's absence. No matter how good a player is, a team cannot rely on any one player. But the second Zion Williamson was out of the game, it seemed like his teammates were out of it as well. Maybe it was the shock of Zion being taken out so early and for so absurd a reason. But it was not a good night for Duke.
And it was not a good night for Nike.
All for want of a shoe.
Today, the topic is shoes.
Here in North Carolina, college basketball is HUGE and it doesn't get any HUGER than the rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and the Tarheels of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). That rivalry reached a HUGEST pinnacle in advance of their first meeting for 2019 on Wednesday night.
Carolina's having a pretty good year but they were heading into the home den of the nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils with an unstoppable man mountain on the team named Zion Williamson. This game was going to be tough but the edge seemed to belong to Duke.
I tend to pull for Duke because I prefer dark blue to light blue. It's as simple as that. So you can see I haven't put a lot of thought into my sports fandom.
Still, I felt confident enough to engage in a little trash talking.
"Good luck tonight," I said to a few Tarheel fans. "Maybe we won't beat you too badly."
"We." Why do people do that? Like I'm going to suit up for Duke and play on the hardwood myself.
Although if I had played Wednesday night, I might have played longer than Zion Williamson.
I had barely settled in at the Fortress of Ineptitude to watch the Duke - Carolina game when tragedy struck just 36 seconds in.
Zion Williamson took a tumble to the floor when his shoe exploded. Coming down on one foot while pivoting to make a turn, Zion's Nike sneaker came apart at the seams. He lost his footing, his leg extending in a way he had not intended to extend it, his knee twisting in a direction it was not made to go.
It was a most surprising development for Zion and for everyone in attendance, including Barack Obama who could be seen on camera mouthing the words "his shoe broke".
Zion limped off the court with a knee injury that took him out of the game.
And he was missed. After 36 seconds, Zion was down. Two hours after that, so was Duke, losing to Carolina 88 - 72.
Given Zion's regular game, it's very likely he would've put a good 15 to 20 points on the board that Duke otherwise did not get. On top of that, Zion's considerable defensive skills would've shaved off about 10 points or so from Carolina's total. For want of a shoe, Duke could've won this thing by double digits.
It doesn't bode well that Duke was so discombobulated by Zion's absence. No matter how good a player is, a team cannot rely on any one player. But the second Zion Williamson was out of the game, it seemed like his teammates were out of it as well. Maybe it was the shock of Zion being taken out so early and for so absurd a reason. But it was not a good night for Duke.
And it was not a good night for Nike.
All for want of a shoe.
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