YouTube Gold: Nothing Could Be Finer

We linked to a Washington Post documentary about the height of the Duke-Maryland rivalry not too long ago and those games in the Battier/Williams era were incredibly intense.

But the Duke-UNC series has always been more intense and didn't heat up for a few years out of nowhere.

It’s been going on since the Art Heyman fight in 1960 and has led to some truly legendary games.

And some of the most intense matches took place in the late 1980’s.

In 1988, behind Danny Ferry, Robert Brickey, Phil Henderson and Quin Snyder, Duke celebrated a season sweep, beating UNC three times.

People printed “triple crown” T-shirts. Remember this was just a few years after Michael Jordan and James Worthy left Chapel Hill. It was a big deal.

In 1989, when Christian Laettner was a freshman, Duke lost badly in Cameron, 91-71, then won in Chapel Hill 88-86.

UNC won in the ACC Tournament 77-74 but winning in the Dean Dome was still a big deal.