Customer Reviews

Blue Blood: Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Finally, a book that captures the passion, the intensity, the stories and anecdotes and legends of the UNC-Duke baskteball rivalry. For lifelong fans, the images and memories come flooding back and bring with them the heartbeat and electricity of the many moments of grand drama. Art Chansky has put lightning in a bottle because he has lived it and covered it and has spent several years interviewing and researching and uncovering the stories behind the games. Sometimes, the book takes your breath away, it is often sheer poetry, you can feel the heartstopping drama--the Coach K vs Dean Smith battles--two masters of their arts,two legends of the game. The NCAA championships, the players who have worn the blue--from Michael Jordan to Grant Hill, from Phil Ford and Ray Felton to Bobby Hurley and Dick Groat. It is all here--the circus, the madness, the spendid agony, the wonder. It is a basketball phantasmagora of a book. Enjoy. Eli Evans,lifelong fan. NYC; Durham, NC; USA

Blue Blood will be fascinating reading for any Blue Devil or Tar Heel sports fan; or anyone who loves college hoops regardless of school affiliation. Art Chansky has been fair to both schools, showering praise where due and bringing up "dirt" where appropriate (and often "poop" not before public).

The narrative is compelling and memories flood back to mind as well as many new insights. Frank McGuire, Coach Smith and Coach K are are revealed, running the gamut from what made them great to their personality quirks and motivational techniques. I especially enjoyed the early times and the Art Heyman-Larry Brown history/rivalry-but anyone who began following this rivalry much more recently will have much to enjoy and learn.

Great book!!

Art Chansky says in his forward that he has made an effort to be as unbiased as possible in the writing of this book. I think he has accomplished this goal and gone beyond. I didn't feel any favoritism for one team or the other as I read this book.

At any rate, the book is vividly written, and there is a lot of action. Chansky writes so well that you can literally feel the tension between the two schools just by reading the book (amusingly, many of the players get along very well off the court).

I grew up as a Duke fan and attended college at UNC, now being a diehard Tarheel. It made me remember how I felt at different times when each team won their championships.

I do feel that you have to be a part of the rivalry to really get the most from the book, but regardless, it will be an interesting adventure for anyone who reads it. It's a five-star book all of the way.

The book's a great read. Well-edited. Chansky's gift lies in how well he draws the characters in the time-honored basketball rivalry dating back to the Everett Case-Frank McGuire-Vic Bubas years and the founding of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Excellent coaching aside, these early entrepreneurs of their sport were crusty figures from a by-gone era and Chansky brings them to life, like the doyens of Damon Runyan's Broadway or the charicatures in the Vanity Fair numbers of the late 19th century - which is to say, the book is funny. Art Chansky has been an insider and an outsider, closely allied with coaches and players from both programs for almost 4 decades. No one other than the former sports editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly AND the Durham Morning Herald could have written such a vivid portrayal of the men and events. Unforgiving, full of behind the scenes information and personal reflections of the great sports personalities he profiles, Chansky lets us in on observations he's been holding close to the vest for all this time. PS. There's a movie in the rough and tumble era when ACC basketball got its start. It's a basketballers 'must read' and a serious sports fan's delight. Monty Diamond

This is a thoroughly researched book that on the whole gives equal time to both UNC and Duke. Although I am a UNC fan, I know that Chansky is a UNC alumnus and can't completely hide his disdain for Mike Kryzewski. Although some of Dean Smith's foibles are mentioned, Coach K gets the worse treatment here. Chansky was rougher on Dean in his other book, "Dean's Domain."

If you appreciate college basketball at all (not just UNC, Duke, or the ACC) you will love the historical presentation of this great rivalry. Most fans will recall the recent events; the strength of this book is the story telling of all the past events that made and shaped this great rivalry.

This completes Chansky's trilogy-of-sorts on North Carolina basketball; he had previously written "The Dean's List" and "Dean's Domain," both about former UNC Coach Dean Smith. In the time-honored tradition of "never throwing anything anyway," Chansky includes many of the same anecdotes that graced his earlier books, but, to be fair, he goes into more detail in most cases. He also surveys a wider field than previously, tracing the history of the Duke-UNC rivalry from the earliest times to the present (2004-05 season). There are some factual errors that might have been eliminated with greater editorial diligence, such as the misidentification of Jim Nantz as the lead announcer on the famous Duke-Kentucky East Regional final of 1992. (It was actually Verne Lundquist, and no, it's not that hard to check, since clips from that game appear constantly during CBS' broadcasts of Tournament action.) The book is very thorough and, though it displays a slight bias towards UNC, does do a reasonably even-handed job of detailing the highs and lows of the love-hate relationships between the geographical and athletic rivals. It's definitely a good choice for the college basketball fan's permanent library.

As good as the original (hard cover) Blue Blood is, the paperback edition is even better because it updates (with a new Chapter 1 and Postscript) everything that happened in the rivalry since the book first came out in November, 2005 -- the entire 2006 season, including Carolina's stunning upset of Duke in Durham, the most recent recruiting news at both schools and an insightful explanation of how the Duke Basketball brand impacted the lacrosse scandal. Even for those who have the hard cover, the paperback is well worth the purchase and the read.

I am a Duke fan - the small venue, the fans, and its storied coach. Had to buy the book when I saw it. Liked it very much - though I could do with much less Carolina! This is a unique rivalry and the book conveys the heart of it. Not to be missed by fans/haters of either school.

Great book so far; GO HEELS!

I'm reading about the invention of the Four Corners Offense. To my understanding, it was John McClendon who actually invented the offense. McClendon was a fellow Kansas alum, and later coached at NC Central, which is in Durham. I'm a bit disappointed that the author didn't include this bit of history...