Review: "Battle for Tobacco Road"

I caught the HBO documentary "Battle for Tobacco Road: Duke vs. North Carolina" last night and I was impressed.

While I have no interest in either school, the movie itself dug into why both schools hate each other and how the rivalry started.

Both Duke and North Carolina basketball programs were irrelevant in the first part of the last century. Football ruled the land in North Carolina and especially Duke football. We would have never had the rivalry if it weren't for North Carolina St. NC St. was tired of getting beat up in football so they put a huge emphasis on basketball. Both Duke and North Carolina took notice.

North Carolina struck first when they hired Frank McGuire. He brought in New York basketball players and the program won the National Championship in 1957 when they beat Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain. Recruiting violations forced McGuire out and his assistant Dean Smith took over.

The rivalry took off when both teams started competing against recruits and the rivalry was started. Duke struggled against UNC during the 70's and the focus on Smith was why he hasn't won a National Championship yet.

The movie delves into how Smith desegregated North Carolina, by bringing in Charlie Scott into the program. It also goes into how Smith created the famous "four corners" offense.

It also goes into how Smith brought in Michael Jordan and then he finally won his coveted National Championship in 1982.

The movie also goes into how Duke counterattacked by bringing in an unknown coach name Mike Krzyzewski in 1980. His career didn't start out that well and there were rumors that Duke was going to fire Coach K.

But by the middle of the 80's he turned around Duke and even lead them to the national championship in 86, losing to Louisville.

Coach K had his greatest success in the late 80's and into the early 90's when he lead Duke to five straight final four's and back-to-back National Championships. The movie also delves into how Coach K was tired of seeing UNC get all the calls by the refs and seeing Coach Smith getting away with technical fouls.

While I liked the movie, Duke homers will complain it is too slanted towards North Carolina. Which it is. It delves into how the entire state loves UNC and you have to be a current student or a former student of Duke, to love Duke. It also goes into how K-Ville was started and the creativity of the Cameron Crazies.

It also goes into why so many people either love or hate Duke. It's a great documentary and would recommend it to anyone.