Some thoughts on the discussion that Juan Carlos Ferroro saw the potential and pitched him to Carlos as his rival:
Jannik put in the tremendous effort to become what he is now. But it is crazy that Ferroro saw the potential and used him to motivate Carlos to be a better player, since 2022.
I recently saw some posts about Changeover, a snippet where Carlos is lamenting because he is being shifted to a different level, but his friend isn't because that boy hasn't improved like him. I think Carlos needs someone to play tennis with, a constant person, who he can share the joy of tennis with. And Ferroro knew that. And then saw the red haired shy boy eating carrots and decided this is the boy Carlos will have and play tennis with.
It also makes sense that Carlos was talking about Jannik being his rival when he hadn't even broken into top 5 once, because he had been taught that this is the boy you are going to be playing tennis with, the person who understands and who you can share the joy with. We thought it was Carlos manifesting this rivalry, but it was just a coach trying to keep his charge playing tennis.
My first response to the news that Joan Fontaine died was this: OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND WINS!!!! I know that seems callous, but their sibling rivalry was so epic that I've been maintaining for years now the only reason either of them were still alive was because neither one would give in to the other. So Joan finally gave in. So OLIVIA wins.
Some thoughts on the societal factors of the UNC-Duke rivalry
I spent this weekend visting my older brother, who was in Atlanta on business. This being the weekend of the Carolina-Duke rematch, we spent a good deal of time discussing basketball. Amongst our discussion of various players, our prospects for the upcoming ACC and NCAA tournament, we inevitably talked about how our hatred of Duke is eclipsed only by our love of Carolina. As we talked about all of the things we despised about Duke, I came to a realization.
The rivalry between UNC and Duke is so intense, and holds the attention of so many North Carolinians who otherwise care very little about sports, because it is one of the few socially acceptable outlets for class and racial tensions.
TL;DR - People root for UNC because it they feel like it's "the people's" school, and it lets poor people go to school for free. They hate Duke because it's filled with rich, privileged outsiders who don't give a crap about the community. The statistics back up a lot of these perceptions.
Duke is perceived as a school for rich outsiders. According to the College Board, undergrad tuition for Fall 2011 was $41,938, approximately $1,271 per credit hour. The median yearly household income for the city of Durham, NC is $41,160. Most North Carolinians can't afford this sort of tuition, and at least half of Duke's students receive some sort of financial aid. According to Admissions Consultants, 85% of Duke's student body is from out of state. Most locals expect these students to leave the state after they graduate, and Duke students and alumni are seen as not contributing to the community.
Duke is located in the city of Durham, North Carolina. Durham's population is 41% African American, and only 37% non-Hispanic white. Duke's undergraduate population is 10% African American and 47% non-Hispanic white. Durham also has a (possibly inaccurate) reputation for having high crime rates and bad schools, with the area near Duke's campus being given special considerations/protection by the police.
All of this gives the impression that there's this ivory tower existing in a bubble of whiteness, isolated from the majority African American city it exists in, and doing little to serve the community. The resentment this causes occasionally flares up, like during the 2006 Duke Lacrosse case.
On the other side of this rivalry, we have UNC Chapel Hill. UNC-CH is the flagship school of the UNC system (which has 17 campuses, including fellow basketball heavyweight, NC State), and is seen, by comparison, as the school of the people (there is debate as to whether or not NC State is a more populist institution, and whether or not UNC is elitist, etc). UNC is required by law to have at least 82% of each incoming freshman class be North Carolina natives. In-state tuition for Fall 2011 was $7,008 and out of state tuition was $26,834. UNC is consistently rated as one of the best values in public higher education. Furthermore, UNC was the second university in the nation to promise debt-free education to low-income students, known as the Carolina Covenant. The Carolina Covenant in particular engenders loyalty to UNC's basketball team, since Coach Roy Williams and his wife, Wanda, were the chairs for the initial Covenant fundraising drive.
Demographically, UNC, for the most part, mirrors the demographics of Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina at large. Specifically, there's a higher percentage of Asian Americans among the student body than among the general population, and a lower percentage of African Americans in the student body than in the state population. The latter is something that could and should be changed, and, in my experience with the UNC's administration, is something they are actively trying to do (seriously, it seems like every other weekend my sister is working at a minority recruitment event). Still, unlike with Duke, the school has not aggravated, or been the source of, interracial tensions in recent history.
