Cross town rivalry

Last year was my first experience with the Berry vs. Shorter rivalry. I had heard it was big, but unless you have the privilege to experience it for yourself, it's hard to describe. Last year we played the first of the two grudge matches at Shorter. It was a packed house! Right before tip off I felt like I was at a rock concert or something, the place was going nuts. I remember at one point yelling as loud as I could at DT who was sitting right next to me and he could hardly hear me. I also remember during half time trying to figure out what was all over my suit. I think one of the last times I had worn it was for a junior senior banquette and my date had a sparkly dress on. I thought do I still have sparkles on this from that? Then I realized that it was the paint that had chipped off of the fans who were painted up and standing behind our bench. It made me laugh. Needless to say, it means a lot for both teams, both schools, and all involved. It really is the Duke vs. North Carolina of small college basketball. Two good schools with good basketball programs in the same city and same conference separated by about 5 miles. A lot of pride fills the gym along with fans that may only come to one basketball game all year. I am excited about this years instalment of this great rivalry and I'm honored to have a chance to take part in it. We'd love to have a Berry sweep for both the men's and women's programs.

-Coach Tellus Truesdale