Doubt is the fuel of great sports rivalries. We all like to believe that our favorite team is the envy of everyone else in the world of sports and we especially like to believe fans of the team we hate most live with a constant feeling of inferiority. Despite this desire we can never be totally certain our team is cock of the walk. The Duke-UNC rivalry is a prime example of how this doubt functions. Fans of either school can vigorously argue which shade of blue is better until the state-mandated linear rise of sea level engulfs North Carolina, yet no conclusion will ever be reached. The one thing both sides will agree upon, however, is that NC State does not belong in the conversation.
I've been to Raleigh, I've toured the NC State campus, and I've watched Wolfpack games on TV, but I'm still not convinced anybody knows the school exists. Russell Wilson identifies Wisconsin as his college even though the majority of his collegiate career took place at NC State. More relevantly, the national sports consciousness is so thoroughly occupied by Duke and UNC that it's easy to forget the Wolfpack are a thing. According to the shirt NC State is a thing (true)--a thing one rung above Duke (false). This assertion arguably makes the shirt the most condescending piece of clothing of all time, and it makes me wonder if the scorn of the designer was not entirely directed at NC State.
I have to believe NC State fans know their place on the food chain. (Whether or not they will admit this is another topic.) A Wolfpack fan that sees this shirt will realize the prestige of their school is being artificially inflated as a way to insult Duke. This makes it a not-so-subtle acknowledgement of the true pecking order, albeit accomplished in a convoluted manner with cartoon fish. Because of this NC State fans should be more perturbed by the shirt than its ostensible target.
The worst part about being on the bottom of the food chain is being reminded that you are on the bottom of the food chain...even if the reminder comes in the form of a shirt that explicitly states otherwise.
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