The Wide World of Triangle Sports

One of the best parts about living at Glen Lennox is the access to some of the best live sports in the world. We’re fortunate to be situated along the legendary “Tobacco Road,” just a stone’s throw from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and cross-town rivals Duke University and North Carolina State University. Beyond these collegiate athletics powerhouses, the Triangle also offers a Stanley Cup-winning NHL franchise and perhaps the country’s most famous Minor League Baseball team – the Durham Bulls. This month, all eyes will be on the Triangle when it hosts the NHL’s 2023 Stadium Series Game on February 18, featuring an outdoor game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals. In anticipation of that matchup, we’ve rounded up some other memorable moments in our region’s sports history.

1942 Rose Bowl

After the bombing on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government believed that high-profile, mass gatherings should not take place on the West Coast. This meant that the Rose Bowl between Duke and Oregon State scheduled for New Year’s Day, 1942, had to be moved elsewhere. Duke’s coach, Wallace Wade, jumped at the opportunity to host the bowl game in the Blue Devil’s home stadium. The bowl committee accepted the offer, and the Duke stadium was expanded to hold college football’s premier bowl game outside of Pasadena, CA for the first time. At the time, it was the biggest sporting event to ever occur in the region, drawing the attention of national media as well as celebrities like Bing Crosby, who bought 200 tickets for himself and guests.

1957 ACC Men’s Basketball Championship

In the 1950s, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament was always held in Raleigh. 1957 was a special year because it produced the ACC’s first NCAA champions, the undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels. The stakes were high at this tournament: If Carolina didn’t win three games in three days, they would not be invited to the NCAA tournament despite their perfect record. UNC barely escaped a scare by Wake Forest in which UNC’s coach actually called a timeout to tell his players to “lose with dignity” before the Heels went on to claim the final lead. The Tar Heels sealed the deal with a dominant win in the ACC final against South Carolina, setting them up to take home the NCAA title a few weeks later.

2006 Stanley Cup Finals

Many said hockey wouldn’t work in the Triangle, but everyone’s tune changed when the Carolina Hurricanes competed for hockey’s most coveted prize in 2006. The Hurricanes, a.k.a.

the Canes, entered the playoffs after one of their best seasons. They battled their way to the Stanley Cup Finals where they faced off against the Edmonton Oilers. As American and Canadian hockey media descended on the Triangle, they were impressed to see the dedication and energy the local fans had. The Hurricane faithful channeled their college sports fan culture and tailgated before every game and remained standing during the entirety of the contests, something the hockey players hadn’t ever seen. In the seventh and final game of the series, the “Caniacs” cheered so loud that the Hurricanes broke a noise record for a hockey arena, earning the nickname “The Loudest House in the NHL.” The Canes took home the Stanley Cup and earned North Carolina its first major league, professional sports championship.

2011 NHL All Star Game

Local hockey excitement really picked up after the boys of winter raised the Cup. Interest was so high that the NHL brought the All-Star Game to Raleigh less than five years later. The NHL All-Star Game is an annual exhibition hockey match featuring the league’s 40 best players. Though called a game, the event was more of a weekend-long festival that featured NHL-themed conventions in downtown Raleigh, clinics for kids to learn how to skate and play the game, autograph sessions with the All-Star players, a hockey skills contest by the players, and finally the game itself. Fans and players had a blast, and the event erased all doubt that the Triangle could support hockey.

2019 Women’s Soccer International Champions Cup

Just like the Triangle is a hotbed for college basketball, it’s also the women’s soccer capital of the world. Not only are we home to the UNC Tar Heels and their 21 NCAA titles, Carolina Courage is the most decorated professional women’s soccer team. Courage leads the National Women’s Soccer League in total championships, the Courage roster had the most U.S. Women’s National Team players of any club in the most recent World Cup, and in 2018 they won the Women’s Soccer International Champions Cup (WSICC). The WSICC is essentially the World Cup for professional women’s teams. After winning in 2018, Courage brought the tournament and the globe’s best clubs to Cary for the 2019 WSICC. With the international spotlight shining on Cary, Courage fought valiantly in the championship final where they lost to France’s Lyon 1-0.

2020 Field Hockey National Championship

UNC’s field hockey team was rewarded for their spectacular championship history and state-of-the-art facilities with the right to host the 2020 national championship on their campus. Named for the program’s longtime coach, Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill is recognized by the national field hockey press as the best field hockey venue in the country. Despite being the 2020 championship in name, the game actually took place in May of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Heels made the most of their home-field advantage and beat Michigan in a thrilling overtime game.

2022 UNC vs Duke, Coach K’s Final Game at Cameron

Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K, is one of college basketball’s all-time coaching greats. Entering what he announced to be his final game at Duke’s home court, Cameron Indoor Stadium, the hype was inescapable. Sports networks had countdown tickers to the game since the prior week, ESPN hosted SportsCenter from Durham the morning of the game, and hundreds of former players and celebrities came to Durham to pay tribute to the coach. Fittingly, the farewell was against Duke’s fiercest rival – North Carolina. It seemed like a fairy tale ending, Coach K was going to ride into the sunset squashing his top rival, right? That’s not how it went down. UNC shocked the sports universe and silenced the Cameron Crazies by besting the #4 Duke squad 94-81. To top things off, UNC would hand Coach K the final loss of his career in the Final Four a few weeks later.

We’re already blessed to live in a beautiful, innovative area, so it’s just another point on our scoreboard that these massive national and international sporting events are accessible to us. If you’re fortunate enough to attend the next big moment in Triangle sports, the 2023 NHL Stadium Series Game, bundle up and go Canes!