The Duke Blue Devils-North Carolina Tar Heels rivalry has taken many odd turns over the years. The latest came in quite a strange venue, though, on an ESPN2 broadcast of the North Carolina State Wolfpack – Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball ACC Tournament semifinal clash Friday. There a fan sitting behind broadcasters Jay Bilas (a rather prominent Duke alum) and Dan Shulman displayed a “Where’s Dook?” message on her phone (the Blue Devils had lost to the Wolfpack the previous night) while wearing a t-shirt with an image of Duke’s Kyle Filipowski’s controversial trip of UNC’s Harrison Ingram last Saturday. Here’s how this looked on the broadcast:
A UNC fan photobombed Jay Bilas and Dan Shulman with a "Where's Dook" message and a t-shirt of Kyle Filipowski tripping Harrison Ingram. College hoops is the best. pic.twitter.com/RQcA9y6Srp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2024
This drew a lot of internet attention Friday and Saturday.
Where did she get that shirt?😅 pic.twitter.com/qG5om0CBCG
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 16, 2024
https://twitter.com/chanelcporter/status/1768829180441924036
Hahahaha the lady standing behind Jay Bilas during halftime with the Filipowski trip t-shirt and "Where's Dook" on her phone just became a legend.
— Tar Heel (@UNCisFamily) March 16, 2024
And on Saturday, the fan in question identified herself, and described her decision to get seats behind the broadcasters as “strategic”:
It’s me! GDTBATH My seats were strategic. pic.twitter.com/nkPIh440vs
— OldTownMom (@oldtownmom) March 16, 2024
The combination of the shirt referencing Filipowski’s trip and the “Where’s Dook?” message is solid to begin with. But doing so right behind Bilas is funnier still considering how many fans regularly have (and still do) complain about his Duke background. And the Filipowski image around Bilas is notable, as a Wake Forest fan’s contact with Filipowski during a court-storming back in February led to Bilas suggesting potential arrests for fans who storm the court (which he took lots of grief for, and eventually slightly walked back).
This is just the latest volley in the fan t-shirt wars. A few other ones seen in the past few years include Iowa Hawkeyes fans bashing Sheryl Swoopes’ Caitlin Clark comments with “Don’t be a Sheryl” shirts, Tampa Bay Rays fans mocking WFAN’s Evan Roberts with “Tampa Journeymen, HELLOOO?! WHAT?!” shirts, and the Carolina Hurricanes themselves roasting then-Sportsnet commentator Don Cherry with “Bunch of front-running jerks” shirts.
The Wolfpack won this game 73-65 in overtime in the end. They’ll face the Tar Heels, who beat the Pitt Panthers 72-65 in their semifinal, in the tournament final Saturday night (8:30 p.m., ESPN.) We’ll see if any other notable shirts show up on that broadcast.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter/X]
