So by now I’m sure you know that I don’t recap games if my team lost. I told you! It’s not intentional! Other stuff just comes up, I swear. Like today, I would totally recap the UNC-Duke basketball game except…it’s NBA All-star Weekend and I have much to do for that! Really!

What I will say:
UNC won 101-87.
Tyler Hansborough and teammate Danny Green (the two seniors that have been with UNC for 4 years) have now defeated Duke four times on Duke’s home court. They are the only players every do that.

On to fun stuff!

My fascinating fact of the of the UNC-Duke historic matchup comes from the Duke’s fans, the Cameron Crazies.

They are those scary, crazy blue creatures in the stands at any Duke home game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ah! That’s not the fascinating fact though. Ever watch a college or NBA game and hear the crowd yelling “AIR BALL” when a player shoots and the ball doesn’t touch the basket or rim–the ball just touches air? Well the Cameron Crazies started that cheer.

It began on February 24, 1979 when Duke managed to keep UNC scoreless for an entire half. The only two shots the UNC took during the half were two air balls! Duke went on to win 47-40. I thought that was cool! For more fascinating and weird college b’ball facts, check out my Rock, Chalk Jayhawk piece about KU!

Now, I have an extra bonus of weird fascinating facts–that have nothing to do with sports. My father sent me this email this morning and I was totally wowed and fascinating by all the stuff I learned before I even finished my cup of coffee. So here ya go, straight from my email so don’t ask me for references on it because I have no idea

Things to make you go “huh!”

In the 1500s

Most people got  married in June because they took their yearly bath  in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. Hence, being a June Bride.(EW!)
However, they were starting to smell, so brides  carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body  odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet  when getting married. (makes you think twice about your own floral decision doesn’t it?)

Baths consisted of  a big tub filled with hot water. The man of  the  house had the privilege of the nice clean  water, then all the other sons and men,  then the women and finally the children. Last of    all  the babies. By then the water was so dirty you  could actually lose someone in it. Hence the  saying, Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath Water. (heard that one and never understood it!)

• Houses had thatched roofs-thick  straw-piled high, with no  wood  underneath. There was nothing to stop things  from falling into the house.. This posed a real  problem in the bedroom where bugs (don’t let the bed bugs bite) and other  droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet  hung  over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds  came  into existence.
• The straw roof was  the only place for animals to get warm, so all  the  cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived  in the roof. But when it  rained hard, it became slippery and  sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the  roof…….wait for it……Hence the saying It’s raining cats and  dogs.

• The  floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other   than  dirt.  Hence the saying, Dirt poor.
• The wealthy had  slate floors  that would  get slippery in  the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on  floor to help keep their footing. As the winter  wore on, they  added more thresh until, when you  opened the door, it would all start  slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the  entrance way.  Hence the saying a thresh  hold. (bet you never even thought to think what thresh was, you just said it, didn’t you! But what I want to know is, did the groom carry the stinky, smelly bride over the thresh back then?)

In those old days, they cooked in  the kitchen with a big kettle that  always hung over  the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added  things  to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and  did not get much  meat. They would eat the stew for  dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get  cold overnight and then start over the next day.  Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there  for quite a while.  Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas  porridge in the pot nine  days old.

Sometimes they  could obtain pork, which made them feel quite  special. When visitors came over, they would hang  up their bacon to  show off. It was a sign of wealth  that a man could, bring home the bacon.

They  would cut off a little to share  with guests and would all sit around and chew the  fat.

Bread was divided according to  status. Workers got the burnt  bottom of the loaf,  the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or  the upper crust.

• Lead  cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination  of lead poison and alcohol would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple  of days. Someone walking along the road would take  them for dead and prepare them for burial. They  were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and  the family would gather around and eat and drink  and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the  custom of holding a wake.
• England is old and  small and the local folks started running out  of  places to bury people. So they would dig up  coffins and  would take the bones to a bone-house,  and reuse the grave. When reopening  these coffins,  1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on  the inside and they realized they had been burying  people alive. So they would tie a string on the  wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and  up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone  would  have to sit out in the graveyard all night  (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell;  thus, someone could be saved by the bell or  was considered a dead  ringer. (how that applies to today’s meaning of looking like someone is beyond me.)

And that’s the truth…Now,  whoever said History was boring

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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