Streakers

     The streak lives. And it won't be challenged for another two years due to the fact that the two teams are in different ACC divisions. Which means that they play once a year, alternating home contests.

     So Clemson will not get a shot at beating the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill until 2019-20. Right now, the record is 59-0 in favor of the Tar Heels. That's right, Clemson has not beaten Carolina in Chapel Hill EVER in the 92 year rivalry. Just at the newer basketball facility on campus, the Dean E. Smith Center, named after the legendary Tar Heels coach, Clemson is 0-28.The all-time series is 134-20, which is pretty extreme dominance by one school over another on a regular basis.

     Unlike Joe Di Maggio's 56 game hitting streak, which has remained virtually unchallenged since 1941, beating a team is going to happen. It happened to the UConn women last year in the NCAA Tournament when Mississippi State shocked the Huskies, ending their 111 game streak. The UCLA men fell to Notre Dame in 1989, ending an incredible winning run of 88 consecutive games. The previous longest home winning streak in men's college basketball belonged to Princeton, a 52 game mark against Brown, which finally ended in 2003.

     No, it's going to happen. Some day, Clemson is going to win at North Carolina. At least I think that is the case. The Tigers have had a number of missed opportunities to end the streak. In 2008, Clemson had as much as a 15 point lead during the game, led by 11 with 3:00 left in regulation, and managed to lose to North Carolina in Double OT.

     The pressure is on both squads when the game is in Chapel Hill. Clemson, this year ranked higher at No. 15 than the 20th ranked Tar Heels, had as good a chance to put an end to the streak. But history points out that in the past, when both teams were ranked, UNC was 17-2, with none of those losses at home. Now that record in 18-2 in favor of UNC.

     Yet the Tigers fought back in the second half to make things uncomfortable for UNC. No one on North Carolina's teams, when hosting Clemson, wants to be on the team that loses to end the streak. Alums, like Kenny (The Jet) Smith, a past Tar Heel star, a very good player with the Houston Rockets in the NBA, and a studio panelist for TNT NBA coverage, were there to prevent the streak imploding simply by their mere presence, which was duly noted by the current Tar Heels and provided a great incentive to win. Conversely, when Clemson made its surge in the second half, the emotion and pressure was too much, causing them to lose rhythm and momentum, therby blowing their chance at immortality.

     Tar Heels Head Coach Roy Williams, who has seen many of those UNC wins as an assistant coach and as the head man, calls it the "forever" streak. He marvels at the longevity, but certainly does not wish to be a part of history when it ends.

     Who knows if the streak will be extended in 2020 when the teams meet again in Chapel Hill. Will it reach 60? 70? Only time and some good luck on Clemson's side and bad fortune for the Tar Heels might put an end to this remarkable achievement.

     For now, the streak endures. To the joy of many in North Carolina, along with the corresponding dismay of more in South Carolina.

     When I think of the Clemson-UNC streak, I think of two streaks that were recently broken in college football. Both involve teams from Maryland.

     Navy-Notre Dame has endured conference affiliations and World War II. Notre Dame was a struggling Jesuit institution which needed Federal money to help keep the school afloat. That came in the form of a Navy V-12 program on the Notre Dame campus, resulting in a virtual Navy ROTC in South Bend during WWII. Vietnam War protests removing ROTC organizations from many campuses never touched Notre Dame due to the lasting ties between the institutions, first forged on the gridiron.

     Notre Dame is one of the superpowers in college football. They play many of the heralded major schools at some time or another--Michigan, Southern California, Stanford and Miami were norms on the Irish schedule.

     Then there is Navy. We all know that Army-Navy is one of the greatest rivalries in the sport. Air Force also gets the Midshipmen heated up. When they play Maryland, their proximity leads to another passionate contest.

     However, starting off in Baltimore in 1927 with a Midshipmen win, the ND-Navy series turned decidedly in favor of the Irish. This past November was the 91st renewal of friendly hostilities between the schools, which constitutes the longest continuous rivalry between two schools from different regions (although they are 10 hours apart by car).

     Notre Dame leads the series 76-13-1 (I believe one game was a post-game forfeit and wasn't counted). For 43 years until 2007, Notre Dame had beaten Navy 43 straight times. Since the dramatic victory in 2007, Navy has held its own against the big bad Fightin' Irish.  Like so many other school having ongoing series beyond their most traditional rival (for example--Georgia versus Georgia Tech is an end of  the season in-state rivalry, but Georgia-Florida is a date circled on the calendars of both schools), this is one rivalry, notwithstanding geography, which shows no signs of dying. At least the Midshipmen aren't concerned anymore about ending an ungodly losing streak.

     Maryland and Penn State have renewed their football series as a result of Maryland eloping form the Atlantic Coast Conference to join the Big Ten in 2013. Taking geography into account, the Big Ten wisely placed the Terrapins and the Nittany Lions in the same division.

     But since 1961, with an interruption in play forced by Penn State's entry into the Big Ten, Maryland had won no more games versus its border foe. That was until 2015, when the Terps hung on for a 20-19 victory in State College, ending 34 straight futile contests for Maryland against Penn State. To Penn State it was a loss. To Maryland, it was a gigantic victory. That's what breaking a curse can do for you. I cannot imagine how the Kentucky football fans are taking the 31 straight losses to Florida right now, which is the longest active college football streak. (Perhaps heavy drinking before the game??)

     Of course, we look at the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series win, ending the drought that started after the 1907 Cubs Series victory and the Red Sox 2004 World Series title, ending the "Curse of the Bambino" after 86 years as noteworthy. But the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays have never won a World Series. Some historians throw the Texas Rangers into this group as they have not won a World Series since they left Washington in 1971; when the franchise was in D.C., they won a World Series. Heck, Seattle, Milwaukee and Montreal/Washington have never played in a World Series.

     As we approach the Super Bowl, the AFC Championship underdog Jacksonville Jaguars, along with the Houston Texans, the expansion Cleveland Browns, and the Detroit Lions have never played in a Super Bowl. Cities where there has never been a Super Bowl winner include NFC Championship foes Minnesota and Philadelphia, Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo, Cincinnati and last year's hard luck losers, the Atlanta Falcons. And for me, it will only be 50 years next season since Joe Namath and his teammates stunned the Baltimore Colts to win the only Super Bowl the New York Jets ever have appeared in.

     NHL teams which have never won a Stanley Cup include St. Louis, Buffalo, Vancouver, Washington, San Jose, Winnipeg/Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta/Winnipeg, Nashville, Columbus and Minnesota. But in hockey crazed Ontario, Toronto Maple Leafs fans feel apoplectic about the fact that the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967; ask New York Rangers fans about the drought from 1940 to 1994, when the Blueshirts emphatically ended their losing. Geez, Rangers fans, it is 14 seasons and counting if the team does not win the Cup; is this another budding streak?

     Seven teams have never made it to the NBA Finals--Los Angeles Clippers, Denver, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Memphis and New Orleans. Phoenix, Brooklyn, Utah, Indiana and Orlando have made it to the NBA Finals but have not won a title.

     Just so we can clear the air a little, the longest losing streak in the NBA belongs to the Philadelphia 76'ers--28 losses over 2 seasons. The Los Angeles Lakers have the longest winning streak--33 victories. The Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76'ers appeared in 22 straight NBA playoffs, which is the record. But if you were a child in 1951, you remember the Rochester Royals winning the NBA crown. Their successors in Cincinnati, Kansas City/Omaha and Sacramento haven't won since.

     The 2017 Cleveland Indians set the American League consecutive win streak this past summer at 22. The 1916 New York Giants hold the record of 26 straight wins. The 1961 Philadelphia Phillies have the MLB record of 23 straight losses. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles have the dubious American League record at 21.

     Returning to college basketball, the longest winning streak against one opponent is 52 by UCLA against the University of California at Berkeley from 1961 to 1985. Syracuse has an intact 47 game winning streak against Colgate, which began in 1963. That's a lot of losing.

     So I empathize with the Clemson fans and point out that others have had much pain in rooting for their teams. The bad news, Tar Heels fans, is that it looks inevitable that Clemson may win in Chapel Hill one day.

     The good news, Clemson fans is this--you won't actively worry about the streak until we are gearing up for the 2020 elections. I wonder how the political pundits will view another Clemson loss in relation to national politics. Those pundits can say wait until the 2022 mid terms, which would be the same spin that Tigers fans would have to make. Then again, the Democrats have not have had control of the House of Representatives in 23 years. That is a pretty significant losing streak. The G.O.P. has a modest 8 year streak of controlling Congress. At least they don't play basketball for real on Capitol Hill.

     And who didn't think that politics and Clemson-UNC hoops didn't have a little something in common. Losing can be contagious...