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YouTube Gold: The Airball Game
Legendary game, legendary chant.
fter Duke’s joyride of a season in 1978, the 1979 season wasn’t nearly as fun.
Coach Bill Foster had a tough time dealing with the pressure of being the hunted, and the team picked up on the paranoia and was tight for much of the season.
Senior Day, however, was different. It was Jim Spanarkel’s final home game, and everyone appreciated what he had done for Duke.
Foster used a 2-3 zone, and Dean Smith wanted to force Duke out of that into man-to-man. And Smith reportedly wasn’t sure the Tar Heels could stay with Duke the entire game, but felt that if UNC could keep the first-half score low, the Heels might stand a chance.
As it turned out, he was partially right. With no shot clock, UNC tried to hold the ball for most of the first half, but it didn’t work. Duke took a 7-0 lead into halftime, and won, 47-40.
But that’s not what people remember about this game, not really.
What they mostly remember is that UNC only took two shots in the first half, and both were airballs.
And when Rich Yonakor took a shot from the left baseline that sailed right over the rim, the crowd started to chant “Airball! Airball! Airball!”
That was the game where the now-ubiquitous taunt started. It has since spread across the land, and today, anytime a shot fails to hit the rim, you hear it.
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