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CHAPEL HILL — Franklin Street was empty Wednesday night after Duke defeated UNC in a close match at the Dean Smith Center.
As they left the bars up and down Franklin Street, instead of the celebratory rush after a UNC win, instead, people pulled their coats up around them against the wind and hung their heads dejectedly.
“It’s just discouraging,” said Sarah Davis, a Carolina graduate who watched the game at the Dead Mule Club on West Franklin Street.
“I might go get another drink,” Davis said.
Her friend, Cassie Olenick, was in Poland last year and watched the 2009 NCAA Tournament championship game on her computer and then checked a local television Web site to watch the Franklin Street celebration.
Now that she’s back, she was hoping Wednesday night would be another Franklin Street celebration.
“I felt like we had potential and hope,” she said about the game in which the Tar Heels held the lead several times. “I felt the vibe, but ...”
“I wish because it was Duke that we would have won, but I also thought we played well,” Olenick said.
Ryan Alston lingered at the Dead Mule after the game.
I thought it was a great game,” he said. “There was a lot more inspiration that I expected.”
Win or lose, Davis and Olenick said they’re still fans.
“We love Carolina still, though,” Davis said.
