No matter what you or artificial intelligence call it, this basketball game is special
Apologies to English teachers — including several of mine in a cemetery spin class right now — for bringing up this subject.
Unique. That’s our non-Wordle word for the day.
An adjective.
A noun.
Defined by the smart folks at Oxford (via Google search) as “being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.”
Problem is, everyone and everything seems to be unique these days. It’s a descriptor that’s become muddled by overuse, oversimplification and, well, all-of-us-being-over-it-ness.
Is the latest drama cloaking the Durham Public Schools unique? Sadly, no.
Is North Carolina barbecue unique? The argument over which type of North Carolina might be unique. That, and red slaw.
How about Taylor Swift? Is she unique? It’s like asking if there’s “Snow on the Beach.” (Or maybe I “Should’ve Said No” to even going there in a desperate attempt to elbow into this frenzied Tay-Tay-Travis-Super Bowl-Nachos-Bud Light-Election 2024-Mama Kelce search maelstrom.)
These are the discussions that often put linguists and journalists in the same convening space as Peter Rabbit and Bugs Bunny. We dig deep into the soil and then wallow in the meaning of it all.
Blame it all on basketball
Why, you ask, is Professor Bill suddenly lecturing on word choices? Isn’t this space reserved for whatever meanderings the editor can weave together in 90 minutes before calling it a work week?
I’m going to blame all of the above on basketball. Namely the UNC-Duke game.
Is it unique? Or is it us?
The News & Observer’s Andrew Carter has an answer. Spend time with Andrew’s latest, a requiem for NC’s Tobacco Road that brilliantly redefines the state’s legacy and its most famous sports rivalry. (I also recommend visiting newsobserver.com sites for Scott Sharpe’s masterfully edited photo gallery of iconic Tobacco Road basketball moments.)
Here’s a beautiful passage from Andrew on the literal and metaphorical uniqueness of Tobacco Road: “While tobacco, itself, fueled North Carolina’s economy for more than a century, Tobacco Road facilitated the state’s deep love affair with a sport that became a defining part of its culture. Around here, in the Triangle and beyond, that version of Tobacco Road isn’t limited to a specific place. It is, instead, nowhere and everywhere — winding past crumbling barns in the country and around the strip malls and subdivisions surrounding I-40, into college towns and campuses and finally to old gyms and newer arenas; the main attractions.”
Only in the Triangle can a basketball game split our community three ways — those passionately defiant for the Tar Heels, those equally boisterous to be Blue Devils and those who can’t stand either. What used to be the Cadillac of college basketball rivalries might feel more Audi vs. Tesla these days, but it still feels unique.
Not so fast, counter the ornery linguistic crowd. Saturday’s game was the 49th time both teams faced off while ranked in the top 10. Does that level of repetition still make this community-splitting, image-bonding, at-least-twice-a-season game, well, unique?
What does ChatGPT say?
ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence tool of interest on Triangle campuses. The N&O’s Brian Gordon has reported on ChatGPT in his Open Source newsletter, revealing surprising ways (think meal planning) that its use has spread in the Triangle.
If humans can’t agree on whether UNC-Duke remains definably unique, what does ChatGPT say?
I asked, and here’s how ChatGPT summarized the whole unique thingyness: “Overall, the UNC-Duke basketball rivalry is considered unique due to its combination of historical success, proximity, high-stakes matchups, legendary coaches, national attention, and passionate fan bases. The games between these two teams are highly anticipated events that capture the essence of college basketball rivalries.”
So there. A not-so-unique answer about unique that might get a C- in a freshman-level class (along with the professor’s red-pen scolding to cite sources.)
There are a lot of words similar to “unique” — distinctive, idiosyncratic, odd — but none work as a high-scoring substitute off the bench. “Unique” in many ways is the “umami” of our language, a bow to the flavor described by the Japanese — and talented chefs — as “the essence of deliciousness.”
I like that. Unique defined as deliciously, undefinably different.
And that’s my next ChatGPT search.
“Hey, ChatGPT, what’s a deliciously, undefinably different snack that I should order for the next UNC-Duke game?
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. Coming soon: The N&O’s “Uniquely NC,” an N&O subscriber collection of moments, landmarks and personalities that define the uniqueness (and pride) of why we live in the Triangle and North Carolina.
This story was originally published February 3, 2024 at 10:00 AM with the headline "No matter what you or artificial intelligence call it, this basketball game is special."
