“Aside from the insulting name” — what exactly does that mean? Is this a reference to Tobacco Road? Hope we all realize that the tobacco industry helped build NC as well as funding (part of if not ALL of) both Dook and WF…

See my June 1 post about “Tobacco Road”

http://www.gogoraleigh.com/2008/06/01/sports-cafe-coming-to-222-glenwood/

Good grief. I really think you’re going overboard on the objections to Tobacco Road. Why is it wrong to recognize this area’s history? I hardly think that anyone hearing the phrase “tobacco road” is going to run right out and start smoking.

Please read the information in the link. It outlines my objections. Yes, American has picked tobacco as the most vociferously objectionable product being consumed today. More importantly, though, anyone who has read the book would not want to be associated with that setting. We are an intelligent, thriving place full of promise. It does us no good to be described as dumb, dirt-poor, tenant farmers with no hope of a brighter future.

I don’t see a problem with the continued use of Tobacco Road, even with the ties to the novel and subject matter you mention. Just because something once had a negative stereotype doesn’t mean it has to continue that association. Heck, there isn’t even a Duke University to be involved with the rivalry without tobacco. Plus, you have to assume that Duke’s roots has to be one of the reasons it has put so much effort into developing a premier cancer hospital and research center.

Turning the negative into a positive sort of reminds me of how NC State took the Culture over Agriculture and Moo U. err of superiority from UNC and embraced it with the playing of “Old McDonald Had a Farm” after victories.

Besides Dana, tobacco stained teeth is good for your business.

Dead patients don’t make a good practice.

I read your previous article before I posted my original comment, and I stand by what I said. I think that the idea that using the phrase “Tobacco Road” paints us all as “dumb, dirt-poor tenant farmers with no hope of a brighter future” is ridiculous. The phrase has been used for decades, and has come to be much more widely known than just a book title.

Is it ridiculous that Durham dropped its old nickname of “City of Tobacco”? There is a reason they did it.

Durham is no longer just a “city of tobacco”, so I don’t blame them for dropping the name. I don’t live in Durham, but even I can see why a city with a world-class university with a kick-ass basketball program, an unmatched hospital and medical facilities, a legendary baseball team, and an ever-expanding local restaurant scene would want to move forward. Why can’t this area move forward without losing sight of our past? It doesn’t take a history major to realize that while tobacco is no longer the currency that drives commerce in the Carolinas, this area wouldn’t be where it is today without it.

And one more question – have you actually *watched* the show in question? If you have, please tell me where the show does anything other than give these two universities, and this area in general, a great big ol’ golden halo. I must have missed the part where it talked about how dumb, dirt-poor, and hopeless we all are.

If it makes since for a city to drop their tobacco-oriented nickname because they want to tout their non-tobacco related assets, doesn’t it make even more sense for a university to drop one? Thanks for helping me make my point.

For a university to drop what, exactly? Afraid I don’t follow.