YouTube Gold: The Airball Game

After 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.

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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.

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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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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/youtube-gold-airball-game-102500938.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-26 10:25:00

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