Yes, There Was A Time When We Watched the ACC Tournament in Class

For people who grew up in North Carolina – many people think of the State Fair, drinking Pepsi with peanuts, working on the tobacco farm, BBQ with coleslaw, washing it down with sweet tea, and actively cheering on our favorite college teams such as Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest.

However, what may be strange to outsiders and the younger generation is this…yes, there was a time that we watched the ACC Tournament in class.

It’s definitely true. March is known as the month of March Madness, where college basketball is played at its best during the conference and NCAA Tournaments. In North Carolina, the love for college basketball is so deep, that many teachers around this time would allow students to watch the ACC Tournament during class time, when it was on Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Sports (or for the older generation, C. D. Chesley Productions).

Early 1980s Raycom/JP Sports ACC Basketball Intro

Mid-1980’s Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Sports intro/theme 

1990-94 Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Sports ACC Basketball Intro

It was a great way for people to enjoy class time for a break away from the rigors of schoolwork and a nice time for classmates to come together. Some teachers allowed the students to take stats, keep up with the teams in the league, and many more. And now that the ACC Network and ESPN have taken over, it’s definitely not the same. Not only that, it helped students to learn probability and percentages, if they were taking a math class.

Many fans rooted for their respective teams, but this opportunity allowed them to come together, even when they weren’t involved.

Yes, you didn’t just watch the likes of David Thompson, Michael Jordan, Mark Price, Christian Laettner, Rodney Rogers, Tim Duncan, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Julius Hodge, Chris Paul, Tyler Hansbrough, and many others at home! You could also watch them in school, thanks to this opportunity!