ROXBORO, N.C. — For lots of families, the Duke vs. North Carolina rivalry runs deep. It's a birthright in a lot of sense, and for one Triad man and his mother, it means way more than just basketball.
Cathy Clayton grew up a Tar Heel fan and even earned her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she and her son Adam would be tied to the 'Battle of the Blues Forever'.
"I was pregnant with my second child Adam in 1989. I was getting close to my due date and Carolina and Duke were playing, it was March 5th, 1989."
So my question for Adam was "Can we call march 5th, 1989 the Adam Clayton game?" and Adam's response was "I think that's fair, if they haven't done that already, I think we should introduce that to the world."
As the game clock reached the final minutes, in part two of the 1989 'Battle of the Blues' the score got tighter. A very pregnant Cathy Clayton jumped up off the couch to celebrate and you won't believe what happened next.
"At one point, I was watching, standing up and I was nervous, I'm always nervous during these games. I'm always pacing and walking around, so at one point I thought Carolina was going to pull it out and I jumped up and when I came down, my water broke."
For Cathy and Adam, Duke vs. North Carolina always is always full of great memories, however, this weekend just might change that, and neither Adam nor Cathy are looking forward to Saturday.
"The winner of this game will have a birth to the national championship game and lifelong bragging rights," said Adam.
"I've kind of actually hoped over the years this would never happen, ya know. it's just so stressful," is how Cathy described this year's Final Four matchup.