Ding-a-Ling! Victory Bell Rings Again

At his weekly press conference last week, UNC coach John Bunting said, "The Victory Bell is at stake, and it's been with us for 12 years. I'd forgotten that it was going to be packed up and hauled over there for a winner takes all."

After Dan Orner's 47-yard field goal sailed through the uprights at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday, jubilant UNC players -- the one's who didn't mob Orner in the inflatable Duke helmet at the other end of the field -- were the ones ringing the hell out the bell.

That said, is anyone else wondering what the Victory Bell is, and if it means anything to win it?

"It means a lot, are you kidding me?" Bunting said after Saturday's game. "I'm gonna ring that sucker all night. I'm taking it to my house."

For those of you that have been to a football game at Kenan Stadium during the last 12 years, the Victory Bell is what's mounted on the cart that the cheerleaders pull when the lead they team out of the tunnel. They ring it following every UNC score, too.

But according to an article by Rick Brewer in a UNC game program from the late '80s, the two schools have been playing for the Victory Bell since 1949.

Duke head cheerleader Loring Jones and UNC head cheerleader Norman Sper thought the game was so big, it needed some sort of prize to go to the winning school.

Sper obtained a railroad bell, although no one knows how, and Jones designed the model. The cart was painted half royal blue and half Carolina blue, and when the Tar Heels beat Duke 21-20 on Nov 19, 1949, it became theirs for the year. Now, the winning school paints it their respective shade of blue when it wins.

Bill Span, who played at UNC from 1974-77 and won the Victory Bell three times, said that after a win against Duke, "Everybody was happy. We'd walk around and hold our heads up, and everyone would feel better. They knew their boys beat the Dookies."

But Duke hasn't won the bell since Steve Spurrier's Blue Devils thrashed Mack Brown's Tar Heels 41-0 in 1989. And for that reason, the once-thrilling rivalry has lost some of its splendor.

"Up until this year, Duke's been a laughing stock," Span said. "When you're competitive, that's a game. When Duke's off, that threw off the rivalry."

In 1998, then-UNC coach Carl Torbush said many of his players didn't even know what the Victory Bell was.

"Some of them think (the Victory Bell) is ours, and they don't understand that it goes to the victor of this game, and it is something that stays with you for a full year," Torbush said.

But where does it go for that full year?

Straight to the UNC locker room in Kenan Stadium. It sits in a corner, and is only brought out a few Saturdays each year as the Tar Heels take the field.

"We put it right back in the locker room," said UNC wide receiver Sam Aiken on Saturday. "Before we go in the shower, we ring it. Everybody dances around naked and just has fun."

But why is that only the football players get to enjoy the bell? Yes, they worked their tails off to win it, but it should be shared with the Tar Heel faithful. It should serve as something that everyone could talk about, and rub in any Duke supporter's face, no matter how many straight years UNC wins it.

It should be brought to other events as well, especially basketball games. Or put it on display for people to see. Have Rameses (the oversized mascot, not the real ram) pull it around campus while Coach Bunting tirelessly rings the bell. Do something to bring some attention to it.

Or bring it out to Polk Place so everyone can dance in the buff to the beat of its ring. Any takers?

Tim Candon can be reached at

tcandon@aol.com.