Anybody But Duke: The Case For Rooting Against The Blue Devils In The Final Four, And Forever

Great article.

I just have to say, based on the letter to Elton Brand from Jennifer Taylor, you can say that she cares more about herself and her pride than for the success and happiness of someone else. This isn’t abnormal as human beings are capable of selfishness.

I just want to point out that when Steve Francis and Chris Wilcox left Maryland when pro, there was a sense of dissappointment, but also happiness for the players. I’m also sure some Duke Fans truly appreciate Elton Brand for what he did.

In Jennifer Taylor’s case, she didn’t get what she wanted and she acted out. I’m glad you put that up for all to see. As a Maryland fan, I like Elton Brand a little more even though he was a Dukie.

Stay classy front runners (sarcasm).

“If you do not realize the opportunity you has infront of you to play for Coach K and at the same time attain a Duke diploma”

‘has infront’? Have or had, right? And “in front” is two words.

Thank you for giving me another reason to hate duck….oops, I mean Duke.

I do now, though.

Something tells me, given the unchecked vitriol that radiates from Mr. Sharp’s screed, that there have been an unfortunate few out there who thought they would chat hoops with the sad sack at the sports bar who happened to be mainlining Coors Lights by the bucket — you know, he seemed like a nice guy and they felt sorry for him.

And then this mouth-puke spewed forth from his frothing maw, causing each and every one of them to fake a phone call from a hospitalized great-aunt before backing away slowly.

Oh — but it’s Duke fans, see, who are entirely unlikeable people.

I love how one of the cliches about Duke fans is that they know nothing about basketball — yet not here nor anywhere else does a writer offer proof of that, like a YouTube clip of some blue-faced schmuck spouting misinformation about a past game or a group cheer at Cameron that clearly indicates the crowd has no idea what a moving screen might be.

We Duke fans are loud, boisterous, loud, obnoxious, dorky and loud, yes. I’m sorry, are fans supposed to be quiet, demure and composed? I wonder what other word the word “fan” stems from…? P.S. One thing you never see happen in Cameron (you can check the film) is, Duke fans don’t rush the court. We all know that court-rushing has become overdone to the point of lameness. (Maryland kids, by the by (and again, check the film) line up to rush the court like one of those running-of-the-brides sales hysterias. Is there anything lamer than a premeditated court-rush?)

If I were to talk about Duke basketball and my love for it, I’d have to start with the 88-89 NCAAs, when my beloved SHU Pirates went on a tournament tear, eclipsing a UNLV team in the Sweet 16 that would go on to win it all the following year, then Indiana, then met Duke in the semis, and that Duke was up 26-8 in the first half before SHU came back to win something ridiculous, like 92-76 (I admit I’m a few points hazy on that final score.) And then we had Michigan in the final, and that final was Steve Fisher’s 6th game as the team’s head coach, and that a ticky-tack foul on Rumeal Robinson at the very end of the game wound up being our death blow, and that it’s still the last NCAA final to go into overtime.

And from there I’d go on about how the next season SHU lost John “Silk” Morton and Andrew Gaze (Mr. Basketball in Australia) and Gerald Greene and Darryl Walker and Ramon Ramos, who would bust his ass to a contract with the Trail Blazers but then get in a horrible car accident his rookie year…

Oh wait, I’m sorry, I’m getting off track with everything I don’t know about basketball. I guess I was living in a Truman Show-like fantasy world the past 35 years. I always thought I was raised by a basketball coach/high school teacher, but according to Mr. Sharp, clearly I’m the daughter of whoever was the CEO of the Go Fuck Yourself brokerage firm and I wouldn’t know a pick and roll from the sushi rolls I dine on nightly.

You talk about this SHU and Michigan game being the last overtime game played in the NCAA final, well you are wrong. Kansas v. Memphis was an overtime game that was an incredible game. So, when you use that as your defining argument about how you know so much about basketball, google is a great tool for fact checking.

Also, your beloved SHU and Duke Blue Devils? Most people have one team they would say they love and others that they may respect, but to say you have two teams you love is dumb and what many would call front running.

You also seem pretty angry in your post. Was your dad a fiery girls basketball coach who yelled at you too much?

If Duke fans try and deny 90% of this article, then they are denying facts. Sure some of his talk about Duke fans is to get a rise out of the fans, but the rest about the program’s history and Coach K’s BS “Bulletproof-ness” is very true and obvious to those of us who follow basketball every year.

I know you don’t follow it as much as you say, because again your whole argument is based around that 1989 game and how great it was, blah blah blah, but any real College Basketball fan knows that all we can really hope for is Monday’s night game to reach the levels of the Kansas v. Memphis thriller from a couple of years ago. That game is truly unforgettable in my mind when all things are considered. It was not just a “slip of the pen” on your part when you said the ‘89 game was the last overtime game, you weren’t watching because your TWO beloved teams weren’t playing.

Holla mamacita

Yeah, good thing Will Avery and his mom didn’t listen to Coach K. Leaving early was clearly the way to go, as evidenced by his successful NBA career.

Wow, so the former president of Bear Stearns likes K, and he misinterpreted the value of some credit default swaps, so K is an asshole. Great reasoning there. Congratulations on finding one Duke fan that wasn’t happy for Elton and preferred that he stay at Duke. The entire fan base of every other college would never have such a selfish member.

WRT to Corey Maggette, come on man. First of all, the NCAA has never hesitated to vacate wins if they find any wrongdoing on the part of a program, so why would they give Duke a pass. Second of all, why would the national media completely ignore what you believe to be damning evidence WRT to Duhon’s mom? Wait I get it, newspapers hate scandals involving respected members of the community. Doesn’t make sense.

I have plenty of reasons. I grew up w/season tickets to UK games and thus hate Duke. I can’t stand Dick Vitale, who does nothing but drool over Duke, further adding to my dislike.

I think the girl who wrote to that player definitely overstepped herself. It isn’t her business. I do think that players owe it to themselves to finish college while they have that perfect opportunity, b/c going pro doesn’t always work out. At the same time, everyone has different circumstances. Some of the players are just greedy whores. Some come from a poor background and want to be able to provide for their family. I don’t have a problem with that. Some people clearly need more polish before moving on, but do it anyway b/c they smell a check.

Hey Andrew,

Being that you’re a big Carolina fan and all, perhaps you could shed some light on how Joe Forte’s mother got a job at the Octagon Talent Agency?

Also, I definitely give your opinon’s on duplicitous, narcissitic coaches a lot of weight given that you follow a team coached by Ol’ Roy Williams (even Ricky Henderson thinks that bumpkin needs to stop referring to himself in the third person so much). You should definitely be an expert on that topic, not to mention that of arrogant fanbases. Tough to out-snob the pastel blue hordes.

Hope you enjoyed the NIT. Your boys showed a lot of heart!

Please tell me who pissed in your cornflakes!! I have been a long time Duke fan and I make 14,000 a year. I am the only Duke fan in my family.
I have read alot of anti duke blogs/articles but this takes the cake. It is PURE Hatred.

I went to Duke – Coach K’s no saint, just a good basketball coach – I doubt that even most people who went there think that they know for sure that he’s a great person, but he is a great coach. Pretty much every coach would have some kids that don’t like him for whatever reasons and some kids that do.

Also, it’s big time college basketball – to say all the job stuff and bribes isn’t happening EVERYWHERE is to be ignorant of what’s really going on – its not announcers jobs to tear down the game they are trying to promote, so they don’t talk about that stuff with any of the coaches who haven’t been found guilty of the stuff. But yeah, Dickie’s a little over the top.

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of proof that crazies aren’t basketball fans, just kind of seems like wishful thinking… they are college kids, some know the game and some don’t just like everywhere else. In fact, I would venture to guess that the fact that its such a big deal on campus to go to games makes casual fans understand the game more than casual fans might on other campuses, but who knows – I think the big deal that the press makes about them is that they get into it, which, like it or not, they do.

The funniest part of the post is that the picture of Tucker Carlson actually looks a lot more like a UNC kid than a Duke kid.

Hey all,

Let me just say that I’m a current Duke student, new to this whole scene and new to the degree of Duke hatred that I see a lot of places. Before I came here (for grad school) I was pretty indifferent about the athletics at the school but intrigued because I played D1 sports in college myself and thought it was pretty cool that their fanbase is so hardcore (from what I’d heard at that point). I’ll admit that I did the campout – which sucks but is so worth it. What surprised me about the fans here, mostly the current students, is that that DO know a lot about the program and college hoops in general. Yes, students here are rich and usually pretty smart – its a 10 top ranked private school…thats what your demographic is going to look like. Just about every game, the student section will be chanting an alumni of the program’s name who is in attendance…pretty cool. And these are older guys, way before the current students showed up in Cameron.

Ok- as far as cheer sheets, you need to get new info, man. I went to all ACC games and most preseason games this year and didn’t see a single one. I asked some people and they were phased out a few years ago because people didn’t use them and was just a huge waste of paper. That’s not to say that the fans aren’t clever. With section 17 (where the crazies are) being so close to the court, you can literally see the look on the other teams faces when we get all over them. There’s a reason Duke went 17-0 this year at home…not even any close games.

The elitism/entitlement thing is not something I see around the school. The elitism you refer to is probably the byproduct of people who went to/fell in love with Duke in the 90’s when the team made the final four almost every year. Everyone I’ve met at Duke so far this year is pretty jaded about how the team has underachieved (some say choked) in the tournament. Even halfway through the conference season when Duke took a commanding lead and was approaching the possibility of a #1 seed, people around here were very cautiously optimistic about the team. It seems like people don’t want to be let down again, so they scale back their expectations.

As far as the allegations of ncaa violations…who really knows. As a Duke fan I don’t doubt that there are lines being crossed in recruiting that should NOT be done. Period. But the person who thinks that a minority of programs are doing this is the foolish one. Guys who play at Duke (I can only speak of the guys right now) are pretty smart kids- they don’t need to lie about test scores to get in. For example, Miles Plumlee was his high school class salutatorian and many are your typical honors student. I see the guys around campus going to class like everyone else. It is not an excuse to say that recruiting violations are okay because everyone is doing it, but it seems to fueling the fact that people single Duke out as being a dirty program. It would be easy to designate everyone as a good guy or bad guy, but it doesn’t work out like that.

Okay. I get it. Duke gets a lot of media attention. In my opinion, its because of the level of hate that people around the country have for Duke. Thats not to say that the media coverage is hateful- Vitale is clearly pro-Duke and to be honest a lot of Duke people are sick of him and his bubbly pro-Duke schtick (I can’t actually think of people at Duke who aren’t). Since when can you control who likes you, anyways? The truth is, people will watch a Duke game because they want to see them lose. The same reason why my interest in UNC basketball games on tv has gone up exponentially- I want to see them go down in flames! It isn’t some huge conspiracy at ESPN…to be honest the announcers/analysts bring up a lot of the same arguments that Duke haters bring up- lack of athleticism, scheduling, toughness…whatever.

As far as other conspiracies…if you really want to believe anything I guess there is nothing that can stop you. There’s still a lot of people that think the world is flat…what are you gonna do? I’d love to hear a detailed case that officiating is one-sided. Stats may look skewed but teams that are losing typically foul a lot (intentionally) in the last 3 minutes, so an analysis of the first 37 minutes of play would probably be more accurate. People love to single out one call here or there but when it comes down to it, the game is 40 minutes long and there is a lot of calls going both ways that the respective fans don’t like.

As far as this years team, I love these guys and think they have a toughness and confidence that could only come from having a chip on their shoulder, thanks to all you Duke haters (thanks!!). Yes, Duke had some pretty cocky guys come through the program but it shocks people because its a white boy pounding his chest. White boys are supposed to be all fundamental playing on mid-majors who are just happy to be there… yeah… I don’t care much for the race argument- Duke always has a pretty diverse team (meaning black AND white). All 4 recruits Duke has locked up for next year are African-American, for what it’s worth.

I hope you can put a little context to your Duke hate now…and as you tune in to the Final Four, know that they wouldn’t be there without you!

so many anti-dook rants fail to mention some of the really annoying stuff.
and yes, i live in Chapel Hill, and i am a UNC alum, so i see and hear many many fans of both sides.
1)99.8% of dook fans have zero connection to dook. they dont go there, they didnt go there, and no one in there family went there. sure, that can apply to UNC fans, but we’re a public school, so lets face it, we have a ton of alumni. and if dook students are so awesome, why was K complaining about them not using all their tickets the last couple years, leaving seats empty?
2)speaking of which, Matthew Laurence. who’s that, you ask? exactly. a D-level actor who wanted to play golf with K, and turned it into a “gig” on dook radio network, where he would get a front row seat. oh, and he just “transferred” to Kentucky radio. oops, hitched to the wrong bandwagon that time, dude. ah, dook radio. at least Woody Durham and Eric Montross TRY to sound objective for the most part. Bob Harris? if there’s a more biased um…“broadcast journalist”…i havent heard them.
3)99.8% of dook fans dont even know that dook has any other sports than men’s basketball. and the .2% started to pipe up this past year since dook football wasnt 0-12.
4)their campus is fake. try ACTUALLY being 200+ years old and not a bad copy of Oxford.
5)their famous chapel has the dook family sarcophagi in the front, complete with their likenesses as the stone lids. gee, love yourself much?
6)the hypocrisy of K’s warm and fuzzy, “my kids”, “their kids” played really well, blah blah blah, 20 minutes after he just peeled the paint off the inside of the gym with his F-bombs. K is mad this week about the doodle on his photo in the Indy paper because his grandkids were hurt by it. really? so no one’s kids have to hear your mouth at the games?
7)Mrs K, who was recently seen on tv standing and BOOING a player on the FT line after K got T’d up during the ACCT. thats some leadership seminar level sportsmanship right there. did you catch the kid next to her that day? he was red-faced mad and crying and screaming out at the court because Uncle K or PawPaw got that T. special family moment.
8) and i’ll just end here with the really big one. this is REALLY what its all about and so many columnists and bloggers and talking heads miss this one. its the STYLE of play. the honorless style of play. kicking your leg out on a 3 to “draw” a foul. the constant 40-minute handcheck. the fall down to draw a charge, when there was zero contact (see Greg Paulus’ YouTube). can you not play legitimate defense? straight up, respectable, legitimate D? you have to resort to the grabbing and holding and handchecking to keep a guy slowed down or from getting position.
everyone has been all over the Acy “charge”, now renamed a Zoubek: when a charge isnt a charge, but lets talk Nolan Smith. lets talk the two-handed shove of a Baylor screener toward the dribbler, up in the corner of the frontcourt. foul? nonsense. what we got there was a WARNING, while PLAY CONTINUED. are you kidding me? Baylor called for contact that wouldnt disturb the seeds off a dandelion, but a two-handed shove brings the live action chitchat. “Now, dont do that, Nolan. thats a no no, you sillyhead”. Lomer fouls out for thinking about defense, while Lance Thomas does a full-body pat down on Jones or Udoh, and gets a commemorative giftbag.
if MY team played with the grabbing, hands on, contact faking tactics that dook does, i’d burn every bit of Tar Heel stuff i have. play basketball. not whatever that crap is. no other team in America plays that way. not one. dook has talented players. but since they MAY not be talented enough every year, theyre taught that junk. i bet JJ didnt do the leg kick more than once in the NBA without someone telling him he would be summarily beat to death if he did it again.

and that, folks, is why we hate dook.

I couldn’t imagine a better summation of why Duke is the shittiest college in America. Well done sir.

At time stamp 13:30, 1st half, #5 for Duke blatantly yanks #5 for WV away from the rebound. Didn’t accomplish anything, but I’m pretty sure yanking a guy by the arm is a personal foul in basketball.

Amazing.

Zoobeak actually flummoxed and confused, arguing when he’s completely behind the WV playerhow , he could be over the back. thats just how brainwashed they are at dook that they make legal plays.

Some of the points made in this post are a bit illogical, but some of it is warranted.

I can tell some of the Dukies that signed up just to defend their honor weren’t law students or debate teamers, but neither am I.

On the other hand some of the defendants in question made some very good points.

So let’s start over under these conditions:
-——————————————————————————————————————
Allegation: Not all Dukies are front runners (but a lot of them are)
Defense: The more successful the program, the more national attention, leading us to the hated front runners

Conclusion: Dukies have front runners just like any other highly successful program. Not exactly exonerating them, but just telling it how it is.
-——————————————————————————————————————-
Allegation: The media is biased towards Duke, especially Dick Vitale
Defense: Dick Vitale is a looney, but just look at cover photo the story about the Indianapolis Star used – http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5051114

Conclusion: You get it both ways, Dick Vitale probably makes 5 Duke haters for every Duke Fan he creates.
-—————————————————————————————————————————-
NCAA Violations:

Allegations: Not an allegation, Corey Maggette did receive money in violation of NCAAB rules. The NCAA proceeded to postpone to present day the punishment. It is clear that in a fair world, the Final Four season Magette participated in should be vacated just like what happened to Memphis with Rose.

Defense: Everyone does this, not that it’s right, but Duke shouldn’t be singled out.

Conclusion: This issue was swept under the rug and spits on the notion that Duke is a noble program. It is a dirty program just like the many others out there and the hypocrisy of the NCAA enables it.

This is a classic prisoners dilemma. If everyone follows the rules, then everyone benefits. But if one person deviates and breaks the rules, he benefits even more while everyone else is at a disadvantage. So the logical course of action is for everyone to break the rules. In the end, the loser is the student athlete and the fans.
-——————————————————————————————————————————

So what is enabling the NCAA to sweep things under the rug? Acceptance by the public. As long as you continue to watch games, the money flows in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a left wing nut, but I’m also not a right wing nut. The only way this can be solved is if a higher power than the NCAA steps in (Department of education, Supreme Court, President, Congress, etc..).

Given that the government has higher priorities right now, the NCAAs and dominant college programs can keep doing what they are doing.

But don’t kid yourself that Duke isn’t above the hypocrisy. Somehow, Duke is the poster boy of hypocrisy while UNC, Kansas and Kentucky are spared). Does this mean the hate for Duke is unwarranted? The answer is a big fat NO. Some people just can’t put in words why they hate Duke.

That’s because the reasons they hate them are in a gray area. Hating Duke while enjoying college basketball in itself is a paradox. On one hand you hate the hypocrisy, on the other hand the entire product is created from the hypocrisy. So if you hate Duke, you should also hate NCAAB.

Alas, most people can’t stop watching NCAAB, so a lot of them channel their hate towards Duke.

Andrew Sharp graduated from UNC – a fact he tries desparately to hide in his article. And this is my favorite part – for the past 10 years, UNC students have tried to copy the Cameron Crazies by painting their faces, getting a nickname (remember “Doherty’s Disciples?”), waving their arms during free throws, and everything else the Crazies do. The idea that Duke fans don’t understand basketball is so preposterous that it could only be uttered by a Carolina graduate.

Enjoy hanging your “NIT Final Four” banner over the Whine and Cheese Dome. See you on Franklin Street Monday night – that’s where I’ll be celebrating Coach K’s 4th national championship.

Before I get started I’m a true Duke fan and I’m African-American (threw that in because of all the racism talk). I was born and raised in Durham and they paid for my college tuition (one of my parents worked there) so you can pretty much say I’m as loyal of a Duke fan as you’re going to find.

Well, now that we got that out of the way here’s my two cents (more like two dollars).

1. Do I think the Corey Maggette was wrong? Was it a one time thing? Yes and I don’t know or care.

2. Who from the Raleigh-Durham area has spotted UNC players driving expensive Range Rovers, Mercedes, and other cars that raise an eyebrow? Yes, even during the beloved Dean Smith area. If we are going to tell the story tell the whole story. Tell why Phil Ford always gets looked over at UNC for the head coach job? Hmmm!! What about the Kentucky, UMass, Memphis, UNLV, and a host of other teams that get caught. It is everywhere, do we like it? No, but unless you’re content with rooting for an obscure mid major that you will never cheer for in April you deal with it. So get over yourself on your high horse talking like UNC and these other big time schools don’t do it. GET SERIOUS!!

3. You used Duhon’s mother as an example? Are you serious? That was lame on to the next point.

4. You used the Elton Brand email? That was lame too and here’s why. Every big school has those fans. EDIT: Some small schools do too.

5. Please don’t ever compare Coach K with Calipari. Calipari left UMass and Memphis in ruins. This is Coach K’s 30th year at Duke. Every time Calipari gets a better offer he jets out the door. Coach K turned down the Lakers in their glory days. Whoaa they are soooo similar. C’mon son!! Wow, he cusses!! How many grown men don’t? He works hard to run a high level basketball and when people threaten to tear it down he gets mad. Hmm that sounds like what he’s supposed to do. Just because he’s an American Express spokesman people think he’s perfect. Only Jesus was perfect…sorry. Also, who cares if he’s really nice he wins.

6. You referenced William Avery. My friends have this running joke about players that had so much potential but their careers went south but people still reference them in arguments like these. Its called “WHO HE PLAY FO?”. No, really what NBA team does he play for? Exactly he should have stayed in Durham.

7. Duke fans are not all white elitist. Like I stated at the beginning I’m an African-American Durhamite and I know just as many Duke fans from Cornwallis, Southside, McDougal, and Fayettville Street.

8. Last but not least @That Guy Mel was totally right if you’re not an ACC fan why do you hate us so much? Get a life!! Actually I’ll take that a step further, if your not a fan of a team on Tobacco Road why are you even in this conversation? Get a life!! I know why I’m root against UNC even when Duke is not playing them. I’m apart of the Duke/UNC/NC State rivalry (really its just the UNC vs. Duke I just through State in to support the Tobacco Road statement LOL!!) . Grow up these kids are 18-23. Most of the people commenting on this are probably 30-50.

Why am I so angry about this? If it wasn’t for Duke I wouldn’t have been able to afford the private HBCU college I attended. Little known fact Duke has a children’s tuition grant for children of their employees that have worked there for more than 5 years. They will pay about 14k a semester for any private college in the US. So, let’s recap in addition to being ranked number 10 for best hospitals and best university in the country by US News, they also send their employees kids to school. Hmmm…(sarcastically) this is an institution you should just love to hate and to top it off the idiot that wrote this article makes the following comment.
Quote from above:
“So, send this to your friends. Spread the gospel. Duke’s as close to evil as a college team can come.”

This is too funny there were actually people in the comments cosigning with this idiot.

Screw Franklin St. I’ll see on Ninth Street if we win!!

I’m not a Duke fan. I’m a University of Virginia alum.

Find me a big-time college program that has NOT had controversy!

Duke has won 18 ACC Championships. Coach K has taken Duke to 8 national championship games. The other ACC schools have complained since the time the ACC was formed that the officials have favored Duke and North Carolina.

It’s the same in every other conference. Fans always complain that the best team is only good because the refs give them the calls.

Have fans actually met officials in person? Do they realize that officials are graded by coaches after every game?!

They need to recruit better instead of complaining! Then maybe Duke and UNC fans would complain that some other ACC school with a newly-powerful basketball program was getting breaks from the referees?!

I will always admit to being a hyped up college kid that gets caught up in the chants, the in-your-face suck on that GATORS type of rivalry. We all love to hate, and we all love to see the little guy win… because lets face it.. we love Cinderella stories… and last night’s final.. almost came down to just that… i was all for Butler winning, especially when you hear analysts say oh, Duke wins by a margin… you dont get to the final 2 and get a blow out very easily, and if you do, its just a bad day… that whole tournament is based on good and bad days.. just look at Memphis losing against the Jayhawks a few yrs back, or tournament faves getting knocked out early…
But the bottom line is this… I am an athlete.. at a big institution.. and just from being apart of that “elite” group of kids that have the opportunity to be part of something so much bigger than they are as individuals, I can clearly see the fact that the smart person who will spend hours hating on a school for reasons of hear say and “facts” of personal opinion..is not, and has not ever been on that stage… You write that your facts come from people who have maybe been apart of this team, and hated it, I am sure.. I am on a team, we have been national champions.. and there is always 1, 2, 3 or more people that have had a rough time, and got emotions and disappointment mixed up and yes would say oh they hate this.. but really, when that all settles, and in a few years they will look back with regret for those feelings and know they are lucky to have been apart of that. I am sure, that you can interview EVERY single one of those Duke guys from last night, and I am sure, NOT a SINGLE 1 of them will say anything short of willingness to sell their soul because of coach K’s belief in them as a team and individuals…

The commitment, the support, the hours, the sacrifices, the sweat, blood, tears, disappointments, reliefs, success.. everything that goes into being an athlete, successful or not, but especially successful, is something that I believe not a single “hater” has ever experienced… No job, raise, shirt, girlfriend, boyfriend, car.. anything.. will ever give you that feeling those guys felt last night, for the rest of their lives… they have worked hard.. and they will remember that for the rest of their lives.. As for Baylor… the exact same goes.. they may have walked off the court with tears.. but today.. they walk with their heads up, and proud of what they have done.. they will always remember what they were apart of… as for the haters.. “we” sit here and bring up reasons that only prove how much time we have to waste on something you could only DREAM of having, being apart of, which I am sure you would sell your soul in a second if you had that chance to be so talented or have the opportunity to play for the team you chose to hate… Duke’s fans are rough.. but I would be proud to see that I have a family so strong and obnoxious that they are and will always be there.. You love to hate, because you don’t understand what that feeling is, what being apart of that team is.. you will search for reasons and what someone has said before, because they were not apart of that – I promise you all this.. not a single guy on any of those teams last night would ever sit down and write a hate blog about their or the other team.. even if they hate it.. because they were there.. through it all.. every lap run, every 5 am practice.. every sacrifice made… trust me I will be upfront and being the cliché college supporter and scream abuse at anyone who wants to take on my house, my pride, and my school… but I also know how to respect powerhouses, which they are for a reason.. March Madness shows that its anybody’s day… Baylor and Duke stepped out as equals… bad calls happen, images attract the best… but when the time comes.. it calls for who wants it more.. and who can keep calm and relax and control a destiny that is what has controlled those guy’s lives for as long as they can remember.
It is sad that people will hate.. and walk around asif they know anything what it takes to be in the position the hatees are. I applaud you for spending money at an institution that taught you to think you have the right to find “facts” or opinions because it makes you feel better. I’m sure you should rather spent the time you did writing the blog, rather gone for a run or a workout in the gym… Those guys are twice the person you could ever be, and have in their lives what you only wish you could have.
This is the real fight… not history of programs, Bobby Bowden cheating, Duke this, Memphis that… its the fact that its an institution so much bigger that most people will never know, because they will sit and point at what they are not… because they believe their opinion is bigger than this simple fact – they never had the opportunity to step out onto that arena and take in greatness and a feeling of accomplishment… They only stood by and searched for reasons that justify their own disappointments in life.
I am sure your sippy cup and MAC that you are typing while you sit at a desk writing about what others do, qualifies you as correct… Life’s lesson… don’t hate if you haven’t been there and cant back it up. National championships, Olympic gold medals, legacy’s… comes from respect… that is why you don’t own any of these, and will only chose to hate because that’s good enough for you… I hope your wall of mediocrity is fulfilling. No one will know your name, and you will never have success like Duke.. even if we dislike them in a sportsmanship manner.. I am sure you are perfect and can maybe move to NC and show coach K how to be the perfect person…
~ It’s just a game… But it will determine your future.

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew…pick a team and root for them, Hating Duke gets you nowhere.

When it comes to hating, why dont anyone hate Carolina??? I can tell you why cause Wal Marts all over the country back them. You can go get anything you want with a unc logo on it at Wal Mart. Rednecks all over that dont even like black peopl like UNC cause they can go to wal mart and get a unc beer mug. When Roy was at Kansas, Deshawn Stevenson had trouble passing the SAT but Lil Roy flew him out to North Carolina and he all of a sudden passes it with flying colors. Roy then went on to say Why cant we just appreciate the kid working hard to better him self. Then when they asked stevenson to duplicate his efforts he couldnt even break 650. Ask Delvon Roe that plays for Michigan St about lil Roy or better yet ask Roes Dad. But no one ever brings this stuff up! Go back to Wal Mart and cause Coack K is gona keep winning and there is nothing you can do about it!

Andrew Sharp is free to hate who he wants but his understandings of the Myron Piggie affair and of Derrick Rose’s/Memphis’ problems are myopic. The problems in the Memphis athletic department went beyond Derrick Rose. In the same year that MU’s wins were vacated the women’s golf coach there was sanctioned for NCAA rules violations. Memphis also had accepted a basketball player (Robert Dozier) that the University of Georgia had refused to admit due to perceived irregularities in Dozier’s standardized test records. Dozier’s SATs were invalidated as well as Rose’s. Let’s add it up:

1) Two players with fishy test scores;
2) One of whom (Rose) refuses to cooperate when asked to provide information for the NCAA investigation;
3) An athletic department that has another program that has been sanctioned;
4) And that knew of previous possible problems with Rose’s eligibility (his ACT scores).

The NCAA response to Memphis University’s appeal is at http://tinyurl.com/ylo2fl3. Pages 13-end detail their rejection of the appeal.

Maggette, on the other hand, accepted money as a high school junior before he was ever recruited by Krzyzewski. Duke cooperated fully with the investigation, and the NCAA determined that Duke in no way knew about the payment.

Furthermore, other players accepted money from Piggie as well: Kareem Rush (Missouri), JaRon Rush (UCLA), Andre Williams (OK State), and Korleone Young (declared for the NBA draft). None of the other three colleges had to vacate wins because of the payments. The Rush brothers and Williams served suspensions, but Maggette and Young didn’t (the former because he had left Duke by the time decisions were handed down, and the latter because he didn’t bother with college).

I’m here to stick up for mamacita, because I will tell you this, even when a Duke fan responds, without name calling or even an attacking nature, to a self-proclaimed hate article, Duke haters can’t help themselves but to call her a Putz. And you will take up precious moments of your life to find an example (a flimsy one at that) of college kids rushing a court. I was born and raised in Durham, in my humble opinion, it is a wonderful place to live, and Duke is the largest employer there. The Duke campus is such an integral part of the landscape in Durham that you can’t throw a rock without hitting something Duke blue. Every year my father played tennis in the Duke Children’s Classic, which every year raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for sick children. I met Bill Murray and Bruce Smith and Perry Como and Troy Aikman there as a young kid. Coach K was my neighbor growing up, I met him twice in my life and he was as nice to me as any other person I’ve ever met in my life. I didn’t go to Duke, my grades didn’t allow it, and my parents, like many parents out there, could not have afforded it. No, I was never a crazy, and no my Daddy didn’t pay my way into Duke. I am just a fan. And I am proud of it. I am loud when they play, I scream and scream because I love it. Don’t tell my girlfriend, but I am more passionate about Duke basketball than I am about most things in my life. I grew up at Duke, it is part of my life, and it has always been a good part of my life. And realizing that my situation may be a bit different than the normal fan out there, growing up in Durham and all, there is one thing that is the same, I am loud and obnoxious and truly care about Duke basketball because of the kids that play there. When I was younger, they were my heroes. Now that I’m a little older, I watch them grow into men in (hopefully) the four years they play for Coach K, and I see how close they become as team mates and with their coaches. And I see them grow to be successful people. So with all that said, here’s the thing, this is my team you’re talking about, and I don’t appreciate it. Screw anyone for calling me obnoxious, or for being the worst fan ever. I am the BEST fan ever, and whether anyone likes it or not, Duke is one of the best programs ever. I am the best fan just like you think you’re the best fan of your team. I assume everyone on here has a basketball team, and they all root for them to win every year. Let me ask you this, if your team, starting next year, became really good and continued that success for the next thirty years, would you apologize to me or anyone else? And if during those THIRTY years someone wrote an article about hating your team, and it used generalities, literally (people that love Duke basketball are generally pompous elitists), said in way too many words that you, the fan, is waaaaaayy too into the whole thing, as a fan should never be, gave three examples of supposed impropriety by a head coach and a school who graduates more athletes than almost anyone. Coach K yelled at someone, has no one yelled at another adult before? Chris Duhon’s mother got a job in Durham when she moved there to stay close to her son, would any other loving mother not want to do the same thing? And by insinuating that she would not be capable of moving to Durham and getting a new job there is an insult to her and actually carries a tone of racism, or even, dare I say, elitism, that she couldn’t have handled doing all of those things on her own. She owned a house in Slidell, do you own your own house? Maybe you do. The Maggette situation is a sticky one, and every Duke fan knows it and is not proud of it. But in THIRTY years, this is the only example of a player, who accepted money from an agent (which Coach K and the University would have never known about by the way), that you can find. And it will be the only one you can find. The truth is, besides flying these words under the flag of hatred, none of your article really makes any sense. You use an example of a failed Bears and Stearns executive who once said that he admires Coach K as a way of proving that Coach K isn’t as good a leader as everyone thinks? What kind of logic is that? Are you somehow insinuating that Coach K caused B&S to fail? Yes, you are, and that is why I am going to stop writing now. I’m truly sorry that you hate Duke, that Duke makes all of your lives so miserable, that Duke is a great program with great kids, great fans, a great place to play, and yes, an elitist attitude. I know it must suck, but the truth is, we all have a team that we root for, and we’re all elitists when it comes to rooting for them, my team will always be better than yours. I have two teams, Duke and the Cubbies, and I will root for Duke if they win every national chapionship from now until the day I die and I will do the sme for the Cubs if they never win another game before that day. It’s not my fault that Duke is good, and to wish that they wouldn’t be any more is just, shitty. This is hate speech, obviously, and really, you should sort of be ashamed. Why not go meet Coach K and the players and the fans, why not find out that Coach K is actually a really nice guy and is loved by everyone that knows him. You’re trying to convince people to hate something, and despite all of your apparent hard work, I still have to ask… why?

I am a Duke student, and a Cameron Crazy, and although I disagree with the representation of me and my peers, that’s not why I’m posting.

Calling Mike Krzyzewski a bad person is truly uncalled for. I understand that some people may not agree with his coaching style but disagreements about the sport should be left on the court. As Andrew Sharp, and many others, may not know Coach K opened a new, state of art community center in Durham several years ago. This community center, the Emily Krzyzewski Center, named after his late mother, works on helping children succeed in school and interact with tutors who can serve as good role models. They also host a variety of programming for the children and adults of the surrounding community. Coach K started this center as a way to give back to a community, the city of Durham, that has become such a big part of his life. Even though there are plenty of Durham residents who do not support his team, he still supports the community. He attributes his successes to having a place like this when he was growing up and wanted to afford the same opportunities to other children.
Working at the Emily K Center has been a truly rewarding experience and it is unbelievable to see how much the volunteers and staff at the center care for the kids. Like I said, I understand that people might not agree with how Coach K runs his program, although this years’ national title speaks for itself, but calling him a bad human being takes things too far. He does support a sense of a Duke community and family, as evidenced by how close his players are, and also continues to give back to Durham, the home of Duke University.