Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Morning: The Champs!


Here's the problem with all the Duke haters: they don't allow for any gray area.

That may seem like a strange sentence to lead off a post in the immediate aftermath of Duke's first national championship since 2001. My words should be pure joy, right? My thoughts should be pure elation. And believe me, joy and elation exist. I'm on cloud nine. This is epic, this is fantastic, this is inspirational. I'm proud, too, if that kind of sentiment is allowed.

But after withstanding weeks of rabid hate directed at our team, the two main emotions I feel right now are relief and swagger.

The problem with relief is that you spend entire games on a knife's edge. You root for your team, and your players, but a big part of you is concerned about the haters. You do not want to give them what they crave. They have the luxury of watching every game, hoping and praying for Duke's failure, and they're always ready to pounce if that failure comes to pass. So instead of just hoping for the win and being able to accept the loss like a normal sports fan, you spend absurd amounts of mental energy holding off an emotional tidal wave from your enemies. A fan of any perennial winner has to deal with that, and it is what it is, but the Duke hatred goes a step beyond.

Last year, when UNC was on its title run, I wrote an admiring piece about Tyler Hansbrough. I enjoyed his character, and I wanted him to win a title. Whatever, right? No big deal. I'm just a fan of sports and a fan of interesting people and stories. So I wrote what I wrote, UNC fans responded positively, and then everyone forgot about it. But at least everyone was being fucking honest.

You know how many UNC fans, or folks from the anti-Duke crowd in general, said something nice to me about this year's Duke team? A team that had been through a lot of adversity, and featured one of the more inspirational players ever in Nolan Smith?

A big goose egg. Zero.

Lesson learned. In the future, when I have the impulse to say something nice about Carolina, I'll fight it down and write more Nolan Smith fan fiction.

The problem with swagger is that it's a reaction to hate. I constantly hear a chorus of voices tell me that everyone who ever went to Duke is a smarmy elitist asshole. There are many times, particularly when I'm meeting someone new, when I honestly feel the need to prove I'm not one of their kind. Do those type of people exist? Of course. Were there smarmy elitist assholes at Duke? Yes. At a higher rate than the average population? Probably, yeah.

But is every single Duke grad like that? Are there no good people that graduated from the school? Is there no gray area here? Are we that simple and mean that raw generalizations are going to suffice? Give me a break.

But when nobody ever does give you a break, you react in one of two ways. You either capitulate and become a total pussy, and say "yes, you're all so right, I should be ashamed of myself and my program and my school, because everything associated with Duke is corrupt and unlikeable." Or you get sick of it, and you say "go fuck yourself."

My ideal reaction would be this: "You raise some fair points, but we can agree that despite the shortcomings of the basketball team, the school, and the student body, there's a lot to admire." But that reaction is forever met with a cacophony of hate speech. Coach K is a cretin! The players are arrogant! The students are self-righteous upper middle class snobs!

So, fine. Here's my new response: go fuck yourself. Consider that the reaction for the near and distant future. I know it's not a great one, but I'm painted into a corner here.

Hey, remember JJ Redick? Remember how smug he looked on the court? Well, here's something you didn't know about JJ Redick:

He wasn't hated because he was arrogant. He was arrogant because he was hated.

It's the exact same process I described above. When he came to school, he was wildly talented, but his personality was muted. Nobody remembers that. It's true, though. He was actually kind of quiet. But when enough people call you names, or insult your family, or threaten to kill you, or whatever else, you either break down and spend the rest of your life in a mental hospital, or you tell them to go fuck themselves. If you're Jon Scheyer or Nolan Smith or Brian Zoubek, you take that last option by working hard and coming together and sticking it to everyone the quiet way. If you're JJ Redick, and you're all alone out on that limb, you assert yourself by smiling at the hate; by putting on a cocky demeanor to show you can't be rattled.

And because nobody wants to see the gray area in Duke, the divide becomes wider. On a smaller and much less important scale, it's exactly what's happening in our country's politics. If you call someone the worst thing you can think of, and things get too personal too fast, and you won't allow for any intricacy in the argument, you can bet they won't feel overly eager to give you the benefit of the doubt. So both sides become more extreme, the hate grows, and ideals like decorum and respect are thrown out the window. When you extend an olive branch and have it slapped away, that's the natural reaction.

Well, I'm no better than the average dude. So I have a sincere message for everyone who hates Duke and isn't intelligent or sanguine enough to see the positive side:

Go fuck yourself.

To every idiot who said Duke had an easy road:

Go fuck yourself. Cal and Louisville were the toughest 8/9 teams on paper in the entire tournament. Even without Hummel, Purdue was a physical brute of a team that could play with anyone. And hey, you know who would have had a really good shot to win the national title if Duke didn't? Baylor. And we beat them on the road! We beat them in the second largest regional crowd in history, with everyone and their mother rooting against us! Oh, and remember that team that was supposed to have been the 4th #1 seed, who was from a far superior conference and was clearly better than Duke by leaps and bounds? We buried them. And then we won the championship on the road.

To every idiot who said the refs were in Duke's pocket:

Go fuck yourself. If Heyward's shot had gone down last night, I would have considered it the stolen national title. Between the phantom travel call on Singler, the touch foul on Scheyer when the Butler guards were grabbing and holding us on every play with no consequence, the Bulldogs getting bailed out on weak fouls when they couldn't make a field goal to save their lives, Zoubek getting ripped to the floor after Singler's miss, the blocked/held shot on our defensive end that mysteriously wasn't called a jump ball, and the egregious, dirty pick that Howard set on Singler just before Heyward launched his halfcourt shot, we got absolutely jobbed. For most of the game, the refs were horrible for both sides. But in the last five minutes, following in the footsteps of insecure, awful referees everywhere, they began to sway toward the team with the loudest crowd.

We still won. We won despite having the nonsensical David and Goliath canard shoved down our throats. We won with Jim Nantz bringing up Milan and underdogs every five seconds. We won despite CBS actually playing the theme from Hoosiers before a late tv timeout.

But this morning, when I checked out the front page of a UNC basketball forum, they were blaming Duke's win on the refs. Classic. They've actually gone blind. Go fuck yourself.

To every idiot who paints Coach K as a demon with no redeeming qualities:

Go fuck yourself. Coach K can be a hypocrite and a control freak, and sometimes he makes really questionable game decisions (he can justify it all he wants, but having Zoubek miss that last foul shot was mind-bogglingly stupid). But he's also a kid who grew up poor on the streets of Chicago, and worked hard to become one of the most successful basketball coaches in history. And he has four national titles (double the total of the infallible Dean Smith and the irreproachable Roy Williams), and he cares about having his players graduate, and he's remarkable in a lot of ways. It makes me sick to see an abusive bully like Bobby Knight revered while Coach K gets trampled.

I can already imagine the responses to this post. They'll remark on how atrocious it is for me, a Dukie, to play the role of the embattled victim. After all, I must be from a fabulously wealthy white suburban family, right? Like everyone else who ever attended the school, I must have never experienced hardship. I must be a total prick. I must be half nerd, half elitist. And how dare I pose as anything other than apologetic! How dare I bristle at anyone else's complaints, no matter how ridiculous and misplaced!

So conclusions are drawn. And the sad part is, it's all inevitable. They were drawn beforehand, and by now we're just playing into each other's hands. Let the cycle of hate go unbroken. Call us reactionary, call us entitled, call us smug. But guess what? You set the terms. And as of last night, around 11:30pm, there's only one difference between us:

We're national champions. Go fuck yourself.

114 comments:

  1. "Zoubek getting ripped to the floor after Singler's miss"
    * You mean the one where Zoubek took out Howard with a blind, back elbow clothesline? That one?

    "and the egregious, dirty pick that Howard set on Singler just before Heyward launched his halfcourt shot"
    * I'm not watching the play a third time to verify this, but it looked to me like Howard got there and was set. It's not like he THREW HIS SHOULDER INTO HIM like Zoubek did to the poor bastard from Purdue (which DIDN'T get called, but I guess Zoobs has never fouled anyone in his life.) I guess it's only okay to lean into somebody if you're drawing a charge like Scheyer allegedly did late on Hayward which would've given Butler the lead after the free throw. Besides, based upon what I've seen from Zoobs and the Plumlees this year, I thought the moving pick was now a legal play.

    Look, Butler got some calls, but you're just another delusional Duke fan if you think you were getting jobbed last night. I suppose it's okay for the punk Plumlee brother (the brown headed one - I don't have a problem with blondie) to TACKLE a Butler player at midcourt, literally taking him to the floor with his right hand. There were others that weren't so atrocious or important in the big scheme of things.

    Congrats on the perfect storm title. Duke did what they had to do to win the game, so props to them. Nolan's a fantastic player, and I think I would've actually liked Scheyer if he ever would've stopped that cheap, bullshit, Redick-leg kick that would almost always get a whistle despite it being a bush league play. Singler's a punk, the kind of guy who would twist ankles and scratch legs at the bottom of a pile - but he made big shots last night. Zoobs gets an inkling of respect for developing something resembling basketball skill over the past six weeks - he's still a big goof who would foul out in less than three minutes if every foul was whistled. And Lance is cool - maybe he never played enough or whatever but I never had one bad thing to say about him in his four years other than "why are you yelling about pulling down your 2nd rebound in a 12-7 game?" Krzyzewski's a great coach - I'll never respect him after his defense of the Henderson incident in '07, but he's a great coach.

    See you next season... should be extra fun.

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  2. You are right! it should be extra fun, give that Duke's team next year is supposed to be superior to this year's team. Looking forward to it!

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  3. Thanks. Thanks so much. I graduated from Duke and now go to dental school at that other school 8 miles down the road. After they won their National Championship last year (my freshman year) I congratulated my Tar Heel classmates... this morning all I've been met with is "Duke sucks" .. and I've tried to be nice, I've tried to be gracious, but seriously. Fuck you. We're National Champions!

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  4. excellent post. I just wish people would take the time to appreciate the truth in it. GO DUKE! :)

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  5. "We're national champions. Go fuck yourself."

    Oh hell yes.

    This year I got fed up with the haters. Tried to make rational arguments. Tried to give some ground. Tried to explain my personal experience going to Duke. But in the end, people believe what they want to believe, and seeing shades of gray and understanding differing opinions is apparently a lost art.

    So thanks for saying what all us "reality-based" folks have been thinking about the haters. The next time someone says something about Duke, I'll simply smile and ask them how many NCs their coach has won. I've wasted enough time and energy trying to reason with irrational morons.

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  6. Good read. It's hard to figure out what to do with the hatred. I think I've moved past the GFY stage and I'm now easing into recognition of what it actually is....an acknowledgement of someone else's inadequacies, not mine. A big fat National Title from an improbable team doesn't hurt either. Coach K's comments on the hate were pure gold.

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  7. hahah you do realize that in the scale of time and the UNIVERSE, the solar system doesn't begin to be approach the size of a pin-sized pimple, right?

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  8. The only question now is if UNC fans will actually try to use the '4 corner offense' in an argument trying to justify Dean being better than K.

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  9. Fantastic post. I agree on all aspects.

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  10. AWESOME! I love it! Go Duke!

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  11. As a UNC fan, I will congratulate Duke's team for their accomplishment. I think we all recognize that this year's Duke team certainly isn't legendary, but they did what they needed to do to be champs. Good for them.

    As for K, I agree that he is a hypocrite and I really don't care for the guy, but it's not as if I hate him. Good lord, I don't know him.

    Lastly, there are people that take this stuff far too seriously. This "blogger" (blogger = hack writing and large ego) being one of them. Did you play for the Duke team? Were you "hated" by people when you were a duke student? If you were, it probably has more to do with you than the fact that you were a duke student. I don't know how old you are, but I'll guess you are mid to late 20s. You seem like an angry fella. All because someone doesn't like your team? Seriously? Do you not get how lame that is?

    Anyway, just wanted to say congratulations to the Duke players. Not to the fans or bloggers for that matter as they played no part in this. But to the players, some of whom did go through some adversity and came out on top. Good for them.

    Lastly, as a UNC fan, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that 5 is still greater than 4. Looking forward to UNC/Duke games next year.

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  12. interesting read... i live in kentucky so i know what blind hatred looks like (even though that game was eons ago). but i wore my duke shirt on UK's campus the day of the game and my friend (a devoted duke hater) was gracious enough to say it was reasonable considering it was the game day... i was pleasantly surprised by her reaction. i still have some faith in those "haters"... at least some of them are still rational intelligent people. I can't blame anyone not having a connection to duke cheering for Butler as they were considered the Cinderella story (it'd be natural for people to do the same if W. Virginia had gone instead of Duke) but saying Duke doesn't deserve what we fought so hard to achieve is absurd... this team of players has really improved as individual players and come together as a team, so I'm very proud! these guys earned this win (completely unrelated to what other Duke teams have done in the past). I compliment others when their team does well regardless of how mine does and feel like i should be able to celebrate when we finally get the chance. for all my time watching games and tenting for months... i still don't understand blind hatred for another sports team, i guess that takes sheer jealousy and lack of empathy.

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  13. Congrats on the win Dukies!

    It really seemed like the NCAA was doing what they could to keep the game close. Thought the devils were getting pretty hosed in the last 10 minutes of the game.

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  14. Winning the tournament this year is kind of like getting a 3.8 GPA at a big SEC school, like Alabama or Tennessee.

    It is certainly an accomplishment achieved through hard work and dedication. It is a feat worthy of congratulations and accolades. It, however, cannot compare to earning a 3.8 at a better school such as...well, Dook.

    I'll give Dook props. They did exactly what needed to be done. But this title will go down like Maryland's 2002 championship...an above average team winning a tournament without any truly great teams.

    Kansas, flirted with being great. But as they displayed down the stretch...they were not. Kentucky had the talent, but lacked the discipline or intelligence to pull together when it mattered. You could see that all season long.

    People will say this tournament was great because of the upsets and that it is proof that there are more good teams. I argue exactly the opposite. There are fewer great teams.

    I'd love to get some stats on average game scores across the NCAA because it felt like every game this season was played in the 50's and 60's. Part of that is due to the ever-worsening officiating problem (you can get away with murder in the paint these days), but I think much of it is just that there aren't as many good players and worse teams are having a tougher time putting the ball in the basket.

    All that said, congrats to Duke on another NCAA title in the books (I'll spell it correctly for the compliment). Looking forward to next year!

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  15. Thanks for the responses, everyone, particularly the guy who called me an egotistical hack!

    -S

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  16. Oh, and for the record. I'll agree with you about Nolan Smith being one of the most inspirational players ever. Powerful story...I'm happy for his success. He deserves it.

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  17. LOVE this post! Thanks for writing it...GO DUKE!!!!

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  18. William, you are a beacon of light in a sea of tar (heels). Always good to hear from you. Agreed with most points on your long post. Would just like to add for the record that Duke had an awesome team in 2002, and utterly blew it against Indiana. That has to be one of the best college teams not to win a title.

    -S

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  19. Congrats on your NIT tourney run Danny.

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  20. Louisville and Cal toughest 8/9 seeds? HAHAHAHAH nice one dude

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  21. congrats on your NIT tourney run Danny. Too bad you came up short as usual!!!!! FIFY

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  22. The problem with all the haters is that they refuse to recognize how superior you are to them...

    Go fuck yourself, you arrogant snob.

    K is masterful at three things:

    1) Recruiting top players;
    2) Convincing the media that his highly recruited players lack talent; and
    3) Using the players he has to achieve his own success.

    He doesn't develop his players for future success in basketball or anything else-- Duke has NEVER had an alumnus be a key player for an NBA champ-- but of course that has never been K's goal.

    K is extremely good at accomplishing his own success. It's the only thing he cares about. He's a great college basketball coach in terms of wins and losses, and even though dook was handed a cakewalk to the championship this year, they still beat who was in front of them. Whether he's a better coach than Dean or Roy is certainly arguable (I don't consider the number of NC's a trump card like some do), but there's no question that Dean, and to a lesser extent Roy are better men.

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  23. Strong post. Thanks for articulating what most Duke fans are feeling. --LTDF

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  24. Seriously? You can't just savor the moment? It has to be mixed with unearned self-righteous vitriol? I'm a UNC fan and I had no problems with this Duke team, and have few problems with Duke in general. All the top players look at all the same schools, like many of the students. Harrison Barnes almost went to Duke. Hansbrough was the quintessential Duke player who just happened to chose UNC. Coach K runs a good program and seems to genuinely care about his players. I've been a UNC fan all my life but almost went to Duke for law school, and one of my best friends is a double-dookie.

    So if you want to rise above it, just do it. Your justification for choosing to be a smug a*hole instead ("the b*tch made me do it") is just a weak excuse not to grow up, or else a lame grab at page views. You're right that sports fandom is a lot like politics - extremism is often rewarded.

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  25. UNC fans and Duke haters in general, you reap what you sow.

    Duke next to the Lakers, Yankees, Notre Dame, etc. may be the most vilified team in America.

    Remember if you dish it out, be ready to take it.

    Duke is the National Champion. Accept it.

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  26. I don't think it's a matter of just shrugging off the hate. Today has been an incredible day for me--I am the only Duke fan in a company of over 100 people, 99% of whom are UNC fans. I am grossly outnumbered, usually leading me to avoid any discussion of basketball or, when I do discuss it, I observe a heightened level of moderation in my comments so as not to be perceived as an obnoxious Dukie. And I am fairly well-liked around here too!!

    So explain to me why, after I came to work last year after UNC won and swallowed my pride and gave a hearty congratulations to all of my co-workers, that this year NOT ONE PERSON has even acknowledged that there was a game last night. Much less that it was a championship game. Much less offered even a minimal amount of congratulations, just to be nice people.

    It is mindboggling.

    THAT IS WHY WE ARE DEFENSIVE.

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  27. "Go Fuck Yourselves."

    What a truly intelligent, classy point to make. So much for the high road eh? It's obviously a great idea to take what the lunatic fringe on message boards are saying so personally, and that it must be wholly representative of the UNC fanbase as a whole. The smugness and the insecurity just take over sometimes, huh? I guess in the end its just easier to prove everyone's perception about Duke correct.

    Hansbrough was hated just as much as J.J. was, but it didn't make him a complete douche.

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  28. Awesome article. This sums up how Duke is treated, on the front page of The Charlotte Observer all it said was Duke WIns in a small corner of the paper, where last year the entire front page was covered with Carolina crap. And the town where I am from considers all the Carolina students and alum to be the stuck up assholes, we consider Duke students and alums to be the brilliant people that one day will be curing our cancer. I think the reason Carolina fans are so smug is because even if they have a better ball team, they will still be inferior to Duke in what really matters, academics. Duke is significantly superior to Carolina, they have a higher ranked med and law school. Although I have been a long time Duke fan, I have chosen to attend NC State next year. I'm upset I can't pull for the devils anymore but I take pride in thd fact that I can always hate Carolina! Go to Hell Carolina and go devils! Congrats, you guys deserved it. And I look forward to watching Seth ball all over Carolinas guards next year, if you can even call them that. Have fun against Seth, Larry.

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  29. One great thing that can give all the Duke haters solace is that John Scheyer will never step foot on an NBA court (Hello Kazakhstan).

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  30. Wow, I actually respected Duke and was fine with their win. But after reading this, I've changed my mind. This post is the epitome of smug. You spend the first part of the post saying how people pre-judge Duke alums. Fine, the few I know are nice and normal people. But then you start whining about the refs trying to hand Butler the game. You either weren't watching the same game or are blinded by your fandom there. Have some cheese with your whine?

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  31. Roy and Dean are better men...you gotta be kidding me.

    "I don't give a !@#$ about North Carolina."

    - Roy Williams

    "this one doesn't impress most true basketball fans"

    If carolina, a preseason top 5 team had won this year (with all its mcdonalds all-americans) people would be praising Roy.

    If Kentucky had won, people would be praising Cal.

    No, Duke didnt have the most talent. But they got it done, and with a bunch of white guys that nobody likes except to make fun of.

    If I didn't go to Duke I would've pulled for Butler, the underdog, too. But I know our team, I know what we went through, and I know how much this means to them. We FINALLY overachieve in an NCAA tourney, and everyone calls it "lucky" or "handed to you" or "backed in."

    Why don't you call it like it is, and thats a National Championship.

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  32. I'm a Tar Heel grad who married a Duke guy and I couldn't agree more. I hate having to justify to my Tar Heel friends that there are positive things and perhaps even some cool people on the "Evil Empire's" campus. I was just happy to keep the title in the state this year. The rivalry is fun, but can become really stupid when people get so caught up and small minded about it.

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  33. The hilarious irony of this whole post is the author spent the biggest part whining (Coach K must have taught him) about poor persecuted Duke and their poor students and alums from NJ, and in the end, he justifies all the reasons why everyone hates his team. Way to go! We'll just assume you weren't a big star on the debate team.

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  34. Great post. As a Duke fan in Minnesota the first 4 people I talked to today said negative comments about the game last night. I had one guy talk about how the refs handed the game to Duke despite any evidence to the contrary. One person (a Kansas fan) congratulated me, but everybody else made me feel like scum for even rooting for Duke. This one guy (who knew I was a huge Duke fan) actually asked me "did even a little part of you wish that last shot went in." I responded with "No. I was too busy staring at disbelief that no moving pick was called on Howard to even really think that shot would have counted." I agree with pretty much everything you wrote.

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  35. Will you marry me? This. was. awesome.

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  36. As a Carolina grad I admit I have to give some props both to Duke University as an academic institution and to this year's NCAA men's BB champs. I, especially would like to salute Zoubek and Thomas for sticking it out through some on-court adversity, enduring, perservering over their careers, and as seniors being vital parts of this year's team. Part of the fun of being an ACC basketball fan is watching players grow and mature over the course of their careers, and those two have earned respect for not giving up on themselves. Now, as to your having to endure the discomfort of digs and lack of public recognition, especially from rivals, keep in mind that downgrading your rival's accomplishments is about all you have left when you've had a season like UNC just experienced, so accept the negative comments as a left-handed compliment. Consider the source, and realize that UNC fans care enough about the rivalry that they're trying to get under your skin. Coach K won a championship with this team, and pre-season I would have bet a ton of money that was beyond the possible for this group. Every member of the team and coaching staff can take great pride in what they accomplished -- and I will go a bit UNC-centric here and say it seems comparable to me with what the George Lynch-Eric Montross team at UNC accomplished, winning a championship in a year when on paper you do not look like a favorite. This championship in my opinion is a marvelous testament to the value of team play over talent and potental. Can any other team's fans argue that their team this year had (NBA) talent and potential to equal this year's Kentucky Wildcats? Like Smith-Barney, this year's Blue Devils earned their title and earned it on the court. Like many UNC grads, I might have been a Duke grad if I had gotten the scholarship I needed to afford the school. Max Crowder was a cousin, and working as a trainer for Vic Bubas, but I couldn't afford Duke. I am a UNC grad and I am proud of it. Both universities are a credit and plus for North Carolina, but I confess, I lean in the direction of the Charles Kuralt quote, UNC is the university of the people of North Carolina, built by them, built for them, and hopefully with friendly rivalry from Duke, Wake and the other private universities and colleges in the state, always improving its level of service to the people of the state. Duke is a great private university located in North Carolina, but it does not have the same mission to serve the state that a state-funded university must have. However, having that greater flexibility as a private school which can let Duke apply its resources in a different manner than the state schools may be able to provides a wonderful prod and measuring stick for how well UNC and NCSU and the other state schools are meeting their missions. Just like the two basketball programs feed off each other, I think the two academic institutions also complement and accentuate each other's strengths.

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  37. In response to the criticism of Krzyzewski..... How can you criticize Krzyzewski as a coach and as a man? Krzyzewski is beloved by not only his players but by NBA greats (Kobe,MJ). Clearly this admiration for him is for a reason. They respect his ability to coach and realize his skill. By winning gold in the olympics he did what a UNC grad could not (Larry Brown). He was able to deal with the excessive amount of talent and filter through the egos. So please explain if not for his coaching abilities why would Kobe Bryant push the Lakers to offer Coach K the largest contract in NBA history for a coach? Or why the Nets are also pushing for him by offering the largest contract in NBA history? I am quite confused how these actions, recognition of his greatness are not good enough justifications for UNC fans. Maybe he does not produce the most NBA skill level players but he does produce some of the best men. Yes UNC has produced some incredibly skillful players but at the same time look at the them in a different light as people. Vince Carter a UNC great has shown to be one of the most immature players in the NBA. Check out his stats from his last games in Toronto and in his first games in New Jersey... He was unhappy so he stopped trying, put himself in front of the team and gave up. I am glad he is not a product of Duke's program I would be ashamed if he represented the school I followed. Another example is Rasheed Wallace. I bet if you add up all the technical fouls of current Dukies in the NBA Rasheed's would trump them all. Krzyzewski doesn't just recruit based on talent but he strongly factors in character as well. So maybe these more disciplined and well-rounded players don't go on to become NBA superstars but they do go on to become better men.

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  38. In the words of Johnny Drama; Victory!!!!!!!!

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  39. Yeah, I wouldn't spend too much time complimenting Ratface for his coaching skills of the Olympic team. Pretty much any decent coach could've won with that bunch. Oh, and as to Ratface being a great person, I'm assuming you haven't heard any of his profanity laced tirades. His greatest coaching accomplishment..... teaching the flop.

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  40. "Our massage therapist told me, 'You know, coach, what happened in Haiti is a catastrophe. What you're having is a disappointment,' " said Williams. "I told her that depends on what chair you're sitting in. It does feel like a catastrophe to me, because it is my life."
    -Roy Williams

    And you call a Coach K a bad person. Have fun with your narrow-minded prick.

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  41. I wasn't even an undergrad. I went to law school at Duke. And I feel you. I'm tired of the hate. I'm tired of having to take all of the criticism and say, "I know, I know, but not everyone from Duke is like that."

    When I meet new people, and I find out where they went to school, I make conversation. But the haters hate. When people find out I went to Duke, they flip out! Typical exchange - "I went to UNC." "Oh yeah? Cool. I love Chapel Hill. I went to law school at Duke and spent a lot of time down on Franklin Street." "FUCK DUKE." Well, thanks for making conversation.

    I just don't understand the rage.

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  42. Well said. I feel the same way, but in some ways this hatred makes Duke fans as a group as good of fans as we are. When you are constantly defending your own fandom you really have two options: apologize or man up and own it. It's easy to be a UNC fan, they make up the majority of the state and they are most people's bandwagon team. When you go to Duke and wear the Duke colors though, you have a target on your back. Fuck em though, we're the national champs.

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  43. Duke fans should just enjoy their title and not worry about sticking it to the haters. If you're more happy that haters are suffering than you are for your team winning then the haters are in your head and will be there indefinitely. I don't like Duke but I can't argue that Butler deserved to win. They missed 13 of 21 layups last night. That's horrible. They play unreal D but they can't hit water if they fell out of a boat and that's why they aren't champs. If you're a Duke fan, enjoy it. If you're a Duke hater, then you'll probably enjoy next season as dynasties are non-existent in today's college basketball.

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  44. Wow, a lot of haters show up and (shockingly!) totally miss the point. The "go fuck yourself" is this blogger's new RESPONSE to the irrational vitriol he encounters, not an attitude he's planning to walk around with and start conversations with.

    Also, what's with all the Tarheel commenters here thinking that "haters" means only them? Personally, Tarheel fans I've encountered have been nowhere near the a-holes that certain other fanbases have been (Terps, I'm looking at you...) and some Heels are pretty rational. But I bet Heels would go into "go fuck yourself" mode, too, after 10 years of what Duke fans have gone through. I mean, I've been told to "fuck off" in a McDonald's for crying out loud, just because I had a Duke hat on. WTF?

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  45. I'm a Maryland alum which also means I have an admittedly irrational and overbearing hatred of all things dook. I don't remotely condone the rioting of our students since 2001. I was in grad school in San Diego when we won our title. A few days after we won a classmate asked why I wasn't gloating.

    All I said was, "its called winning with class." Maybe, just maybe that's why so many people hate dook...amongst a million other reasons. So yes, thank you for telling me to go fuck myself. I have only agreed with one Krybaby statement. He said his goal each season is to win a national title, not a number one weekly ranking. So congrats on your ability to stay focused on the goal...to tell me to go fuck myself.

    As I told a dook friend earlier today, I almost felt bad when you were getting jobbed by the refs in the first half. Two things happened in the second half. First, the refs started calling an awful game both ways (although that still favored Butler). Second, I remembered the entirety of recorded human history and that karma does come around every so often.

    Regardless, I will offer a classic Krybaby smug admission of defeat, without admitting the superiority of an opponent...you wanted it more.

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  46. Duke will be back next year, bigger, better,and even stronger than this years team.GO Duke!!!!!!

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  47. Let the haters hate! Go Duke!

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  48. I agree that the 2002 team was sick. Jason Williams was unguardable that year. But an even better college team that didn't win it was dook in '99. Absolutely should have won it all, no question. If it weren't for good old Khalid El-Amin and Richard Hamilton that is...

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  49. Congrats Dookies, you backed into your championship and almost lost at the last second to a tiny school with even more average players than you. A comment above refers to dookies as fags, and I think thats unfair and am certain the Duke lacrosse players would be extremely offended.

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  50. You're going to argue that the Purdue team that Duke played was the same team that earned that bid? Hope you enjoyed that 33-32 first half of the National Championship; I think all of America was riveted. What a joke. Hope you're enjoying your Deadspin traffic, because you make your whole team and fan base look patently ridiculous.

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  51. It's very alarming, the blind hatred towards Duke. Like Coach K said, if you're going to hate us because our kids go to class, graduate, play hard, try to win, win and are good people then you've got a serious problem.
    That pretty much sums it up.

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  52. This pretty much sums it up

    --Duke Law '96

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  53. Jesus, I love all the comments about how Duke "backed into a title" and how Duke won "the weakest tournament in recent memory" from fans of a program that couldn't even make the field. I love the lectures on class from a school where students throw batteries. I love the remarks about how anybody could have won the Olympic title, even though the US had been embarrassed in recent Olympic competition until Coach K came along.

    Don't get it, do you, Tar Heel fans? You created all this. Your smugness and holier-than-thou attitude feeds this Duke mantra of "go f--- yourself." I've been in stores wearing a Duke sweater and cashiers have told me "Duke sucks." These are people who supposedly are involved in business. And supposedly want me to give them my money. In a recession.

    Tar Heels, your moral high ground, what's left of it, is eroding. It's not enough anymore to lean on that old canard of being "the people's school" to give you leverage to talk crap. UNC is like the playground bully, and Duke is like the kid he always picked on. Growing up, getting bigger, and coming back to kick his ass.

    Seriously, it's time to swallow hard and grow up. Things are going to get more difficult for you. Duke is going into next season as the preseason No. 1. They'll be more stacked and more talented than they were this year, and a favorite to win title No. 5. Enough with the blanket denials. No one wins six straight tournament games because they may have gotten a few calls or a beneficial matchup. It's time to accept reality. It's time to kiss the ring, bitches. You know, K's fourth. As many as Dean and Roy have won COMBINED.

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  54. You're absolutely right about that intentionally missed freethrow. Retarded. But the halfcourt shot didn't go down and we won. End of story. Thanks for posting this article, by the way. I've had enough of turning the other cheek to Duke haters. I still don't think it's classy to be preemptively obnoxious, and I don't think that's what you're advocating. But it's certainly within a fan's rights to repay abrasiveness in kind. An eye for an eye. On the other hand, I've also found incredible satisfaction in patronizing fans of clubs we've just obliterated. "You guys gave a great effort; good luck next season" often gets under people's skin more than "we just stomped a mudhole in your asses." Of course, when the subtlety is almost certain to be lost on the object (Maryland fans), a more overt taunting vehicle may be in order.

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  55. I came to school today fully decked out in Duke gear. Had I not been given shit all season for just simply going to Duke I wouldn't have done it, but those kids (who are my friends by the way) needed a giant Fuck You from me. Your article is now my manifesto. Thank you.

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  56. Love it. What the fuck have we been apologizing for all these years anyway? Like Colin Cowherd says, "If you can't find a reason to like Duke, that a YOU problem."
    We're Duke, you're not. Deal with it.

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  57. Clint 07, did you really say that? I'm hoping that was just your Tourettes acting up. Would you really classify that win over Butler as "stomping a mudhole in their asses", or obliterating them? Yeah, you won in "the closest championship game in 20 years". I know its kinda embarrassing to not have stomped Butler by 15, but the fact is that it came down to ONE possession and it could have gone either way. You got lucky.

    Not a UNC fan by the way, just fun to watch the dookie queers stutter and twitch.

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  58. "It makes me sick to see an abusive bully like Bobby Knight revered while Coach K gets trampled."

    They are the same person. This is what you don't see but others realize. Coach K is worse b/c he's taken all of Bobby Knight's qualities and wrapped them up in a prettier package, hides the undesirable qualities (still there, just hidden from the public), and has the same sanctimonious, persecution complex, bullying personality (to the refs) as his mentor. K's "they hate us because we win" sound a lot like Bush's "they hate us for our freedom". Both are BS

    "K is masterful at three things:

    1) Recruiting top players;
    2) Convincing the media that his highly recruited players lack talent; and
    3) Using the players he has to achieve his own success."

    This.

    I'm glad K is only concerned about wins and losses and his own success. Case in point, you have a 7'1" 260lbs monster inside who has just gotten healthy enough to contribute. He owns the offensive glass, but when he gets an offensive rebound he doesn't even look for an easy layup b/c he towers over everybody, he turns around and tries to find a 3-point shooter? WTF? I'm watching this thinking, K's strategy is costing this young man $$$$.

    For 25years K has made Duke bball about K. Great. When he retires, good luck. I'm seeing the program go the way of Depaul or Houston. Can't wait to see Coach Wojo bring back the floor slap.

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  59. Great read!!!! Go Duke!!!! Makes me happy when they hate!!!!

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  60. So are Deadspin readers the equivalent of those Republicans that scream "fag" all the time while making out with boys in airport restrooms? Seems that way from the way they've infected this thread so far since being dispatched by their boy Tommy.

    Anyone who's spent time in North Carolina as a student of any of the ACC schools understands the phenomenon described by SPR. Duke fans can try all they want to be polite and gracious, but there's an unrelenting sense of hatred and distrust from the rest of the state. Can't blame the poster for standing up for himself.

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  61. Ok, I just had to add one more comment.

    Those of you who use K's Olympic gold in 2008 as evidence of his superior coaching ability should really refrain from talking basketball.

    The 2008 US Olympic team is one of the two greatest basketball teams ever assembled. In my mind it's 50/50 which was greater, them or the original Dream Team. Just look down the roster. They had the best 2-3 players in the entire world at every position.

    PG - Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd - Only PG as good is Steve Nash and Canada sucks
    SG - Kobe, D Wade - Absolutely no one better at any position than those two except Lebron. Add in Michael Redd as the 3pt specialist
    SF - Lebron, Carmelo Anthony - Best player alive and 2nd best SF in the world. Add in Tayshaun Prince for D and glue guy
    F/C - Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer - Howard and Bosh are 1, 2 F/C's IMO and Boozer is one of the top 5 PF's in all of basketball today.

    A blind paraplegic squirrel could have led that team to Olympic Gold. They should have won every game by 30+ pts. Name one other country in the world with a roster that has even 2 top 5 players at their position.

    I hate the man with every ounce of my being, but Coach K is a phenomenal basketball coach. His success with the dook program speaks for itself. But lets not kid ourselves and pretend that his work with the Olympic team was anything extraordinary. They almost even blew it against Spain in the finals!

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  62. It isn't really Duke hating to question the style of basketball Duke plays. I was born in Duke hospital and married a Duke grad, and I sure don't hate Duke. I do not like excessive hand-checking, quick-flops to get charging called or leg-flailing on 3-point shots. It is contrived and would not pass muster in a pick-up game between friends. I felt the same about San Francisco's leg whips during their days atop the NFL.
    As to what really bones the anti-Duke crowd? Replay K's fight with the student newspaper, his pointed comments after Henderson hard-fouled Hansbrough, his assisitants recruiting with "you can play for the best or play against the best", his players claiming "only Duke can beat Duke", and the Crazies crossing the line with personal comments aimed at opponents who are still just kids.
    Certainly, most of this so-called hatred is between Duke and UNC. UNC's success spawned the ABC movement. Duke's success has for-sure spawned something with a little more vitriole.

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  63. Very true. HEEL FANS READ THIS AND THINK IF YOU HAD TO EVER DEAL WITH THIS: A few years ago my car bumper was smashed over my Duke bumper sticker. On a trip to Walmart I was told to "Take that shirt off or don't come in." At Panera I was told "Wow thats a risk wearing that here. You better hope we don't spit in your food" with a blanket smile on his face. Thats what you guys dont understand. Its not just hatred watching the game on tv. Its absurd irrational hatred that interferes with normal life. Think about it.

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  64. People who hate dook don't really care that the grads are smarmy and elitist. That is the problem. You think it is about YOU. We hate dook because it's head coach (and his wife) and ALL the players, save maybe Grant Hill, are elitist and smarmy and play an UGLY grab and hold style game that NO ONE outside durham enjoys watching. Katan is not only smarmy, he is a PRICK! No one likes him, not even most of his former players and he is only tolerated because he wins. He is NOT one of the good guys. We pull against dook because we can't bare the though of Katan having success. We hate dook basketball. We don't hate dook students. You didn't win a damn thing. You put in no work and you get no glory. Stop making it about YOU dook fan!!!

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  65. Disclaimer: I am a UNC alum. I enjoy watching Duke lose. I enjoy it immensely.

    The reason why this championship bothers me is not because of my rampant hate for Duke . Its because many other more-deserved Duke teams of the past (98, 02, 06) do not have national championships. This team just seems pedestrian when comparing them to those teams of the past. I can only rationalize that this is just karma coming back to reward Duke players and fans everywhere.

    So enjoy it while its here. You don't quite know what you've got, until it starts to slip away.

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  66. First for Danny, you seem like another classic UNC bandwagon fan. Reggie Bullshit said dawkins could not guard him, not irving who was actually in the same interview, and he said coach k looked like a rat not Singler. Its funny how you think your team is gonna change overnight because of 3 freshman. Let me tell you, harrison barnes is nothing more then a glorified lou deng. He is no lebron, carmelo or any other savior you wish he was. Reggie bullock is good, but hes just another head case shooting guard unc loves to recruit just like mcants and forte. kendall marshall? the most over rated point guard, he only made the mcdonalds team because he committed to unc. The kid going to state got shafted and everyone knows he is better then marshall. Roy Williams can not run his system unless he has a felton/lawson/vaughn type of gaurd that can move up the floor real fast. So maybe when you get one I will I might worry about UNC again. Speaking of point guard, most will say we have the best coming in and also dub him as the john wall of next year. I also love the easy road everyone claims we got to the championship. The team that was supposed to get the #1 seed instead of us, wva, we played and stomped the shit out of them, after they just beat the mighty kentucky. Of all final four teams, duke had to play the highest seeding total, add them all up, proof is there. Oh and Butler was such a easy team. They were only rated in the top ten preseason, finished 2nd, were on a 25 game winning streak, beat syracuse and k state on the way there,but since it wasnt a program that has such a popular name as KY or kansas or unc, it was a off year? So now it is duke's fault that there is parity among college basketball? That this ncaa tourney was weak now because Mid majors are for real now and not really cinderellas? If this tournament was so weak and bad, why was it up %34 viewer ratings then last year when the mighty UNC team won it? Oh and something for last post i just saw ranting about how coach k did nothing with that olympic team, and anyone could have with the roster. My question is why didnt Larry Brown do it when he had Lebron and carmelo and Tim Duncan???? We won the national title, acc reg season, acc tourney, undefeated at home, beat carolinas ass twice, in fact the second time we beat unc this year was the most a national returning champion had ever been beat by. It is foolish to even mention roy and K in the same sentence. Maybe if we finish at the bottom of the acc, have the worse record by a defending national champ( which would have to be worse then roys this year, current title holder) and lose in the nit next year you can compare them, but you know what, that aint happening. So UNC fan, go fuck yourself!!! Duke 2010 national champs!!!

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  67. Would you really classify that win over Butler as "stomping a mudhole in their asses", or obliterating them? Yeah, you won in "the closest championship game in 20 years."

    I didn't say anything about the Butler game in particular. I was thinking more about the 21 point beatdown we laid on WV and the countless other thrashings we dole out year after year. Learn to read, moron.

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  68. If ANYTHING Butler was gamed by the officials. Where is a Tim Donaghy? Is he a Dookie too? Cameron Cookies, The Rat and toothless billybob student populous...too bad Dookies don't know they're only special in their Dookie world. Too much Dookie from the Dookies...you chumps need to share a neuron or two amongst yourselves...Dookies.

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  69. You know, I was pointed to this article as another example of why to hate Duke. Oddly enough, I actually liked it. I completely get the attitude issue described here. In fact, I was 100% with you on the article (not on the game...Go Butler :-) until the part about how Duke allegedly got jobbed by the refs. Dude, whatever you're smoking...pass that shit around. The first comment did an excellent job of breaking it down, so I won't repeat it, but seriously...Duke never get's jobbed by the refs. If you keep saying that, nobody but a true blind Dukie will ever give you any credibility at all, because everyone knows it's true. Either way...congrats on the win. You're national champs, and I'm going to go fuck myself ;-)

    Jeff (Full disclosure: Boilermakers!)

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  70. Did Corey Maggette, Will Avery, and Elton brand go to class? Um, nope...K gave their parents jobs as well. Classy program.

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  71. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  72. You're not helping the outsider's view of Duke fans and the Duke nation, you're fueling it.

    You whine like my daughter- she's 3.5 months old. And, you seem to have about the same amount of perspective and worlview as hers- limited and foolish.

    I will say it's a shame that your boy didn't get knocked out on that pick at the end just so your favorite squad could be on the business end of a goon.

    The refs missed an easy goaltend, probably 7 fouls by Zoubek- specifically an elbow to the chin of Howard in the last minute, and didn't call an intentional foul on Thomas when he wasn't even looking at the ball. The best you could possibly say is that the officials were bad both ways (which they always are, they're officials). But, the objective viewer probably said the stripes were neck-deep in Emperor K's colon, as usual.

    You clearly don't understand what adversity is as a sports fan. That's OK, that once-again comes back to your narrow perspective. And please, all Duke fans, keep selling us on the idea that your 5 5-star players aren't talented...I'm sure we'll all start believing you soon!!

    Great takes.

    Like bureau13, I'm off to F myself!!
    Stay classy.

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  73. How do you expect us not to be haters when you are telling us to f*** ourselves??? I'm just saying. Congratulations on winning the national championship by the way.

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  74. Since it's the only counter argument I ever hear to my statement that coaching the 2008 Olympic team was a joke, I will address it here:
    ==================
    "My question is why didnt Larry Brown do it when he had Lebron and carmelo and Tim Duncan????"
    ==================

    It boils down to a combination of 2 things. Either without the other would have significantly increased the likelihood of a gold medal.
    1) The guards were Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson.
    2) The team was very young because the good veterans chose not to play.

    First off, anyone who thought putting Iverson and Marbury on a team together was a good idea is smoking crack. That singlehandedly could might have taken away any hope of gold.
    Second, where was Shaq? Where was Kobe? Where was Vinsanity? Ray Allen? Paul Pierce? Kevin Garnett? Jason Kidd? A few of those veteran players and they might have been able to exert some veteran leadership. Tim Duncan is a quiet leader unfortunately those can get drowned out by the noise of franchise killers like iverson and marbury.

    Here are the ages for that team:
    Iverson 29, Duncan 28, Marbury 27, Shawn Marion 26, Odom 24, Richard Jefferson 24, Boozer 22, DWade 22, Okafor 21, Amare 21, Melo 20, Lebron 19

    The team was too young to handle the nuclear bomb of Iverson and Marbury and it lacked the talent to make up for it. It is a completely different situation from what happened in the 2008 Olympics.

    OK, I'm done.

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  75. A post that reads like a Tea Party screed. Could have just boiled it down to "I imagine myself to be oppressed and therefore will use that delusion as a platform to lash out at the vast conspiracy against me."

    Really, that's what most people find so annoying about Duke's program and players like JJ (who was a legit baller): that they imagine themselves to be significant enough in anyone's mind to be hated and comport themselves as such.

    Coach K is one of the greatest ever. Duke is a tremendous program. The persecution complex doesn't jive with that and as a result is incredibly fucking annoying.

    So from this "hater", an invitation for Duke players yet to come to STFU with the woe-is-me and play the game without writing shitty poetry about it.

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  76. University of New Jersey at Durham - you don't even make sense moron.

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  77. If you offered UNC fans some good will last year and they didn't respond in kind this year, that's low-class on their part. No question.

    I'm a lifelong Yankees fan and several of my friends root for the Red Sox. We can always talk baseball and appreciate what's worth appreciating on the other person's team. I would never celebrate the Sox winning anything, but I'm glad to see my friends happy, and that works for us. So yes, it can be done.

    As for the rest, well, I'm glad Coach K has momentarily run out of things to complain about.

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  78. Cathartic column -- thank you!

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  79. Excellent post! I am a proud Dukie! I did not grow up in the US, came for grad school from a third world country thanks to the generosity of Duke! Never knew much about basket ball but was inspired by the passion of the students at Duke and today Duke is a part of my identity. So to all those who claim Duke is a school for rich white kids, go fuck yourself multiple time over!

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  80. Good article. Too much whining from all the Duke haters......whatever happened to just enjoying sports? Some people waste their time by over analyzing things that would make someone crazy. Get a life haters. Enjoy life and sports, and get used to hearing Duke is the NCAA national champion. Go Duke!

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  81. Fantastic blog post. I've passed it along to all my fellow Dukies.

    When eloquence doesn't work and the high road is rough, get down and dirty. Just like this year's hoops team

    For all the Coach K haters, he's the coach of the USA national team. Think about that before you continue bashing.

    Go Duke: 2010 National Champs.

    To the haters, once more for good measure:
    GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

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  82. I would argue that Northern Iowa/UNLV was the toughest 8/9. Northern Iowa for what it did. UNLV because it beat Louisville.

    And as a UNLV fan, I have no love for the Dooks. At least my hate is rational.

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  83. My brother and dad went to Duke, we live in north carolina and their hobbies on the weekends are fishing and hunting. We work in the furniture business and live in a small city. Does that sound like a smart elitest attitude?

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  84. Wow, a post is written by a Dookie homer after Duke won the National Title to bitch about how Dookies are treated and to tell everyone else to Fuck off. And you think you don't deserve to be hated when you behave this way? You think that all that hate out there against Duke came before the Dookie arrogance and sense of entitlement was present?!? Your team won the National Championship and yet you are still whining about the refs jobbing Duke?!? It is simply unbelievable how warped reality is for the people that pull for Duke.

    I have met one Duke Fan in over 30 years that did not act like a complete ass after less then 30 minutes of conversation about basketball, and I'm including my own mother in that group. Not one Dookie offered a congratulations to me last year or in 05, and again I'm including my own mother in that group. You have really managed to put the cart before the horse if you think that your behavior and the Dookie's behavior is justified by everyone's hate. And you people think we Tarheel fans are arrogant and smug? Please take the beam out of thine own eye before complaining of the splinter in mine.

    You Dookies aren't really trying to build a dynasty on THIS team are you? Really?!? Be thankful you won a title this year and hope you can get to a Sweet 16 next year. This team worked hard, overachieved and excelled beyond anyone's wildest expectations. It didn't hurt that they were given a gift in the seeding, or that their main competition folded like a bunch of cheap suits in the tourney. Don't expect the same thing next year or you will only set yourself up for disappointment.

    They only thing more laughable then those posters with predictions of greatness for next year based on this year's performance is the poster referring to Dean Smith and Carolina as chokers. Gee I don't think UNC has ever choked away a lead in a title game like Duke did against Louisville in 86 or against UConn in 02. Hmmm, let me check the stat sheets to see who won the head to head won/lost record between K and Smith, oh yeah that's right it was Dean. Well maybe K has a lead against ol Roy then, nope Roy is beating him too. Oh well at least he got that idiot Doh and hold over loyalty hire Guthridge beat.

    I do want to thank all of you Dookies though for reminding my why I so dislike you. Your arrogance, narcissism, petulance, and elitist attitude have never been displayed better then they have on this blog entry and comments section.

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  85. May I take a moment to point out the vast differences in spelling and grammar between Duke supporters and Duke "haters?" Ah, how sweet it is to be educated :)
    My favorite was the guy who described Duke as having a "toothless billybob student populous." Fun with homonyms! At least the above quote proves that not *everyone* thinks Duke is full of elitists - just the people who can spell.
    (Oh, wait, did that come off as arrogance? My bad :P)
    In all seriousness, though, the hate gets absurd. I've seen adults be rude to my eight-year-old sister about wearing a Duke shirt. Really, y'all? Get some class. Can you blame us if incidents like that one make us defensive?

    Now can I get a "GO DUKE"?

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  86. Go University of New Jersey at Durham!

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  87. Whew, good thing Duke was able to fight through the adversity of Jim Nantz's comments and the Hoosiers Theme song...

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  88. Well put sir. As an incoming freshman to Duke that didn't give 2 shits about college basketball before my acceptance letter came in, I'm quickly getting used to the unyielding hate you wrote about.

    Like you said, fuck off Duke haters. From the beginning of the tournament everyone counted Duke out. If we got past Louisville we would struggle and quite possibly be upset against Texas A&M, a Hummel-less Purdue, or Siena. If by some miracle we made it to the elite eight we would be for sure taken down by Nova. If God himself put on a Duke jersey and Duke managed to beat Nova we would likely be dominated by Kentucky, but WVU wouldn't have trouble with us either. And if Duke managed to pay CBS and the NCAA enough to pull some strings and make it to the championship we would without a doubt lose to Kansas or Syracuse, or any of the teams that were likely to pull a big win including MSU, OSU, Gtown, Butler, Xavier, or Kstate.

    But guess what? We won it all. You can say we got lucky that all of the other #1's were knocked out early. But is that really the case? Did Kentucky, KU, and Cuse get unlucky when they lost? No, they got outplayed.

    Did Duke get lucky that Nova got taken down by St Marys in the second round? No, seeing how Nova barely made it past Robert Morris in the first round, you're a jackass if you say Duke never could have beaten Nova.

    It's called March madness people. You're record during the season is what gets you in, but once you're in its talent, coaching, and how hard you play that wins you games.

    This years Duke team was a great team. There was no star that carried Duke. Sure, Singler was the MOP, but when he had couldn't score a point from the field against Purdue, Smith and Scheyer came up big. When the team needed a big lift to help separate themselves from their opposition a Zoubek putback or a Plumlee dunk helped lift the team. And lets not forget about Lance Thomas or Andre Dawkins. LT's defense stifled other teams flow all tournaments, and he came up with some big points against Butler. As a young Freshman Dawkins came in and gave Duke 2 extremely helpful shots from the perimeter one game.

    And Jordan Davidson. Here's a guy who's a grad student. Coach K told him he'd be glad to have him back, but he still wasn't likely to play unless something happened to a starter. He told Coach K he didn't care, and if something did happen that he could count on him. You can't tell me that he's some arrogant elitist prick. You can't hate on his 3 in the last minute against WVU. That's character for you.

    Duke definitely wasn't the team in the tournament with the most God-given talent. But is that who you wanted to see lift the trophy? A team with the most talent or a Cinderella?

    Get over yourself. This was not an arrogant undeserving team that won. There wasn't one Grevis Vazquez like figure on this team. This was a hardworking team that fought every minute to come out on top. This was a team that was recognized as being "okay but not good enough" by everyone at the start of the tournament, a team that "could win at home, but thats about it." This team came up with 2 HUGE road wins. To be fair, every game in the tournament that wasn't against a small school might as well have been in away game for Duke since every crowd was cheering against Duke regardless of what school they cared for.

    Keep saying that "Fluke" won the tournament, and that there's no way Duke will get that lucky again next year. If Singler doesn't jump expect to see us in the finals again next year. And if Singler does jump, well, expect to see us in the finals again next year anyways. Curry, Irving, the Plumlees, Smith, Hairston, and Dawkins? Yeah they're ok, but probably not talented enough to beat anyone good. Oh... wait.
    Keep hatin' and we'll keep winnin'.
    Sincerely,
    Duke '14

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  89. I've gotta disagree with having Zoubs miss his last foul shot a stupid idea on Coach K's part. That type thing is what makes him a great coach: Balls. He wanted the win, not the tie. He didn't want his team to have to start over against an increasingly loud hostile crowd.

    Having Zoubs miss his shot was a great idea. First of all at 7 foot, theres a good chance that hes able to get his own rebound. Second, Hayward got it and Zoubek was right there behind him already planted, and almost could have gotten a foul. Third, it caused the clock to keep running and prevented any Laetner-like 3's. And finally, he had faith in his team.

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  90. Nobody teaches the whine and the flop like Ratface. Basically, nobody is a dirtier coach than Ratface. He should get an Academy Award nomination for all that crying he did on the sidelines.
    Here's the bottom line on dookie fans: if they win (which they did) they whine about how persecuted they are, if they lose, they whine about how the refs were against them. The proof is in most of the posts above. I'd be interested in how many folks at Duke end up majoring in martyrdom.

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  91. hayward. it's gordon hayward.
    that is all.

    "dick sargent! it was dick sargent!..."

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  92. Awesome article. All the haters have to live with a duke national title for the next year. End of story!

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  93. I love how everyone thinks Duke is all upper class rich bastards. We're not.

    Case and point: me. I don't come from a wealthy family. My dad made less than $25000 this year. I'm not a minority or from the ghetto. I'm probably directly in the middle of the middle class. I'm going to Duke on a full scholarship (that's $52000 for ya). Not a merit, athletic, or academic scholarship. A scholarship due to the promise Duke makes to cover whatever financial aid you need. I can't afford it at all, but I got in, so I'm not paying a thing.

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  94. I am a UNC grad and proud of it. Let me first say congratulations on being undefeated for the last 3 weeks -- for winning 6 games in a row. You are national champs, and no amount of hostility can take that from you. Congrats.

    As for the (much) earlier comment about the class of my players -- 2 points. 1) Christian "Stompy" Laetner - Stepped on Amani Timberlake's chest in the classic against Kentucky. By the way, he's the only UK player who wouldn't have stomped him. Watch the UNC-Dook game from CH that year - He also purposely stepped on Brian Reese's head. 2) If you are counting T's Wallace career has been longer than most of your players added together (Hurley, Laetner, Ferry, Dawkins, Amaker, Alarie, Bilas,...)

    As for the "class" of other fans - dookies are the ones who threw condoms and Pizza boxes at players.

    As for a hard year for Roy and UNC - At least Roy didn't take Coach Krybaby's lead and fake a back injury in order to hang his assistant coach out to dry. That's loyalty for you! Anyone even know where Pete Gaudet is now????

    All that said -- Congratulations again. You handled your business.

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  95. I don't understand all this argument about whether or not Duke was a good team or a great. There is National Championship tournament for a reason, it's exciting and the best teams rise to the top under the pressure of the national spot light. If you want to crown a championship based on pure speculation, just acknowledge the preseason #1 team and save yourself a lot of time.

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  96. To all those out there who say that all Duke students are upper middle class white kids, I just want to say that 10 years ago I wasn't sure if my family was going to be able to eat, let alone afford to stay in our home, and next year I'm going to be going to Duke, because it's one of maybe ten schools in the nation that's willing to give good students the fifty thousand dollars it now costs to get an education.

    Secondly, to all those who say that Duke students aren't discriminated against without cause: I saw my cousin last summer for the first time in about seven years, and upon hearing that I was interested in Duke, she stopped speaking to me. Why would a 22 year old feel such a compulsion to hate her seventeen year old cousin who she doesn't really know? Because she goes to UNC.

    I'm not quite at the point where I feel the need to tell everyone to go fuck themselves, but I would like to ask that they take a step back and ask themselves if they are really being fair to Duke's population, or if they are blindly lumping us all together into a giant stereotype.
    -L

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  97. Dude, you GET it. This is amazing insight, and a wonderful piece. Congratulations! Also, I think this is the start of a great period of Duke-UNC. Both have epic classes that will mature against each other at the same time. I love it, I'm excited. Long live the kings!

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  98. Thank you for writing this! You are so right!!! GO DUKE!

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  99. You Duke fans really have an overdeveloped sense of persecution.

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  100. Tar Holes need to go back to their mountain caves.

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  101. It's so cute watching the little dukies get all bent out of shape. Poor wittle babies, I don't know how you deal with all that persecution. I'm a UNC fan who congratulated all of my duke fan friends and family when they won, never really heard anything from them but whining last year. Had a friend send his duke fans congratulatory texts, they send back "Fuck UNC". Nice. Now we've got this jackass blogger saying his mantra is "go fuck yourself." Nice. Know what my mantra was last year? "Hooray, we won the championship!" Grow the fuck up.

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  102. I'm not sure the UNC fans on this page understood the tenor of the argument. Simply put, the author believes that when you are under constant and irrational persecution, you you can do one of two things. You can crumble to the opposition, or you can develop a cocky veneer to withstand the onslaught.

    As a Duke graduate myself, I understand his rationale (which was skillfully and logically crafted). At times, I have myself given into the "you know what, fuck you" sentiment. Because feeling like the innocent villain ALL THE TIME grows tiresome. We were picked against all season (three of five of the ESPN analysts even picked BUTLER in the final). We were doubted all season ("alarmingly unathletic"). And we just kept winning. With good hearted, smart, and team-first basketball players. And Coach K gives hundreds of thousands to charity, graduates near 100 percent of his players, and coaches with passion for his school and his country. So, to us, it feels easy to say "fuck yourself."

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  103. PS. My post doesn't justify saying it. I for one try to simply rise above the fray. Because fact of the matter, both of those programs (UNC and Duke) are GREAT. Carolina has the much richer basketball history overall, and Duke has a slightly richer basketball history in the modern era (in my opinion, at least).

    But to be quite honest, when you DON'T address the opposition, when you try to "rise above it"... that's when you are truly hated. That's when people say you are immeasurably smug.

    Which is why the author's last paragraph was so brilliant. "The cycle of hatred." Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

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  104. I would just like to thank you for writing this post, but not because it was in any sense reasonable, or because it was anything more than mindless dribble from an individual lacking grace and feeling some false sense of entitlement. I appreciated this post because the post along with the comments has brought to me a new realization about the rivalry itself. My girlfriend attends Duke and I attend UNC. I'm not one for blind hatred, and in fact, I have a great amount of respect for Duke as an institution. It is very hard for me to respect their basketball program/fanbase, however, because although they are a phenomenal program in terms of productivity and success, they play a very dirty style (i.e. Gerald Henderson's infamous punch). Additionally, I find it difficult to find compassion for a fanbase, however hated, that chants "orphan" at a player whose parents had recently died in a car crash, "she said no" at a player whose girlfriend had recently turned down his wedding proposal, and make signs that read things like "JR can't Reid" which is nothing short of a racist jab (I like how Dean handled this one). That said, this post and the ensuing comments creates a clear dichotomy between those who are capable of being gracious (from both UNC and Duke) and those who take the rivalry to level of aggression where they only serve to paint themselves as stereotypes of arrogance or blind hatred (from both UNC and Duke). I'd like to congratulate Duke on their championship. The squad was great this year, though I wouldn't go so far as to say one of the greatest (don't kid yourselves: as much as I respect the talent and determination of this Duke squad, the field was weak this year). I'd also like to point out that, as has been frequently aforementioned, this post is a clear cut example of why people hate Duke, and a number of the comments that say things to the effect of "fuck off! national champs bitches!" or take personal attacks at Dean and Roy simply corroborate. I have seen a lot of legitimate discourse in between the hate spewing absurdity on this comments board from Duke students delivered in a polite and reasonable way. If all students, Duke and UNC alike, would adopt this method of discourse, and this conception of the rivalry, not only would we cease to be the two most hated teams in college basketball, but the blind hatred between our student bodies could dissipate. Don't get me wrong. I will hate Duke basketball until the cows come home, but that doesn't mean I hate everyone from Duke.

    Until next year.

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  105. Absolutely PERFECT. DUKE DUUUUUUUUUUUKE!

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  106. I'm no Duke fan. But that is one awesome article.
    Leroy Corso, webmaster@carolinsucks.com

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  107. People that hate Duke for the most part are Southern Baptists from North Carolina. These people are the most hypocritical people on the face of the planet. Their religion is one that has the worst track record of racism and bigotry. Coincidentally that is exactly what they see in the Duke basketball program.

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  108. In retrospect, Duke's road was an easy one in 2010, and these NCAA basketball titles are worth less as more and more of the best players shun college. Coach K is a great coach and leader, but I'll go with Nick Saban as the best in any sport.

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  109. Took me months to find this, but this is the greatest thing I've ever read on the topic of Duke hate, and I wish I could've written it.

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  110. Worth a re-read after last night - champions again, and Bo Cryin's whining/ GFY!

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