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America Needs Duke - to win. |
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Written by Wendall Stevens
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Monday, 19 March 2007 |
I overheard a colleague of mine, a rabid Carolina Tar Heel fanatic boldly state, " There is nothing in the world greater than a Carolina win except a Duke loss!" That statement inspired me, a totally neutral basketball fan of the game to pen this article.
After watching Coach K march off the floor pi_ _ed off last night in utter disgust I can't help but being dismayed and disappointed myself because one of most recognized brands in sports is out of the best elimination tournament in all of athletics. The NCAA Tourney just doesn't seem the same, does it? Yeah, yeah, I know if you’re a Carolina, Maryland fan or any other Duke hater from around the country you're happy. But are you really???
I have come to the conclusion that America needs Duke. America needs Duke to win. Fast. America needs Duke to win so the haters can hate harder. It would seem better if Duke could've put up a fight in the tourney so the hate could build, and build into a climax until they reach the Final Four. Oh boy, you can feel the hate! All the other competitors hate Duke so they play harder because Coach K didn't recruit them. The haters watch TV, raising the ratings, hoping that Duke gets squashed like a bug. I simply don't believe Duke haters wanted them to get eliminated this early.
Duke didn't put up much of a fight at all this year and it was like ho-hum. Duke got no real respect on the road because they're not good enough to hate. Carolina dogged them twice, Virginia Tech beat them, Maryland smacked em' around so what's the use? Duke has at least three or four All-Americans on their team but you would never know it by watching them this year. If Duke doesn't get good fast people will begin to give them pity points and that’s just not good for TV and the nation. America needs Duke to win. America needs Duke to win the Duke way so we can have a good, healthy balance of love and hate.
Duke haters remember Christian Laettner? Remember the last second shot againstKentucky? Remember Bobby Hurley? OOOh, yeah, that Hurley. ESPN Classics keep showing that Laettner shot over and over and the Duke hate grows more and more intense. Remember J.J. Redick? Remember how he used to go on the road and hit 40 in other people's gyms? OOOOh the hate was so deliciously good. They hated Duke all the way until LSU stopped them. Whew! Someone beat them!
Like the Dallas Cowboys of football, New York Yankees of baseball, and Kobe Bryant of basketball, Duke draws out the thin line of love and hate. When the Cowboys win, the Redskin nation hates it. When the Yankees win, the Red Sox fans hate them. When Duke wins, the Tar Heel, Terrapin, and entire Duke hater nation hates them.
America needs Duke to win with fundamental basketball. We need Duke to win with clean cut upstanding college kids with good SAT scores who hustle, play defense, and hit last second shots to beat pretenders to the throne. America needs Duke to rebound, play smart, hit free throws, and play as a team. We need Duke to run thru the ACC like a hot knife thru butter and meet Maryland in College Park or Carolina in Chapel Hill. We need to see Coach K recruit McDonald All-Americans and teach them to play basketball "The Duke Way" only to see them become marginal players at best in the NBA so the haters can point and say I told you so. Then we need for Duke to recruit and win again, and again, and again. Why? Because it makes for great theatre.
Oh, yeah, and the Cameron Crazies? They're a brand onto themselves. Yeah they're the kids with the 1600 SAT scores who will be future doctors operating on Duke haters with bad hearts. So I think its wise to love them.
By the way, I understand Duke has lined up a fine recruiting class for next year including the names Taylor King of Santa Ana, CA (Meter Dei) and Nolan Smith of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA.
In the immortal words of Oakland Raider president Al Davis, "Just Win Baby."Win Duke, its good for America.
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