They really do have alot of white guys...
So March Madness is over...it was an amazing tournament with buzzer beaters, overtimes, wild upsets and other nuggets of drama. The most telling story of the 2010 tourney has to be the Butler Bulldogs. This little school from Indy made it all the way to the final game and in their backyard, almost won it all. A halfcourt shot from their best player clanged just a little too hard off the backboard and rim...that shot goes in, and we defintely have a Hoosiers sequel. The reaction around the country was a collective groan, as not only did the cinderella team fall short, but the hated Duke Blue Devils won for the second time in ten years.
Why Duke is so hated is a mystery to some in sports media and radio chatter. Well, it's not really a mystery, but some people are afraid to say it: race and class. Yesterday, I was mentally calculating the number of championships between rivals Duke and the more multicultural North Carolina since 1993, and it turns out that UNC has more championships and final fours than the Blue Devils during that time. Until this year, Michigan Michigan State had as many championships and more Final Fours in the last ten years. Hell, even my home state Uconn Huskies have as many championships as Duke since '99.
But the common thread that Duke has all these years is that they're all white, middle-class guys who look like they could sing in the Blue Devil choir as much as hit daggering three pointers. The high academic standards and out-of-state student body suggests they're not an everyman's school as well, like the aforementioned UNC (which is, in fact, a very upscale school with very high standards). Oh, and their coach is a ratty looking guy who has a funny voice and name. OK, point taken on all them - I mean, after all, who wants a bunch of straight-laced looking white dudes and their preppy fans to beat you? This is why I hated Duke and the Celtics in days gone by. But let me argue a few points as to why you should be in the Duuukies cheering section for the 2010-11 season:
They play hoops the right way - since sometime in the 1990s, everyone who has stepped on a basketball court has tried to be like Mike. This has resulted in playground hoops taking over organized basketball. But Duke continues to move without the ball, pass, find the open man, play defense and hustle. You have to respect a team that knows how to, well, play like a team.
They're actually student-athletes (most of them)- it aint sexy, but you can imagine these guys actually going to class. Believe that? Plus, I can't imagine it's a walk in the park to hang in there as a student-athlete at Duke. Media types praise athletes at Stanford and Notre Dame for their academic prowess, but Duke players get spit on because they can pull out a big win and ace an exam on the same day.
They're more an everyman team than you think - sure, alot of players are top-notch all-Americans and highly recruited, but the players who really fit in at Duke are the little guys who do big things. You could go on forever naming role players who made a huge difference at Duke. This is the program that pretty much invented the art of taking a charge.
No off-the-court issues - when was the last time you heard of a Duke player, at least during his college years, getting arrested or suspended for team violations? For some reason, people don't like squeaky clean, but it's refreshing when you hear about players arrested for burglary and domestic assault.
Don't buy the favoritism thing - and if you do, the same applies for North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky and every other top program in the country. If you believe the conspiracy theory that Duke gets all the calls and breaks because they're good for ratings, you can't say those other teams aren't just as compelling. Plus, it's probably not true anyway. Game fixing happens in the pros.
No (known) recruiting issues - again, any problems with the NCAA? Not that we hear. Some conspiracy theorists may say this is an example of the powers that be protecting Duke, but you have to imagine someone would dig up something over almost 30 years of Coach K success.
Cameron Crazies - give me a better student body fan base in college sports. Nowhere. Every other college basketball (and many football) fans mimic...no, copy...no, rip off cheers and psych-out techniques from Duke fans. They sleep out all semester in tents to watch the UNC game - how many places you think they do that in the country? Plus, tiny little Cameron Indoor has stayed around all these years, even after more than 12 final fours and three championships.
Coach K - the guy that oversees all this success is more than just a soundbite who flauts his political clout across campus like most coaches. He actually comes across as a likeable guy that many people love to hate for no other reason than he looks, acts and sounds dorky. For all the hate you pile on Coach K, would you rather have him or his mentor, the insane Bob Knight?
They're not pro material - this comes back to the 'everyman' status, but most Duke stars don't exactly light it up in the pros. They're known as being the team where players still stay four years. Sure, frustrating to ACC rivals, but it's so refreshing in a day when college is just a one-year stopoff to the NBA. College basketball needs a team like Duke to reinforce that it's a wonderfully imperfect game played by talented, hustling guys who sometimes look like choir boys. Then they hit a three and strike a dagger in your team's heart.
