Why You Should Be A Duke Basketball Fan
Duke Basketball is a hated, elitist school that earned that reputation by being ridiculously good for decades on end all while running a squeaky clean program. They also have an intelligent, rabid fan base and bitter rivalry considered the best in their sport and arguably the best in all of college sports. Sound familiar? There is one other striking similarity that should provide some hope to Michigan Football fans. Mike Krzyzewski.
Krzyzewski attended West Point where he played basketball under a legendary coach (Bob Knight) later returning to be the head coach himself. After a few very solid years he was offered a dream job at Duke University in 1980, taking over for Bill Foster. Foster was somewhat of a legend (He was no Vic Bubas) at Duke having just gone 73-24 his last 3 seasons including the ACC Coach of the Year in 1978 after reaching the NCAA Championship game. After an up and down season in 1979-80 that saw his star foward injured (Kenny Dennard), Foster retired from Duke and moved to Seattle.
Krzyzewski's first season did not go well. After making the NCAA tournament the past 3 years, and winning at least 1 game each time, Duke stumbled to a ACC 5th place finish with a 17-13 record and a first round NIT loss. Year number 2 was even worse finishing 6th in the ACC with a 10-17 overall record. The natives started to become restless and talk of firing Krzyzewski started swirling. Year 3 was definitely a do or die scenario for many alumni. How did Krzyzewski respond? 11-17 with a 7th place ACC finish (they only had 8 teams in the ACC at the time).
University supporters were furious and calling for Krzyzewski's head. There was no progress being made, 2 sub-.500 seasons, they were going backwards in the conference standings, what an embarrassment! Tom Butters (Duke AD at the time) was under fire from every angle to get rid of Coach K and bring in someone that knew what they were doing. Butters resisted though. He would not be dissuaded from Krzyzewski's first 3 years of limited success, he knew it would turn around if people would just be patient.
The very next year (83-84), Duke found itself in the NCAA 2nd round. Same thing in 1984-1985. the next 7 out of 9 years found Duke in the Final Four winning 2 championships (1991 and 1992) and being the runner-up 3 other times (1986, 1990, 1994).
Mike Krzyzewski fought through poor performance and alumni scorn for 3 sub-par seasons before becoming one of the most successful programs in all of college sports. I can't help but see Michigan Football taking the same arc and because of that, I say "Go Duke".
Krzyzewski attended West Point where he played basketball under a legendary coach (Bob Knight) later returning to be the head coach himself. After a few very solid years he was offered a dream job at Duke University in 1980, taking over for Bill Foster. Foster was somewhat of a legend (He was no Vic Bubas) at Duke having just gone 73-24 his last 3 seasons including the ACC Coach of the Year in 1978 after reaching the NCAA Championship game. After an up and down season in 1979-80 that saw his star foward injured (Kenny Dennard), Foster retired from Duke and moved to Seattle.
Krzyzewski's first season did not go well. After making the NCAA tournament the past 3 years, and winning at least 1 game each time, Duke stumbled to a ACC 5th place finish with a 17-13 record and a first round NIT loss. Year number 2 was even worse finishing 6th in the ACC with a 10-17 overall record. The natives started to become restless and talk of firing Krzyzewski started swirling. Year 3 was definitely a do or die scenario for many alumni. How did Krzyzewski respond? 11-17 with a 7th place ACC finish (they only had 8 teams in the ACC at the time).
University supporters were furious and calling for Krzyzewski's head. There was no progress being made, 2 sub-.500 seasons, they were going backwards in the conference standings, what an embarrassment! Tom Butters (Duke AD at the time) was under fire from every angle to get rid of Coach K and bring in someone that knew what they were doing. Butters resisted though. He would not be dissuaded from Krzyzewski's first 3 years of limited success, he knew it would turn around if people would just be patient.
The very next year (83-84), Duke found itself in the NCAA 2nd round. Same thing in 1984-1985. the next 7 out of 9 years found Duke in the Final Four winning 2 championships (1991 and 1992) and being the runner-up 3 other times (1986, 1990, 1994).
Mike Krzyzewski fought through poor performance and alumni scorn for 3 sub-par seasons before becoming one of the most successful programs in all of college sports. I can't help but see Michigan Football taking the same arc and because of that, I say "Go Duke".
A very similar argument could be made for rooting for Notre Dame football.
You only root for Goliath when you are Goliath. I'll root for Duke against dirty elite programs (Kentucky...), but nobody else.
I think you may have missed the point here. Rodriguez and Coach K have followed strikingly similar career paths and seem to still be doing so. Who are you referring to at Notre Dame?
...but I'll be rooting for Butler to become the first mid-major conference member to win an NCAA MBB championship since UNLV in 1990.
I've heard the mid-major thing thrown around a lot with Butler. I would argue though that they aren't mid-major, they have to be low-major, right? When I think mid-major I think MVC, MAC, WAC, A-10, C-USA... The rest of the Horizon's final four was Wisconsin Green Bay, Wright State, and U of D. That's low major in my mind.
Excellent point, KT. You may be right.
We might not have to worry about rooting for Duke if Coach K take the Nets job.
I went to North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Go sell crazy somewhere else because under no circumstances should I be a Dook basketball fan.
The Notre Dame of college basketball....accept they actually win.
Because otherwise, this wouldn't be awesome.
But I still hate Duke, just like everyone else that will continue to hate Michigan (even if they're Duke fans).
Duke losing tonight will not affect RichRod's success. Therefore, I choose to not sell my soul to the devil root for Duke.
if Duke loses tonight, I will $50 from my work NCCA bracket pool....If they win my boss's (who graduated from Duke) daughter (who is in grade school) wins the pool and I am out of the money. Even though Coach K is a fine Pollock like myself, I am rooting for the under"dogs" tonight... Go Butler....
Coach K struggled early, then succeeded. Happens a lot in sports. But please never compare Michigan to Duke. Duke isn't hated because they're good, but because they're such tools. Michigan State, UConn, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, etc. aren't despised nationally, and their programs are as good or better than Duke's.
And Andrew Sharp and I would contest that "squeaky clean" line:
http://www.sbnation.com/2010/4/2/1398649/duke-final-four-2010-ncaa-tour…
That was a good article, thanks for the link.
What I will root for is a Coach K-like turnaround for Rodriguez. That is worth rooting for.
My dad went to Duke and I grew up cheering rabidly for them. I can still name all the starting lineups from 99-07. When I chose Michigan over Duke for college I found that the two fan bases are very similar. Outside of the Cameron Crazies, most of whom don't know anything about basketball, Duke fans are some of the most knowledgeable and die hard. Not to mention they are constantly battling national hatred from outside the fan base. I'm not saying you should cheer for Duke, but they are a similar group of fans.
Or are you bad at writing? Or am I missing something?
"Outside of the Cameron Crazies, most of whom don't know anything about basketball, Duke fans are some of the most knowledgeable and die hard."
Aren't Cameron Crazies Duke fans? Isn't most of a school's fans knowing something about basketball a necessary condition for that school's fans to be "some of the most knowledgeable"?
Despite this apparent confusion/idiocy, Duke sucks. They don't deserve to win nearly as many games as they do. Their antiquated style of being patient, pounding the ball inside, and making jump shots (this actually is a similarity between our two schools, but of course only pertaining to basketball) has found them unable to make substantial runs in the tournament recently, mainly due to their lack of athleticism. This year seems to be an exception to that rule, but I honestly believe that they luckily, narrowly, avoided the chance to play the more athletic, elite, college basketball teams, to whom they would surely have lost.
A classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=119YpI9fSwo&feature=related
The Cameron Crazies are the student section. In recent years they have become more concerned with looking cute on TV than basketball. The students aren't very knowledgeable, but the vast majority of alumni who continue to follow the team after graduation are. So are the non alumni fans.
I knew that the Cameron Crazies were the student section, I was just confused with your apparent contradiction. Thanks for the neg, though.
Too hard to root for Duke. Sorry.
I will never root for them. A big reason is because I've always really liked North Carolina but also because of Duke's fanbase. Can't stand them.
I know Bob Knight (not really) and Coach K is no Bob Knight. Bob Knight could say "Fuck" without first talking to his image consultant.
I'll never root for Duke...I'll never do it. Sweetest thing was watching ESPN replay the thrashing by UNLV the other night. Larry Johnson was THE MAN!
was a trouncing for the ages
Nothing you say convinces me to root for Duke. Ever since the now non-existent Fab Five lost to Duke and UNC in back to back final fours I have remained faithfully xenophobic toward North Carolina - the whole state is dead to me. I hoped Butler would win tonight, but since they did not I will main in perpetual ennui until such time as I can celebrate crushing defeat of either school once again.
When I saw the topic I was sure this had to be a joke. Incredibly it appears it is not.
I saw an interview with Coach K the other day where he was speculating on the great fortunes that would accrue to Butler from being in this game. Fair enough - kudos to Butler.
He then went on to say, and I am paraphrasing but this was without doubt the gist of it:
"...30 years ago Duke was considered one of the top universities in the south. Now Duke is considered one of the elite universities in the world. See what we (really I) have done?"
Too much....
So clearly the point of this diary was overlooked due to my title. I was trying to show how Rich Rod is closely following Coach K's career arc (so far) and how we will be winning many championships in no time. On second look, I guess "Why you should be a Duke fan" may have been a little misleading? Great, now I feel all freep-ish and guilty about this.
Can't wait for the 7 out of 9 Final Fours.
I'll root for Duke when I get hit on the head so hard I decide it is fun to cheer for a style of play that encourages flopping on the floor and screaming in false agony upon the least possible contact AFTER the screamy whiny player purposely slides at the last possible second into the oncoming path of an opposing player. I'll particularly enjoy the instant recovery the player will make after the duped official blows his whistle for an incorrect charging call. Then I'll giggle like a school girl, I mean Cameron Crazy, while my heros huddle (engage in a homoerotic group hug) in a scripted display of team unity. In other words, I hope the blow to the head kills me instantly...at least I'd never have to watch the Duke-bags again.
you're saying there's a chance?
I will be the black sheep here and say that I root for Duke when they are playing in big games.
Not due to Coach K or because they have a good school or the wins or any of that really.
But when I was in high school my coach wanted our team to play defense like the 1990-2002ish Duke teams. Intensity. So we watch film on them. ALOT of film. So after 4 years of that I have a soft spot for the Dukies. Will they ever be my favorite team? Not even close. Top 2? No way. but top 5? Yeah I will root for them over most teams in the country.
should richrod continue on a similar path with k, that would be great (except for the bad third year business). check out this post on a duke blog:
http://sethcurrysavesduke.blogspot.com/2010/04/morning-champs.html
it's on par with this blog's best stuff. good read.
i root for duke because coach k paid for my student tickets when i was a student... you know damn well he was the "anonymous donor" to amaker's program...
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