Sarraf: Everyone dotes on Duke

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Former Virginia coach Pete Gillen once said, “Duke is Duke. They’re on TV more than ‘Leave it to Beaver’ reruns.”

Nearly every sports fan that did not grow up with a Christian Laettner poster next to his bed has a strong dislike for the Duke basketball program. What makes Duke such a loathed team? Let’s take a look at a few reasons while Coach Krzyzewski gets his team in position for a No. 2 seed and a first-round game in Winston-Salem, N.C.

— The constant media attentio… sorry about that, I was interrupted as ESPN just called to say that Duke’s 2008 exhibition opener against Alvamar Tech will be shown live on ESPN HD. As Gillen said, nobody receives more love from the networks than the Blue Devils. From Dick Vitale to Mike Patrick to Seth Davis, college basketball pundits talk about Duke every chance they get. Did CBS really need to nationally broadcast Sunday’s game against St. John’s who had a 15-14 record? Sure, the Blue Devils get good ratings, but only because people tune in to cheer against them. This leads to …

— Duke turning into the Notre Dame of college basketball. It will only be a matter of time before we a see a slide similar to the Irish losing nine straight bowl games. Last week, at 20-7, Duke jumped to No. 18 in the AP poll after being unranked the previous week. How is there not an investigation into this? And yes, Duke is currently ranked No. 14 in the country despite being tied for fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 8-6 record. Part of this is because Duke refuses to play any road games in the non-conference schedule. The sad thing is that Duke will consistently make the Sweet 16 because they are always over-seeded and rewarded by never leaving North Carolina in the NCAA tournament.

— The Cameron Crazies. Do we really need to hear about how great the Crazies are multiple times during a Kansas broadcast, Mr. Vitale? The whole Duke basketball atmosphere seems phony, from the cheer sheets to the cracker box arena, yet we are constantly reminded it’s the best.

— Their players are a bunch of sissies. From the days of Steve Wojciechowski slapping the floor and crying after a loss, to J.J. Redick crying after a loss, to Josh McRoberts crying during a loss and being comforted on the bench by the aforementioned Wojo, Duke players are pansies.

— Coach Krzyzewski. The man who — with the face of a rat — spends every waking second dropping F-bombs on referees. As a result, officials are afraid he may bite them and Duke gets more calls than any other team. This was confirmed earlier this season by the clock fiasco against Clemson where a Tiger stole the ball and hit a three-pointer in only .3 seconds, leaving just enough time for David McClure to hit a buzzer-beating layup. One cannot blame the man though, as Coach K’s life is not about winning games. That’s why his card is American Express.

Sarraf is a Lawrence senior in journalism.

— Edited by Stacey Couch

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