'Duke Feeling the Blues....... HA! HA!'

If you read my NCAA tournament preview...you may have noticed that I harbor quite a healthy disdain for all things Duke. Maybe it stems from my dislike of snotty, rich, preppy kids who have an unrealistic sense of entitlement. Because it is they, who seem to make up a very large portion of the Duke basketball squad every year for as long as I can remember. Tools like Christian Laetnner ( I don’t even care if I spelled his name right), Cherokee Parks, JJ Reddick (so not a secret weapon), Greg Paulus, Taylor King, and so on and so on. All led by their humble (note dripping sarcasm) coach Mike Kryslhjfdewopifhasvbriski. A coach who represents his merry little band of GAP shoppers, with the same sense of entitlement that they have. Ever see him work the refs? How dare they call a foul against one of his beloved Devils. ‘Do you know who I am?? I am Mike Krysjdksafbgjsahfski!!! I coach the whitest program in America and we are really really cool!!! How dare you!’ Something of that ilk.

So you can understand why I have a smile that is stretching from ear to ear today still. On Saturday the highly touted, second ranked Blue Devils got bounced out of the tournament by West Virginia University, 73-67. Normally a staple deep into the tournament, this is the second year in a row that Duke has exited stage left in one of the first two rounds of the tourney. Such glee this causes in me. On Thursday, they almost lost their first round matchup against little known Belmont. In a contest that could have been likened to David vs. Goliath, Duke took advantage of refs that were obviously afraid of Coach K’s homicidal temper (that might be a slight exaggeration) and a time keeper that seemed really interested in running the clock an extra second or two after the whistles blew, which ultimately allowed Duke to escape with a one pont victory. Not sure if they were able to recover their dignity or not though.

Saturday was a different story though as WVU defended, rebounded, and hustled their way to victory. The amusing part of that is that is how Duke used to win games. I talked to a friend of mine that I went to school with who has been suffering watching Duke as long as I have (except for his unhealthy love of Bobby Hurley...something about him being from NJ. NJ natives are obsessively rabid about supporting their own that make it to a national sports stage. I think its small penis complex being so close to New York and all). Cordell basically said that for as long as we have been watching Duke, he can’t ever remember them defending a back door cut so poorly. He can’t remember a time when nobody would step up to take a charge...remember Carlos Boozer? Can’t remember a time where they just launched threes and relied on that to get them out of a jam. Its as though they forgot how to do all the things that used to make them so maddeningly good. Defense, rebounding, hustling, crisp guard and low post play. I am not sure if its because Coach K is pulling double duty as coach of the US basketball team, which will be in Beijing this summer for the Olympics, or if its because of all my voodoo wishes finally coming home to roost.:) Either way.. I don’t care. Duke is no longer full of mystique and super powers. They are just another decent college basketball program. May their drudgery and early round exits from the tournament continue for a decade. May the refs finally start calling defensive fouls consistently on them. But cheer up Coach K, I hear Abercrombie and Fitch is having a really big spring sale soon....maybe you and the boys can head on down and grab some designer sweaters, polo shirts, and mens cologne. Just spend a little bit of money and that smug sense of entitlement will be back before you know it. And we shall see you next March. :)