Blue Blood 3.0

We are less than two weeks away from The Battle for Tobacco Road: Round 1, and there couldn’t be a more exciting time of the year for Blue Devils and Tar Heels.

Right now, Duke and UNC seem to be at about the same level. Both have three losses, both have had their issues with defense exploited, while the two teams have hovered around each other in the rankings the entire season. Surprisingly enough, both teams lost to Florida State within the same week. Of course, UNC’s loss to FSU was MUCH worse than that of Duke’s, with a lot of controversy to boot.

For those who did not witness the end of the game, it seemed as if North Carolina was actually forfeiting with 14.2 seconds left on the clock. However, the intentions are in dispute. 

Here are the facts:

• Seminoles were primed to rush the court, as soon as the clock hit 0.0
• Roy Williams met with Leonard Hamilton at mid-court with 14.2 seconds left
• After a short conference, Roy Williams took his starters and bench players, and left the court.
• The walk-on, non-players for the North Carolina, were left behind to finish an embarrassing 33 point loss, while thousands of students rushed the court. Yes- LEFT BEHIND.

There was and is a lot of dispute over what the process of events was, and whose idea it was for UNC to leave early. But that’s not so significant; the fact is that it happened, Duke lost also to FSU so we can’t say much (yet), and now we’ve all moved on. Both teams are dealing with their share of injuries, as Duke’s point guard Quinn Cook battles a knee issue, while UNC’s Dexter Strickland joins Leslie McDonald on IR, with a torn ACL. Tough luck, Dex. However, the Tar Heels are still afforded the opportunity to start new shooting guard Reggie Bullock (former #10 recruit); not a huge deal. The Blue Devils remember Reggie Bullock for his bold talk, speaking how how badly he was going to dominate the Blue Devils last season. Define dominate? If you say so: 6.1 PPG, 36% FG. This Year- 8.4 PPG, 44% FG. Keep it up, moron.

The Blue Devils, losing at home for the first time in 45 games, rebounded last night with a solid pummeling of Maryland on the road. Duke rises to 5-1 in the conference, while UNC lacks at 3-1 with a game at home against NC State (easy win). Through 6 games in ACC play, the Blue Devils offense can be best described as unpredictable. But that’s not a bad thing; between Austin, Mason, and Andre, it seems one player rises to the occasion with at least a double-double, while the rest of the players fill in the stat sheet, handsomely. The same can be said for Syracuse- there’s not one key player on the team, but together, everyone plays a key role.

After UNC’s loss to FSU, some might say the Tar Heels are complacent. Despite their praise, their talent, and their stats, Chapel Hill has lately looked comfortable and unwilling to get their hands dirty. If I were Roy Williams, I would light a fire, and tell these boys that they’re going to have to sweat and scrap to achieve anything this season…..and then I’d leave them behind on the court like it’s 1999. I digress- Duke and North Carolina have pulled neck and neck. Points, rebounds, defense; it’s all in the same neighborhood.

It will be very interesting to see if the Heels and Devils clash against one another with the same record, as similar as they are now. Since North Carolina has struggled to live up to expectations, with the Blue Devils excelling to 4-1 against ranked opponents, one has to wonder if the Heels may be over-confident heading into February 8^th? We shall see. LET’S GO DUKE!

Krzyzewski, A Gentleman and Scholar

Jimmy Valvano at N.C. State, Dean Smith at UNC, and Pat Summitt at Tennessee. Coaches who have become commanding role models of their sport; famous for how deeply beloved they are, by their universities.   

Thanks to college football and the work of people such as Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer, there has developed a misconception that just because someone is a coach of a legendary college program, respect is automatically deserved. The wins, the money, and the fans stadium have become the only thing relevant to those in power, in a sport poisoned by conference re-alignment. Thankfully, leaders of institutions such as those aforementioned give hope to those not impressed by million-dollar extensions. There are things much more important, such as philanthropy, ambition, and class. 

There is a very small group of figures in college sports who are so strongly associated with one university,  and at the same time so beloved for their work off the court, that they survive the test of time and of a losing season. In my hometown of Durham, North Carolina, Blue Devils are unanimous in their allegiance, respect, and love for coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach K, the winningest mens coach of all time, has won 4 national championships, a FIBA world championship, and most importantly the almighty Olympic gold medal. UNC will always have the indisputable argument, “We had Michael Jordan,” but since 2008 Duke can say, “The United States of America chose our coach, and not yours.” Krzyzewski became the first and only college basketball coach to coach the Men’s team in the Olympics; an honor capped by the re-gaining of superiority and the gold medal, after eight years of yearning and mediocrity. As impressive as his accomplishments are on the hardwood, his accomplishments off are arguably more so, as portrayed by his motto “I don’t want you armed for the game, I want you armed for life.”

It was announced on January 10^th, 2012, that Mike Krzyzewski will receive the second annual Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award. The award, first given to Dick Vitale in 2011, marks the accomplishments of someone involved with college basketball, who strives to make a positive difference in society. As a fan of the Blue Devils and of a man who truly is a humanitarian, I could not be happier for the winningest of all time. Not everything is about money, and piling up the wins; I believe that, and Coach K exemplifies it. His philanthropy extends to the Emily Krzyzewski Center (a community center in Durham named after his mother), the Duke Children’s Hospital, the Children's Miracle Network, and the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research (for which he is a board member). 

There are countless people who earn millions of dollars, and meanwhile they’re getting arrested or getting caught up in a scandal when they don’t even care. These people (Gilbert Arenas) do not deserve any of the fame and fortune they receive, but people like Mike Krzyzewski deserve 10 times as much, while they’re already giving what they have back to society.

K’s work and devotion to the welfare of his community, his players, and his family is an inspiration to myself and millions more. Someone like John Calipari abuses his coaching abilities by producing problematic, immature players such as John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, and Tyreke Evans; all one-and-dones (See where I’m going with this???). On the other hand, a coach like Krzyzewski grooms his players for impressive careers, and teaches them the utmost meaning of discipline, respect, and showmanship: Shane Battier, Grant Hill, Elton Brand. Duke players rise, fall, succeed, fail. While none of them are perfect, the reputations of anyone associated with Mike Krzyzewski are preceded by the decorum instilled in them by their coach.

I am honored to be a Duke fan, supporting the greatest program in college basketball, led by a giant and humanitarian. Never has he breached ethics, never has he endangered his university of players- it has been 32 years of pure delight. Delight, basketball, and passion. LETS-GO-DUKE.

Manning Takes Over Ole Miss

A year after the University of Mississippi made the revolutionary decision to change it's mascot to a black bear, Ole Miss has decided to make two resounding alterations within its athletic department.

On November 8th, 2011, Houston Nutt was forced out at Ole miss as Head Football Coach. On December 8th, 2011, Arkansas State's Hugh Freeze agreed to become the new Rebels head ball coach.

Now, on January 9th, 2012, a source close to Ole Miss has confirmed that Rebels alum and hero, Archie Manning, will be replacing Pete Boone as Athletic Director at the University of Ole Miss.

More to come.

Blue Blood 2.0

It’s a New Year. Good riddance to the horror-fest that was 2011.

Now that college basketball has been through a decent amount of games, it’s time to re-examine tobacco road. Since the last analysis, Duke was riding high, UNC was average, and 6 men on the court was still outlawed. Now, it seems it’s 2007, and the Blue Devils may not be who they think they are.

The Durham Thunder have fizzled since their thrilling triumph in Maui. After a rough pounding in Columbus, I said the team needs to wake up and realize their playing for one of the greatest teams in all of sports; not some mid-major struggling to make a name for itself. 2-1 against ranked opponents, the Blue Devils looked awful against the Temple Owls, going down 78-73. Our guards played soft defense the entire game (somewhat attributed to ridiculous foul calls), our three 6"11 posterizers were outrebounded by little boys, and Seth Curry made a case for being benched the rest of the season.

Duke committed 16 turnovers: a season high…conference play has not started yet. My living room took a beating as I watched Philadelphia referees call cheap fouls one after the other, and our guards play like frightened girls down in Bon Temps, LA. Here is the latest list of unacceptables:

UNACCEPTABLE:

• Seth Curry. This is not the guy who STUNNED UNC twice last year. Go find THAT guy!
• Only 3 Blue Devils attempted more than 5 field goals
• Out rebounded by a team with ONLY TWO forwards (6”9, 6”6)
• 16 turnovers. UN-FREAKIN-ACCEPTABLE for DUKE basketball, this is John Calipari territory!
• Losing to a mediocre team, in a mediocre atmosphere, when you are #3 in the country.
  

Last year, Seth Curry went insane and hit up North Carolina for 20 points a game (3 times). This year, Seth has looked scared, clueless, and absolutely passionless. Someone needs to bench him, and make him watch tape of Shane Battier, Wojociechowski, and Elton Brand; he’ll see what playing with heart looks like. This is not a rant because of a loss- this is a rant over being 0-2 on the road, and our second consecutive embarrassing loss to a team that matters.

8 miles south, UNC has been as good as exceptional as they should. That is to say, they’re exceptionally better than the cream puffs they've played, therefore they've won big. The only true blemish on their record is the upset loss to UNLV; the 73-72 loss to Kentucky means nothing. Two giants stood back to back, and one of them was only 1 inch taller. This is irrelevant; a complete coin-toss. With all the talent on both teams, realistically, they are as equally great as were LSU-Alabama in The Game of the Century.

The Duke Blue Devils seem to be where they were in 2007: starting off the season loaded with great, young, inexperienced talent. Assuming leadership, immediately after losing the greatest players in the country (Nolan, Kyrie, Kyle). The ’07 Devils finished with 9 losses; the most since the 1995-1996 team, who had 11 losses. On the other hand, the Tar Heels are loaded with talent, seasoning, and experience- the perfect trifecta. However, these Tar Heels lack leadership, and at times motivation. John Henson & the gang want to win and can do so in dominating fashion, but they have got to get better at going for the jugular.

Furthermore, North Carolina has taken the lead on Tobacco Road, ahead of Duke. Chapel Hill knows how to use its working parts; they’re gelling, and they play so well because they are having fun doing their thing. Duke- you have to get your heads together. Seth has to want to win, Ryan has to want to have the rock, and MP2 has to finish on the rim. That’s the game.

Run Down Gun Down

Duke went into Columbus as the third ranked team in the nation, and left looking like the third ranked team in the state of Ohio.

Jared Sullinger & the quick Aaron Craft, against the Plumlees & Duke’s backcourt. Ohio’s inside game, against Duke’s sharp shooting. These were the relevant story lines leading into Tuesday night; no one could have predicted the emasculating beat down Duke suffered at the hands of the Buckeyes. With 10:01 remaining in the first half, Duke was surging, only down by 1. This was what the game should have been; a neck and neck battle between two top 3 teams. After that, Ohio State pulled ahead as Duke’s defense completely vanished.

After 10:01, Ohio State cruised and never looked back. Here’s a look at the list of UNACCEPTABLES from Tuesday night, for Duke:

UNACCEPTABLE:

•  Ryan Kelly, 0 points
• Andre Dawkins, 0 points
• 4 Buckeyes with 17+
• Terrible defense
• Open looks, giving Buckeyes at least 5 feet to shoot
• Allowing an un-athletic William Buford 20 points
• No desire

Sullinger put in 21, which was not a surprise. But allowing William Buford, who is a good shooter, to run all over us was deplorable. Our defense throughout the entire game was deplorable; we were lazy, careless, and just DID NOT WANT IT. Last year I wanted a piece of the Buckeyes so bad, finding them vastly overrated. I knew our championship team was not on the floor last night, but I still believed our team to be more than capable of winning. However, our team simply did not want to win bad enough last night. That Blue Devil passion that you so often have seen in Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and more, was not present.

The Duke team that was 7-0 was present for the first 10 minutes of game time. After that, we lost our way. This team might be the 2010 Tar Heels; starting off strong, but then collapsing for the rest of the season. Or, we can pick ourselves up, decide what we want this season to be, and get a move on. Ali got knocked out by Fraziers left hook, and even the swaggering Miami Hurricanes of 1983 got embarrassed to start a championship season.

When Austin, Miles, and Seth put on their jerseys every night, they need to remember that they earned those jerseys. They earned the right to wear those jerseys that say “DUKE” on the front, and to represent one of the greatest teams in the world. Shane Battier, JJ Redick, Christian Laettner: giants of their time, who live in these uniforms. Their spirits and their passion are forever imprinted in the Blue & White of Durham, and these players at Duke University right now, were born for this. They were selected by the greatest coach in college basketball to wear these jerseys, because there is no one else who is meant to. We’re going to pick ourselves up from this loss, and we’re going to step up to every defense we face as if it’s our last.

It's Great to Be a Devil

Crashing the boards and nailing the threes, the Duke Blue Devils snatched the victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in a volcanic eruption. What would be the Devils fifth Maui Invitational Championship in five trips, would also be one of the Blue Devils most rousing games in recent years.

It doesn’t take a championship game, or a legendary rivalry to necessarily create an exciting battle. Two of the top five programs of all time met on a neutral court, and dueled a duel only two giants could. Punctuated by slashing drives by Thomas Robinson, a slamajamma by Miles Plumlee, and devastating 3’s by The Jayhawk Killer, Tyler Thornton; it was a game that had my living room rocking. It does not matter if it is the February Rivalry, Mad March, or still the early month of November- Blue Devils do not surrender a game. Duke hates to lose more than it loves to win, and the Devils had no intentions of going down to Kansas on one of their undefeated courts.

Judging by fate, it seemed at times the game was going to get away from the Devils. It was not necessarily bad anything; shots simply were rolling and rimming out by the slightest of margins. Missed shots are one matter, but baskets rolling out in absurd fashion is another. This was a time in which a team must take their game into overdrive, and Duke did exactly that.

Who would ever have thought, our saving grace would be Mason Plumlee at the free throw line? MP2 came through in the clutch, knocking down 5 of 7 free throws in the second half. Then, rising from the depths in the waning moments, enter Tyler Thornton. Thornton spears the Jayhawks with an bomb from three point land with only 1:14 to go! Duke leads it! Moments later, as Duke was ahead with 0:24 remaining, Kansas threatened to climb back in it as Seth was cornered with two seconds on the shot clock- up by 2. But as Destiny would have it, the Jayhawk Killer rose to the occasion to NAIL an outrageous three to ice the game- Duke wins it!

An amazing game- one which Dukies ought to be very proud to have won. Our young team with new leadership hung in when the going got tough, and proved they have the stamina to win a game in tight situations. The Blue Devils through this point in the season have beaten two ranked opponents, feisty Michigan and Tennessee teams, while UNC continues to play cupcakes. Which made this holiday weekend all the sweeter, when Roy’s Boys were upset in tremendous fashion by UNLV. Duke is up, North Carolina is down, and just this weekend I had the pleasure of personally meeting Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry.

Both gentlemen I had the pleasure to shake hands and speak with, outside Cameron during a visit this past Saturday. I assured both Devils all Dukies are behind them as they face Tubbs & the Ohio State Buckeyes this Tuesday night. Everything in the universe is clicking right now, and it is great to be a Devil!

AGONY.

There is not much to say, when your alma mater plays your childhood team.

Monday night, November 21^st, my Tennessee Volunteers played against my Duke Blue Devils for the first time in my life, which includes my time here at the University of Tennessee. Growing up on Tobacco Road, I became the fourth biggest Blue Devil (according to dukeblueplanet.com) there is. Having that been said, it’s no secret in Knoxville that I bleed blue & white. So what question have I been asked for the past 3 years?

“If Duke plays Tennessee, who are you rooting for?”

Luckily the two have nothing to do with each other, and I’ve been able to duck this question since 2008. However……thanks to the Maui Invitational, I was screwed.

Duke, as the highest ranked team in the field, drew first to play Tennessee in the opening round. My phone and my Facebook alike were blown up with as much chatter as I expected; not to mention people coming up to me, not wishing me well. To make matters more interesting, I am currently an intern with the Tennessee Volunteers, which conflicts with my blood oath in The Battle for Tobacco Road. My commitment to my school, is also a commitment to my employer; my allegiance to Krzyzewski, Wojciechowski, The Cameron Crazies, and Duke Blue Planet made this game nothing short of ecstasy. For anyone who has ever had to choose between the two greatest loves in their lives, this article is for you.

As much as I hate to mince words, I am bound by both allegiances to publicly keep my mouth shut about the game in Maui. I am otherwise, if nothing else, a man of my word. My commitments to my family, brothers of Alpha Kappa Psi, etc. are unwavering. When I say I’ll do something, it is done. There hasn’t been a moment when I have failed to be true to my school, since choosing to choosing UT over Florida, Pitt, and VA Tech.  Monday Night, I felt the agony parents feel when their children face off on the field and court. The same agony experienced by Jeff Capel, watching his brother Jason play for UNC against his own Blue Devils.

On a positive note, it was a damn good game by the Volunteers and the Blue Devils. It's a great Duke win, against a Tennessee team that seems as if they can hang with the best. The Vols will have many more chances to prove themselves as they feature a loaded schedule consisting of Pittsburgh, UConn, and Florida and Kentucky twice. You have to like the new found scrappy play of Tennessee- especially in light of losing Tobias Harris, Melvin Goins, and Scotty Hopson’s horrific ego. Furthermore, Kyrie Irving unfortunately declared for the Unemployed Basketball Association, and now averages 0, 0, and 0 for no one when he could be taking the Blue Devils to the Promised Land. Having that much been said, both of these great teams are starting from square one, and the nuances are of course still coming together. Sloppy chemistry, green mistakes, and miscommunication are unavoidable. 

Knoxville and Durham are equally hungry for progress.  Krzyzewski didn’t win 903 by being a poor coach; the Dukies will be watching closely to see how he adjusts with this young, yet extremely talented roster. On the other hand, Martin is a newcomer with an unknown roster; Volunteers  are eager to see how the program will turn out in the post-Pearl era. There is much to be written for the Durham Thunder, as well as on Rocky Top.  Let’s go team.