Having trouble staying focused

My internal clock has started counting down to tomorrow night's Carolina-Duke game.  I'm anxiously looking forward to a resurgent Carolina squad winning for the 5th time in 6 years at Cameron.

 

Last week the Post's Mike Wise penned a silly article stating reasons why folks should stop hating Krzyzewski and by extension Duke.  But Wise failed to mention why most people hate on the Devils (besides the subliminally obvious one, that good people reflexively hate devils) - the Duke students.

 

I think most basketball fans and even most Carolina fans respect the Duke basketball program: they don't cheat; they win; their players graduate. And for me at least, I respect that though often not as athletic as some other teams Duke always plays an effective and aggressive man-to-man defense.  Unathletic teams often 'hide' behind a zone, but not Duke.

 

But their students, as well as the school itself, stir my strong anti-Duke feelings.  It's a private school full of kids with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.  That's why winning in Cameron is so sweet; watching their Devils lose seems to rattle a Dookie's world view.  Luckily, Carolina students and alumni have a more balanced perspective.  

 

And of course, there is the politics and karma of each school.  Carolina is the public, liberal school that produces folks like Paul Wellstone, Terry Sanford, Walker Percy, John Shelby Spong, Michael Jordan, Charles Kuralt, Tom Wicker, Mia Hamm, and Superchunk.  Duke, on the other hand, is a private institution given to producing right-wing nuts like Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Dole, both Rand and Ron Paul, Ken Starr and other low lifes such as Christian Laettner. 

 

One last thing, the good guys lead the all-time series 130 to 99.  And the best guy, Dean Smith, had a lifetime  record of 59-35 versus Duke, and was 24-14 versus Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski even has a losing record versus Dean in Cameron.  

 

Krzyzewski has a lifetime losing record, 34-35, against the Tar Heels a record that I'm confident will get worse after our next visit to Rand Paul's house on Wednesday night.

GO HEELS!

Marcus Ginyard Karma

For whatever reason - actually the main reason is blind, Carolina-bred optimism - I like our chances as the Heels head to Durham to take on the right-wingers from Duke tonight.


There is lot of karma on both sides, but I think we have more: our four-game winning streak at Cameron, our own modest two-game winning streak, giving classy seniors Ginyard and Thompson a great way to go out (Ginyard said winning at Duke would be akin to April's national championship for him), Duke overconfidence and pressure to finally give their senior's a win over Carolina at Cameron.


All that could add up to a win.


But more importantly the Heels are playing better.  Ginyard seems healthy, Thompson showed some toughness in the win over Miami, Drew is making better decisions, and though rusty at least Tyler Zeller is back.


Last night, ESPN Classic reran the 2006 win in Cameron that started the current winning streak.  It was great reliving that game, and fun to watch Tyler Hansbrough dominate one more time, a fast Bobby Frasor making plays and clutch free throws, David Noel being David Noel, Rey-Rey's rebounding, key contributions by Byron Saunders, and Danny Green foreshadowing him big play-making with key plays late.


But I was most excited to remember how well Ginyard played in that game.  He finished with 11 points off the bench - Carolina's starting lineup was Hansbrough, Terry, Noel, Frasor and Wes Miller, with a pretty talented bench; what a team - including a back-breaking coast-to-coast lay up off a missed free throw.


So I'm placing my faith in Marcus Ginyard tonight.  I'm even about to visit his hometown, Alexandria, Virginia, this morning for a visit to the Toyota dealer.  That's just too much karma for the Heels, and will hopefully be too much for the Devils tonight, too.


As always, GO HEELS!