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!