Pardon the Sports Post

Any of you who've read this site for, well, a post or so know that I'm a Duke fan. I'm a Duke alumna. A Cameron Crazy^1.

Oh, and I know my stuff about the game and about Duke basketball, and ACC history in general, at least since the mid 80's. My husband is a freaking encyclopedia.

So last night, I took some coffee, and I ate fried food, and I did everything within my power to make myself stay up to watch a game that didn't start until the unnatural hour of 9 p.m. (which means it lasts until 11:30). I was determined, and largely successful in my quest to see The Whole Thing (thanks to Miss Baby who woke to lay in bed beside me for the second half).

As I was watching, I giggled to remember the common Carowhina Whine - The Cameron Crazies are such nerds with their jumping up and down, and painting of themselves, and such nonsense. While I watch the Dean Dorks (yeah) PIPE in "Jump Around" so they have music for jumping, with their bodies painted and badblue hair being puffed.

I think about their complaint that Duke hangs banners for being the #1 team in the land, regardless of the NCAA outcome. While I review the picture of DeadDome rafters, of the banners hanging. The "Third Place NIT" banner in all its glory. And the MADE UP 1924 national championship they insist on having. To quote a (non-ACC) friend - "Why does it look like their dryers broke while they were washing the sheets? Do they honor every game they win, and everyone who looked at a uniform?"

Today, the "in" thing to talk about in college basketball land is how Duke gets all the calls. How they make more foul shots than the other team attempts or some such Gary Williams/Seth Greenberg/Paul Hewitt (and other bitter coaches) made up bunkety stat. See, folks, when your GAME PLAN is to go physical against your opponent, you WILL get called for a TON of fouls.

And, the discrepancy, isn't what folks might think. I'll let a more eloquent and educated person address the point. But, at the end of the day, Duke's getting the calls it deserves, because the boys are playing SMART basketball and doing the things that are required to win the game. End of story - good players know how to make the pass, grab the rebound, make the shot, and (here it comes) get the foul calls they need. And good coaches know that learning how to get fouled is something that you can teach players.

Last I checked, Mike Krzyzewski is a good coach.

So what happened last night? Well, Shelden Williams (Duke's "center"), carried a UNC player around on his back for a good 35 minutes of basketball. The main rests he got were when he was sitting down or when he was shooting foul shots. JJ Redick had to get literally slapped in the face before a foul was called on the player guarding him. Duke most certainly didn't get all the calls last night.

However, a truly GREAT thing did happen. We won. And we won despite the horrible officiating. And the noxious crowd.

The players ABSOLUTELY got frustrated. And they were bloody exhausted. K, however, somehow pulled it out of them to get it together for the last minute. Mental errors were made, and we blew a 17 point lead. I think that had as much to do, however, with frustration and exhaustion as anything. Poorly executed plays and bad passes don't happen when your team is fresh and well-rested.^2

At the end of the night, however, we won. And we won with character and grace.

And all is right with the world for now. GO DUKE!

1. 'cept in my day, we were *so* much better and we didn't paint all over ourselves - we just made Shaq cry! One-Two-Three-Four! Shaq can't play this game no more! Godo times, I tell ya. Good times.

2. Whoever decided the ACC needs to play on four nights per week should be taken out and shot. Duke played on Wednesday at 9 pm (at Boston College - IN Boston), then noon Saturday (vs. Florida State) and then 9 pm last night. 3 games - TOUGH games - in under a week. This needs to change folks. Games are TOO close together, and they start TOO LATE. It's insane now.