It’s daylight savings time, which means it’s also Duke hating time. It happens every year, but the venom seems particularly potent this time around.
Why? Because Duke received a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, bumping out a West Virginia team that many believe had a better season.
Duke haters also say that the Blue Devils’ South Region provides the easiest path to the Final Four — much easier than top-ranked Kansas’ road.
Plus, Duke haters cry that coach Mike Krzyzewski’s crew always gets too much love from the selection committee.
For the record, I like watching Duke play. I love the way Coach K gets his kids to play hard and as a team. They pass brilliantly, move without the ball and play defense.
I think the Cameron Crazies are rowdy, witty and fun. Just check out
So I am, I must admit, a Duke fan.
But many of you can’t stand the Blue Devils. I know this, but I wondered why. So I started surfing the web. I came up with the top five reasons people love to hate Duke:
5. Coach K. He looks like a rat and complains incessantly to the officials. And frankly, well, he just bugs a lot of you.
4. Cameron Crazies. I love them, but many think Duke’s college fans are spoiled, stuck-up rich kids who take taunting to the extreme.
3. Flopping. Duke’s players are apparently the masters of taking the charge and getting the call from the refs. You hate it when they flop, and then get up and act like they’ve just hit a 3-pointer.
2. Media lovefest. Apparently Duke haters believe that the Blue Devils are worshipped by the media, especially Dick Vitale.
1. Elitist school. Fairly or unfairly, Duke is looked at as a rich kids’ school, filled with snot-nosed (mostly white) students who think way too much of themselves.
Trivia time
UCLA has the most NCAA men’s basketball championships with 11. Can you name the teams that round out the top five? (Answer below)
Polling
In Monday’s “Lunch Special” poll, readers made it clear that Brady Quinn being a former Notre Dame quarterback didn’t bother them. Of 577 votes cast, nearly 65 percent said Quinn’s Fighting Irish background didn’t color their view of him as a new Broncos quarterback. About 12 percent said their dislike of Notre Dame did color their perception of Quinn. About 24 percent said they viewed Quinn more favorably because he went to Notre Dame.
Quotable
“It might be a hard sell to get that number. So I’ve got to talk to him and see. I’ve thought about a few different numbers, so I’m going to be patient about it and see what happens.” — new Broncos quarterback Brady Quinn, talking about the prospect of wearing jersey No. 10, the number he’s worn since his Notre Dame days. That number currently belongs to Broncos receiver Jabar Gaffney.
Reader’s rant
“B.Q. is the second coming of Bradlee Van Pelt.” – Doc Dougherty, posting on The Post’s story about Quinn.
Blog spot
The Post’s Mike Klis as Simms’ Broncos career comes to an end.
In case you missed it
A phantom coin flip has the New York Jets feeling disrespected.
Both the Jets and the New York Giants wanted to open next season in the new $1.7 billion Meadowlands Stadium. Both will get the chance, but the Giants get their chance first.
The Giants will play on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 12. The Jets have to wait until Monday night.
That doesn’t sit well with the J-E-T-S. A coin flip in commissioner Roger Goodell’s office decided the matter, but the coin was flipped behind closed doors.
“An NFL coin toss has a few fundamental elements that are missing here, most notably the presence of the teams involved,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said in a statement on the team’s website. “That’s how it’s always done in the league, whether it’s determining the order of the draft or deciding who’s going to kick off the game.
“When the issue of which team would be hosting the first regular-season game could not be resolved on the merits, I suggested a coin toss as the fairest way to resolve this issue. The league rejected that idea. Then, I was told on Friday that a coin toss had taken place at the league office and that the Jets had lost. We rejected a process in which neither team was present. The league departed from our time-honored tradition and declined the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process.”
Trivia answer
2. Kentucky (7). 3. Indiana and North Carolina (5). 5. Duke and Kansas (3).
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com Hungry for more? .
