Google the words “Duke” and “hate” and prepare to be overwhelmed by articles, blogs and websites.
You can buy T-shirts (“Breath if You Hate Duke”), join the Duke Haters Facebook page, and find dozens of YouTube videos — many unfit for viewing by children.
There are longwinded, esoteric essays on the socioeconomic and political reasons why people despise the Blue Devils. It’s quite amazing.
With the Sweet 16 beginning Thursday — No. 1-seeded Duke plays fifth-seeded Arizona at Anaheim — the Duke vitriol is sure to heat up again. And if the defending champion Blue Devils make the Final Four again, things will really get nasty.
A side note here. My colleague Ryan Casey, the Post’s online prep sports editor and proud 2007 graduate of the University of Arizona, just chimed in about his Duke hatred.
“Arizona got jobbed by the refs in the 2001 championship game,” the normally pleasant Mr. Casey said with a scary tone in his voice.
Whoa … settle down!
Anyway, there are a lot of Duke haters out there. Last year, when the Blue Devils advanced to the Final Four in Indianapolis, a USA Today online poll found that 49 percent of respondents said they were rooting against Duke.
Me? I actually like the Blue Devils. I love the way they play the game. They pass beautifully and shoot effectively, inside the paint and outside the arc. And despite the players’ Brooks Brothers, button-down looks, Duke plays defense with ferocious intensity.
Still, there’s no denying that many despise the “Boo Devils.” After combing through the internet, I’ve come up with the top-five, completely unscientific reasons why:
1. Coach K looks like a rat.
Mike Krzyzewski is a great coach, led the U.S. to a gold medal at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and is closing in on Bob Knight for career victories. But when Coach K starts snarling on the sidelines and jabbering with officials, he looks like a giant rat. People don’t like giant rats.
2. Duke is elitist.
Duke has won four national titles and has been to 11 Final Fours since 1986. The Blue Devils, like the hated New York Yankees, are consistent winners.
Yes, other universities — Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan State, etc. — have had great success during the last 25 years. But those are public schools, while Duke is a private school.
And even though Duke is in North Carolina, it reminds many of a snooty New England prep school. As an Indianapolis Star article pointed out last year: “A significant percentage of Duke’s student body comes from old money in the country’s Northeast quarter, and the school has a highly selective admissions policy. Combined, that gives the appearance — fair or not — that Duke is a school of rich, smart carpetbaggers.”
3. Dick Vitale.
The ESPN basketball commentator thinks the Blue Devils are simply awesome, baby! Accurate or not, the perception persists that Dicky V is a blue-blooded Duke booster. Hence his nickname: “Dukie V.”
4. Cameron Crazies.
The college kids at Duke pack the famous home arena. They are loud and creatively obnoxious. I think they’re fun, but lots of fans despise the Crazies almost as much as they despise Coach K or Christian Laettner.
As a columnist for the North Carolina Daily Tar Heel wrote back in 1990: “When I see those Dookie boneheads shoe-polishing their faces navy blue on television, squandering their parents’ money with their fratty elitist bad sportsmanship antics and Saab stories, I want to puke all over Durham.”
5. Flopping.
Aside from the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and European soccer players, nobody flops more than the Blue Devils. Any time a team makes a run at Duke, that said team gets called for charging and the momentum shifts. Or at least that’s the perception. Just ask the aforementioned Mr. Casey.
So there you have it. The definitive guide to hating Duke.
Of course, you might have reasons of your own.
Trivia time
With one more trip to the Final Four, Krzyzewski would tie legendary UCLA coach John Wooden for most trips to the Final Four. How many times did Wooden make the trip? (Answer below)
Quotable
For my money, the most enjoyable broadcasting duo working March Madness is the team of Bill Raftery and Steamboat Spring’s very own Verne Lundquist. They know the game, but don’t get in the way of it. Yet, they have moments of witty banter.
For example, during a game broadcast from the Pepsi Center last week, there was this exchange about Raftery’s penchant for after-hours socializing:
Raftery: “You know, it’s amazing how much you can learn when you stay out late at night.”
Lundquist: “If that’s the case, I must be working with Socrates.”
Reader’s rant
“Good Job Buffs! Hope you have a blast in NYC, say hi to Melo and LaLa”
— Mark B, posting after Colorado beat Kent State Tuesday night to advance to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
In case you missed it
Conservative Newt Gingrich called a foul on President Obama for O’Bama public love affair with basketball.
After Obama took the time to announce his NCAA brackets, Gingrich tweeted: “We need a commander in chief, not a spectator in chief.”
Politics aside, Obama knows his hoops. In the first round, he finished with a stellar 29-3 record. Going into the Sweet 16, he would have ranked in the top 99.9 percentile of ESPN’s Tournament Challenge, which has 5.9 million entries.
There is, however, one major flaw to Obama’s game plan. He picked Pittsburgh to make it to the Final Four, but Pitt got beat by Butler in the third round.
Obama, FYI, picked Kansas to win the men’s tournament.
Trivia answer
Wooden led the Bruins to 12 Final Fours.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
