Sports tribalism is...tough. The old Greek wisdom that sports is moral
because it teaches sportsmanship is only half the story. The other half is
that it must be the opposite of moral because it teaches the opposite of
sportsmanship. When I moved here in 1995 I had a Duke sticker in the back
window of my car and it suffered all kinds of "mystery" damage in parking
lots. But I remember as a 20-year-old placing a Redskins bumper sticker
over the top of some poor guy's Cowboys bumper sticker. It made perfect
sense to me as a stupid 20-year-old. Tribalism is by definition a
two-edged sword because tribes' words for themselves always translate as
"human" and xenos aren't. BBN has the greatest sense of Manifest Destiny
in all of sports, and I don't say that as a dig, I say that because that's
what they'll tell you themselves. And thank God the word "Cameron Crazie"
didn't exist back then, that allows me to point out that I have never been
one.
I am the farthest thing from a basketball expert, I just spent a number of
years as a Duke student and employee and like the idea that they still owe
me some entertainment value once a year. But I think that maybe Duke's
defense really came of age (an important concept with kids who are only
there for nine months) in the tournament and that had some contribution to
the low shot percentage, i.e., the part that wasn't simply the
responsibility of the guys who themselves made the failed shots. Duke has
set some pretty low expectations lately, so they came in under everyone's
radar, and if they all of a sudden got better when everyone was distracted
by the rest of the Madness, that's pretty good OPSEC. I wasn't going to
say anything about the ref-ing, and you said it anyway, but I will add
that if the entire referee fraternity really is in Duke's pocket they'd
should have done better than 5 in 35 years and K needs to send Guido out
to break some knees. I've many times felt that I didn't like smash-mouth
play or one-and-dones, but one of the things that is interesting about
watching the only Duke Coach since my sophomore year is that he has
decided, "it doesn't matter what I prefer, but what I have to be prepared
to deal with if I want to win, which is what they pay me for."
Given the fact that 98.5% of tournament teams end as "failures," it's not
really about winning. A lot of it is just about remembering when you were
20 and surrounded by a bunch of other 20-year-olds, and this many years
later that time seems a lot better than you probably thought back then. If
religion is "the opiate of the masses," then nostalgia is crack cocaine.
Calipari had some great kids this year and did a great job melding them
into something that should be admired by anyone. I sent him an e-mail
Saturday night saying how much I admired them this year and the principles
they represented and wish them all possible success.
ISIS, Iran nonproliferation negotiations, Ukraine, that's all bushleague
stuff. If UK and Duke grads can get along, that's some powerful magick.
Now if we can just solve the Shatner-Takei rift.
> Heh...I have a wife who is a huge Michigan fan and grew up and now lives
> with me in Ohio. Not sure how that happens, but dealing with Buckeye
> fans can get annoying for her. As for me, as a "Route 23" kid, I grew up
> rooting for Ohio St. football and Kentucky basketball.Â
>
> It was entertaining 2012 talking to Buckeye basketball fans and consoling
> them on their pending loss to UK in the tournament. The looks I got
> said, "I thought you were one of us...". Â Not today. They were sorta
> sad....
>
> Wisconsin didn't shoot for crap in that Duke game. But some of the calls
> by the refs in favor of Duke down the stretch were cringe worthy. I'm
> thinking of donating my eye glasses to the NCAA refs organization in hopes
> that the blind guys calling the game will be able to clear their vision in
> the future. If I were a Badger fan, I'd be pissed. As a Duke fan
> though, you would be correct in saying, "yeah but it shouldn't have ever
> come down to a few bad calls and when you hit your shots, because then the
> calls don't matter."
>
>
because it teaches sportsmanship is only half the story. The other half is
that it must be the opposite of moral because it teaches the opposite of
sportsmanship. When I moved here in 1995 I had a Duke sticker in the back
window of my car and it suffered all kinds of "mystery" damage in parking
lots. But I remember as a 20-year-old placing a Redskins bumper sticker
over the top of some poor guy's Cowboys bumper sticker. It made perfect
sense to me as a stupid 20-year-old. Tribalism is by definition a
two-edged sword because tribes' words for themselves always translate as
"human" and xenos aren't. BBN has the greatest sense of Manifest Destiny
in all of sports, and I don't say that as a dig, I say that because that's
what they'll tell you themselves. And thank God the word "Cameron Crazie"
didn't exist back then, that allows me to point out that I have never been
one.
I am the farthest thing from a basketball expert, I just spent a number of
years as a Duke student and employee and like the idea that they still owe
me some entertainment value once a year. But I think that maybe Duke's
defense really came of age (an important concept with kids who are only
there for nine months) in the tournament and that had some contribution to
the low shot percentage, i.e., the part that wasn't simply the
responsibility of the guys who themselves made the failed shots. Duke has
set some pretty low expectations lately, so they came in under everyone's
radar, and if they all of a sudden got better when everyone was distracted
by the rest of the Madness, that's pretty good OPSEC. I wasn't going to
say anything about the ref-ing, and you said it anyway, but I will add
that if the entire referee fraternity really is in Duke's pocket they'd
should have done better than 5 in 35 years and K needs to send Guido out
to break some knees. I've many times felt that I didn't like smash-mouth
play or one-and-dones, but one of the things that is interesting about
watching the only Duke Coach since my sophomore year is that he has
decided, "it doesn't matter what I prefer, but what I have to be prepared
to deal with if I want to win, which is what they pay me for."
Given the fact that 98.5% of tournament teams end as "failures," it's not
really about winning. A lot of it is just about remembering when you were
20 and surrounded by a bunch of other 20-year-olds, and this many years
later that time seems a lot better than you probably thought back then. If
religion is "the opiate of the masses," then nostalgia is crack cocaine.
Calipari had some great kids this year and did a great job melding them
into something that should be admired by anyone. I sent him an e-mail
Saturday night saying how much I admired them this year and the principles
they represented and wish them all possible success.
ISIS, Iran nonproliferation negotiations, Ukraine, that's all bushleague
stuff. If UK and Duke grads can get along, that's some powerful magick.
Now if we can just solve the Shatner-Takei rift.
> Heh...I have a wife who is a huge Michigan fan and grew up and now lives
> with me in Ohio. Not sure how that happens, but dealing with Buckeye
> fans can get annoying for her. As for me, as a "Route 23" kid, I grew up
> rooting for Ohio St. football and Kentucky basketball.Â
>
> It was entertaining 2012 talking to Buckeye basketball fans and consoling
> them on their pending loss to UK in the tournament. The looks I got
> said, "I thought you were one of us...". Â Not today. They were sorta
> sad....
>
> Wisconsin didn't shoot for crap in that Duke game. But some of the calls
> by the refs in favor of Duke down the stretch were cringe worthy. I'm
> thinking of donating my eye glasses to the NCAA refs organization in hopes
> that the blind guys calling the game will be able to clear their vision in
> the future. If I were a Badger fan, I'd be pissed. As a Duke fan
> though, you would be correct in saying, "yeah but it shouldn't have ever
> come down to a few bad calls and when you hit your shots, because then the
> calls don't matter."
>
>