Welcome To 'Why I Hate Duke'

Hi to all - my name is Kevin and I thought I'd actually try having my own blog. I'm probably not going to write any personal entries in here, since I prefer my personal life to remain under the radar; instead I believe this blog will be more oriented towards sports and politics, my two favorite topics of conversation. Being that this part of the year is really owned by college basketball, I figure I'd go with a current emotion of "Why I Hate Duke."

Duke symbolizes that kind of institution that has been "in power" for so long that they have forgotten what it is like to not have things swing their general direction, and they have developed a following of people who follow power instead of their heart, and would rather just root for whoever is winning than have an actual path. Because of the sheer number of "fans" that now follow Duke blindly, there is also now an interest in keeping them winning and at the top, simply to keep college basketball ratings up, rather than keeping the games better.

The most egregious examples of this interest being the controversial refereeing that takes place in Duke's "games." The Shelden Williams non-foul at Boston College, and the technical called against Florida State in OT all serve to bolster me and my fellow conspiracy theorists. Coach K once railed upon a similar regime that was Dean Smith, and now he simply takes his place. Power corrupts!

So really, "Why I Hate Duke" is a symbolic title towards anything that was built from nothing, became a quality organization/culture, and then was ruined by wanna-bes, corporate marketing, and everyone who attaches on simply because they want to be part of the crowd. (RIP Rock n' Roll, America, the NBA, and many others) Almost everything starts as or becomes something very ideal (see the Grant Hill years), and is ruined in the same fashion. Some of these things could be saved with a few rule changes.

Oh, I also hate Duke, coming from the fine University of Virginia. To those of you who suggest that I am jealous of the success of Duke, know that I would rather fail legitimately than have success falsely handed to me. There are no illusions in UVa basketball, and I believe in Dave Leitao and his ability to bring us back.

-K