Results 1 to 13 of 13
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Southern California

    Top Story on ESPN

    We are on the front page of espn.com, in an article about top academic schools success in football this year.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...5&sportCat=ncf

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham

    Wow!

    Duke is the TOP STORY on ESPN.com! And it is because of the FOOTBALL TEAM!

    This is a sign that the Cubs WILL win the World Series in 2008!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    New Bern, NC unless it's a home football game then I'm grilling on Devil's Alley
    Just saw that, how cool is that? Was thinking exactly the same thing as Dukediv, we're on the front page for something other than basketball.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Nice story, and a good testament to the job Cutcliffe is doing.

    For other people around during the Spurrier years or the 1994 Fred Goldsmith year - how does the excitement rank for you this year compared with then? I was a freshman during Spurrier's last team and didn't really appreciate how unusual that year was. For 1994, for whatever reason I never really believed that a lasting change was coming to the program (which, unfortunately, turned out to be an accurate feeling). This year, I feel like we're getting a taste of what's to come for the next few years. I feel like we're seeing the beginning of a fundamental change in the Duke football program. For that reason, I'm more excited about Duke football this year than I was during 1989 or 1994.

  5. #5

    Comparison

    I was at Duke in 1994 and very excited. After a 7-0 start, with a top 20 ranking, I was a firm believer that Duke could be a contender in two revenue sports for years to come. When FSU came to town, however, the beating they gave us quickly took me down a notch. Not enough to prevent me from going to the Big Sombrero for the Hall of Fame Bowl -- where we threw 3 INTs in the first 7 or 8 minutes (an unlikely feat).

    In any event, that experience taught me to enjoy early season success but temper it with the understanding that there are many more games to play. This season, I am thrilled to have a competitive and fun to watch team again. I just suspect that harder times will come as we play the meat of the ACC schedule.

    Cutcliff seems to be doing all the right things and with continued recruiting success I think we can be an entertaining (though likely middle-tier) ACC team.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh

    Duke, espn, Cubs

    Quote Originally Posted by dukediv2013 View Post
    Duke is the TOP STORY on ESPN.com! And it is because of the FOOTBALL TEAM!

    This is a sign that the Cubs WILL win the World Series in 2008!
    You have been drinking too much Wrigley Kool-Aid.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Greensboro, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaymf7 View Post
    I was at Duke in 1994 and very excited. After a 7-0 start, with a top 20 ranking, I was a firm believer that Duke could be a contender in two revenue sports for years to come. When FSU came to town, however, the beating they gave us quickly took me down a notch. Not enough to prevent me from going to the Big Sombrero for the Hall of Fame Bowl -- where we threw 3 INTs in the first 7 or 8 minutes (an unlikely feat).

    In any event, that experience taught me to enjoy early season success but temper it with the understanding that there are many more games to play. This season, I am thrilled to have a competitive and fun to watch team again. I just suspect that harder times will come as we play the meat of the ACC schedule.

    Cutcliff seems to be doing all the right things and with continued recruiting success I think we can be an entertaining (though likely middle-tier) ACC team.
    The only reason I can see for such middling optimism is if we set such a limit on ourselves.

    It won't happen overnight, even if Duke can piece together a great run for the rest of this year. But I doubt anyone in the football program is looking for some comfort zone. We have a top-flight coaching staff in place, a top-flight school to offer, and recruiting is picking up already.

    We're only in the Kool-Aid swilling stage now. At some point, all winning programs have joyfully quaffed the Kool-Aid!

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by davekay1971 View Post
    For other people around during the Spurrier years or the 1994 Fred Goldsmith year - how does the excitement rank for you this year compared with then? I was a freshman during Spurrier's last team and didn't really appreciate how unusual that year was. For 1994, for whatever reason I never really believed that a lasting change was coming to the program (which, unfortunately, turned out to be an accurate feeling). This year, I feel like we're getting a taste of what's to come for the next few years. I feel like we're seeing the beginning of a fundamental change in the Duke football program. For that reason, I'm more excited about Duke football this year than I was during 1989 or 1994.
    I am the same year as you ('93). Football was fun under Spurrier, partly because there was no pressure or huge expectation to do well. It probably helped that the ACC was a basketball conference back then with only one capital-P Program (Clemson), whom we beat that year anyway.

    It's great that we're winning, and the change in attitude -- that every game can be won and that we'll at least show up and fight in all of them -- reminds me of my limited experience with the Spurrier era. But Duke already has one althletic program for which I have uncompromising expectations, and I'm not sure I want to add a second.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaymf7 View Post
    I was at Duke in 1994 and very excited. After a 7-0 start, with a top 20 ranking, I was a firm believer that Duke could be a contender in two revenue sports for years to come. When FSU came to town, however, the beating they gave us quickly took me down a notch.
    Heh, I remember that game well... and how even the MARCHING band terrified me. "Wow there are a lot of them. Their timing is great. Jeez..."

  10. #10

    The Band

    It is amazing that you said that. In my original post I had a comment that it looked like their band could have beaten us, but took it out because in truth it probably would have been an even match.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Quote Originally Posted by Lord Ash View Post
    Heh, I remember that game well... and how even the MARCHING band terrified me. "Wow there are a lot of them. Their timing is great. Jeez..."
    I was more impressed with the Batgirls the FSU baseball team brought with them... That was a talented group.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by davekay1971 View Post
    For other people around during the Spurrier years or the 1994 Fred Goldsmith year - how does the excitement rank for you this year compared with then? I was a freshman during Spurrier's last team and didn't really appreciate how unusual that year was. For 1994, for whatever reason I never really believed that a lasting change was coming to the program (which, unfortunately, turned out to be an accurate feeling). This year, I feel like we're getting a taste of what's to come for the next few years. I feel like we're seeing the beginning of a fundamental change in the Duke football program. For that reason, I'm more excited about Duke football this year than I was during 1989 or 1994.
    In those years, we accomplished more than we have this year to this point. At that time, I don't think that a win over a 1-AA school, a service academy, and arguably the worst team in the ACC would have excited people all that much (I'm not trying to demean this team's accomplishments, but just putting it in perspective). You have to remember that in Spurrier's years and Goldsmith's 1st year, we weren't coming off of a 10-12 year stretch of being not just weak, but worst-in-the-nation weak - Duke was more of a low to middle of the pack ACC team that won a few games each year. So back then it took more success (like Spurrier's last two teams or Goldsmith's 1st team) to get people excited. Now, having been truly awful in the W-L columns for so long, people are getting excited about any wins.

    That said, I'm very excited about this team - it's fun to go to the games again. And it's great that this year's performance has been good enough to draw some national attention. I'd love to see more of the same.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by patentgeek View Post
    You have to remember that in Spurrier's years and Goldsmith's 1st year, we weren't coming off of a 10-12 year stretch of being not just weak, but worst-in-the-nation weak - Duke was more of a low to middle of the pack ACC team that won a few games each year. So back then it took more success (like Spurrier's last two teams or Goldsmith's 1st team) to get people excited. Now, having been truly awful in the W-L columns for so long, people are getting excited about any wins.
    A point I was about to make. I'd like to add that although I was there for that first Goldsmith year, it was certainly not as exciting as this year, for me, because it was not preceded by 12 years of me personally living through our football team having an atrocious record and being generally terrible. Although I knew in '94 that's Duke's proud tradition of football excellence was ancient history save for the Spurrier era, it's an entirely different thing to really experience the bad times, as it makes this year's .750 winning percentage that much sweeter.

Similar Threads

  1. great story in SI
    By DukeFencer in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-24-2008, 03:33 PM
  2. True story.
    By wilson in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 25
    Last Post: 05-02-2008, 09:23 AM
  3. This is a horrible story, but
    By 365Duke in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 02-17-2008, 09:57 AM
  4. The Bob Huggins Story
    By EarlJam in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-28-2007, 02:36 PM
  5. A Nice Story
    By Jarhead in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-28-2007, 04:17 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •