Originally Posted by
oregon98er
I'm a bit confused about this board, given the recent "policies" regarding banned behavior. Negative comments about Duke people, even when they commit boneheaded mistakes, are shunned. There is a lot of "off-limits" topics. Obviously, this doesn't apply to Sylvia Hatchell.
Let me set this stage of where I'm coimng from. I'm a Duke alum (Trinity '98) and despise anything with THAT other color of blue. I grew up in Gastonia, NC and had to endure all the pro-Carolina, anit-Duke, sentiment in the area. James Worthy was from my hometown...it bleeds Carolina blue (although Sleepy Floyd went to my highschool...not Worthy). Trust me when I say, I despise the Heels.
However, if you know anything about Sylvia's past, she's from Gastonia as well. In fact, my parents and her are extremely close friends. My parents work her basketball camps in the summers and she stops by our house when she's in town. When my father's mother passed earlier this year, Sylvia took time away from the team to come to the funeral home the night before the funeral and stayed for the funeral the next day. That's only a 2.5 hour drive from Chapel Hill, but still a noteworthy gesture in the midst of the season.
My parents were guests of hers at the Final Four the past two years, invited with a personal phone call.
I DO NOT pull for her team, never over Duke, and not even against Tennessee. I WILL NOT pull for anything in Carolina blue and she and I will joke about that. I have been critical, to my parents even, that to me she compalins excessively about officiating. That criticism is warranted.
Sylvia is a phenomenal coach, say what you want. She has won at every level (a national championship at all 3 divisions - only coach to do it) and has 748 career wins (Coach K has 775). However, Sylvia Hatchell is a better person and doesn't warrant the borderline personal attacks on this board. She does lead the EVIL EMPIRE, and for that, should take some scorn. That comes with the territory, just like respect for human beings personal lives and feelings.
All that said, it's nice to see that a UNC team is not going to win a national championship in basketball. I hope Coach G stays to make the rivalry on that side as intense as it has been recently.
I wrote this to insinuate that criticism of people should be treated on both sides on this board. I love Duke and the Duke family, but others should be treated and given the same respect as we give for Duke.