Good Luck

[Xman95]

Elvis, first let me say it's good to know you are alive and well in Duke-ville! Too many reports of you hanging out in K-Marts in Kalamazoo, MI.

Second, I think you'll find the feelings toward Duke are mostly negative no matter where you go. I touched on it in my earlier post. You guys are the hunted. People are jealous of your program and what you have. They want something for their program and you already have it. Sure, there are great programs like UNC that hate you, but that's a genuine rivalry. Other programs might hate you because they see you as a threat. But, ultimately, most of the negative feelings can be traced back to the fact that Duke is a national power. You should almost embrace it.

I think back to when Reggie Jackson was playing baseball and he was booed everywhere he went. Reggie's approach wasn't to get upset. No, he took a different approach. He welcomed it. He loved it. His theory was that the only reason people booed was because he was a great player and they didn't like the fact that he did damage to their team. In an odd way, the hatred was a sign of respect.

Duke is in a similar position. If you were a non-factor on the national scene, people wouldn't hate you. In fact, they wouldn't care about you. I'm not trying to make excuses for people who cross the line - and fans of every program will cross the line. I'm just pointing out that being disliked by fans of other teams across the country is not necessarily a bad thing. Heck, Xavier is starting to be the object of hatred across the country and, truthfully, I'm starting to like it. It's a true sign that you've made it!

(By the way, my negative feelings toward Duke might resurface if you drop more games to Big East teams in the tourney. That league is full of nothing but whiners and thugs.)

[elvis14]

Elvis, first let me say it's good to know you are alive and well in Duke-ville! Too many reports of you hanging out in K-Marts in Kalamazoo, MI.

Second, I think you'll find the feelings toward Duke are mostly negative no matter where you go.

That was a Walmart, not a K-mart...then I left the building.

Good point about the anti-Duke feelings at other sites. I think that particular day I probably expected something different based on the good natured X-men that had posted here. Meaning it was as much my issue as anything else. At least there were some positive Duke posts which is more than I can say for some other sites. I don't mean to give you guys a bad name.