Huh? Duke is America's Favorite College Team?

[coastal1]

Please stop citing people with Duke degrees as evidence against the existence of Duke hatred. It doesn't count unless you can find those people actually saying positive things about Duke.

(And it's hatred, not criticism. Criticism requires actual arguments; most Duke-bashing is devoid of content.)

The paranoia is strong... Do you honestly need me to quote these people to show they don't hate Duke? They have more love for Duke in their pinky finger than...

[Duvall]

The paranoia is strong... Do you honestly need me to quote these people to show they don't hate Duke? They have more love for Duke in their pinky finger than...

I never said they hated Duke. I don't doubt that they all care about Duke - well, Seth wrote for the Chronicle, so maybe not all. They just don't use their airtime to talk about how much they love Duke, because they are professionals. So they don't offset the gadflies and yappers that are constantly going on about how much they hate Duke. Bear in mind, I don't think *they* hate Duke either - it's just business.

[weezie]

People here need to learn to be more like Yankees fans - "Yeah, you hate the Yankees. I get it. F off."

Bravo!!! Me likey!!!

[Edouble]

In general I've found that most fans consider themselves to be more "classy" than the fans of other schools, particularly their rival schools. I'm not saying you're wrong; I just always find this amusing.

Totally agree that the haters are louder than the fans.

I do think that the omnipresent cache of haters makes us Duke fans try to take the higher road and act a little more classy. Alot of people say things like "Duke fans are all arrogant" which is ridiculous and I won't get into, but my point is that I personally wouldn't want to give the Duke haters out there more ammunition through my words and/or behavior.

[dukemomLA]

Okay...the Harris poll asked about 'your favorite CBB team.' But...they didn't ask about pro or con. Your favorite team to WATCH -- and perhaps root for their defeat will probably be Duke. And again, there are thousands of us who scream for Duke week after week.

Add that all up, and yes...without exception, the Bue Devils create mega ratings and nice ad dollars to the coffers of whomever televise our games.

Go for it. Every game adds $$ to Duke.