New No. 1 Most Hated Team?

[blazindw]

According to Yahoo.com:

"Move over Duke, Americans may have found another college basketball team they hate more," they say in reference to UCLA. They link to an article on Rivals.com. I thought it was interesting that they would compare any hatred for UCLA to that we experience on a daily basis.

Link

[Coballs]

I, for one, will not start hating on UCLA...until Carolina is out of the picture. They're likely the last line of defense against a UNC title.

[dukemsu]

Memphis, with their megatalented roster that enjoys preening and trashtalking, is the likely next choice, particularly if they make the Final Four and America has the chance to get to know them.

Cal's "no one respects us" stuff is also grating. You're 36-1. Act like it.

[Coballs]

Memphis, with their megatalented roster that enjoys preening and trashtalking, is the likely next choice, particularly if they make the Final Four and America has the chance to get to know them.

Cal's "no one respects us" stuff is also grating. You're 36-1. Act like it.

Nice clean ship Calipari is running down there:

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/7...emphis-program

[DukieGator]

I've always been baffled by the relatively paltry level of hate that UNC gets compared to us. Perhaps if Carolina wins next week, we'll see a shift in the tide? If they win, by my count that's 2 titles in the past 4 years. Ughh, I just puked in my mouth a little bit while typing that...

[JG Nothing]

I've always been baffled by the relatively paltry level of hate that UNC gets compared to us. Perhaps if Carolina wins next week, we'll see a shift in the tide?

Two words, Michael Jordan. He is the reason UNC has such a strong national fan base.

[DukieGator]

Two words, Michael Jordan. He is the reason UNC has such a strong national fan base.

You make a good point. It's hard to find an athlete who ever garnered more popularity than Jordan. But then again, I hated his guts in the 90's, and that was waaaay before I became a Duke fan.

[davekay1971]

Duke gets more hate because we're a small, elite private school. It's the perfect storm for people who thrive on jealousy and hatred. We have a combination of a consistently excellent basketball team that was in the national championship picture virtually every year for 20 years, coming from a school that is perceived as being for rich white kids. People got tired to the success and media adoration of the basketball team, but they really hated the fact that the team represented what they perceived to be a small, privileged group. It's very unlikely another program will be hated the way we are any time soon.

[JG Nothing]

Duke gets more hate because we're a small, elite private school. It's the perfect storm for people who thrive on jealousy and hatred. We have a combination of a consistently excellent basketball team that was in the national championship picture virtually every year for 20 years, coming from a school that is perceived as being for rich white kids. People got tired to the success and media adoration of the basketball team, but they really hated the fact that the team represented what they perceived to be a small, privileged group. It's very unlikely another program will be hated the way we are any time soon.

The reasons why Duke is hated nationally are the same reasons why Duke is loved nationally. With all the obsession about Duke hatred on this board, many seem to forget that it also gets more love than almost any other team. This love is not simply because of Duke's success and media adoration.

[BoC]

For anyone who might be interested, Adam Gold (on 850 the Buzz, I think) will talk Monday about the country's love affair with Jordan, and "why it must end".

Well, I'm curious and will try and listen, but if that's too early I believe his show reruns on either 850 or 620 at around 12 noon or 1:00.

[sagegrouse]

Have you ever noticed that in the local glossy magazines like Washingtonian, 5280 (Denver), and Texas Monthly that the establishments voted "best restaurant" also tend to be on the list of "most overrated restaurants?" Basically, the listed restaurants, being on everyone's lips receive the most opinions. The truly wretched, over-priced establishment, which has little traffic, gets almost no notice in any such non-scientific poll.

Now we have a reasonably valid poll by Harris that puts the Duke basketball program as the favorite among 2,513 randomly sampled people who "follow college basketball." (http://www.harrisi.org/harris_poll/). Moreover, Duke has been in the top three (#1 six times) since the Harris Poll started sampling college bball preferences in 1993 (not every year). The only comparable program is UK, which was number one from 1995-1998 (and number 9 now).

So if Duke is the overwhelming favorite program of the average fan, why do we have this anguish about the Duke Hatred Tsunami on this site and in other forums?

I presume it is the random acts of booing and catcalling that seem to accompany the Blue Devils on the road, in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, and mentions of Duke at places like the NBA draft. The complaints are a little too pointed to say that folks just like to support the underdog.

I, for one, think that jealousy is the strongest human emotion and that the loudest complainers, who are often fans of other programs, resent Duke's success and general popularity (probably in reverse order).

And, of course, this is a spectacle dominated by the lowest common denominator in the arena or on the web, where supposed hatred is most obvious. "Lowest common etc." is my attempt at polite talk for "immature, ignorant boobs." These, of course, are those whose opinion deserves the least attention.

And, of course, having a team with a majority of white scholarship players makes Duke a safer target for such billingsgate than other teams.

With the evidence from the Harris Poll in our back pocket, we should revel in the boos and catcalls from those who would love to be in our position.

sagegrouse

[weezie]

I, for one, will not start hating on UCLA...until Carolina is out of the picture. They're likely the last line of defense against a UNC title.

Absolutely right. It's coming down to trench warfare now.

[cowetarock]

According to Yahoo.com:

"Move over Duke, Americans may have found another college basketball team they hate more," they say in reference to UCLA. They link to an article on Rivals.com. I thought it was interesting that they would compare any hatred for UCLA to that we experience on a daily basis.

Link

Maryland never became the UCLA of the East but UCLA has become the Duke of the West. Lefty should appreciate the irony.

[davekay1971]

The reasons why Duke is hated nationally are the same reasons why Duke is loved nationally. With all the obsession about Duke hatred on this board, many seem to forget that it also gets more love than almost any other team. This love is not simply because of Duke's success and media adoration.

Duke USED to get copious national love. The 1992 team, especially, were treated like rock stars. But the national perception of Duke right now is far more hate than love. Yes, there are still plenty of Duke fans out there, and certainly there are people who root for their own team and respect Duke's accomplishments. But it's pretty easy to see that, from the national media on down to the fans, there is a sentiment of antipathy toward Duke that wasn't there 10 years ago. I trace the real swing in feeling to the Duke/Maryland final four game in 2001, when Gary Williams was in full cry mode over the officiating and Billy Packer chimed in commenting (while both sides had, I think, 3 fouls) that "Duke is getting a lot of calls here!". That gave a tremendous amount of fuel to the perception that Duke got an unfair advantage, and gave ammo to the haters.

[blazindw]

We have a bigger bullseye on our backs because almost every single game of ours is on national TV. No other team, not even UNC or UCLA, can say that over 95% of their games are on national TV (this year, the only games I couldn't watch were NC Central & Miami). It's a double-edged sword: we are on TV all the time because people want to watch us play and our games get great ratings. But also, it opens the door for people to get sick of us and start hating because we're on tv all the time.

An interesting analogy; for those who have seen "Private Parts" (the movie about Howard Stern), there is a point where they're talking about ratings for his show. They said the average Stern fan listened for 90 minutes a day, the biggest reason being "I wonder what he'll say next." The average person who hated Stern listened to his show for over 2 hours each day, the biggest reason being "I wonder what he'll say next." I kind of see the same thing for Duke basketball. A ton of people love us and tune in to watch. A ton of people hate us (some for no reason other than that they can't stand seeing us on TV all the time), yet they still tune in to hate on us. Either way, TV networks get good ratings, they continue to play our games, and people further criticize our every move.

[-bdbd]

I dunno, somehow I feel kinda cheated.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...html?eref=sihp

Sports Illustrated has a new "Most Hated Teams in Sports" top-25 list up, looking back over the past 40 years or so. I was disappointed that we only made it in at number 12. Hmmm.

Also kinda funny that U of Miami actually has two teams ahead of us...


I used to gasp at all of the irrational venom directed our way. Now I think I've come around to embracing it, as they wouldn't hate you if youe weren't winning. Even the MS at the ESPY's mentioned us in that vein (in speaking about "all things futile..." like playing the Lakers or Duke in the Finals... (and a few others).

Hey, win it again this year and I have confidence that we'll move up!

[CEF1959]

That's a stupid list, generated by some intern at SI.com to generate discussion and attention to the site. It doesn't even purport to be based on any actual input from haters. Ignore.

[dukebluelemur]

No sense to the list itself, agreed...

... but nice blurb at the end of #20 (The 2004 USA Olympic BB Team)

"Only two positives resulted from that Greek tragedy: heightened appreciation of the 1992 Dream Team; and the chain of events -- an embarrassed Jerry Colangelo hires Mike Krzyzewski and makes playing for your country cool again -- that led to the Redeem Team, which atoned for American basketball at the 2008 Games"

[Greg_Newton]

On the original point of this thread... I wonder what the correct list would look like now, 2 years later? I'd guess:

1) Kentucky
2) Duke
3) UConn
4) Kansas
5) UNC? Texas? Louisville? 'Cuse?

[Cameron]

Some of the choices make sense and are perfectly fine by me. The Cowboys, 'Canes, Bad Boys, UNLV, Yankees, Knicks and Trail Blazers, notably. But where is our '99, '02 or '06 squads, for that matter? J.J.'s presence on that club alone makes it one of the most hated in modern college basketball history -- and we were No. 1 for a great portion of the season. (Hey, the hatred we receive is like the next best thing behind winning the national title or ACC Tournament. I love it and embrace it.)

There should be a place for Ohio State football on that list, as well. And I'm not so sure '06 UConn men's basketball shouldn't be there, too. There were players on that roster that I actually wanted dead. (I know, I have some serious, pent-up issues with regard to college basketball.) But there is only so much room on a Top 25 list. Like others have said, this list was not created with much thought in mind. It's for quick reading pleasure and site hits. Nothing more. I'd rather see a list developed around actual fan opinion and evidence. Then, I imagine, you would start to see our team climb the rankings.