Poll: How do the Haters affect your enjoyment of this title?

[Shane05]

I'm curious as to how people feel about this. Does it make it more satisfying that the legions of haters wanted us to fail, less satisfying since they made the process less enjoyable and made the win feel more like relief than triumph, or did it have no effect on you?

[The Gordog]

I'm curious as to how people feel about this. Does it make it more satisfying that the legions of haters wanted us to fail, less satisfying since they made the process less enjoyable and made the win feel more like relief than triumph, or did it have no effect on you?

Practically no effect at all. But then I live in Northern VA. It only bohters me when I can't have a good time in a bar because we're playing MD.

[DukeGirl4ever]

Oh for me, it's much more enjoyable. I work with too many non-intelligent haters and this win makes me walk around with a smirk all day.

My facebook was going crazy last night with all the hate...it was nice to not have to say the last word....but to simply SMILE!

[BleedsP287]

I'm annoyed by the haters because I feel strongly Duke is doing things the right way. Overall, it does reduce my level of enjoyment because it makes me angry. I can dismiss it, but I'd enjoy things more if it weren't happening.

But I'm always happy to argue with them. And I'm exceptionally proud of this year's team.

[Shane05]

I'm annoyed by the haters because I feel strongly Duke is doing things the right way. Overall, it does reduce my level of enjoyment because it makes me angry. I can dismiss it, but I'd enjoy things more if it weren't happening.

But I'm always happy to argue with them. And I'm exceptionally proud of this year's team.

Thanks for this post, I kinda feel the same way. That's the reason I started the thread. It would be nice to enjoy these games as a regular fan, rather than feel like you're under siege.

That being said, this run was absolutely wonderful and I'm elated. I just wrote a pretty harsh anti-hater post in my blog today, and now I'm feeling like 'man, I wish this wasn't necessary.'

[Newton_14]

First and foremost, the most satisfying reason for me was because I felt this team, especially the Seniors deserved this title more than any Duke team I can remember. And those guys endured a lot of pain, hate, and unrealistic expectations placed on them. It was fitting to me that they won this title.

That said, because of all the hating I will enjoy this title more than any of the other past titles. I actually laughed last night watching One Shining Moment when they showed exactly 1 Duke play from the tourney and it was Lance's foul on Hayward. That is just the world we as Duke Nation live in. The most hated program ever.

So yes this title rights a lot of wrongs and I love the fact that the haters, especially the media haters have to live with the fact that Duke is the 2010 National Champions!!

How Sweet It Is!!

[Reisen]

Duke haters are only showing themselves to be mindless sheep. If you have a connection to a rival, maybe a UNC or Maryland, or to a program like Arizona, where we broke your heart, fine. That's rivalry.

But just like in politics, the majority of the people out there are ill-informed and crowd followers. The undercurrents of media bias and racism have been well discussed, but you simply have no logical reason to hate Duke this tournament.

Just makes them look bad.

[ncexnyc]

I chose number 2. Yes, I do get to talk all the smack I want, but the waves of hate and the various excuses for our sucess that I get bombarded with just make it less enjoyable.

[4decadedukie]

I am a cantankerous old curmudgeon, and the ignorance and disrespect of the “Duke Haters” – I am NOT addressing legitimate criticism here, rather the garbage we hear personally and see daily from folks who hate Duke for no justifiable reason – only increases my pride and resolve in Duke and my love of this team and its Championship. To paraphrase Coach K during one of the recent Indianapolis news conferences, if individuals hate Duke because we run a squeaky clean program that always is a contender and sometimes is more, that holds student-athletes to high standards of comportment, academic achievement, and teamwork, that comes close to capitalizing on each individual’s and team’s full potential, and that has been a beacon of collegiate basketball integrity during an era when many other programs are not, then the hell with them.

[brumby041]

Living in Maryland, I relish the hate. It means Duke is winning.

One of my Terp neighbors was lamenting (snidely) the decline of Duke basketball since Duke hadn't won since 2001, and Gary and Vasquez won ACC Coach and Player of the year. These were, "obviously two programs going in opposite directions."

I heartily agree!

I will be congratulating my Terp acquaintances on the ACC Coach and Player of the year awards. They were obviously much more deserving than anyone on Duke's team.:D

[hurley1]

if they hate us now, just wait until 2 years from now.....they will really despise us then........lol......people who hate duke are ignorant to the facts that make college basketball what it should be.......most haters are folks that have never walked through the door of any university and never sat in a single college classroom...

[tendev]

I love the hate. I live in the other town that is home to last year's NCAA champs. I enjoy hearing their sometimes subtle but often times not subtle denigrating comments. It means they regard us as a threat to what they consider their domain. This win is particularly sweet because it followed theirs last year. If golf, when you follow your rival's birdie with one of your own, you have one-upped him.

[blazindw]

An up and coming comedian, Katt Williams, has a great quote about haters that sums up how I feel about them. I've edited it due to the NSFWness of the original:

"Who complains about having haters? What are you complaining about? That's their job so let them hate. It means you are doing something right. If you have 14 haters right now, you should be figuring out how to get to 16 by summertime. If you have 20 haters, you should be trying to get 60 of them. And if there are any haters out there without anyone to hate on, feel free to hate on me. Say my hair ain't luxurious when you know it is, chump!"

Translation: we are doing something right. Don't worry about the haters, we will have more now that we are back on top. If winning means more haters, then bring 'em on! I can handle any and all of them. I got my degrees and I got my rings. They envy us. Deep down, they wish they were us. So, feel free to hate on me...just know it's that much sweeter when we win.

[Reddevil]

You know what - I didn't go to Duke. (I'm a VCU grad) The first basketball game I ever watched on TV was the semi-final game involving David Thompson and NC State vs Bill Walton and UCLA. I was only 10 years old. Needless to say, I was hooked, and even then I wondered how in the world I had been missing something as awesome as college basketball. I needed to pick a team. I have always gravitated to the underdog so I looked at the standings and saw that Duke and UVA were the worst teams in the conference. Well my dad got a PhD from Duke, and we had an Irish setter named Duke Reddevil (hence the moniker) so that was it. For a time we lived in Poplar Apartments (I don't think they exist anymore), and picked Dad up each day at the chapel. This was the late 60's. I was terrified of the Blue Devil at the games and got splinters in the wooden seats at the football stadium, but I have great childhood memories of the place. Anyway, as I grew up I learned more about the university and the program. While not always being excellent myself, I grew to appreciate it as a standard. You know, aim high miss small. I have no idea why some people hate good things. Here's the kicker. How can some one root against Duke out of hatred, and pull for Butler? Unconsciously, they are rooting for the same things. So yeah, I'm happy for the guys, and at the same time feel that the haters deserve that slugged in the stomach feeling they have today. For the record, I was NOT pulling for VCU in that game! :D

[JamminJoe]

Living in Maryland, I relish the hate. It means Duke is winning.



Ditto for me since I live in MD too. If it means that Duke is doing well, then bring on the hate. I love hearing co-workers stumble trying to explain why they would root for a team like WVU over a team that does things right. And of course the satisfaction when Duke pummels a team like WVU is unparalleled.

[DukeDiva]

Living in KS...Duke fans are hard to come by. I love Duke and no amount of hate is going to change that or lessen what they accomplished last night! Go Devils...2010 National Champs! :D

[WordLife565]

It makes it so much sweeter.

All the carolina fans here, who doubted Duke. My friend who said that Duke has no chance at winning another title, and that K was done.

Well look here, we are the 2010 national champions, and have a great chance to repeat next year.

K = roy+dean with 4 ships.

Duke is back. K is back. Yes, we are a threat again.

[moonpie23]

here....share this with them....

[mapei]

I don't relish the hate, because I would much rather share the joy - that's hard to do here in DC. It decreases my enjoyment, definitely, but not my resolve or allegiance.

[FishStick]

Last year when UNC won the championship, I obviously wished they hadn't, but at the same time recognized they had the best team. This year with UNC losing in the NIT finals and Duke winning it all, it's amazing to see how rivals boards like IC react. The irrationality and immaturity makes me sad for UNC as a program and their fanbase as there are usually just one or two voices for reason for all the noise over there. That said, the respect WE show for Duke and our opponents (e.g. Butler) makes me only prouder of Duke Basketball. One of the ICers said "d**k represents everything that is wrong with college basketball. They deserve to be ripped on." If that's the case, what do all the haters represent?