Your Most Emotionally Satisfying Duke Wins

[awhom111]

With the exam break briefly depriving us of Duke sports, I thought this would be interesting topic to explore. Given all of the dramatic moments last month, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the memorable Duke victories I have experienced in person or via the magic of broadcast. Here are the 25 that I have come up with and ranked countdown style. 15 of the 25 were during my time at Duke with the other 10 after I graduated. The wins before I arrived, even though I was already a fan, just do not make me quite as emotional as these. 4 were away games and 5 were at neutral sites. I attended 13 of them and 1 of them I followed only by radio with the rest on TV or the internet. 12 of them were against North Carolina and 6 more were ACC opponents at the time of the event. Some of the sports did not lend themselves to this type of emotion even though I have some good memories from both tennis teams and Women's Golf. Oddly enough, I watched a lot of Women's Soccer games, but none of their victories really made the list as their most momentous one during my time at Duke was not one that I followed live. Their senior day victory in 2008 was one of the ones that just missed my list. I hope that Baseball and maybe a few other sports can find their way on the list soon. Which events would be on your lists?

25. Football 34-27 vs Wake Forest, 09/29/12
Based on when I attended Duke, there was plenty of football losing that I experienced. Our games against Wake Forest had a special degree of hurt because we always seemed to lose close games in unusual ways. This game was one of the first moments in that season where I thought that this was the start of something new. The opponent was one that we had to find a way to fight past to get to the next level and we did just that.

24. Football 31-3 vs Virginia, 09/27/08
Coach Cutcliffe's first year had brought us more winning than we expected. This was the first time where we were able to state a case that we were not going to be in the ACC cellar forever. It also happens to be the last Football win that I attended.

23. Field Hockey 2-1 vs North Carolina, 09/23/06
This was a really great game that ended in dramatic fashion with some terrific goalkeeping thrown in.

22. Men's Soccer 0-0 (5-4) vs North Carolina, 11/30/05
This was the ACC tournament final, going into penalty kicks before young Mike Grella gave us a taste of what to expect for the rest of his time at Duke with the winning kick. I watched this on TV in the dorm common room and it was a great collective experience as we were freshmen getting indoctrinated into the rivalry with a big win.

21. Football 20-14 vs Northwestern, 09/15/07
The game I listened to on the radio. Given all of the football frustration, this was almost an ironic win given the way nobody knew it was happening before people got the word out, leading to the biggest celebration during my time at Duke. It was a completely spontaneous celebration too, with a bunch of people dressed to go out that night and others already in their pajamas. Alas, we were a little bit confused about what to do with the goalpost. Also, kudos to the Duke Police Department for having the foresight to get an officer to Wallace Wade, even if he did not do anything.

20. Women's Lacrosse 11-10 vs North Carolina, 04/20/07
This game was back and forth in the first half then became a defensive masterpiece in the second half. Overall, it was thrilling rivalry game that was a big win.

19. Men's Basketball 77-75 vs Virginia Tech, 12/04/05
This game would probably not be quite as high except that I ended up a few rows behind the Virginia Tech fans and they were giving us grief all night as they were leading. Strangely they fell silent as the game ended. This was the first dramatic basketball win I experienced as a freshman and it was pretty fun to lord it over the dorm mates who had opted to not attend in person.

18. Football 31-7 vs James Madison 08/30/08
The weather delay to start the game actually made the game atmosphere quite crazy. With the first game for a new coach, a pretty big pro-Duke crowd showed up and student attendance was quite good. The win really got the Cutcliffe era started on the right note.

17. Women's Basketball 81-79 vs North Carolina, 03/01/09
Senior Day in my senior year with an overtime rivalry win. A great way to close out the home portion of the season. Of course the season ended on a sour note, but at the time, this win was great.

16. Men's Soccer 1-0 vs Virginia, 10/25/08
This was a rather crazy game with a good atmosphere with visiting fans coming with their own cheers. Darrius Barnes got a frustrating red card and later the field house had the fire alarm go off, leading Robbie Church, who I was sitting near, to wonder if it was Darrius being angry. The Virginia players were not happy that the game was not stopped for the alarm and Mike Grella converted a penalty for the winning goal.

15. Men's Soccer 2-1 vs Maryland, 09/22/07
This is the kind of dramatic ending not possible under the usual rules of soccer. Just when we thought the game was over, Cole Grossman introduces himself to the Duke fans with a late goal and the sudden death nature of the goal means a big celebration at the Duke bench. Look at Maryland's lineup in that game to see how loaded the teams were.

14. Men's Basketball 75-68 vs Kentucky, 11/13/12
Before this game, apparently our opponents were going to win every single championship forever with an entirely new super roster every season. Apparently our methods were in doubt again. The partisan nature of the crowd also increased the meaningfulness of the win as we collectively hurt their fanbase again. A game that is interesting to look back at after the entire season.

13. Men's Soccer 1-0 vs North Carolina, 10/20/06
This was probably the most fun I have ever had in Koskinen. It was raining, but the crowd was surprisingly big and full of students for a tense win.

12. Men's Basketball 85-84 vs North Carolina, 02/08/12
I may or may not have conceded this at some point, but our guys had other ideas. A tip of the cap to Mr. Zeller.

11. Volleyball 3-2 vs North Carolina, 11/29/13
An amazing comeback for an outright ACC title. If I was there to witness in person, I think it would have been higher.

10. Men's Basketball 82-50 vs North Carolina, 03/06/10
For us 2009 graduates, we had to miss this win, but it ended a large amount of lingering hurt from this game from our four years on campus. I think I really knew the magic was coming at this point.

9. Men's Basketball 61-59 vs Butler, 04/05/10
"We can't recruit" "We don't use our bench enough" "Our coach is out of touch" "Our lineup/coach is too short" "We shoot too many threes" Heck, those were just the things that our own fans were saying in the preceding years. I am not sure if any championship can match the amount of sentiment against one particular team, but we won this game our way and our coach cemented a legacy of longevity. Now our fans only say some of those things some of the time.

8. Women's Basketball 67-62 vs North Carolina, 02/25/07
A cap to a great regular season. At the time, we had no idea what was about to happen, but everyone was flying high. It was an immense student crowd and a bonfire right after the game.

7. Women's Basketball 75-53 vs Tennessee, 01/23/06
I think about this game every time I see a Walmart bag. This was one of two high profile beatdowns in a top two showdown by Duke basketball teams that season and Cameron was rocking for this game. Every so often the Crazies actually visibly get in the head of an opponent and it was so big here that a series was ended over it.

6. Volleyball 3-2 vs North Carolina, 09/29/05
This was basically my first live experience of the rivalry and it came in my favorite sport with a thrilling win. The volleyball team has had a pretty good home record for a while and this game's crowd showed why.

5. Field Hockey 3-2 vs Maryland, 11/22/13
Ultimately I feel that I am being unfair on Maryland's team, because they probably opposed the move, but like #14 this one feels like a legitimate Good defeating Evil moment. I just feel quite strongly about the possible negative effect that this particular move could have on a set of programs (unlike in previous realignments that demonstrably helped non-revenue sports) that helped create what to me is the very essence of college sports, the four-way, all-sport rivalry between Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. At least we still have USC-Stanford-Cal-UCLA. Our other sports still have a few opportunities to send Maryland out in style and I hope we do so with enthusiasm.

4. Men's Lacrosse 17-11 vs Dartmouth, 02/24/07
Koskinen may never ever be this full again. The anticipation of this game was pretty intense and this was probably the moment that I felt the most togetherness with the general Duke community. The game itself was not particularly memorable, but the whole event is one that will always stick with me.

3. Football 27-25 vs North Carolina, 11/30/13
The year before was no fluke. A division title was extremely far from my thoughts when I hoped that Duke could turn around its football program. It was also the perfect opponent at the perfect time for this accomplishment with both teams playing for everything in this game. Continuing a big winning streak also made the game more emotional.

2. Football 33-30 vs North Carolina, 10/20/12
To end the game the way we did in front of the home fans to give us that elusive bowl trip ended years of hurt in general and against these particular opponents. We all knew this sort of moment would come eventually, but it definitely came in the most exciting way possible.

1. Men's Lacrosse 6-5 vs Notre Dame, 05/31/10
The dramatic ending to this game was the perfect sendoff for this group of seniors and wrote a proper ending to this narrative. Until Women's Basketball wins a championship, I do not think I will ever feel this way about any other Duke win.

By Sport:
Football: 6
Men's Basketball: 5
Men's Soccer: 4
Women's Basketball: 3
Men's Lacrosse: 2
Volleyball: 2
Field Hockey: 2
Women's Lacrosse: 1

[theschwartz]

I like your basketball ones and I'll add to that these games that personally resonate with me (I may not remember all the dates):

1) 2/28/98 Duke over Carolina 77-75 in Cameron. My freshman year and one of my first exposures to this awesome rivalry. Great retribution considering how badly they beat us in the first game.

2) 2nd game vs. Carolina in 2001 at the Dean Dome. Considering how the first game against UNC ended, this was also sweet revenge. Also stood out considering how we lost to Maryland in the previous game on Senior Night. Boozer had gotten hurt and we were wondering how our guys would respond, but respond they did. They didn't lose another game that season.

3) West Virginia in the 2010 Final Four. This was highly cathartic for me since I had attended our loss to WV in the Round of 32 two years earlier in DC. I just remember some of the nastiness that came from the West Virginia fans during and after the game, as well as the comments made by their players after the game (here's the link (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/sports/ncaabasketball/23duke.html) - still makes my blood boil). This game was retribution in its finest form. We smacked them around for 40 minutes in the most meaningful game in their history. Yes, it was sad De'Sean Butler got hurt in that game but there was some sweet karmic justice doled out that night.

These choices make me seem like a very vengeful person. I guess that's how I derive my emotional satisfaction! :D

[kAzE]

Duke @ Maryland 2001. Jason Williams. 10 points in 54 seconds. Greatest comeback I've ever seen, in front of the most obnoxious fans in the world. That was a sweet victory.

[tommy]

First of all, great thread idea. Fun one to consider during the break.

I'd have to limit mine to basketball because for me, there's basketball and then there's everything else. So for me, I think there'd have to be three that stand out above the rest, though there are many, many others that were very satisfying that I can't believe somehow don't make my very short list. Like 82-50. Like the first championship. Like the last championship. Like the Duhon driving layup game over UNC. I could go on, but here are my top 3:

3. Semifinal win over UNLV, 1991 Final Four. Obvious revenge from the blowout of the year before, over the team everyone thought was invincible. Duke had been to a number of Final Fours in the previous years, but never was able to finish the job, and it seemed like this wasn't going to be our year either. It was a cultural event, with lots of obvious contrasts and story lines, and all the trash talking from UNLV and the media about how it was going to be a repeat of '90, but when it came down to it, we were just more clutch than they were.

2. Championship game win over Arizona, 2001. We had a team of pro's, led by perhaps the greatest guard of the K era in J-Will and (I suspect in his heart of hearts) K's all-time favorite player and leader in Battier. We had overcome the Boozer injury, had the huge comeback over Maryland in the Final Four (which was pretty derned satisfying in its own right) but Arizona was an all-star team as well, full of pro's and other high draft picks. I was very worried about this one, not only because of how good Arizona was, but also because I have a friend who is a huge and fairly obnoxious Arizona fan (as many of them are) and I couldn't have stood it had we lost that showdown. Also, I was no fan of Lute Olsen, so it was good to deny him a second championship -- despite it being perhaps his best team -- and create some separation between him and K in the championships department.

1. Championship game win over Michigan, 1992. The Fab 5 had so much hype for a team that had not actually won anything, and then combine that with their surliness, their attitude, their self-importance, and their seeming lack of respect for our program and what it had accomplished and what it stood for, and it was pretty nice to put them in their place. Hey young fellas, grow up a little, maybe go to work instead of worrying so much about your image, maybe earn something, and try again next year, OK? As we pulled away in the second half and it became obvious that we were blowing them out, we were coronated as back-to-back champions, the first since the Wooden teams, validating us as a true college basketball dynasty. That, my friends, felt good.

[Cameron]

Beating Butler.

Not only because my sister and I were in the stadium that night, but because nobody in the country wanted us to win, or even thought we had a chance to get there. Because of the mounting perception that we couldn't get out of the Sweet 16. Because VCU, West Virginia and Villanova. Because of the people who were saying the Coach K empire at Duke was dead, that, like what happened to his mentor in those final years at Indiana, the game had passed him by. Because J.J. Redick never got his chance. Because Jon Scheyer would. Because it was, sports-related or otherwise, one of the five greatest nights of my life; the kind that actually makes you turn to someone you're with and say you wish the moment could last forever. And really, how many of those are you lucky enough to experience in a lifetime?

It's funny, though. The magnitude and importance of that game, both for the legacy of Coach K and, more importantly, Duke University and its place among the most storied basketball traditions in the history of the game, didn't really hit me until later that week, when flipping through the pages of Sports Illustrated and seeing that full-page Nike ad, proclaiming that Order Has Been Restored. As a lifelong Duke fan who grew up being absolutely hated for it, I have to say, it was one of the most fulfilling feelings I've ever experienced in my life. It was like, "I hope you've enjoyed these last few years, because we're back. And we're not going anywhere."

Ah, what a night.

[BigWayne]

Most emotional wins I attended in person:
3/13/80 55-54 Win over Kentucky in the NCAA tournament on their home floor in 24,000 seat Rupp Arena.
2/28/81 66-65 Win over UNC in Gene Banks last regular season home game.
3/1/80 73-72 Win over MD in the ACCT as our only way to get into the 48 team NCAA tournament.

Most emotional wins on TV:
3/30/91 - Beating the unbeatable UNLV in the national semifinal. BTW- TV games should only count if you can remember exactly where you were during the game, in this case in a bar in Buckhead owned by Duke graduates seated at the bar. This was vastly superior than the previous year where I saw about 30 seconds of the losing effort in a conference room in Seoul.
3/28/92 - the shot by Laettner - seated on the North side of the bar area in the Chicago Pizza place on Buford Highway.
Most emotional loss:
3/31/86 - 69-72 loss to Louisville for the NC. Sitting at a huge Texas shaped wooden table at a bar near Rice University. Same place I saw Villanova take down Georgetown the previous year.

[dukelifer]

Three different decades

UNLV in 91 - enough said
Duke vs UNC in 81 - Coach K's first win against Dean on senior night
Duke vs MD 2001 ACC finals -Crazy last 10 secs- Steve Blake hits a 3 to tie it with 8 seconds left and Nate James has a beautiful tip with 2 sec and Maryland misses a half court Hayward-like heave at the buzzer that hits the rim- all with no timeouts. This game was critical for gaining confidence to make their run to the FF where they again played MD again in the semis and came back from a 22 point hole to win so they could play and beat AZ for the championship. Those 2001 MD games were amazing.

That game is on youtube- worth a watch

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=plASj51fQtM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DplASj51fQtM

[Indoor66]

The Freddy Lind Game. 'nuff said.

[OldPhiKap]

4. Every win over Gut.
3. Every win over D'oh!
2. Every win over Roy.
1. Every win over Dean.

[jv001]

The most satisfying for me are: March 30, 1991. Duke 79 vs. UNLV 77. Duke was supposed to be run out of the gym by the high flying players from UNLV, but Duke had a very good team that year and had the revenge factor going for them. Duke had been out classed the previous year by basically the same UNLV team. Bobby Hurley may have hit the most important shot in Duke history(at that time) in the closing minutes of this game. I watched the FF in Tampa Fl, (there for ST Louis Cardinals ST) that year. Then on April 1st Duke beat Kansas(and ole roy) for the championship 72-65. another game that is on my list is of course the Duke vs. Kentucky game. Duke 104 vs. Kentucky 103. This is right up there with the best games ever. Some fans call it the Laettner shot. I watched this FF from home. Christian was 10-10 field goals, 1-1 three point shots, 10-10 free throws. A great effort from probably number one or number two player ever at Duke. Grant Hill was very good in this game as well. 37 mins off the bench with a double double. 11 points and 10 rebounds and 6 were offensive rebounds. I guess I could throw in the championship game against the Fab 5 and Michigan for another game on April 6. Once again Duke didn't get the headlines as most of the media loved the Fab Five. But Duke showed everyone that it wasn't even close with a 71-51 romp over the Wolverines. There are many more great wins that I remember, The Fred Lind game, the Robby West game, Gene Banks great game on senior night. For one season, I would pick the year that Duke went undefeated in ACC basketball and ACC football. Jim Sumner will have to tell me what season it was because I'm too old to remember the dates. I love my Duke Blue Devils. GoDuke!

[MCFinARL]

Agree the 6-5 2010 NCAA championship lax win over Notre Dame, which I was lucky enough to see in person, was super--if excruciating. The semifinal victory over UVA in the same year was also spectacular--and much more high scoring at 14-13.

In basketball, where my only chances to watch in person have not been the most exciting games (except, perhaps, for a 2006 game against Georgetown in Verizon Center where a furious second half rally by Duke fell short--so it wasn't emotionally satisfying at all), I'd single out the Laettner shot game, the Maryland game many others have mentioned, the 2010 championship game, and the Austin Rivers UNC game at Chapel Hill. That game wasn't nearly as significant in terms of the program, but the outcome was so unexpected, and I was really glad I stayed up to see the end.

I really enjoyed the women's lax 2008 NCAA quarterfinal upset of Maryland, which I saw in person in College Park.

[pfrduke]

Mine was the 2001 national semifinal against Maryland. I was a sophomore, and had driven overnight from Durham to Minneapolis to go to the Final Four. We got in at about 8 in the morning and sleepwalked through the entire day. I remember so vividly when we were down 22 thinking "I can't believe we drove 20 hours for this and we're just going to have to turn around and go home" and how I wasn't quite ready to face the empty expanses of Southern Indiana again so soon. And then the comeback happened, and all was again right with the world.

Really, the whole 2001 season had some immensely gratifying wins. Routing UNC in the Dean Dome and again in the ACC Final after people gave the team up for dead due to Boozer's injury. The Maryland ACC semifinal described above, which was a thrilling game. Gone in 54 Seconds. And as a Southern California kid, I got extra satisfaction out of beating USC, UCLA, and Arizona - 3 of the 5 most attended schools for kids from my high school - en route to the title.

[johnb]

it's about perspective.

most emotionally satisfying win,

for math:
http://www.math.duke.edu/news/student/putnam328.htm

for development,
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950604&slug=2124492

bigger for development
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/03/3761924/duke-endowment-hits-3-billion.html#.Uqckl3-9KSM

for communal narcissism:
http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1997/08/29/duke-climbs-third-place-us-news-poll

one hire:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/mike-krzyzewskis-humble-beginnings-as-dukes-basketball-coach/248572/

another
http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2007/12/10/duke-hires-david-cutcliffe-head-football-coachf

[johnb]

it's about perspective.

most emotionally satisfying win,

for math:
http://www.math.duke.edu/news/student/putnam328.htm

for development,
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950604&slug=2124492

bigger for development
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/03/3761924/duke-endowment-hits-3-billion.html#.Uqckl3-9KSM

for communal narcissism:
http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1997/08/29/duke-climbs-third-place-us-news-poll

one hire:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/mike-krzyzewskis-humble-beginnings-as-dukes-basketball-coach/248572/

another
http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2007/12/10/duke-hires-david-cutcliffe-head-football-coachf

oh, and while we didn't win GQ's original ranking of d¥@chiest school ("we wouldn't want to rank Duke #1 at anything"), we're also #2 in deadspin's rank of d&@chiest among football schools. Very satisfying (though written before our rejuvenation)
http://deadspin.com/5840716/the-25-douchiest-football-schools-in-america/

[hurleyfor3]

Unlv in '91, followed by, in no particular order, @unc in 2001, the 2001 national semifinal and the 2010 championship game. The latter mostly because I was there.

[Wander]

It's funny, though. The magnitude and importance of that game, both for the legacy of Coach K and, more importantly, Duke University and its place among the most storied basketball traditions in the history of the game, didn't really hit me until later that week, when flipping through the pages of Sports Illustrated and seeing that full-page Nike ad, proclaiming that Order Has Been Restored. As a lifelong Duke fan who grew up being absolutely hated for it, I have to say, it was one of the most fulfilling feelings I've ever experienced in my life. It was like, "I hope you've enjoyed these last few years, because we're back. And we're not going anywhere."


Can you imagine what the narrative of Duke basketball would sound like right now if we had lost to Baylor in the Elite 8? No Final Four in a decade, etc. Totally agreed on this.

[flyingdutchdevil]

For some reason, the Baylor FF game in 2010 resonates as one of the most emotionally, even moreso than the Butler NC game. I don't know why. Maybe it's because he were overwhelmed physically. Maybe it's because I closed down a bar in London watching it. Maybe it's because Nolan Smith (my favorite modern Duke player) had one of his best games ever. I'm not sure. But I remember that game significantly more so than the Butler game.

[luburch]

3) West Virginia in the 2010 Final Four. This was highly cathartic for me since I had attended our loss to WV in the Round of 32 two years earlier in DC. I just remember some of the nastiness that came from the West Virginia fans during and after the game, as well as the comments made by their players after the game (here's the link (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/sports/ncaabasketball/23duke.html) - still makes my blood boil). This game was retribution in its finest form. We smacked them around for 40 minutes in the most meaningful game in their history. Yes, it was sad De'Sean Butler got hurt in that game but there was some sweet karmic justice doled out that night.


This game was beyond satisfying for several reasons.

1. I was there with my father and the WVU fans are awful. In particular there was one drunk West Virginia fan who repeatedly yelled, "Zoubek?! Zoubek?! We're going to let mother *explicit* Zoubek beat us." My dad will still send me random texts with"Zoubek" in all caps.

2. Bob Huggins coaches West Virginia.

3. It's West Virginia.

[Billy Dat]

I agree with any/all of the examples already cited, so I'll add a few more offbeat ones:

12/5/92 - Duke vs. Michigan
The Fab 5 comes to Durham after losing the National Title game with revenge on their minds and highly confident considering the graduations of Laettner et al. SI's Alexander Wolff wrote it it better than I can (http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004645/index.htm)
"Michigan's Fabulous Five freshmen of a year ago are indeed sophomores now, and they have never not had something to say. As the two teams crossed paths in a tunnel at the Metrodome in Minneapolis before last spring's NCAA championship game, a number of Wolverines taunted their counterparts from Duke with cries of "It's payback time." Again last week Michigan players Juwan Howard ("I pity Duke," he said), Chris Webber ("Jalen Rose is a better point guard than Bobby Hurley," he said) and Ray Jackson ("Payback," he said once more) sounded the same promissory notes about a Wolverine victory. In the space of a year, however, the Blue Devils have now beaten Michigan in Ann Arbor, in Durham and on a neutral court, as well as both with Christian Laettner and without him. All this talk of "paybacks" is beginning to sound a lot like "the check's in the mail."

11/26/97 - Duke v Arizona - Maui Invitational Final
Yes, we were a top 5 team, but Arizona was the defending champs and basically had their whole team back. Duke was still rebuilding after the 1994/5 season and this was a big early test for the heralded 1997 recruiting class. Winning this game signaled that a return to the very top of the college game was not a fantasy, and was an early spark in a brilliant 3 final fours, two title games and one title run over 7 seasons....the second K Golden Age.

[oldnavy]

We beat the team that killed us the year before and the team that no one else could beat that year. It was the ice breaker that has now resulted in 4 NC's. After that game I had NO DOUBT at all that we would not win the NC in the next game, NONE!

I will NEVER forget Bobby Hurley's 3 pointer that game and the look on the UNLV's players when they realized for the first time that they were probably going to lose. How fitting for Bobby to hit that shot too, since he had a pretty bad outing the year before against UNLV, nice retribution for him.

All the years of getting to the FF and frustration, went away with that shot and game. By FAR the most emotionally satisfying game I have ever watched Duke play.

[cato]

I'm surprised there has only been one mention of the Kentucky game. I have a vivid image in my mind of a shot of the Duke cheerleaders trying their best to put on an upbeat performance in the moments before the ball was given to Grant. I was devastated; they must have felt worse. I could not believe they could keep their composure.

Of course, no one kept their composure a few seconds later.

That has to be the most emotionally satisfying win I have seen (although contingently so, since Duke went on to win the whole thing).

I completely understand people who put the UNLV game at the top. My mom and I were visiting DC during the 1990 FF, and ordered room service to watch the championship game in our hotel room. I didn't think I would ever be so disappointed in a Duke game again (until 1999). Unfortunately, I was returning from a long trip during the 1991 rematch, and could not watch the game. My mom met me at the airport with copy of one of the New York rags boldly proclaiming Duke's win on its back page.

No one else in the airport understood our celebration.

Also, I will always have a special place in my heart for Rivers' buzzer beat in the Dean Dome. Gone in 54 seconds was amazing, but it's hard to match a true buzzer beater.

[throatybeard]

I'm surprised there has only been one mention of the Kentucky game.

I think it's because the end of the Kentucky game has become so overexposed that it's sort of become a cliché. I remember how I felt at the 1998 UNC game. I remember how I felt watching the UNLV game. I no longer **really** remember how I felt at the end of the Kentucky game because I've seen the end of the Kentucky game four hundred times. (I don't think I'm exaggerating).

A dozen or so years ago, I served on the Grad Campout committee for the first time. Someone suggested that for entertainment, we show old games. I had a reasonably extensive library on VHS, so I volunteered. I wasn't letting my originals out into the elements (September in Durham is frequently disgustingly hot and humid), so for a week of evenings, I made copies of all the games I was going to bring. I don't remember how many I brought, but probably a dozen, almost all from the 1990s. I figured I'd show them in chronological order.

This ended up being a massive waste of time, because anytime I was away from the VCR for more than fifteen minutes, people would take out whatever game I had put in there and insert the tape of the Kentucky game. No really, this happened like eight times. The silliest part of it was that they would never fast forward to the 2H, or the OT--they'd always start it at the beginning. Much of the weekend viewing was watching Principal commercials during the first half of the Kentucky game.

So, yay Grant, yay Christian, yay Kentucky game. But there are other things under the sun.

[weezie]

4. Every win over Gut.
3. Every win over D'oh!
2. Every win over Roy.
1. Every win over Dean.

Mostest especially, Austin Rivers dddrrraaaininnnnng the three in the last seconds at holedome! It's forever carved into my heart.

And the overhead picture shot of the team running across the court, trampling the outline of the state of NC.

[Dukehky]

Duke win over UNC in football last year to become bowl eligible has to be number 1 for me. By a pretty wide margin. I just sat on the top row, listened to the bell ring, watch the kids and some of the old guys rush the field and just smiled. Then smiled the whole way back home, and pretty much for the rest of the week. Plus Sean Renfree is in my top 5 all time favorite Duke athletes, and the only one who is not a basketball player.

Butler game was so emotionally draining, tears were shed, couldn't control it.

I don't know if the Rivers shot was as emotionally satisfying as it was just incredible and exciting. We beat a team that was much more talented with some helpful calls, and no calls in the Dean Dome. I just remember walking out of there hugging my buddy and having people glare at us in silence.

[wsb3]

Duke 72 Kansas 65...None could top this one for me.
82-74 Clinch 86 Regular Season in Cameron (K's first)
Duke 82 UNC 50 2010
Duke 79..Vegas 77
Back to back weekend wins over UNC 2001
Duke 90 UNC 76 Carrawell Senior Day (heard all the previous summer from UNC fans how bad we would be when Brand and company left early. we swept them & won season and tourney)
Duke 65 UNC 61 ACC Championship & the first 3 game sweep of our rivals in a long time..
Duke 61 Butler 59 National Championship

[moonpie23]

UNLV
10 for 10 + 10
82-50
"OH it almost went in. And DUKE is the king of the dance"
duhon
rivers

[jacone21]

For me, it's that whole 2001 stretch run after Boozer's foot and the "It's Over" thread.
The win over UNC, telling the world... "We ain't done yet!"
The epic ACC semi against Maryland.
Rolling UNC again in the ACC finals.
Gary and the Terps IV in the national semifinals.
Dunleavy rising to the moment in the championship game.
Battier riding off into the sunset with Nate. How many winning plays did those guys make between them?

What a great stretch of games that was. Wish I had a time machine.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

I'm surprised there has only been one mention of the Kentucky game. I have a vivid image in my mind of a shot of the Duke cheerleaders trying their best to put on an upbeat performance in the moments before the ball was given to Grant. I was devastated; they must have felt worse. I could not believe they could keep their composure.

Of course, no one kept their composure a few seconds later.

That has to be the most emotionally satisfying win I have seen (although contingently so, since Duke went on to win the whole thing).


Also, I will always have a special place in my heart for Rivers' buzzer beat in the Dean Dome. Gone in 54 seconds was amazing, but it's hard to match a true buzzer beater.

I think the reason, for me, the '92 Kentucky game isn't emotionally satisfying, is it felt like more of a relief than anything else. For a team that was ranked #1 all season with almost the entire same team back from the previous year, losing in the Elite 8 would have been quite dissapointing, at least to me.

When I think of "satisfying", I think of games where Duke is the underdog or they pull the win out in memorable fashion or they reach a significant milestone.

Some of My list, in no particular order:

2009 Duke vs. Wake at CIS - IMO, the most important win for Duke BBall as a program and brand since 2001.

1997 Duke vs. UNC at CIS - Finally breaking through and defeating UNC after 7 straight losses.

2001 Duke vs. UNC at CH - Whipping UNC after Boozer's injury was sweet justice.

2001 Duke vs. Md at MD and FF - Watching Gary Williams' meltdown was priceless. Seeing it happen again was for the ages.

2010 Duke vs. UNC at CIS - Not that we were the underdogs but the way we stole UNC's manhood and swagger that night was memorable. UNC has yet to get it back, really.

1996 Duke vs. State at NCSU - If memory serves me, Duke was 0-4 in the ACC at the time and it took a Chris Collins 3 pointer that bounced about 7 times on the rim before it went through for Duke to get it's first conference win in nearly a year.

[Chicago 1995]

From 2010, I'd agree that the Baylor win felt like getting over a bigger hump than beating WVA or Butler did. Probably counting eggs before they hatched, but knowing that what the Final Four looked like when we played Baylor in the Elite 8, that felt like THE game. Get past Baylor, and there was a really, really good chance we'd win a title.

Being a senior in 1995, I think the wins that came as we returned to power in the season thereafter meant the most. Of those, I'd note three: (1) beating UMD in late February 1996 -- I think we won that one a Ricky Price triple from the corner maybe not at the buzzer, but near the end of the game, giving us a win that put us pretty squarely on the right side of the bubble; (2) Beating Wake at Wake in 1997 with Chris Carrawell defending Tim Duncan was a big, big step and put us in line for the ACC Regular Season title; and (3) beating UNC on Senior Day in 1998 -- coming off of the game at Chapel Hill that year, finding a way to fight back and beat them was huge.

Beating UNC twice in a week in 2001 after Boozer broke his foot was just remarkable, and there are obviously others that mattered a ton that have been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but that trio from 1996, 1997 and 1998 were the three games that came to mind immediately when I saw this thread.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I think the reason, for me, the '92 Kentucky game isn't emotionally satisfying, is it felt like more of a relief than anything else. For a team that was ranked #1 all season with almost the entire same team back from the previous year, losing in the Elite 8 would have been quite dissapointing, at least to me.

When I think of "satisfying", I think of games where Duke is the underdog or they pull the win out in memorable fashion or they reach a significant milestone
I dunno... that was pretty memorable and satisfying! Imagine the emotional train wreck had CL not hit the shot. All that back and forth and battling all game long. Overtime. I mean, that was an unbelievable emotional buildup. Heck, winning wasn't enough... we destroyed commons rooms ceiling tiles and then went and burned benches and couches all night long!

[allenmurray]

Football 33-30 vs North Carolina, 10/20/12

I am much more a fan of basketball than of football. My son and I have had season tickets to Duke Football for the past 9 years. When the final horn sounded we both just collapsed into each other's arms.

[camion]

I don't know if anything will ever top the 1991 win over UNLV. I was at the beach at the time and had to go on a 3 mile walk in the sand to work off the adrenalin rush.

[pfrduke]

2009 Duke vs. Wake at CIS - IMO, the most important win for Duke BBall as a program and brand since 2001.

So that's going to require some explanation. Curious as to why you feel this way about this win?

[BlueDevilBrowns]

So that's going to require some explanation. Curious as to why you feel this way about this win?

OK, here it goes:

In late winter 2009, Duke was having a solid season, ranked in the top 10 and upper 1/3 of the conference. BUT, Duke was coming off of 2 fairly sub-par seasons by the standards of the last 25 years. Coupled with the fact that a few miles down the road UNC was coming off a Natty in '05 plus back-to-back years of deep tournament runs as well as beating Duke, not only on the court(winning 4 out of 5 at the time), but also on the recruiting trail.

The general consensus was Coach K was winding down while Roy and UNC were gearing up for another run of dominance. And not only UNC, but Wake Forest was beginning to take some of Duke's "shine" as well, with, what seemed like at the time, an entire starting lineup of future NBA players who had already defeated Duke earlier that year. Duke was looked at by some as too white, too slow, and incapable of reaching the level of K's earlier "Golden Ages"(as Kedsy calls them).

Then 02/22/2009 happened. Duke vs. Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

First, the team introduces brand-new uniforms(with the "ghost" design on the back of the jersey), never before done in College Basketball.

Then, Coach K is on ABSOLUTE FIRE for the entire game. I personally have never seen him so fired up for an entire game before or since. He even pulls a Gary Williams and throws off his suit jacket. He's in the players faces at every time out, he's throwing his hands up to the crowd as if to say "louder, louder, louder!".

Tactically, Elliot Williams is introduced into the starting lineup and Scheyer moves over to the PG spot(where he would stay for the rest of his career).

Duke wins a barn-burner of a game 101-91 while Scheyer and Henderson score a combined 65 points.

This is all before a national TV audience on a Sunday night.

It was Coach K's way of announcing to the world and Duke Nation - "You're either with us or against us, but one way or another, Duke will be at the top again".

It was also, too, more importantly, a direct message to his team of what Duke Basketball is about - PASSION, TOUGHNESS, and INTENSITY.

Duke would go on to win 30 games, the ACC Championship, and reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 3 years.

And we all know the rest.

Not saying I'm right, just my 2 cents.

[Highlander]

Duke / UNLV BB 1991 is at the top of my list. Someone asked me that day if I thought Duke had a chance, and I said "Nope" without a moment's hesitation. I still get chills thinking about Hurley's three at the end. Emotionally satisfying considering how we lost to them the year before. This was such a statement game for us to show that we could compete with anyone, including the unbeatable UNLV. After the game, an impromptu party on our street commenced as all the Duke fans got together and went out to the local burger joint. One of the kids there said he thought we'd be favored to beat Kansas. Having had my heart broken so many times before, and having given up on that game before it was played, that was the first moment I thought we might win our first title. I will never forget it.

Duke / MD BB #1 2001 - the comeback. Listened to it on the radio all the way back from Durham. A buddy dropped me off at my house with about 4 minutes to go, and declined my offer to come in and watch the end. Probably the most incredible comeback I have ever seen. And to do it against MD in their heyday was just perfect. If you ever question why MD hates us so much, watch this game, followed by the Final Four game and try cheering for MD. Just a brutal way to go down again.

Duke / UNC BB #2 2001 - First game without Boozer. I thought we were going to get creamed. I didn't think we'd win another game all season. To go into Chapel Hill and win convincingly was a total shock. Battier's block of Forte is my favorite play of his career. That game restored hope that all was not lost.

Duke / ND LAX Finals is probably third. Having come so close so many times, it was sweet to see these guys finally win one. And the OT was amazing.

Duke / UNC 1989 FB - The infamous "scoreboard game." Went to it with my Dad and a UNC fan from our hometown who bought the tickets preseason. He left third quarter and my dad quipped "If you leave now, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to tell you who won." This game was the reason that I never gave up on Duke Football. I knew we could be good because I'd SEEN it.

Duke / UNC BB 1998 #2 - My senior year. So much invested in that team and so many emotions. Was incredible to see them go out with a win against a team that was markedly better. Marred a bit by the horrible police and student behavior after the game as we attempted to burn benches and they attempted to stop us. Was nice to see that the students just waited until Tuesday of the following week to burn the benches anyway. The bench burning tradition almost died that year.

Just about any win over UNC is emotionally satisfying for me, but 2010's 82-50 drubbing is one of my favorites. Anytime you can beat the absolute stuffing out of your opponent and leave no doubt as to who is better, it is great. Plus the fact that Hubert picked UNC pregame and got a good bit of grief at halftime is pretty funny to watch.

[killerleft]

Lots of candidates I narrowed down to two because of time constraints:

Basketball: '91 UNLV, for the obvious reasons. What a fabulous way to make amends for the '90 game, and to get us to the finals!

Football: '89 Clemson, seen in person. This was one emotional win on a rainy Saturday, perpetrated on the premier ACC team during that era.

If laughter is the best medicine, perhaps nothing will ever beat Stone Cold Austin Rivers' amazing buzzer beater at the Deaner. I couldn't stop giggling for quite a while after we got that one!:D

[TruBlu]

#2: Duke - UNLV, '91: We had no chance to win, according to most experts. I was visiting my parents for that weekend, and my father was a lifelong Duke fan . . . so much so that he was the reason that I, and the rest of my family, became Duke fans. He was in a foul mood after any Duke loss, and was elated and a joy to be around after a Duke win. He got so emotionally involved in Duke games, that he finally stopped watching them live on TV, but would record the games and watch the replay if Duke won. Since I watched this game live on his TV, he retired to another room. I can still hear his voice coming from the other room saying, "What's the score and how much time". At the buzzer, he knew from my cheering that we had won. We watched the replay together the next morning.

Duke - Butler, 2010: My first couple of trips to Final Fours made me think I was a jinx. I was able to take my son and two daughters to their first ever Final Four. They un-jinxed me.

[Billy Dat]

#2: Duke - UNLV, '91: We had no chance to win, according to most experts. I was visiting my parents for that weekend, and my father was a lifelong Duke fan . . . so much so that he was the reason that I, and the rest of my family, became Duke fans. He was in a foul mood after any Duke loss, and was elated and a joy to be around after a Duke win. He got so emotionally involved in Duke games, that he finally stopped watching them live on TV, but would record the games and watch the replay if Duke won. Since I watched this game live on his TV, he retired to another room. I can still hear his voice coming from the other room saying, "What's the score and how much time". At the buzzer, he knew from my cheering that we had won. We watched the replay together the next morning.

Duke - Butler, 2010: My first couple of trips to Final Fours made me think I was a jinx. I was able to take my son and two daughters to their first ever Final Four. They un-jinxed me.

First off, how could he wait until the next morning? ;^)

I was a freshman and on campus for the UNLV game. As I wasn't really a Duke fan until I matriculated (I wasn't a non-fan, more neutral), I had none of the agonizing baggage that others had, and was, obviously, spoiled right away and ever since. But, I will say that being on campus for both the 1991 and 1992 title celebrations, NOTHING compared to the celebration after the Vegas game. There was a wild, animalistic, primal vibe that night, cathartic doesn't really describe it because it was as if the demon had been slayed but there was more slaying to do, and there was no doubt that the slaying would be done that Monday night (Adonis Jordan, Mark Randal, Huck Hound, please)...in the meantime, the beasts were going to rejoice....

[Sir Stealth]

I don't think I've ever wanted a team to win anything as badly as the win over UNC 2/28/98. Blowing UNC off their home court when no one gave us a chance in 2001 was a big one, this year's win over UNC in football was a big one.

[Lauderdevil]

Awhom, kudos for an awesomely diverse list of "emotionally satisfying wins." Wow.

[ArtVandelay]

Nothing new or truly unique really to add, other than to add personal anecdotes and pumping up the "counting stats" for the games that everyone else voted for. I will note that it seems many of you care more about rivalries than championships, which is fair enough but not my bag. Note that none of the earlier games from before I went to Duke will have the same resonance for me (i.e. I remember "the shot" and rooting for Duke, but I wasn't as big a fan at the time).

1. 2001 National Championship game. Others found some of the other big wins in 2001 more satisfying, but this was the one NC I was on campus for, even though the team finished #1 in the final AP poll each of my four years. The 2001 team will always feel like "my team." I can't remember a more enjoyable win.

2. 2010 National Championship game. Loved this group of guys. Loved the vindication after years of hearing that Duke was slipping. Loved drinking a can of 10-year old commemorative Coca-Cola from the 2001 national title that I promised I would not drink until they won the next one.

3. @UNC in 2001. I actually snuck into the Dean Dome for this game (don't tell!) while wearing neutral clothing. I got a lot of enjoyment out of taking off my outer layer to reveal the Duke t-shirt below in the second half once the game was in hand and I no longer cared if I got kicked out. This is also the game where I learned to stop worrying and always trust Coach K.

4. 2001 Final Four comeback against Maryland. The Gone in 54 Second game was crazier, but this one meant more and was therefore more satisfying, at least for me.

5. UNC at Home in 1999. This was my first Duke-Carolina game in Cameron. 'Nuff said.

[-jk]

Lord, this one's tough! I see more storylines than single games.

Start with Tink's win. Unbelievable! K shows he can compete with Deano. Unheard of.

2010 tourney run. All six, as a whole. Amazing. "Workmanlike" defined. Whoo! That was an amazing run, with amazing games.

2001 - sweet vindication after we joined the one (or two) and done club. And all the rest of that year's baggage. From the Dean Dome to the Championship. (And my mother spending most of it in the ICU, alas. She missed a Duke Final Four for the first time.)

UNLV '91. Couldn't be there, but my leap put a dent in my ceiling... (Ouch!)

UK '92 - despite its cliched nature, it was an amazing game between two heavyweights. Neither giving ground. (A chest, perhaps, but not ground.)

-jk

[WillJ]

Here's a game I haven't seen listed: Duke's 1984 victory over UNC in the ACC tournament semifinal. The first really huge win for the kids that went on to the 1986 championship game and a victory over an amazingly stacked UNC team: Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, Matt Doherty (okay, let's take him out). David Henderson, my all-time favorite Duke player, was awesome and repeatedly burned Matt Doherty. For those of us who started with Coach K, this was a truly cathartic win.

[wsb3]

I think the reason, for me, the '92 Kentucky game isn't emotionally satisfying, is it felt like more of a relief than anything else. For a team that was ranked #1 all season with almost the entire same team back from the previous year, losing in the Elite 8 would have been quite disappointing, at least to me.

Could not agree more. I did not see Kentucky being the challenge they ultimately were. Relief was certainly my #1 emotion.

[Indoor66]

January 3, 1967 - Duke vs Penn State at Duke Indoor Stadium and Vic Bubas benches all starters except Bob Verga for rules violations on New Years Eve. (I'll leave that one to your imagination.) Duke won the game 89-84. I was sitting next to the Penn State bench and the players were crying and moaning that they got beat by the Scrubs. That was a wonderful, but sad, moment. It was also very satisfying.

[Luther]

One of the most satisfying wins was the 2010 defeat of UNC in Cameron. It was such a great ending to such an enjoyable season. I remember Coach K tearing up when they were announcing the seniors and too be honest I almost did as well. I did not want to see those young men leave Duke. They embodied everything Duke stands for and it was so satisfying to see them succeed at the highest level.

[burnspbesq]

I would throw the 2007 national semifinal win over Cornell in men's lax into the picture. Zack Greer's game-winner with three seconds to go is probably the second most exciting moment in Duke lax history.

Although she wasn't wearing Duke blue at the time, I would rank Mollie Pathman's performance at left back for the USA in the final of the 2012 FIFA women's under-20 world championship as one of the performances by a Duke athlete that made me proudest of our young men and women.

And let's not forget Jess Foley's three at the buzzer to beat UConn in 2004, in a game in which Duke trailed by 20 midway through the second half.

[coldriver10]

One of the most satisfying wins was the 2010 defeat of UNC in Cameron. It was such a great ending to such an enjoyable season. I remember Coach K tearing up when they were announcing the seniors and too be honest I almost did as well. I did not want to see those young men leave Duke. They embodied everything Duke stands for and it was so satisfying to see them succeed at the highest level.
While not the most emotionally satisfying victory for me, the 82-50 game was definitely my most emotional. I had wanted to go to Duke since I fell in love with the basketball team at age 9. I spent 4 years as a Cameron Crazie in undergrad, then another 4 years as a CC in medical school.

The UNC game in 2010 was the culmination of 18 years obsessing over becoming and then being a Cameron Crazie. I cried during the national anthem, teared up at moments throughout the game, and then skipped the ensuing bonfire to cry the entire walk to my car. So, so dramatic. And possibly hormonal.

The 2010 national championship, which I watched from within Cameron, was a close second in terms of pure emotion...but definitely the most emotionally satisfying for me.

[sagegrouse]

In person and ancient history:

November 1960/Football: Duke 19, #4 Navy. One of Duke's best football wins in history, and I was there ... with the Navy goat in my hands (and those of some better-muscled compadres)

March 1961/Basketball: #4 Duke 81, #5 UNC 77. The Art Heyman-Larry Brown fight.

November 1961/Football: Duke 6, UNC 3. Duke clinches a second straight ACC championship

November 1962/Football: Duke 16, @ UNC 14. Duke clinches a third ACC championship when G Jean Berry makes a tackle on the goal line

November 1963/Football: Duke 25, #2 Navy 38. A high-scoring game. Duke was trailing only by six when Johnny Sai broke free for a 93-yard run.

March 1964/Basketball: #3 Duke 87, #7 Villanova 73. Regional semis. Duke went on to beat UConn in the regional finals by 47 points and make the FF.

I'll do the later years when I have more time.

[throatybeard]

Here's a game I haven't seen listed: Duke's 1984 victory over UNC in the ACC tournament semifinal.

One of the things that always amazes me about those early 1980s games---the 1983 ACCT Final was just on--when they are on ESPNC is that Vitale hadn't yet become...VITALE. He doesn't shout, he talks about the game rather than teams and celebrities not present, and he uses a couple of his catch phrases here or there, but not six of them in a row. In fact, he's so understated [by comparison to his 1990s- act], that you actually have to listen for a second to be sure it's him.

[freshmanjs]

i would add 1999 duke over temple in the east regional final. it was emotional to get back to the final4 after the 5 year absence and to be really, really back.

[throatybeard]

I'll mention one I think no one has: the clock game at University Hall in 1997 where Wojo won the game with two foul shots we didn't think he would be allowed to attempt.

[fisheyes]

March 1979 UNC at Duke

Halftime score Duke 7 UNC 0

Yes...basketball...

The "four corners" era...

Duke wins 47-40

The start of the "airball" chant!

[MCFinARL]

I would throw the 2007 national semifinal win over Cornell in men's lax into the picture. Zack Greer's game-winner with three seconds to go is probably the second most exciting moment in Duke lax history.

Although she wasn't wearing Duke blue at the time, I would rank Mollie Pathman's performance at left back for the USA in the final of the 2012 FIFA women's under-20 world championship as one of the performances by a Duke athlete that made me proudest of our young men and women.

And let's not forget Jess Foley's three at the buzzer to beat UConn in 2004, in a game in which Duke trailed by 20 midway through the second half.

I'd forgotten the 2007 lax semi, probably because the final that year was so distressing. But that was a great game.

[Newton_14]

Most emotional game in person:

2011 Duke vs unc in Cameron- Kyrie is in a boot, Singler could not hit the side of a barn, and HB turns and taunts the Duke bench after blocking Singler on one end and then hitting a 3 in transition on the same exchange. They go up 17 and are up 14 at the half. Enter Seth Curry, and Nolan Smith. Both go crazy in the 2nd half. With something like 4 or 5 minutes left, Ryan Kelly nails a 3 from the right wing to finally give us the lead for the first time. That was the loudest moment I have experienced in Cameron. I screamed (or so I thought) when the 3 went in but realized I could not hear my own voice. Got light headed and actually thought I was going to pass out, so I sat down for a minute to get my senses together. After that I only raised my arms when something good happened, and stopped trying to yell or even talk. It was nuts. Very sweet win, especially after the HB taunt.

Most emotional game watching on TV:
2010 National Title- During the timeout with 13 seconds left in the game with Duke up 61-60, and Butler with the ball, I was about to lose my mind and have a breakdown. My wife and 13 yr old son (neither of which are basketball fans, and only occasionally watch a game) were watching with me, and both asked during that timeout why I was so much more nervous than normal. I said, "I know you guys don't understand it, but out of all the Duke teams ever, this team deserves to win a National Championship more than any other" I just felt that team, but really the program as a whole, and even the school, had endured so much hate in the years prior. It started with the Packer quote in the 01 Final Four about "Duke getting all the calls", then ramped up mightily with the LAX Hoax, and just continued on and on and on.

The photo of Jon with the black eye after the loss to VCU (and reports of local sportswriters openly celebrating when the final score was announced in the media room at Winston Salem where 1st round games were being played), then the next yr barely beating Belmont, and losing to West Virginia, then finally getting blown out in the 2nd Half against Villanova in 09, etc, those kids had just been through it all. Even at the beginning of that 09-10 season, losing the recruiting battle in Skypegate to Ol Roy, getting ridiculed by Bomani Jones on local radio for only having three African-American kids on the roster, and EWill transferring, there was just a ton of negativity coming from many different directions. Watching those guys win it all was just sweet redemption. As -jk mentioned, the entire 6 games of the tourney were great, but it kind of started with 82-50, then the great win in the ACC against Ga Tech. (Andre was big in the first half with Nolan in foul trouble. Had the monster dunk after driving the lane). The Purdue slugfest, the Baylor game; Andre big again with two 3's to keep us in it in the first half, Nolan hitting the big 3 in the 2nd half then high-fiving K on the way back up the court, Z barking instructions to Miles after fouling out, Lance with the monster put-back dunk and the and-1 to seal it. Then they blowout West Virginia to avenge the loss two years prior, and then finally, Butler, miss the free throw, no no make it, no miss it! Z clanks it on purpose, Kyle gets creamed on a crack back block, the shot almost goes in, but doesn't. "Duke is the King of The Dance"

That team gave us so many memories it is hard to capture them all....

[arnie]

March 1979 UNC at Duke

Halftime score Duke 7 UNC 0

Yes...basketball...

The "four corners" era...

Duke wins 47-40

The start of the "airball" chant!

Robbie West at the buzzer

[Faustus]

I was a student (freshman, I guess) in the bleachers for the Robbie West game. Sweet. Wasn't much else to enjoy that season.

But I'd like to applaud the mention up the page of that 1984 ACC semi-final win over UNC. True, it's all but buried in memories of later games now - Duke lost to Maryland and the unstoppable Len Bias the next day in the finals, but watching that UNC game on tv was such a joy - for the first time in memory Duke players were actually getting to loose balls before UNC. Truly eye-opening. This was the game where I realized Duke was just as talented and potentially as good of a team as the great UNC, which I had to suffer watching for years now. As a measuring stick, this game was in fact monumental. Thanks for bringing it up again. (And beating UNC anytime is extremely satisfying to me. I don't think I even have a #1 example.)

[kAzE]

Most emotional game in person:

2011 Duke vs unc in Cameron- Kyrie is in a boot, Singler could not hit the side of a barn, and HB turns and taunts the Duke bench after blocking Singler on one end and then hitting a 3 in transition on the same exchange. They go up 17 and are up 14 at the half. Enter Seth Curry, and Nolan Smith. Both go crazy in the 2nd half. With something like 4 or 5 minutes left, Ryan Kelly nails a 3 from the right wing to finally give us the lead for the first time. That was the loudest moment I have experienced in Cameron. I screamed (or so I thought) when the 3 went in but realized I could not hear my own voice. Got light headed and actually thought I was going to pass out, so I sat down for a minute to get my senses together. After that I only raised my arms when something good happened, and stopped trying to yell or even talk. It was nuts. Very sweet win, especially after the HB taunt.

Most emotional game watching on TV:
2010 National Title- During the timeout with 13 seconds left in the game with Duke up 61-60, and Butler with the ball, I was about to lose my mind and have a breakdown. My wife and 13 yr old son (neither of which are basketball fans, and only occasionally watch a game) were watching with me, and both asked during that timeout why I was so much more nervous than normal. I said, "I know you guys don't understand it, but out of all the Duke teams ever, this team deserves to win a National Championship more than any other" I just felt that team, but really the program as a whole, and even the school, had endured so much hate in the years prior. It started with the Packer quote in the 01 Final Four about "Duke getting all the calls", then ramped up mightily with the LAX Hoax, and just continued on and on and on.

The photo of Jon with the black eye after the loss to VCU (and reports of local sportswriters openly celebrating when the final score was announced in the media room at Winston Salem where 1st round games were being played), then the next yr barely beating Belmont, and losing to West Virginia, then finally getting blown out in the 2nd Half against Villanova in 09, etc, those kids had just been through it all. Even at the beginning of that 09-10 season, losing the recruiting battle in Skypegate to Ol Roy, getting ridiculed by Bomani Jones on local radio for only having three African-American kids on the roster, and EWill transferring, there was just a ton of negativity coming from many different directions. Watching those guys win it all was just sweet redemption. As -jk mentioned, the entire 6 games of the tourney were great, but it kind of started with 82-50, then the great win in the ACC against Ga Tech. (Andre was big in the first half with Nolan in foul trouble. Had the monster dunk after driving the lane). The Purdue slugfest, the Baylor game; Andre big again with two 3's to keep us in it in the first half, Nolan hitting the big 3 in the 2nd half then high-fiving K on the way back up the court, Z barking instructions to Miles after fouling out, Lance with the monster put-back dunk and the and-1 to seal it. Then they blowout West Virginia to avenge the loss two years prior, and then finally, Butler, miss the free throw, no no make it, no miss it! Z clanks it on purpose, Kyle gets creamed on a crack back block, the shot almost goes in, but doesn't. "Duke is the King of The Dance"

That team gave us so many memories it is hard to capture them all....

Wow, what a great post, I definitely agree 2010 was a magical season that all Duke fans will remember very fondly. Thanks for allowing me to relive some of that. Boy, it's really no wonder that everyone and their mother is rooting for Andre Dawkins, he's the last link we have to that team. (Other than Scheyer sitting on the bench looking like he just left a GQ photo shoot, of course)

[Edouble]

First of all, great thread idea. Fun one to consider during the break.

I'd have to limit mine to basketball because for me, there's basketball and then there's everything else. So for me, I think there'd have to be three that stand out above the rest, though there are many, many others that were very satisfying that I can't believe somehow don't make my very short list. Like 82-50. Like the first championship. Like the last championship. Like the Duhon driving layup game over UNC. I could go on, but here are my top 3:

3. Semifinal win over UNLV, 1991 Final Four. Obvious revenge from the blowout of the year before, over the team everyone thought was invincible. Duke had been to a number of Final Fours in the previous years, but never was able to finish the job, and it seemed like this wasn't going to be our year either. It was a cultural event, with lots of obvious contrasts and story lines, and all the trash talking from UNLV and the media about how it was going to be a repeat of '90, but when it came down to it, we were just more clutch than they were.

2. Championship game win over Arizona, 2001. We had a team of pro's, led by perhaps the greatest guard of the K era in J-Will and (I suspect in his heart of hearts) K's all-time favorite player and leader in Battier. We had overcome the Boozer injury, had the huge comeback over Maryland in the Final Four (which was pretty derned satisfying in its own right) but Arizona was an all-star team as well, full of pro's and other high draft picks. I was very worried about this one, not only because of how good Arizona was, but also because I have a friend who is a huge and fairly obnoxious Arizona fan (as many of them are) and I couldn't have stood it had we lost that showdown. Also, I was no fan of Lute Olsen, so it was good to deny him a second championship -- despite it being perhaps his best team -- and create some separation between him and K in the championships department.

1. Championship game win over Michigan, 1992. The Fab 5 had so much hype for a team that had not actually won anything, and then combine that with their surliness, their attitude, their self-importance, and their seeming lack of respect for our program and what it had accomplished and what it stood for, and it was pretty nice to put them in their place. Hey young fellas, grow up a little, maybe go to work instead of worrying so much about your image, maybe earn something, and try again next year, OK? As we pulled away in the second half and it became obvious that we were blowing them out, we were coronated as back-to-back champions, the first since the Wooden teams, validating us as a true college basketball dynasty. That, my friends, felt good.

Loved your post, but have to take exception with this highlighted sentence. Arizona was a very good team that year, but not as good as they thought they were. There were two future NBA players on that team, and one first round pick overall, with Richard Jefferson barely squeaking into the lottery as the 13th pick in that year's draft. Michael Wright made 3rd Team AP All-American.

[throatybeard]

Here's another, and I think it was a landmark win for GG. I was there before the game failing to understand The Faerie Queen doing my reading for English 90.

Then Charlotte Smith's juggernaut, defending national champ UNC emerged. I think they were ranked #3. (?) Ali Day sunk them at the end.

[Edouble]

I think it's because the end of the Kentucky game has become so overexposed that it's sort of become a cliché. I remember how I felt at the 1998 UNC game. I remember how I felt watching the UNLV game. I no longer **really** remember how I felt at the end of the Kentucky game because I've seen the end of the Kentucky game four hundred times. (I don't think I'm exaggerating).

A dozen or so years ago, I served on the Grad Campout committee for the first time. Someone suggested that for entertainment, we show old games. I had a reasonably extensive library on VHS, so I volunteered. I wasn't letting my originals out into the elements (September in Durham is frequently disgustingly hot and humid), so for a week of evenings, I made copies of all the games I was going to bring. I don't remember how many I brought, but probably a dozen, almost all from the 1990s. I figured I'd show them in chronological order.

This ended up being a massive waste of time, because anytime I was away from the VCR for more than fifteen minutes, people would take out whatever game I had put in there and insert the tape of the Kentucky game. No really, this happened like eight times. The silliest part of it was that they would never fast forward to the 2H, or the OT--they'd always start it at the beginning. Much of the weekend viewing was watching Principal commercials during the first half of the Kentucky game.

So, yay Grant, yay Christian, yay Kentucky game. But there are other things under the sun.

I would think that one of your most emotionally satisfying wins would be the UNC at Duke game in 1997, where we finally won after losing, I believe, seven in a row to the 'Heels. The famous "we're winning on Wednesday game" where Greg Newton was put into the dog house, never to been seen with meaningful minutes in a Duke jersey again. I recall quite vividly seeing you shedding tears in the stands at the end of the game.

[throatybeard]

I would think that one of your most emotionally satisfying wins would be the UNC at Duke game in 1997, where we finally won after losing, I believe, seven in a row to the 'Heels. The famous "we're winning on Wednesday game" where Greg Newton was put into the dog house, never to been seen with meaningful minutes in a Duke jersey again. I recall quite vividly seeing you shedding tears in the stands at the end of the game.

Correct. For like twenty minutes at least. Probably longer.

Given the above post, I've now triangulated edouble's meatspace identity to one of three people, I think.

I was at or around Duke for the Krzyzewski Carolina-Eve talk with the kids for ten years. He only made a guarantee twice in those ten years. He was 1-1 on that. The other was 2001, which we lost...I guess I just violated the confidentiality of that meeting. I'll claim a statute of limitations of, um, ten years. "Hey Mike, some dipwad first-year PhD kid from 2000-01 just outed you on the UNC guarantee that year. Call the cops! He's at UMSL" Yeah, I don't think he cares.

I think what I remember the most about Trajan hitting the shot that salted that 1997 game away was the haze in the arena. Remember, this was about four years before the A/C was put in. The A/C was installed, ostensibly, they said, because of the graduations in there in May for the local high schools, but people often forget that A/C not only cools, it dehumidifies. Insert another sentence where I ridicule my fellow southerners for thinking it's cold when it drops below 73 degrees. At the 1997 game, we had lost 7 straight to the powder blue guys, and it ended up being Dean's last game at Cameron. (Where, because of our 1970s swoon, he won about twice as many as he lost). But we didn't know that it was his last. Indeed, some people thought we were ceding an advantage when the A/C was installed. I forget which year, but we had an unusually hot February. I took it upon myself to bring a $5 thermometer from Wal-Mart and wave it at the cameras, to demonstrate is was well over 90F in section 17 or 19. I think that was the last home game in 1997, Clemson. It would often be 25 or 30 degrees above the outside temperature in the lower bowl of the arena, just because of all the bodies. You would wear a hoodie and then lose it for your underlying t-shirt when you got inside the arena. In sections 17 and 19, and probably 20, it was frequently 30 or 35 hotter than it was outside. And if it's above about 70 in the south, you can start to see moisture unless the dewpoint is below like, I don't know, 10.

At UNC97, I was on what was then called the "non-TV side" which had a lot more Ugrads than I hear it does now. At the Capel game (1995), I spent much of the game jumping up and high-fiving Stephanie Amaker in close to the same place. It was about the same place. If I tried to swing from the brass rail like I did then, now, I'd tear a rotator cuff or something.

People like to argue about when the loudest Cameron ever was, was, and it's so subjective given that we don't carry equipment to measure this stuff in our pockets, and the only one I'm listening to is Bill Brill, and he doesn't have data on the last three seasons because he's dead. But when Trajan hit that shot...I can't explain it. It was loud as all loud, but it was more. I didn't drink back then. I never drank until well after my 21st birthday, which was the day Dean Smith retired--so my consciousness was not altered by substances. When Trajan hit that shot, it seemed to me that the haze from the moisture illuminated by those old lights rained down with the shot. Then people high-fived and some fell down as they did it. The shot rained down, the haze rained down, the lights rained down, we rained down. All Dukedom rained down on that awful losing streak to Carolina.

I should have mentioned 1997. But that UNC team was 3-5 at the time. They made the FF somehow. 1997 and 1998 are beautiful. But if you ask me what garment I'm being buried in, it's my t-shirt from the 1998 game. K's 500th win. I need to lose weight before I die. It's an L, I think.

I don't know. It's a rich tapestry. I suppose I'm a little sad that there's more or less no way I'll ever attend another Duke-Carolina home game. But I'm glad the 2014-2017s get to do it now. These poor 2014s. Unless something happens this year, the whinier fans will saddle them with the label. When I was young, they made you feel like it was your fault! "Since Coach K got his program going (1986), you're the only class never to go to a final four." We (1998) have two comrades now, 2008 and 2009. You're on the block, 2014. Don't listen to the internet. And cherish those wins over UNC here in 2011 and 2013, and the Rivers game there in 2012. You'll never know when the crazy haze light moisture 3 shot is about to rain.

[Edouble]

Correct. For like twenty minutes at least. Probably longer.

Given the above post, I've now triangulated edouble's meatspace identity to one of three people, I think.

I was at or around Duke for the Krzyzewski Carolina-Eve talk with the kids for ten years. He only made a guarantee twice in those ten years. He was 1-1 on that. The other was 2001, which we lost...I guess I just violated the confidentiality of that meeting. I'll claim a statute of limitations of, um, ten years. "Hey Mike, some dipwad first-year PhD kid from 2000-01 just outed you on the UNC guarantee that year. Call the cops! He's at UMSL" Yeah, I don't think he cares.

I think what I remember the most about Trajan hitting the shot that salted that 1997 game away was the haze in the arena. Remember, this was about four years before the A/C was put in. The A/C was installed, ostensibly, they said, because of the graduations in there in May for the local high schools, but people often forget that A/C not only cools, it dehumidifies. Insert another sentence where I ridicule my fellow southerners for thinking it's cold when it drops below 73 degrees. At the 1997 game, we had lost 7 straight to the powder blue guys, and it ended up being Dean's last game at Cameron. (Where, because of our 1970s swoon, he won about twice as many as he lost). But we didn't know that it was his last. Indeed, some people thought we were ceding an advantage when the A/C was installed. I forget which year, but we had an unusually hot February. I took it upon myself to bring a $5 thermometer from Wal-Mart and wave it at the cameras, to demonstrate is was well over 90F in section 17 or 19. I think that was the last home game in 1997, Clemson. It would often be 25 or 30 degrees above the outside temperature in the lower bowl of the arena, just because of all the bodies. You would wear a hoodie and then lose it for your underlying t-shirt when you got inside the arena. In sections 17 and 19, and probably 20, it was frequently 30 or 35 hotter than it was outside. And if it's above about 70 in the south, you can start to see moisture unless the dewpoint is below like, I don't know, 10.

At UNC97, I was on what was then called the "non-TV side" which had a lot more Ugrads than I hear it does now. At the Capel game (1995), I spent much of the game jumping up and high-fiving Stephanie Amaker in close to the same place. It was about the same place. If I tried to swing from the brass rail like I did then, now, I'd tear a rotator cuff or something.

People like to argue about when the loudest Cameron ever was, was, and it's so subjective given that we don't carry equipment to measure this stuff in our pockets, and the only one I'm listening to is Bill Brill, and he doesn't have data on the last three seasons because he's dead. But when Trajan hit that shot...I can't explain it. It was loud as all loud, but it was more. I didn't drink back then. I never drank until well after my 21st birthday, which was the day Dean Smith retired--so my consciousness was not altered by substances. When Trajan hit that shot, it seemed to me that the haze from the moisture illuminated by those old lights rained down with the shot. Then people high-fived and some fell down as they did it. The shot rained down, the haze rained down, the lights rained down, we rained down. All Dukedom rained down on that awful losing streak to Carolina.

I should have mentioned 1997. But that UNC team was 3-5 at the time. They made the FF somehow. 1997 and 1998 are beautiful. But if you ask me what garment I'm being buried in, it's my t-shirt from the 1998 game. K's 500th win. I need to lose weight before I die. It's an L, I think.

I don't know. It's a rich tapestry. I suppose I'm a little sad that there's more or less no way I'll ever attend another Duke-Carolina home game. But I'm glad the 2014-2017s get to do it now. These poor 2014s. Unless something happens this year, the whinier fans will saddle them with the label. When I was young, they made you feel like it was your fault! "Since Coach K got his program going (1986), you're the only class never to go to a final four." We (1998) have two comrades now, 2008 and 2009. You're on the block, 2014. Don't listen to the internet. And cherish those wins over UNC here in 2011 and 2013, and the Rivers game there in 2012. You'll never know when the crazy haze light moisture 3 shot is about to rain.

Hell of a post, and with regard to the '97 game, that was exactly the way it went down. The thing that differed between '97 and '98, was that we weren't quite back yet in '97. It was Coach K's second season following the year out and we were clawing and scraping for legitimacy and relevance in a very tough ACC. The '97 game culminated in that moment, when Trajan hit the shot, the whole building knew that Coach K was gonna make good on his promise.

The next year, we were back, and nationally relevant, but for some reason, we just played scared against the 'Heels, while we were beating the tar out of everybody else. The '98 game wasn't about a moment as much as it was about the entire journey of the second half. Coach K came out of the locker room with a white polo shirt after the intermission, and I knew it was on. At some point with maybe 7-8 minutes left in the game there was a feeling that UNC was no longer our opponent, but that we were playing the clock. We'd best their score, no doubt, but could we do it before the time ran out?

I recall my girlfriend at the time crying off her face paint before the game even started, after watching RoShown hold his little baby boy up for the crowd.

For my money, '98 was the absolute loudest I've ever heard the place. Just a complete jet wash of white noise. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and had no aural evidence that I was doing so. Never liked that A/C install, since I still think it won us the game in '98.

[trinity92]

There's something about being the underdog that makes winning more satisfying:

Beating Georgetown in the 1989 regional final when Phil H. Dunked over Alonzo was a game we didn't expect to win. Georgetown still had its 80's mystique and intimidation and we straight up took it to them.

Beating Purdue in the 1994 regional final was super satisfying because every sportscaster was slurping on Glenn Robinson and Grant (and the rest of the team) shut Robinson down.

UNLV in 1991 was the ultimate underdog game and I agree with a previous poster that the campus celebration was other-worldly: almost like survivors of a nuclear war emerging from hiding to congregate and collectively freak out.

While we weren't underdogs in 2010 against WV, I too was humiliated and incensed by our recent tourney loss to the Alexander-led WV team and the taunting afterward. Coach must have posted those taunting WV comments to lockers pre-game, because if you pay attention, we really roughed up Mazzulla in 2010 as payback, knocking him down and bloodying him. Davidson's 3 at the end was the sweetest icing on the cake!

[wsb3]

Here's a game I haven't seen listed: Duke's 1984 victory over UNC in the ACC tournament semifinal. The first really huge win for the kids that went on to the 1986 championship game and a victory over an amazingly stacked UNC team: Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, Matt Doherty (okay, let's take him out). David Henderson, my all-time favorite Duke player, was awesome and repeatedly burned Matt Doherty. For those of us who started with Coach K, this was a truly cathartic win.

You are correct. I had that one in my mind & actually thought I wrote it down. Big time game. Break through and if memory serves me correctly that was the first win for Duke since the Gene says good bye game.

[AtlDuke72]

1986 Semi-final game win over Kansas is it for me. Johnny Dawkins led the way and freshman Danny Ferry made the winning shot to beat Danny Manning's team.

[burnspbesq]

There's something about being the underdog that makes winning more satisfying:

Beating Georgetown in the 1989 regional final when Phil H. Dunked over Alonzo was a game we didn't expect to win. Georgetown still had its 80's mystique and intimidation and we straight up took it to them.

Beating Purdue in the 1994 regional final was super satisfying because every sportscaster was slurping on Glenn Robinson and Grant (and the rest of the team) shut Robinson down.

UNLV in 1991 was the ultimate underdog game and I agree with a previous poster that the campus celebration was other-worldly: almost like survivors of a nuclear war emerging from hiding to congregate and collectively freak out.

While we weren't underdogs in 2010 against WV, I too was humiliated and incensed by our recent tourney loss to the Alexander-led WV team and the taunting afterward. Coach must have posted those taunting WV comments to lockers pre-game, because if you pay attention, we really roughed up Mazzulla in 2010 as payback, knocking him down and bloodying him. Davidson's 3 at the end was the sweetest icing on the cake!

Speaking of games we weren't supposed to win, but did, the 1999 women's Elite Eight win over Tennessee comes to mind. The Lady Vols were going for a three-peat, and were supposedly the unstoppable juggernaut to end all unstoppable juggernauts. Gorp, Nicole Erickson, Dr. Georgia and co. found a way. Duke got to its first women's FF, and suddenly we were relevant.

[COYS]

There are so many choices, it's hard to narrow it down. But for me, there was something about the 2010 team that will always hold a special place in my heart. The 1991 team's victory against UNLV, 2010 was the only Duke championship team that one could really be characterized as an under dog. And even the 1991 team had tons of pro talent on the roster. So, for whatever reason (maybe recency bias), I was particularly happy with the 2010 team's run.

Just to recap the stituation:

March/April 2009: Duke gets blown out in the second half against Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen. Duke fans are forced to watch a senior Hansbrough (who had already beaten JJ Redick's ACC scoring record) do what Redick and Williams were never able to do do: win a championship. Even worse, Roy gets his second title and sits only one behind K. John Wall, seen as a missing piece point guard, finally does the inevitable and picks UK, seemingly hammering home to the media the perception that Duke just can't get any NBA quality athletes at the guard spots.

Summer 2009: Marty decides to play professionally in Europe instead of returning for his redshirt senior season. Elliot Williams transfers to Memphis to be closer to his ailing mother. Meanwhile, whispers and rumors surround whether or not Nolan Smith is happy at Duke after struggling in the latter half of his sophomore season and losing his starting spot first to Greg Paulus and then to Elliot Williams. Personally, I never gave these much merit, but Nolan himself did say that it was a hard time for him at a later time. Duke fans everywhere are worried that an already razor thin perimeter rotation of Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith could become catastrophically small. Bit of good news: Andre Dawkins enrolls early at Duke.

Fall 2009: After Kyrie Irving commits to Duke, Duke fans believe that one of K's best recruiting classes will be made complete by signing the number 1 player in the class: Harrison Barnes. Suddenly, seemingly at the 11th hour, all signs swing towards UNC landing Barnes. We all know what happened next. Barnes signs with UNC and, in most of the media's eyes, Duke really seems to have taken a backseat to UNC in both performance on the court and recruiting. To make matters worse, Mason Plumlee, an athletic, potentially game-changing post player, breaks his wrist in early practices, setting his development back.

This was the setup for the 2009-2010 season. All the momentum had swung to Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, Jon, Lance, and Zoubs had endured three disappointing ends to the season and a barrage of "Duke is done" talk from the media. I hoped beyond hope that they'd be able to go out on top.

Of course, we all know how the season went. Zoubek learned to play without fouling. The season turned around in February in the game against Maryland in Cameron. The rest of the way, Duke looked to us fans as a legitimate final four threat. The media still had it's doubts. We exorcised four years of demons in the 82-50 demolition of UNC to close out the regular season. We went on to win the ACC title and secure a number 1 seed that some believed the Big East Champs (WVU) should have gotten. We blasted past the Sweet 16 wall. We beat Baylor in a semi-home game for them in Houston and, in doing so, beat the type of long and athletic team that everyone said would end Duke's run. Then, better yet, we got to demonstrate to WVU exactly why we were deserving of the top seed while simultaneously exorcising the demons from 2008 in that semi-final destruction of the Mountaineers. Finally, we got to play in one of the most talked-about title games in recent memory against the Cinderella Darlings Baylor on what was practically their home floor. It wasn't exactly a pretty game. It was physical, exhausting, and low scoring. And Duke missed some shots to make it too close for comfort in the end. But the good guys prevailed. Jon, Lance, and Zoubs, three guys that had endured the first round loss to VCU and the disappointing 2007 season, the 2008 loss to WVU . . . who had watched the Heels walk off of Cameron victorious three years in a row and come home with a National Title in 2009, who had heard all along that they weren't athletic enough or dynamic enough to compete with the elite and so on and so on finally got their title! I couldn't have been happier. Also, Nolan blossomed into a star after sticking it out through some tough times his first two years. Kyle, one of Duke's consummate warriors, got a well-earned Final Four MOP and a ring. Andre Dawkins hit some seriously clutch shots against Baylor (and don't forget his shots and monster dunk against GaTech in the ACC tourney that helped Duke secure a number 1). Mason and Miles adapted to their roles off the bench after starting at various parts of the season. The whole team came together perfectly. All the pieces fit. And while there might have been some teams with more raw talent, there is absolutely no doubt that the 2010 Duke team was the best TEAM in the land, that year. It was so incredibly satisfying to see those guys win the title.

[Highlander]

There are so many choices, it's hard to narrow it down. But for me, there was something about the 2010 team that will always hold a special place in my heart. The 1991 team's victory against UNLV, 2010 was the only Duke championship team that one could really be characterized as an under dog. And even the 1991 team had tons of pro talent on the roster. So, for whatever reason (maybe recency bias), I was particularly happy with the 2010 team's run.

Just to recap the stituation:

March/April 2009: Duke gets blown out in the second half against Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen. Duke fans are forced to watch a senior Hansbrough (who had already beaten JJ Redick's ACC scoring record) do what Redick and Williams were never able to do do: win a championship. Even worse, Roy gets his second title and sits only one behind K. John Wall, seen as a missing piece point guard, finally does the inevitable and picks UK, seemingly hammering home to the media the perception that Duke just can't get any NBA quality athletes at the guard spots.

Summer 2009: Marty decides to play professionally in Europe instead of returning for his redshirt senior season. Elliot Williams transfers to Memphis to be closer to his ailing mother. Meanwhile, whispers and rumors surround whether or not Nolan Smith is happy at Duke after struggling in the latter half of his sophomore season and losing his starting spot first to Greg Paulus and then to Elliot Williams. Personally, I never gave these much merit, but Nolan himself did say that it was a hard time for him at a later time. Duke fans everywhere are worried that an already razor thin perimeter rotation of Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith could become catastrophically small. Bit of good news: Andre Dawkins enrolls early at Duke.

Fall 2009: After Kyrie Irving commits to Duke, Duke fans believe that one of K's best recruiting classes will be made complete by signing the number 1 player in the class: Harrison Barnes. Suddenly, seemingly at the 11th hour, all signs swing towards UNC landing Barnes. We all know what happened next. Barnes signs with UNC and, in most of the media's eyes, Duke really seems to have taken a backseat to UNC in both performance on the court and recruiting. To make matters worse, Mason Plumlee, an athletic, potentially game-changing post player, breaks his wrist in early practices, setting his development back.

This was the setup for the 2009-2010 season. All the momentum had swung to Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, Jon, Lance, and Zoubs had endured three disappointing ends to the season and a barrage of "Duke is done" talk from the media. I hoped beyond hope that they'd be able to go out on top.

Of course, we all know how the season went. Zoubek learned to play without fouling. The season turned around in February in the game against Maryland in Cameron. The rest of the way, Duke looked to us fans as a legitimate final four threat. The media still had it's doubts. We exorcised four years of demons in the 82-50 demolition of UNC to close out the regular season. We went on to win the ACC title and secure a number 1 seed that some believed the Big East Champs (WVU) should have gotten. We blasted past the Sweet 16 wall. We beat Baylor in a semi-home game for them in Houston and, in doing so, beat the type of long and athletic team that everyone said would end Duke's run. Then, better yet, we got to demonstrate to WVU exactly why we were deserving of the top seed while simultaneously exorcising the demons from 2008 in that semi-final destruction of the Mountaineers. Finally, we got to play in one of the most talked-about title games in recent memory against the Cinderella Darlings Baylor on what was practically their home floor. It wasn't exactly a pretty game. It was physical, exhausting, and low scoring. And Duke missed some shots to make it too close for comfort in the end. But the good guys prevailed. Jon, Lance, and Zoubs, three guys that had endured the first round loss to VCU and the disappointing 2007 season, the 2008 loss to WVU . . . who had watched the Heels walk off of Cameron victorious three years in a row and come home with a National Title in 2009, who had heard all along that they weren't athletic enough or dynamic enough to compete with the elite and so on and so on finally got their title! I couldn't have been happier. Also, Nolan blossomed into a star after sticking it out through some tough times his first two years. Kyle, one of Duke's consummate warriors, got a well-earned Final Four MOP and a ring. Andre Dawkins hit some seriously clutch shots against Baylor (and don't forget his shots and monster dunk against GaTech in the ACC tourney that helped Duke secure a number 1). Mason and Miles adapted to their roles off the bench after starting at various parts of the season. The whole team came together perfectly. All the pieces fit. And while there might have been some teams with more raw talent, there is absolutely no doubt that the 2010 Duke team was the best TEAM in the land, that year. It was so incredibly satisfying to see those guys win the title.

Great Post. I remember the last game we lost in 2010, which (IIRC) was to MD on Vasquez's senior night. That game was a true heavyweight fight and it came down to the last minute. Maryland had every intangible against us, got a near perfect game from their senior star, and still almost lost. Yes, they won the game, but I remember not being upset afterwards because I thought we had played tremendously and we never backed down or let the game get away from us. I remember thinking that if we could go into Cole Field house and play that well with so much working against us, then we could play with anybody in the country (especially on a neutral court), and we had a true fighter's chance to win it all.

[Jarhead]

Have been following this thread for a while, and for me, nothing compares to our team beating the Holes on October 20th last year. The start of something new, very new.

[allenmurray]

Have been following this thread for a while, and for me, nothing compares to our team beating the Holes on October 20th last year. The start of something new, very new.

And of course Jarhead, you are correct.

[throatybeard]

I'm always very interested when a bunch of people remember the same things, and then talk about them. I don't know about anybody else, but my memory works in a very associative fashion. My memory is pretty good and my wife's is less so, and she refers to me as her "external hard drive." She'll say something like "do you remember that little, like, gift shop in Minnesota where we got Wolf Hop on Pop? And I'll be all, "no you're thinking of the independent bookstore in Bayfield, Wisconsin. And it was Ten Apples up on Top."

Memory is wild. For me, it usually goes with three or four lily-pad frog hops of associations. Or not exactly, like that, more like a whole network of things associate themselves all together in my mind.

Example: "Greg Maddux recorded a save, isn't that odd," someone will say. Braves fans love to talk about that one save of his. And I'll think for about five, ten seconds and then say something like "yeah, it must have been in the playoffs in 1998, probably the NLCS, because they didn't make the World Series that year. I remember this because Shalay and I had just started living together, and we went to West Virginia for the first time, for fall break that year, and we drove up Spruce Knob. So anyway, we didn't have any money, so we camped back then, and we were at a little campground in nowhereseville, about fifteen miles east over a mountain from Franklin, WV. There was so little light pollution, you could see a lot of stars. It was a bit wet, and we couldn't start a fire to heat our sirloin burger Campbell's soup--this was before she had Meineire's Disease, so she could eat crap like that--so we had to drive back over the mountain to buy some lighter fluid. Back in the day, the Braves were on WSB AM 750, which had a huge signal at night, 100K watts or something. On the way to Franklin, I figured out that if I oriented my old Camry NW-SE, I could get reception for WSB. We drove back back over the mountain, I oriented the car correctly, and listed to the game while Shalay lit the fire."

To anyone else, it must sound like an Abraham Simpson onion-on-my-belt story,* and people then usually look at me like I'm Rainman or something. I do at least have the discretion not to vocalize more than a fraction of these. They happen to me all day every day. But it makes perfect sense to me. What has happened is that autumn, Shalay, our shacking, taking the the first WV trip of many, the highest point in the state, the night sky, the rain, the campfire, the soup, her diet and ear ailment, the lighter fluid, WSB, a 1991 Camry, and the entirely unusual event of a HOF starting pitcher recording his only career save in a playoff game, all of these have allied themselves in my head to the extent that they all come together out of the mist, just from the mere mention of Maddux's save.

I thought it was linear, which is why I said lily-pads, but it's probably more networky. I did this a couple years ago when I mentioned Reynolds Coliseum, and then thought to myself, when was I last there? Well, I graduated from PhDskool 2004, and that was Alana Beard's senior year, oh, so it was when I rode down to Raleigh with the Rabbs. This was before their Prius, so I was in the back of that Subaru. I don't think their son came along, he would have been eight or nine. The reason we went was that, other than it being close, going into the road game at State, Alana Beard trailed Johnny Dawkins by just two points to become Duke's all-time, all-gender leading scorer in basketball. We met Cary and some other people I didn't know down there and sat with them. Alana needed just two field goals and early in the game, she got the third and fourth points to put her past Dawkins and we all cheered.

My father insists I've fabricated things he doesn't remember. Once, I reminded him of when I was seven or eight, we were riding our bikes over the bridge over US 27 on South Street in Carrollton, Georgia. We were at the right edge of the middle lane, because the right lane was right-turn-only to go onto the highway. In customary American fashion, a guy in a pickup truck revs his engine, and then screams at my father, "get your little kid out of the middle of the [expletive] road!" My father, a veteran of motorist-on-cyclist heckling, shouts back, "That isn't my kid, it's my grandmother!" Daddy swears up and down he never said this, but I was there.

Having a small child can fry some of this capability. I sort of feel like I was almost getting my act together for the first time since high school, about a month before Shalay told me was pregnant, and ever since then it's been frantically treading water. Further, Wolf has such an air of inevitability about him, he's so confident in his space and his being, and he makes it seem like everything has always been this way, as though our lives before 2009...not as if they didn't happen at all, but rather, they're like a movie I've seen, not stuff that actually happened to me. I feel as though I've been divorced or displaced or spirited away from my life 1976-2009. As if, when I relate something in the past, it wasn't in this same reality, like I'm just remembering it from an episode of a TV show.



* - which was the style at the time.

[Tom B.]

I'll mention one I think no one has: the clock game at University Hall in 1997 where Wojo won the game with two foul shots we didn't think he would be allowed to attempt.




I was at that game. I was in law school at UVa at the time. My seat was about eight rows up at the end of the court where Wojo made those free throws.

Below is a link to a YouTube video of highlights from that game. The fun starts at about the 6:00 mark, when Norman Nolan draws a foul and goes to the line for UVa. He makes his second FT, then chaos ensues. On Wojo's dash, you can clearly see Harold Deane stop playing defense to point and yell at the official, and Wojo whizzes right by him.

For some reason, the video only shows the second of Wojo's two free throws. After the final buzzer, you can see the crowd raining debris down on the court. Good times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkip9gmhWRE


Glad to see the 1996 games at N.C. State (Collins' quintuple-bounce three-pointer) and Maryland (Ricky Price's buzzer beater), and the 1997 games at home against UNC (Trajan's three and Duke breaks the streak) and at Wake (Carrawell blocks Rutland), get some love. Those were important wins on the path back to prominence after the brutal 1994-95 season.

[CharlestonDevil]

My most emotionally satisfying Duke victory was caught on camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWO-qhB-S8c

Leading up to the game all sports outlets were branding this as the ultimate David vs. Goliath matchup, which to some extent was true. They highlighted all of the statistical differences between the two schools including wins, championship, championship appearances, etc along with the overplayed Hoosiers storyline. One thing that is often overlooked is the fact that the Championship was played in Butler's hometown. Any "David vs. Goliath matchup" is significant, but especially when David has the home field advantage.

For me, this also silenced several years of "UNC domination" talk. That moment of relief, excitement, elation, shock.... man what a rush.

GTHC. GO DUKE.

[Billy Dat]

My most emotionally satisfying Duke victory was caught on camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWO-qhB-S8c

This is fantastic. What amazed me about that video is the barely audible reaction from the enormous crowd after Zoubek hit the first foul shot. If you guys hadn't yelled, "One more, one more" I might not have even known...proof that Duke was not the crowd darling that night.

[MartyClark]

Unlike many of you, I did not go to Duke. I haven't seen any of the discussed games in person. For me, one game will stand out forever.

Austin Rivers, baby. A dagger to the heart in Chapel Hill. One of my sons was watching the game in Bulgaria and we were talking by phone. One of his college friends, a Heels fan, was at the game and texting me furiously until things started going south for the Heels.

I think this may be my greatest moment in watching sports. I felt this surge of pure joy when Austin hit the shot.

[CharlestonDevil]

This is fantastic. What amazed me about that video is the barely audible reaction from the enormous crowd after Zoubek hit the first foul shot. If you guys hadn't yelled, "One more, one more" I might not have even known...proof that Duke was not the crowd darling that night.

Honestly, I was trying to convince myself. As Zoubs was stepping up to the line I turned to the guy next to me who I had never met before and was wearing no school affiliated gear and said "We're going to screw this up" to which he disagreed. I don't think the guy cared who won that game but that he got caught up in the moment with me and my buddy, hugged us and screamed

I TOLD YA BABY! I TOLD YA BABY!

[Bob Green]

It is hard to argue with anyone who lists the victories in national championship games as their favorite, but for me the sweetest victory of all time will always be the March 2, 1968 triple overtime victory over Carolina. I was 8.5 years old at the time so that was one magical Saturday afternoon for me. Just thinking about it brings out the happy little boy in me.

[kmspeaks]

Others have mentioned it but I would definitely say the West Virginia game in the 2010 FF. I was in college in West Virginia (but not at WVU) at the time. My mom came up for Easter weekend and she, my sister, and I were staying at a resort. An employee drove his truck into some power lines and the whole place was without power. They hooked some generators up and invited everyone into one of the bars for dinner and the game. My sister is not a Duke fan but she borrowed one of my Duke shirts and we sat in that bar surrounded by WVU grads and fans screaming our heads off at every play.

Two things I will never forget about that weekend. The petrified look on my mom's face, convinced that we were going to get her kicked out of this place by cheering for Duke. The man in Walmart the day of the championship game who saw my Duke shirt and asked, "How can you do this to me?" while sadly shaking his head. After all the trash talking I had endured since 2008, I walked around wearing Duke gear for a week and the silence was golden.

[throatybeard]

Others have mentioned it but I would definitely say the West Virginia game in the 2010 FF. I was in college in West Virginia (but not at WVU) at the time.

I am inordinately fond of WV and semi-familiar with it. What school?

My wife and I use a day or two of down time in WV to recover from Christmas visits. In 2011, we stayed in Buckhannon. The hotel was obviously the one where parents stay graduation weekend at WV Wesleyan, but we were there on 30 December, watching Mississippi State and Wake Forest in the restaurant/bar. I think it was the Music City Bowl, but I'd have to look it up.

I LOVE West Virginia. I'm using the sesquicentennial stamps for my holiday cards this year.

[weezie]

No lack of special memories here in the DeeBeerRr.
Holiday thanks to the dude/dudette who read my application and said, "What the heck, let her in!"

[turnandburn55]

Just to recap the stituation:

March/April 2009: Duke gets blown out in the second half against Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen. Duke fans are forced to watch a senior Hansbrough (who had already beaten JJ Redick's ACC scoring record) do what Redick and Williams were never able to do do: win a championship. Even worse, Roy gets his second title and sits only one behind K. John Wall, seen as a missing piece point guard, finally does the inevitable and picks UK, seemingly hammering home to the media the perception that Duke just can't get any NBA quality athletes at the guard spots.

Summer 2009: Marty decides to play professionally in Europe instead of returning for his redshirt senior season. Elliot Williams transfers to Memphis to be closer to his ailing mother. Meanwhile, whispers and rumors surround whether or not Nolan Smith is happy at Duke after struggling in the latter half of his sophomore season and losing his starting spot first to Greg Paulus and then to Elliot Williams. Personally, I never gave these much merit, but Nolan himself did say that it was a hard time for him at a later time. Duke fans everywhere are worried that an already razor thin perimeter rotation of Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith could become catastrophically small. Bit of good news: Andre Dawkins enrolls early at Duke.

Fall 2009: After Kyrie Irving commits to Duke, Duke fans believe that one of K's best recruiting classes will be made complete by signing the number 1 player in the class: Harrison Barnes. Suddenly, seemingly at the 11th hour, all signs swing towards UNC landing Barnes. We all know what happened next. Barnes signs with UNC and, in most of the media's eyes, Duke really seems to have taken a backseat to UNC in both performance on the court and recruiting. To make matters worse, Mason Plumlee, an athletic, potentially game-changing post player, breaks his wrist in early practices, setting his development back.

This was the setup for the 2009-2010 season. All the momentum had swung to Chapel Hill. Meanwhile, Jon, Lance, and Zoubs had endured three disappointing ends to the season and a barrage of "Duke is done" talk from the media. I hoped beyond hope that they'd be able to go out on top.


...And Gerald Henderson left early. While it could have gone either way, the double punch of losing him and Eliot Williams (both future first-round draft picks and tremendous athletes) made it suddenly look like the cupboard had become rather bare... perhaps even "alarmingly unathletic".

[kmspeaks]

I am inordinately fond of WV and semi-familiar with it. What school?

My wife and I use a day or two of down time in WV to recover from Christmas visits. In 2011, we stayed in Buckhannon. The hotel was obviously the one where parents stay graduation weekend at WV Wesleyan, but we were there on 30 December, watching Mississippi State and Wake Forest in the restaurant/bar. I think it was the Music City Bowl, but I'd have to look it up.

I LOVE West Virginia. I'm using the sesquicentennial stamps for my holiday cards this year.

Small world. WV Wesleyan is where I went. We were staying at the Stonewall Resort the weekend of the 2010 FF.

[Billy Dat]

...And Gerald Henderson left early. While it could have gone either way, the double punch of losing him and Eliot Williams (both future first-round draft picks and tremendous athletes) made it suddenly look like the cupboard had become rather bare... perhaps even "alarmingly unathletic".

Also, getting our butts kicked on 1/30/10 by Georgetown in front of the POTUS and VPOTUS was a red herring that made it all that much more satisfying when they won it all.

[dukebsbll14]

I don't know. It's a rich tapestry. I suppose I'm a little sad that there's more or less no way I'll ever attend another Duke-Carolina home game. But I'm glad the 2014-2017s get to do it now. These poor 2014s. Unless something happens this year, the whinier fans will saddle them with the label. When I was young, they made you feel like it was your fault! "Since Coach K got his program going (1986), you're the only class never to go to a final four." We (1998) have two comrades now, 2008 and 2009. You're on the block, 2014. Don't listen to the internet. And cherish those wins over UNC here in 2011 and 2013, and the Rivers game there in 2012. You'll never know when the crazy haze light moisture 3 shot is about to rain.

My friends and I were talking about this the other day. It's like we had a choice when our parents decided to have us, right? We saw Duke reach back to back bowl games for the first time ever. We, so far, have seen as many ACC Championship game appearances in football as in basketball. I think it's been a pretty good 3.5 years. I want to leave at least two more banners in Cameron though. I hope we do that too.

One of my most satisfying wins would be over Miami in football this season. It was our Senior Day. I remember sitting there watching us get blown away by Alabama and Stanford and the heartbreaking loss to Richmond, and for some reason, still coming back out to Wallace Wade every week. I wanted us all to go out the right way and we did.

I hope the home game against Carolina this year is my most emotionally satisfying Duke basketball win.

[archand1]

There are so many out there that rank higher for personal emotional satisfaction that have been mentioned. The one that I enjoyed the most in terms of shutting down an entire group of UNC fans came with the comeback in Chapel Hill with the Rivers dagger. The reason? I was a high school teacher at the time, and had a particular class of very vocal UNC fans.They had been on me all year about how great UNC was, and how Duke wasn't in top form.

I walk in the next morning to class, and they all expect me to let them have it, but I say nothing. They are pretty shocked by this but think nothing else of it. I tell the class, "take out something to write with, we are going to watch a historical video, so take notes there will be a quiz". They all mutter a collective groan while I pull up ESPN.com. I cut the projector on and hit play...needless to say, I almost incited a mini riot when they watched the replay of that shot. It was so hilarious and another teacher actually came over to my room due to the noise level in my class during all this. Cruel I know, but oh so satisfying.

[throatybeard]

There are so many out there that rank higher for personal emotional satisfaction that have been mentioned. The one that I enjoyed the most in terms of shutting down an entire group of UNC fans came with the comeback in Chapel Hill with the Rivers dagger. The reason? I was a high school teacher at the time, and had a particular class of very vocal UNC fans.They had been on me all year about how great UNC was, and how Duke wasn't in top form.

I walk in the next morning to class, and they all expect me to let them have it, but I say nothing. They are pretty shocked by this but think nothing else of it. I tell the class, "take out something to write with, we are going to watch a historical video, so take notes there will be a quiz". They all mutter a collective groan while I pull up ESPN.com. I cut the projector on and hit play...needless to say, I almost incited a mini riot when they watched the replay of that shot. It was so hilarious and another teacher actually came over to my room due to the noise level in my class during all this. Cruel I know, but oh so satisfying.

This kind of reminds me of my first year at Mississippi State, except I didn't stick it to them. I don't remember what was going on in general, but we had to be at my MIL's house in LaGrange, GA. The TV competition was Georgia Tech vs somebody. So I agitated, and convinced my wife we had to start back a little early, so as to watch the MSU-Duke 2R game at an Applebee's in suburban Montgomery, because that was more in the SEC market, so they'd have Mississippi State instead of GT.

Duke escaped, beat Mississippi State by about three possessions, before faceplanting against Michigan State in the s16.

I didn't even wear Duke gear the next day. Just a tie and a dress shirt. It was my 8AM Brit Lit I. But they all acted like I had personally stabbed every one of their dogs to death, though.

[sagegrouse]

In person and ancient history:

November 1960/Football: Duke 19, #4 Navy. One of Duke's best football wins in history, and I was there ... with the Navy goat in my hands (and those of some better-muscled compadres)

March 1961/Basketball: #4 Duke 81, #5 UNC 77. The Art Heyman-Larry Brown fight.

November 1961/Football: Duke 6, UNC 3. Duke clinches a second straight ACC championship

November 1962/Football: Duke 16, @ UNC 14. Duke clinches a third ACC championship when G Jean Berry makes a tackle on the goal line

November 1963/Football: Duke 25, #2 Navy 38. A high-scoring game. Duke was trailing only by six when Johnny Sai broke free for a 93-yard run.

March 1964/Basketball: #3 Duke 87, #7 Villanova 73. Regional semis. Duke went on to beat UConn in the regional finals by 47 points and make the FF.

I'll do the later years when I have more time.

March 1984: #16 Duke 77, #1 UNC 75. Duke upsets the Heels in the ACC semis in Greensboro, Michael Jordan's farewell performance in ACC play.

March 1990: #15 Duke 97, #7 Arkansas 83. At the Final Four in Denver's 16,000 seat McNichols Arena ("toughest ticket ever" read the souvenir caps), a discounted Duke team trailed by seven with seven minutes left and roared out of a timeout to crush the Razorbacks. We'll forget what happened two days later.

[I missed the 1991, 1992 and 1994 FF's.]

February 1995: Duke 100, #2 UNC 102 (2 OT). Not a win but the "greatest game ever played" according to ESPN. Hardly. Duke was only 13-18/2-14 that season, way below the talent level on a team during K's sabbatical. Capel hits a half-courter to send the game into double OT. Still, a very exciting game.

March 1998: #1 Duke 77, #3 UNC 75. Wojo wills his team to victory on senior day. Duke trailed the entire game until the end.

March 2001: #1 Duke 95, #11 Maryland 84. Trailing 38-16 in the Minneapolis FF, the Devils rally and closed the gap to ten points at the half and then watch the Terps flame out in the second half.

April 2001: #1 Duke 82, #5 Arizona 72. My first NC in person. Mike Dunleavy Jr. hits three consecutive three-pointers as Duke pulls away.

March 2003: #12 Duke 84, NC State 77. Freshman JJ Redick goes off in the second half to propel Duke to victory in the ACC Finals.

April 2010: #3 Duke 78, #6 WVa 57. Duke blows out the Mountaineers on 52 percent 3-pt, shooting in the Indianapolis Final Four.

April 2010: # Duke 61, # 11 Butler 59. Enough said. I didn't realize we had won until I saw Zoubek running around the court like crazy.

[davekay1971]

Great thread!

1) Duke-UNLV 1991 - Because it was so unexpected. UNLV was a big favorite, not least of all because of the beatdown they delivered on us in the National Championship game the preceding year. I was still at Duke, watching the game on campus with a bunch of other folks who all had the "let's hope we can keep it close" mindset, just like I did. Hurley's clutch 3 when UNLV had extended the lead to 5 points and everyone, including the announcers, had decided that UNLV had finally taken control, was one of the biggest shots I've ever seen. Extra bonus fun for the day: UNC getting knocked out by Kansas and Ol Roy earlier that day, with Dean (back when he was healthy and it was okay to hate him) getting kicked out of the game.

2) Duke-UNC 2012, Football - The 4th down touchdown. Ended years of frustration, captured the victory bell, defeated the cheaters (State fans got to enjoy 4 years of Cheaters Never Win with Russell Wilson as their quarterback…we finally got our taste last year), and got us bowl eligible, all in one great game.

3) Duke - Butler 2010 - Great posts all over the thread about this one. With the backdrop of UNC having won two NCs after our 2001 victory, the Black Pigeon recruitment, "Alarmingly Un-athletic", the Georgetown beat down, the NCSU beat down, thread after thread and innumerable posts on DBR decrying our fatal flaws and our "ceiling" as a Sweet 16 team…to be the last team standing in a crazy tournament, and to do it on the back of Brian Zoubeck, one of the most demeaned players ever to suit up in a Duke uniform, was incredible vindication for anyone who believed in this team.

4) Duke - Kansas 1991 - The First Natty - Probably should be higher on my list but I was still emotionally exhausted from Duke-UNLV two nights earlier. After that amazing UNLV win, it almost felt like Duke HAD to beat Kansas. We couldn't beat UNLV, slay the mighty dragon only to fall to the small yappy dog (okay, Kansas was a heck of a lot better than a small yappy dog, but work with me). That game was great, and had its moments (the Hurley to Hill alley-oop), but the game was more about finishing the job since we'd already climbed the mountain. For people who had closely followed Duke through the 1970s and early '80s, who had suffered under so many years of Carolina domination, it was probably even sweeter than it was for me, a guy who'd been an ACC fan more than a Duke fan until I arrived on campus in 1989. But for me, it was still pretty darn sweet.

5) Duke - Michigan 1992 - Back to back, and beating the much hyped, brash, loud, swaggering Michigan Fab-Five. Duke crushed Michigan in the second half, made history by being the first back-to-back champions since UCLA, and completed a resume as being one of the all time great college basketball teams (i'd still put Duke 1992 top of my list of all time great Duke teams, even above 2001 and 1999…and only a few non-Duke teams have convincing arguments as being better)

6) Duke - UNC 2001 ACC Tournament championship game - Duke annihilated UNC. It was a beat down from start to finish. Duke really showed their potential in that game, UNC collapsed, and as Dick Vitale correctly proclaimed, they quit, they flat-out quit. It was fantastic.

7) Duke - UNC 2010 - 82-50. Much of the same reasons as above. Sometimes it's just sweet to whip UNC's rears. Correct that: it's ALWAYS sweet to whip UNC's rears. The bigger the whipping, the sweeter it is. Anyone remember the first half of that game? 53-26 at half time. The second half was kind of like chilling out in right field in a company softball game with a beer in your right hand on a sunny 80 degree day - just lazy enjoyment. The first half was like Rocky vs. Clubber Lang…the first fight…and we were Clubber Lang.

8) Duke - Miami, 2013, football - That was the game this season that really caught the attention of the media and public who, until that point, had pretty well ignored Duke. And I don't totally blame them. Duke had lost pretty badly to Ga Tech and had lost a shootout to a mediocre Pitt team. We'd beaten Va Tech in an ugly-fest that deserved respect but, before the Miami game, was probably written off more as an indictment of Va Tech's weaknesses than a credit to Duke's strengths. Then, with Miami favored, Duke simply lined up and ran the ball down the 'Canes throats. It was almost like Cut was announcing to the world that he had a team that needed to be taken seriously. All of a sudden, with that game, Duke had not just beaten, but dominated, a traditional football powerhouse, we did it in a way no one in the media expected (with the run), and Duke was in contention for the Coastal Division championship. That win helped to validate the 2012 season as being no fluke, and to announce that 2013 was going to be even better.

9) Duke - Clemson, 1989, football - This would be higher on my list, except that I didn't know in 1989 how rare such a win was going to be. That was my freshman year at Duke and Duke football was, well, good. Oh, I rushed the field with everyone and whooped about beating national power Clemson, but, at the time, it just seemed like that was another great moment of Duke sports, which, if you were principally a basketball fan like me, was a pretty common thing. In retrospect, of course, that win was a high water mark for Duke football that wouldn't be repeated until this season (the 1994 team needs to forgive me…great year, wonderful team, exciting season, but that team's signature win, over UVa, didn't quite hit the emotional highs of the three football wins I've mentioned).

10) Duke - Maryland, 2009 - Why in the world is this game above the Duke - Maryland 2001 games? Well, because I hadn't learned to hate Maryland so much in 2001. I grew up about 15 minutes from the UM campus and had some good feelings toward Maryland that extended to 2001. I was happy to see them recover from the Bob Wade years. So the 2001 games were a joy for me, seeing Maryland good, and Duke still overcoming them (my shame: I turned off the game in College park with Duke down 10 and less than a minute left to play…ugh). The 2009 game was emotionally more satisfying because I'd learned, after 2001 and 2002, to truly despise Maryland fans. So, when Neal flattened Smith and their classless scumbag fans cheered, then Gerald Henderson threw down that "up yours" thunder-dunk and Duke finished them off, leaving the Maryland fans to get bitterly drunk on their 40 oz gas-station beers and torch their neighbors' cars, I was emotionally very satisfied.

[Clay Feet POF]

March 2 2013 Miami 76 Duke 79 Watching Warren Sapp exiting faster than any of his moves on the football field!!