Originally Posted by
flyingdutchdevil
Also, I don't get the whole "[xxx] player went to Duke so we have to support them" argument. To me, this fails for two reasons. First, I assume a lot of us went to Duke. Did you like all your classmates? Would you support every single classmate? There are a few bad apples who I don't care for. Second, I assume we wouldn't support a Duke basketball player if he committed a major crime (and on this forum, a player criticizing Coach K is on the same level as second-degree murder). .
You may have a straw man there. My own position is that Duke players, even somewhat controversial ones, deserve balanced treatment on DBR. Therefore, I am happy to respond to critics by taking the initiative to point out the positives of Kyrie -- not only his world-calss hoops talent, but that he has been honored with a VP at NBPA and no shortage of demand for his services. He's maddeningly eccentric but has other positives qualities as a hoops player.
No intent here to stifle other viewpoints. Now if some Duke player was sitting in the slammer convicted of a crime, there would be no need for balance.
Sage Grouse
---------------------------------------
'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013