Now, being that we all attend Duke, I assume that everyone in this class loves and admires Duke Basketball. If you don’t, I really have no idea what to say to you. I’m also going to assume that you all, like myself, watched tonight’s game against Maryland, biting your nails, screaming at the TV, and celebrating with obnoxious fist pumps.
Also, assuming that you watched tonight’s game, you should have seen the horrible, cruel attack that Maryland’s Dave Neal did to our Nolan Smith. If you didn’t, you can obviously watch it on the internet as it was uploaded moments after it happened (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Maryland-s-Dave-Neal-lays-out-Duke-s-Nolan-Smith?urn=ncaab,144182). Now, I’m not a sports newscaster, or a sports expert. I barely even know the rules for basketball except “orange ball in thing with net,” but I do know that that was one violent beating.
The second it happened I sent an emergency text to my friend Katie saying “Nolan Smith is down!” She wrote back with “And they’re cheering! Soooo classless!” I didn’t seem to notice at first, but, one person who definitely did notice was Gerald Henderson. As soon as Smith went down, Maryland fans went crazy, cheering Neal’s name and pumping him up to score a 3 points. The fan’s response compelled Henderson to retaliate. He drove down the court and proceeded to make a beautiful dunk. Upon hitting the ground he let out a scream.
I feel like a basketball game is a beautiful example of revenge. How often do we hear of coaches telling their players to “get angry”? Getting angry at things like another player being injured, unfair calls by refs, or the opposing team scoring are all such strong motivators for retaliation. Henderson’s show of support for his fellow team member as well as the reaction to the fans was an extremely powerful response.
I come from a high school and hometown where sports were never a big deal because, well, winning was never an occurrence for us. Coming to a school like Duke, I was really excited to finally have a team to root for; colors to wear. However, I was also informed that Duke was the school that everyone else hated. I remember reading a few news articles before coming here and in particular, reading a quote from one of our men saying that he feeds off that hatred he feels from other fans. These strong feelings of hate were displayed tonight, when during the game Maryland fans cheered at Neal for beating down Smith, and before the game, they held signs saying “DUKE HATES PUPPIES.”
Just hearing comments like these make me both laugh, and want to prove myself. I don’t know anyone at Maryland, so I can’t rub our victory in someone’s face or brag about how wonderful Duke is, but these are my automatic reactions to their actions to us. I want to retaliate by making them feel like the inferior ones.
Out of curiosity, do the rest of you feel that some fans reactions are too extreme? Or do you think that because it’s all in the nature of fun, and because they help motivate our players, they’re fair? I know in particular, some people question our Cameron Crazies antics. As a member of the pep band, I was recently targeted when the band had, during a foul shot, pulled the shirts over our heads and emulated monkey sounds. Many people felt that this was extremely uncalled for due to the player’s skin color, which prompted my band leaders to respond that it’s not a player’s skin color that determines what we do, but his jersey color.
For readings on tonight’s game, you can check out these sources. Yes, I am so in love with Duke Basketball that I looked up articles the second the game ended.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/562007.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_duke_maryland_2
In light of some reason comments, as well as the fact that there is a link to this blog on a Maryland news site, I will add this: I reaffirm that I am no expert on the game, and I am aware that what transpired was perfectly legal within the rules of the game. I also acknowledge that our own Cameron Crazies say and do many things that I do not agree with. I also realize that my point may be painfully obvious about revenge, however, as “obvious” as my point was, I’m merely connecting what I learned in class to everyday life as I have been encouraged to do. In no way do I feel that Duke fans are the epitome of sportsmanship and I was not trying to hint at the fact that Maryland fans are evil and wicked people. My point was merely that fans help to propel players into more aggressive moods, as many other news articles pointed out last night. I love my school and I love my team, but in no way do I feel like I am superior to any one else and know more than anyone else.
Well, when you’re talking about Maryland fans, 9 times out of 10 you’ll find that they take things to the extreme. They actually got the number of the hotel that the Duke team was staying at last night and harassed them for hours. I’m not sure why the hotel kept putting their calls through, though.
But I’m from NC, and have been a Duke fan for as long as I can remember (with all of my family bleeding carolina blue), and I can tell you that every program is going to have bad fans, and Duke is definitely no exception. I was watching the game today with some friends, and the entire time they kept complaining about how UMD was getting preferential treatment from both the refs and the commentators. I counted at least 3 instances where our own little frosh E-Will was taking a page from our departed devil Demarcus Nelson and shuffled his feet before driving to the basket. Of course my friends weren’t noticing those obvious travels, though. And coming off of a win against the the current leader of the ACC, the game being at UMD, and them INSISTING that they’re our rivals, of course you’d have to expect the commentators to build them up a bit. It’s not like they say anything of substance most of the time anyway. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t take fans that seriously unless they’ve shown me that they can see things without Duke/Carolina/Columbia/What have you Blue tinted shades on.
I think unruly fans are great because they add to the excitement of the game. If the fans can get their team a competitive advantage, it elevates the atmosphere of the game. It fuels the players emotions when they feel the passion of thousands of people filling up the stadium with cheers and jeers.
The best rivalries and games in sports are built on the fans. Ty Lawson and Nolan Smith went to high school together, so obviously there is no innate resentment between them. But send them to chapel hill and durham and into the rivalry that fans have preserved over the decades, and competing against each other takes on the hopes and dreams of every basketball fan that fills the stands and beyond. Think about the Yankees and Red Sox- routine fights in the stands. Also the best rivalry in baseball and possibly in sports. Since the fans ultimately are the people that sports depend upon, their contribution is vital to any college or pro sport.
I am a diehard basketball fan and a Maryland fan. I was at the game last night. The legal pick set on Nolan was brutal, but most, not all of the cheering at the time was because of the three pointer, the fans also cheered for Nolan when he came off the floor. The officiating overall last night was horrible again, the ACC is awful this year, but the biggest issue is the inconstancy of the calls from team to team, play to play. And last but not least we are one of your rivals, in the past ten years we have one of the best records against you, other ten UNC.