Overexposed
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/209/1/Overexposed.html
Nate Carlile
By Nate Carlile
Published on 03/6/2006
Hate Duke? You're not alone. And while the reasons to hate the Blue Devils are many, Atomic Sports columnist Nate Carlile says it's familiarity that breeds contempt... and wins.
I’m sitting in my living room right now watching Duke do typically Duke-type things against North Carolina.
Aside from being good at playing with the lead, they are especially adrept at rotating the ball to the open man and setting screens for spot-up shooters; taking and making three-point shots, the majority of which are uncontested; hounding the opposing ball-handler; playing expert “help” defense, particularly when sliding over to close down driving lanes to the basket; diving for loose balls; sprinting to aid a fallen teammate back on their feet; receiving laughable favoritism from the refs (home or away, it doesn’t matter); cheering spastically, mostly from the bench; and winning.
Winning is their singularly greatest quality.
It is a program that routinely and admirably plays with as much heart and more hustle than anyone else – maybe that’s to be expected when the team is coached by a legend. Like the Atlanta Braves’ Bobby Cox, Mike Krzyzewski is unparalleled at bleeding wins from his team during the regular season (well, as much bleeding as can be done with a buffet of McDonald’s All-Americans to choose from).
Of course, with excellence comes jealousy, and millions of college basketball fans, having been baptized by Coach K, revolted long ago; an abandonment from the edict being broadcast, most notably, by ESPN’s Dick Vitale. As every hater knows, and count me among them, sour grapes and a glass of wine are the standard meal served with a Dukie shellacking. But lost among all the winning and whining is the exposure, or, overexposure, that is most maddening.
Like everyone they face, the Dukies are taking the Tar Heels’ best shot (heavy is the head that wears the crown). And despite suffering through an off night from J.J. Redick and an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers, Vitale has been crooning, embarrassingly, the superlative excellence of Coach K, the program, the fans, the colors, and, of course, the poetic play of said (Saint) Redick. (Does Vitale even need to be at the game anymore? Can’t they just throw in his catch phrases like virtual-Madden on Playstation?)
When a possible foul is not called, Roy Williams (a Hall of Famer in his own right, whose team is the defending national champion, yet must be relegated to a supporting role during the night’s telecast), unsuccessfully pleads his case to the nearest official. It doesn’t happen here, but this is typically when Vitale comes to Duke’s aid, delivering the well-worn platitude that the Blue Devils, like the Yankees, don’t receive help from the officiating insomuch as fans are blinded by hatred. It is a defense used, nauseatingly, to browbeat antipathy toward Duke, the Bronx Bombers, the Lakers, the Trojans, the Russian in Rocky IV, and the kids from the Cobra Kai dojo.
The public’s backlash is understandable, but it’s not solely for the reason Vitale, and others, allude. Yes, Duke does have more wins during the past 10 years than any other program – and who in this country doesn’t enjoy tearing down a winner? However, beneath the “Winning Brings Out the Haters” mantra is another truth: We have to watch Duke all the time.
The Yankees well-documented success is due to Major League Baseball’s insanely unfair salary structure, which allows them to operate in a competitive vacuum, picking-up every bad contract and covering-up horrible moves with more, more, more money.
With Duke, I bristle at the suggestion that Krzyzewski’s a 21st century Monet on the chalkboard, or has the unparalleled ability to talk any recruit in the country into drinking kool-aid out of a Blue Devil cup. No, Coach K, like the Yankees, buys his players. But instead of having cash at his disposal, what he has, in unparalleled abundance, is more, more, more exposure; the college game’s only currency.
With tonight’s game being the last in the regular season, Duke will play its remaining schedule, the ACC tourney and NCAA tourney, on national television. Big news for some programs and their fans. Not for Duke. To date, the Blue Devils have played 30 games, 27 of which were televised nationally. If chalk plays out, and Duke makes both tourney’s title games, they will have played 39 contests this year, and all of America will have been able to have seen 36 of them. Not since Paris Hilton has anyone been this overexposed.
Familiarity, goes the saying, breeds contempt, which explains the other half of the Duke Hater Syndrome. It also fosters competitive imbalance. Over the past decade-plus, Duke has routinely lapped the field in nationally televised games. Programs come and go, but Duke and a seemingly cryogenically frozen Krzyzewski are here to stay. Of the four other schools ranked directly below Duke in this week’s AP top 25, Texas is next in line with 19 nationally televised games. Connecticut, a team many pundits have rated as the most talented squad in the country, has been broadcast nationally 14 times.
Like other elite coaches, Krzyzewski mines players from all over the country, only with much greater success. This includes plucking the two Division I standouts – Trajan “The Alaskan Assassin” Langdon and Carlos “I Stabbed a Blind Man In The Back” Boozer – from Alaska. They didn’t come to Duke because of the co-eds. More likely it was the proverbial Crystal, diamonds, and furs. Since Langdon set foot on campus, Coach K has recruited 24 McDonald’s All-Americans. Their bitter rival and tonight’s opponent, UNC, is next with 12; Kentucky has had 10; and UConn, closest to matching Duke’s on-court success (and with more national titles during the stretch), has had seven. It is an embarrassment of riches.
One I’m willing to bet was easier to accomplish because recruits can see their future coach, teammates and system, in more than 90 percent of its games. Williams and Jim Calhoun and Tom Izzo and Tubby Smith can’t recruit through the television, and they can’t guarantee their players will be fodder for national headlines nearly the same way Krzyzewski can.
It’s like deciding between gambling in Vegas or anywhere else. Yeah, the nickel slots and hold ’em tables are built the same in New Orleans and Atlantic City. But there’s only one Vegas, baby. And in today’s college game, there’s only one Duke.
Duke and Coach K are now corporations, synonymous with ESPN, CBS and American Express (“I want to send my players out into the real world armed with more than a jump shot” – apparently that arsenal includes a credit card with 20 percent APR) and in turn his program is well taken care of. Defenders of dynasties have said a sport is at its best when the public has a goliath to cheer against. I can’t dispute that, entirely; the only thing I enjoy more than watching Duke lose is watching my own team, Ohio State, win. (Don’t even get me started on the Yankees.) What defenders of the dynasty (and Duke) have yet to explain, though, is why a rotating bully, someone who dominates for a few years and gives way to another, isn’t just as good for the sport. Or why the NFL, the most popular sports league in the country, succeeds with a formula based on parity.
Obviously ESPN sides with the dynasty lovers when trying to sell its product, putting Duke on television ad-nauseam because of their Q-rating; like Howard Stern, people will tune in, love ‘em or hate ‘em. It’s a cyclical relationship. Duke was really good in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so they were shown more on TV. Now they are always good and always on TV, so they’re always going to be really good.
Of course, this isn’t fair for the other top programs, let alone those in the ACC trying claw up to an elite level. Just as it isn’t fair to the average fan who would like to see a little diversity in their college basketball programming.
Memphis has been ranked in the AP top 5 most of the season, and boasts a pair of all-American candidates in Darius Washington, Jr. and Rodney Carney, but the Tigers have been on national TV a handful of times. I’ve only seen them play once this year and that was against….wait for it….Duke! Ohio State, the Big 10 champ, has been on national television about the same number of times as “Emily’s Reasons Why Not.” George Washington, rumor has it, is a good team and exciting to watch and has the fewest losses in Division I, but most of the country will have to wait until they’ve filled out their brackets to see them play a game.
For the foreseeable future the vast majority of college basketball fans will be cheering against a program that deserves better – they play and win in the most honorable fashion. But because we all know Greg Paulus fears the open jumper, Sean Dockery is a defensive specialist, Josh McRoberts likes to play with his back to the basket, and Lee Melchioni is most comfortable spotting up in the corner, there won’t be any love-loss. With other top teams we might know a supporting player’s name. With Duke, we know, and hate, their game.
Nathan Carlile is a columnist for Atomic Sports Media. Additionally, he is a reporter for Legal Times and a freelance writer. He received his master's degree from Syracuse University and resides in Washington D.C. Nathan can be reached at nate.carlile@atomicsportsmedia.com.
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Hate Duke? You're not alone. And while the reasons to hate the Blue Devils are many, Atomic Sports columnist Nate Carlile says it's familiarity that breeds contempt... and wins.
 |
I’m sitting in my living room right now watching Duke do typically Duke-type things against North Carolina.
Aside from being good at playing with the lead, they are especially adrept at rotating the ball to the open man and setting screens for spot-up shooters; taking and making three-point shots, the majority of which are uncontested; hounding the opposing ball-handler; playing expert “help” defense, particularly when sliding over to close down driving lanes to the basket; diving for loose balls; sprinting to aid a fallen teammate back on their feet; receiving laughable favoritism from the refs (home or away, it doesn’t matter); cheering spastically, mostly from the bench; and winning.
Winning is their singularly greatest quality.
It is a program that routinely and admirably plays with as much heart and more hustle than anyone else – maybe that’s to be expected when the team is coached by a legend. Like the Atlanta Braves’ Bobby Cox, Mike Krzyzewski is unparalleled at bleeding wins from his team during the regular season (well, as much bleeding as can be done with a buffet of McDonald’s All-Americans to choose from).
Of course, with excellence comes jealousy, and millions of college basketball fans, having been baptized by Coach K, revolted long ago; an abandonment from the edict being broadcast, most notably, by ESPN’s Dick Vitale. As every hater knows, and count me among them, sour grapes and a glass of wine are the standard meal served with a Dukie shellacking. But lost among all the winning and whining is the exposure, or, overexposure, that is most maddening.
Like everyone they face, the Dukies are taking the Tar Heels’ best shot (heavy is the head that wears the crown). And despite suffering through an off night from J.J. Redick and an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers, Vitale has been crooning, embarrassingly, the superlative excellence of Coach K, the program, the fans, the colors, and, of course, the poetic play of said (Saint) Redick. (Does Vitale even need to be at the game anymore? Can’t they just throw in his catch phrases like virtual-Madden on Playstation?)
When a possible foul is not called, Roy Williams (a Hall of Famer in his own right, whose team is the defending national champion, yet must be relegated to a supporting role during the night’s telecast), unsuccessfully pleads his case to the nearest official. It doesn’t happen here, but this is typically when Vitale comes to Duke’s aid, delivering the well-worn platitude that the Blue Devils, like the Yankees, don’t receive help from the officiating insomuch as fans are blinded by hatred. It is a defense used, nauseatingly, to browbeat antipathy toward Duke, the Bronx Bombers, the Lakers, the Trojans, the Russian in Rocky IV, and the kids from the Cobra Kai dojo.
The public’s backlash is understandable, but it’s not solely for the reason Vitale, and others, allude. Yes, Duke does have more wins during the past 10 years than any other program – and who in this country doesn’t enjoy tearing down a winner? However, beneath the “Winning Brings Out the Haters” mantra is another truth: We have to watch Duke all the time.
The Yankees well-documented success is due to Major League Baseball’s insanely unfair salary structure, which allows them to operate in a competitive vacuum, picking-up every bad contract and covering-up horrible moves with more, more, more money.
With Duke, I bristle at the suggestion that Krzyzewski’s a 21st century Monet on the chalkboard, or has the unparalleled ability to talk any recruit in the country into drinking kool-aid out of a Blue Devil cup. No, Coach K, like the Yankees, buys his players. But instead of having cash at his disposal, what he has, in unparalleled abundance, is more, more, more exposure; the college game’s only currency.
With tonight’s game being the last in the regular season, Duke will play its remaining schedule, the ACC tourney and NCAA tourney, on national television. Big news for some programs and their fans. Not for Duke. To date, the Blue Devils have played 30 games, 27 of which were televised nationally. If chalk plays out, and Duke makes both tourney’s title games, they will have played 39 contests this year, and all of America will have been able to have seen 36 of them. Not since Paris Hilton has anyone been this overexposed.
Familiarity, goes the saying, breeds contempt, which explains the other half of the Duke Hater Syndrome. It also fosters competitive imbalance. Over the past decade-plus, Duke has routinely lapped the field in nationally televised games. Programs come and go, but Duke and a seemingly cryogenically frozen Krzyzewski are here to stay. Of the four other schools ranked directly below Duke in this week’s AP top 25, Texas is next in line with 19 nationally televised games. Connecticut, a team many pundits have rated as the most talented squad in the country, has been broadcast nationally 14 times.
Like other elite coaches, Krzyzewski mines players from all over the country, only with much greater success. This includes plucking the two Division I standouts – Trajan “The Alaskan Assassin” Langdon and Carlos “I Stabbed a Blind Man In The Back” Boozer – from Alaska. They didn’t come to Duke because of the co-eds. More likely it was the proverbial Crystal, diamonds, and furs. Since Langdon set foot on campus, Coach K has recruited 24 McDonald’s All-Americans. Their bitter rival and tonight’s opponent, UNC, is next with 12; Kentucky has had 10; and UConn, closest to matching Duke’s on-court success (and with more national titles during the stretch), has had seven. It is an embarrassment of riches.
One I’m willing to bet was easier to accomplish because recruits can see their future coach, teammates and system, in more than 90 percent of its games. Williams and Jim Calhoun and Tom Izzo and Tubby Smith can’t recruit through the television, and they can’t guarantee their players will be fodder for national headlines nearly the same way Krzyzewski can.
It’s like deciding between gambling in Vegas or anywhere else. Yeah, the nickel slots and hold ’em tables are built the same in New Orleans and Atlantic City. But there’s only one Vegas, baby. And in today’s college game, there’s only one Duke.
Duke and Coach K are now corporations, synonymous with ESPN, CBS and American Express (“I want to send my players out into the real world armed with more than a jump shot” – apparently that arsenal includes a credit card with 20 percent APR) and in turn his program is well taken care of. Defenders of dynasties have said a sport is at its best when the public has a goliath to cheer against. I can’t dispute that, entirely; the only thing I enjoy more than watching Duke lose is watching my own team, Ohio State, win. (Don’t even get me started on the Yankees.) What defenders of the dynasty (and Duke) have yet to explain, though, is why a rotating bully, someone who dominates for a few years and gives way to another, isn’t just as good for the sport. Or why the NFL, the most popular sports league in the country, succeeds with a formula based on parity.
Obviously ESPN sides with the dynasty lovers when trying to sell its product, putting Duke on television ad-nauseam because of their Q-rating; like Howard Stern, people will tune in, love ‘em or hate ‘em. It’s a cyclical relationship. Duke was really good in the late ’80s and early ’90s, so they were shown more on TV. Now they are always good and always on TV, so they’re always going to be really good.
Of course, this isn’t fair for the other top programs, let alone those in the ACC trying claw up to an elite level. Just as it isn’t fair to the average fan who would like to see a little diversity in their college basketball programming.
Memphis has been ranked in the AP top 5 most of the season, and boasts a pair of all-American candidates in Darius Washington, Jr. and Rodney Carney, but the Tigers have been on national TV a handful of times. I’ve only seen them play once this year and that was against….wait for it….Duke! Ohio State, the Big 10 champ, has been on national television about the same number of times as “Emily’s Reasons Why Not.” George Washington, rumor has it, is a good team and exciting to watch and has the fewest losses in Division I, but most of the country will have to wait until they’ve filled out their brackets to see them play a game.
For the foreseeable future the vast majority of college basketball fans will be cheering against a program that deserves better – they play and win in the most honorable fashion. But because we all know Greg Paulus fears the open jumper, Sean Dockery is a defensive specialist, Josh McRoberts likes to play with his back to the basket, and Lee Melchioni is most comfortable spotting up in the corner, there won’t be any love-loss. With other top teams we might know a supporting player’s name. With Duke, we know, and hate, their game.
Nathan Carlile is a columnist for Atomic Sports Media. Additionally, he is a reporter for Legal Times and a freelance writer. He received his master's degree from Syracuse University and resides in Washington D.C. Nathan can be reached at nate.carlile@atomicsportsmedia.com.