Opinion: Excuse me for not hating Duke

Duke is one of the most hated programs in college basketball, if not sports. There’s a website dedicated to posting if Duke won or lost called “Did Duke Win.” There are rap songs dedicated to Duke “sucking” (warning: language).

Why do people hate Duke?

“Well they win.” Can you really hate them for that? Not really.

“Coach K looks like a rat.” (This is from the Duke sucks rap). Coach K is one of the games great coaches. He turned the Duke program into a dominant force. He’s done a great job getting the USA basketball team back into the world’s finest. Can you really hate Duke for that? No.

“They flop.” This is a legitimate excuse. No one likes floppers especially soccer fans.

However, officials cleaned up the game with charge/block calls last year and greatly improved the game. Duke isn’t really flopping anymore.

Duke is an incredible team this year. What I saw from Duke last night was a team that is going to win a lot of games this year. Jabari Parker is an outstanding player who is going to be contending for the No. 1 draft pick in next year’s draft. But that is only going to motivate Andrew Wiggins to play even better.

Sure, I’m going to enjoy every time Duke loses but only because the Jayhawks are contending for the the nation’s top recruits and Duke is fourth all-time in wins. They’re just 100 wins behind Kansas all-time despite not having the overall pedigree in basketball that the Jayhawks have.

I saw a hilarious tweet this morning from Adam Zagoria, who was at last night’s games:

‘Nobody from Kentucky likes Duke.’ – Kentucky fans at the Chicago airport who rooted for Kansas

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 13, 2013

Excuse me but did the Kentucky fans miss the entire United Center rooting for Michigan State the game before? Because I saw Duke and Kansas fans cheering the No. 1 team going down 10-0 to start.

Kentucky spent all week downplaying their team’s No. 1 ranking and Calipari even said it was “unfair” that Kentucky had to play the No. 2 team in the country this early in the season. If Calipari had an issue with playing tough teams early in the season, he probably shouldn’t have agreed to be a part of the Champions Classic several years ago (or even renewed it for an additional three years last week). This isn’t the Old Spice Classic, Coach.

This is the same John Calipari that declared a few weeks ago at Big Blue Nation: “We don’t play college basketball. We ARE college basketball.”

Calipari spent most of last night’s game complaining about the refs, which was mirrored by his own players on the court. Kentucky’s players were crying in the locker room after losing last night. Kentucky fans had a site dedicated to 40-0 shirts.

That is a sign of an entitled fan base and coach.

Excuse me while I stop hating on Duke and focus on the the most annoying fan base and the most stuck-up coach in college basketball: the Kentucky Wildcats and Coach John Calipari. Excuse me for having respect for one of the classiest and most respected basketball coaches in America (Coach K) and keep losing respect for a man that thinks his program is better than basketball itself.

Maybe everyone from Kentucky hates Duke.

But no one likes Kentucky outside of Big Blue Nation.