NCAA Basketball

You’re About To Hate Duke Even More Than You Already Do

Chances are, you weren’t happy when Duke narrowly defeated Butler in April to win the NCAA basketball championship. Oh, sure, some of you are Duke fans, but chances are you were bitterly disappointed, angry…or maybe you just strung together the first few curses you could think of. Even so, if you hate Duke, you probably enjoy doing it, and if that’s case, we’ve got just the thing for you.

That’s right, a book documenting Duke’s championship season titled:

Worthy Champions: How Order Was Restored In The College Basketball Universe

Soak it in.

…Okay. “Worthy Champions” as a title, though we’ll grudgingly admit it’s true, is bad enough. It’s not that we’re all saying Duke SHOULDN’T have won – just that it was a crushing disappointment to most of us that they did. We get that they worked hard and everything.

But then they had to go and add that subtitle. “How Order Was Restored.” That might be the single most obnoxious thing anyone can say about any team, acting like a championship is their birthright. Really – come on. You have a lot of championships. We get that, too. It’s why we didn’t want you to win yet another one. And then they have to rub it in everyone’s face with a saying like that.

Another thing noteworthy about this book: the cover was designed by Duke star Kyle Singler. The story of Singler’s passion for graphic design – and how he puts it to use regularly – is pretty cool…but it’s Duke, so we can’t like it too much.

The truth is, of course, both sides of sports hate enjoy it. We like hating Duke (although not as much as we would have lied to see Butler win, alas), and both Duke and Duke fans like being hated. That’s why they’ll give a book about themselves such an odious title, and why the rest of us will write about how awful it is. The circle of hate lives on.