NRR: Dukies Gonna Win IT ALL

The first time UCONN and Pitt met, Thabeet had a hard time with Blair. The second time things were a little different, although Pitt pulled out the W.

If Pitt and Duke play each other and Blair stays out of foul trouble, I'd say Duke will have their hands full. I'm not saying it's a sure win for Pitt.

There is no human being on the planet whose spelling of his last name and pronunciation of his last name are as different from each other as Coach K's are. I just don't trust the guy.

Us honored recipients of Dukedom KNOW that we will win !

And even if someone else claims the championship, DUKE will still be the winner, because when we walk off the floor, OUR shirts will say DUKE and no else's will.

All bs aside we have a nice team but we can't play with Pitt or North Carolina.... especially when Lawson is back. And he will be back.

I am a Duke grad and I will be happy if the team makes it to the sweet 16.

Reggie Love is Obama's AIDE and he has been out of school 3 years. He was a starter on the basketball team and football team. Duke has student athletes, some of the best in the country for a competitive program.

I don't know, man. Would you trust someone with a handle such as Camoo? Truly scary. Did Camoo originate in Lil Abner as Schmoo and then morph into Camoo. I'm scared. Get away from me, man.

Quantum, I just graduated from the same high school that your daughter currently attends. I got into Duke. I did not attend. Why? Because Duke is full of rich, arrogant pricks. While I would certainly avoid calling the Duke student body losers - most students are certainly exceptionally bright, being an arrogant tool certainly seems to be the norm. I currently attend an ivy league school which certainly has its share of rich, arrogant students, but I am still constantly impressed by how much I dislike duke kids every time I visit.

Many people dislike the Duke basketball team because they project the same spoiled, cocky-as-hell, arrogant attitude that Duke students have. While Duke players certainly are better students than their counterparts at some other schools, there are plenty of colleges that also have programs with players who are qualified students but aren't elitist in the same way Duke is. I'm cheering for these schools.

I happen to be an Iron Duke member and receive lots of info on the team. I decided to test your theory on the current team. Because there are two years of mandatory liberal arts classes that ALL Duke students, yes, including the athletes, must take, Duke students don't declare a major until their junior year. Therefore, this info. doesn't include the FR/Soph team members. So, here are the results:

Davidson - Psychology

Henderson - Psychology and certificate in markets/management studies

Johnson - Economics

Pocious - International Comparative Studies

Thomas - Visual Arts Major

Scheyer - History

Zoubek - History and Cert. in Markets/Management Studies

2 time Academic ACC member

Paulus - Political Science

with cert. in Markets/Management Studies

3 time All Academic ACC selection

2 time All American Academic selection

Not ONE sociology major to be found. Try again.

duke fan wrote:

I happen to be an Iron Duke member and receive lots of info on the team. I decided to test your theory on the current team. Because there are two years of mandatory liberal arts classes that ALL Duke students, yes, including the athletes, must take, Duke students don't declare a major until their junior year. Therefore, this info. doesn't include the FR/Soph team members. So, here are the results:

Davidson - Psychology

Henderson - Psychology and certificate in markets/management studies

Johnson - Economics

Pocious - International Comparative Studies

Thomas - Visual Arts Major

Scheyer - History

Zoubek - History and Cert. in Markets/Management Studies

2 time Academic ACC member

Paulus - Political Science

with cert. in Markets/Management Studies

3 time All Academic ACC selection

2 time All American Academic selection

Not ONE sociology major to be found. Try again.

Uhhhhhhhhh, you're not exactly providing ammunition for your point. Not one engineer, science, or math major to be found on that roster either. Pretty much all SOFT liberal arts degrees.

Bowdu - Thirty years ago, I was a 4:08 miler in high school - low 3:40's in 1500 in college. I went to undergrad and grad at schools the quality of Duke. I was from a poor single mother home and needed running to make my way in life. I accomplished more academically than I did in running (at least in terms of statistical rarity), and having waded through seas of rich and entitled people, I know elitists when I see them. By the way, even though I was poor, I never viewed them as elitist, even if they were. Many had tremendous private school educations, and I learned as much as I could competing with them. Made a lot of sense to me - then again, I never had the opportunity to grow up in a nice DC suburb with a secure home - so life is what you make it.

I am certain I have seen you run. Coach Ryan is a superb coach.

And your statements are laughable. Any of the top 10 schools, including the one you go to, have lots of money and elitists. Duke and your school too. At any of these places, take away the top athletes and under-represented minorities (although they tend to be well off too - the schools look for pigment rather economic diversity) - and being rich and elitist is often the norm. Neither your school nor any within any single standard deviation in scores or grades are havens for the lower to middle classes. They by and large are for the upper middle class and upper classes. The mantra indeed at competitive schools this year is that there never is a better time to be rich.

Your observations are based on anecdote and emotion, not hard evidence.

Note also my initial comments were in response to as assertion that Duke was full of rich losers. Whatever your non-empirical observations may be, they do not appear to reflect the notion that Duke students are rich losers. Duke puts out some bright people.

It is helpful in argument to rebut assertions my making direct rather then elliptical references to the issue, which frankly never was about your anecdotal observations about Duke students, but rather to risible and false notion that they are rich losers.

Even TJ'ers come across folks as smart as they are. And they certainly ought to be precise. You are young. Enjoy running, and certainly, run at least a bit faster than I did.

Random factoid about Duke from ESPN Page 2 on line:

Duke has not beaten a team seeded fourth or higher since winning the title in 2001 and advanced past the Sweet 16 just once since, despite being a No. 1 seed four times in that span.

I think that says 'over-rated.'

Uhhhhh you might not like to believe it but psychology is a science (i.e. the science of the mind/brain). Now some areas of psychology are less rigorous but behavioral neuroscience and to a lesser extent cognitive science are real science.

Not Impressed wrote:

Uhhhhhhhhh, you're not exactly providing ammunition for your point. Not one engineer, science, or math major to be found on that roster either. Pretty much all SOFT liberal arts degrees.

History/Psych/Econ/Political Science aren't considered "soft" majors at Duke. History/Econ/Poli Sci are some of the most popular majors at Duke because they lead to either finance jobs in DC/NYC or to law school. The certificate in markets/management studies has proven to be very popular - again for all Duke students - because Duke doesn't offer a business degree. My daughter has had numerous friends that received a B.S. in Psych that went on to enter Physical Therapy programs, medical school, nursing, etc.

By the way, I was a biology/chemistry major who later returned to school for an MBA. While I enjoyed my science background, it was my MBA that really launched my career.

Just because you aren't a math/engineer major hardly implies you are in an easy discipline. In addition, the first two years Duke students are required to take classes in almost every discipline - so you can't escape math, science, foreign language, classes anyway.

By the way, my response was to the poster that insisted that all Duke players graduated in Sociology - that is incorrect.

Dude, you personify the Duke "it's all about me" vibe. The attempt at self-effacement is nothing short of goofy.

Duke is probably the most divisive team in college basketball today. They are either loved or hated - usually loved because they win and hated because of the perception that they are arrogant and entitled. For some reason, no other school, even wildly successful schools like UNC, Kansas, and UCLA, generate as much hate as Duke. I would argue that this is because of the perception that many people have of Duke - that they are arrogant. I do not and never have claimed that undergrads at Duke are dumb. Nor have I claimed that any other top 15 school is less wealthy or entitled. All I am arguing is that it is perfectly reasonable to dislike a school's basketball team because they are viewed as arrogant and elitist.

And you could argue that Duke is viewed this way with good reason. Duke basketball players are treated like royalty, and often walk into games with a visible expectation to win. Some would call this cocky. Duke's fans are without a doubt the most passionate in the NCAA, though again many people would claim that they are unnecessarily cruel and over the top. I certainly don't believe that Duke students are all rich kids who bought their way into the school. Rather, I am saying that it is completely reasonable to dislike Duke because of the aura of elitism that the Duke basketball program and Duke in general gives off.

Obviously this is all anecdotal. If you really need empirical evidence, by all means find some data that correlates like or dislike of Duke based on people's perceptions of their arrogance. As you said yourself "being rich and elitist is often the norm," and for that reason I believe that many people dislike Duke.

I have two friends that went to Duke, one as an engineering undergrad and one as an MBA. Both of them were anything but rich, elitist pricks going in, and they certainly haven't undergone some dramatic character change since attending. Just an anecdote to be sure, but I'd be careful with the "broad-brush."

Oh, and, while Duke will not likely "win it all," I think they will surprise some people in the tournament this year. Almsot nobody has projected them into the final four, and that's a good thing.

Sure, it is a gross generalization. But many dislike Duke because of it, right or wrong. I know about 20 people who went to Duke last year, some were arrogant, some were not. As quantum argued, most, if not all of the top 10 schools can are often viewed this way. Duke is the only top 10 school with a top 10 basketball program. I actually have Duke going to final four; I guess I'm pretty much the only person who doesn't think Pitt is that good.

Want the truth about duke? Go here:

http://www.truthaboutduke.com

POD PATROL wrote:

Bring the Hate

Im calling it Duke gonna NCAA Champ this year (Basketball of course)

Ok, what's the wager? You take Duke, I take the rest of the field since you are so confident.