Now I know how ACC basketball referees feel after they've been worked by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Krzyzewski recently expressed displeasure at the coverage given his team locally.
"I don't even think it was mentioned in the newspapers here that we were No. 2 in the polls," he said to reporters recently. Actually, we ran a list of the Associated Press Top 5 on the Jan. 6 Sports front. We posted a story online, "Duke jumps UNC in Top 25."
Krzyzewski gave statistics to show how often his teams have been highly ranked.
"I know it's not that big here," he said of Duke's success, "but it's pretty damn good. So when this group makes No. 2, it's a new group, they should be celebrated for doing something good."
He didn't mention The School That Shall Not Be Named.
We've long been accused of being pro-Carolina. Don't you know everyone at The N&O went to Carolina? Actually, of the 21 reporters and editors in our sports department, four went to UNC and five went to N.C. State. Alas, none went to Duke.
I'm with Jay Bilas, the former Duke player who now is a commentator for ESPN. Bilas, a lawyer by training, catches grief from fans who say he can't be fair because of his Duke ties.
"Tell me what I said you disagree with and why, and then we'll discuss that," he told our Ken Tysiac recently. "But if we're just going to have, 'You went to school here therefore you're disqualified from having an opinion on this,' you can't get anywhere with that argument."
He's right. For the record, I went to UNC and Duke but have State season tickets. (Don't ask -- it's a long story involving the woman I married who still talks about how great Terry Gannon was, 25 stinking years after he played for State. Terry this and Terry that. Will it ever end?)
As for Coach K's comments: We've covered Duke extensively in the past and will continue to do so. We even sent a reporter to China last summer to cover Krzyzewski's coaching of the U.S. men's team in the Olympics.
Coach K, you've received a fair deal from us. To tell you the truth, we didn't know you cared about us. We thought you only cared about ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.
Know this -- we love you, man. But like a good ref, we'll keep calling 'em like we see 'em.
Comments
Excellent Response
Sun, 01/18/2009 - 10:01 — sdking1112Sometimes these coaches tend to believe they're bigger than the game. Any more books, cd's or dvd's coming out soon coach?
kenson
Sat, 01/17/2009 - 16:15 — gvillegatrno one gives a rats arse where you came from ... Virginia ... you obviously pull for DUIke. DUIke gets plenty of pull from the News and Disturber. go cry on some DIUke message board.
coach k
Sat, 01/17/2009 - 14:51 — kensonWhile Coach K's behavior and mouth may be outlandish, they are nowhere near as outlandish as what Carlton Tudor said in print this week - "namely that a North Carolina loss is more newsworthy than a Wake Forest win". You can see why people would feel the way the do about the N & O being biased. Also, is it true that while tne N & O pulled its Duke beat writer, it still has one for Carolina. Please - as someone who moved here from Virginia - why not treat all teams the same?