Adam Comarow (@AdamComarow)
First of all, thanks to Brian, aka @Dukeblogger for generously lending me space on his blog. I don’t know anything about how to stylize articles or make them look pretty or anything like that, so bear with me. I will gradually incorporate more of my personality and opinions into posts, but I don’t want to freak out Brian, so I’ll start slowly, haha. I have already written a post about Duke one and done players. This topic is a lightning rod for conversation among Duke fans, so I feel I should introduce myself before frightening anyone with a long-form article.
-When I was much (MUCH) younger, my good friend loved the Fab 5. I asked him who their rival was, and he responded “Those damn Dukies!” And that was when my love affair with Duke began. I have lived most of my life in Maryland, but also spent a couple of years in North Carolina, so I have multiple perspectives. Sometimes I wish I could root for Duke as simply as “good play!” or “bad play!” with as much bias as most, but my brain refuses to let me wear fan goggles. I will always rationally analyze everything Duke, but please don’t ever think that this makes me root for the team any less. I am passionate about Duke, but always keep in mind that watching sports should be fun. I love mocking Duke fans who take themselves too seriously, (though I bow down to Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere), the master of this)) or who overuse “class(y)” when describing anything involving sports. I want Duke to beat teams (especially UNC) and players, but will NEVER hate teams/players. Here are some various Duke facts/moments that mean something to me. And I’m sure I find these a million times more interesting than any reader will, haha.
-Favorite Dukies: JJ Redick, Kyrie Irving, Trajan Langdon
-Favorite Non-Superstar Dukies: Antonio Lang, Dahntay Jones, David McClure
-Best Individual Season: Grant Hill in 93-94. Grant lifted up a mediocre team on his back and carried them by himself to the NCAA Championship game. (Damn you, Scotty Thurman!)
Best Team: Tie between 98-99 and 09-10 teams. I’m still trying to come to terms with how the first team didn’t win it all, and how the second one did.
Have I Ever Been to CIS: No, and I hate myself for not.
Favorite Game: 2001 Final Four against MD. I was with many Terp fans, and let’s just say that it was not a pretty situation. Keep in mind that the 54 second game and the Nate James tip-in had already taken place during that same season. I knew that MD was the true championship, and Zona wouldn’t stand a chance.
Most Fun I’ve Had Watching a Duke Game: 2011 ACC Championship at a restaurant (I forget the name) in Charlotte filled to the brim with Duke and UNC fans going nuts for the entire game. More so Duke fans, haha. It was epic.
Favorite Play: Laettner shot is too easy. I’m going with The Dahntay Jones dunk/pushups against Virginia, followed by Sean (Doom I’m the Doc) Dockery’s half courter against Virginia Tech coming a close second.
Most Enjoyable Moment: Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas & Brian Zoubek celebrating after winning it all. Those three guys, in their four years together, experienced the full spectrum of emotions, culminating in pure joy.
Lowest Moment: LSU over Duke in 2006. Not gonna lie. Hearing the final buzzer and realizing that JJ Redick as a Dukie would now be “JJ Redick WAS a Dukie” got me all sorts of emotional.
Random Fact: Coach K breaking the all-time wins record and the Jahlil Okafor/Tyus Jones decision to attend Duke both happened on my birthday. (Obviously different years)
