We got back to Everyday Hatred of Duke
Thanks to Kyle Tripowski and the Cameron Crazies
To state the obvious, I hate Duke basketball. Although I went to UNC, I wasn’t a “Tar Heel born,” so I developed my Duke hatred honestly and without undue influence from the best rivalry in sports.
In recent years, I’ve felt a twinge that the Duke hatred had shifted. Some imperceptible tweak that made it feel different. No less intense — maybe even at its peak — but different.
Until recently, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what had changed. But Kyle Tripowski and the Cameron Crazies brought clarity, so I’ll walk through the two variations of Duke hatred:
The Stakes: Hatred stemming from Coach K’s farewell success. Thinking, K can’t win this last title or I’ll never be able to turn on ESPN again
Everyday Hatred: Hatred engendered by the inexplicable day-to-day actions of Duke players, coaches and fans. Just thinking, why do you have to act like this?
The Stakes
During Coach K’s final run, The Stakes felt insurmountable. He (and he alone1, btw) had a season-long farewell tour that ESPN was all too happy to play up. In isolation, tallying an additional banner to his long list of accomplishments would be annoying.
But the permanence of it made it intolerable. We couldn’t change it. We could cite VCU, Lehigh, Mercer and all the other losses, but we could never wipe away the final sneer on that rat face.
In those moments, I hated Duke because I hated the idea of Coach K winning a national title in his last year.
Duke hatred and K hatred were inextricably linked because he built the program, and Duke’s history was basically reducible to K’s history2.
While the farewell tour lasted only one season, we were in The Stakes period for several years. The successive super-human recruiting classes built momentum for The Stakes. We knew K’s career was winding down, and the sheer collection of talent make it feel inevitable that they’d deliver.
Of course, Duke is gunna Duke, so there were undercurrents of Everyday Hatred during The Stakes. The Brotherhood Semesterhood is dumb. Grayson Allen’s tripping spree (and his “““indefinite””” suspension) appropriately received Everyday Hatred. Paolo’s non-DWI and K’s grandson pulling a Princess Kate disappearing act3 were but a footnote in his final season. I cackled endlessly at the pettiness of Duke coaches stiffing Hubert Davis in the handshake line following the “unacceptable” game.
But these examples were more fleeting, so The Stakes usurped and crowded out the Everyday Hatred.
Thankfully, UNC had other plans for K’s farewell. Twice. (And I still struggle deciding which was sweeter.)
It’s not quite to the level of “hate us cuz they ain’t us,” but it’s undeniable that the specter of Duke’s and K’s success fueled the hate more than the day-to-day actions of its coaches, players and students.
Then Caleb Love savagely ended K’s career. And just like that…he’s gone.
And so are The Stakes.
As the jubilee of K’s departure subsided (slightly, you never really get over the joy of it, you just forget it momentarily), this presence that had taken up so much space disappeared.
In its void steps Jon Scheyer with his pleasant, not-rat-like face and unproven track record. The air was let out of the hate balloon, and nothing rushed in to fill the vacuum. And that’s how we sat for 694 days.
Everyday Hatred
We’ve just now completed the second year after K’s departure. Coming down from the heightened stress of The Stakes, it’s fair to say my Duke hatred hit a nadir. Jeremy Roach is (was) mildly annoying, but there were no quintessentially hatable Duke players4. Losing in the second round to Tennessee was funny but paled in comparison to the 2022 games. Losing to NC State was also funny, but an Elite 8 run still scores well on the blue blood scorecard.
Then Wake upset Duke and stormed the court5. Duke was thrust back into the national spotlight, and, man, did Trip and the Crazies deliver.
Let’s recap:
Flip and Duke seemingly milk the “injury.” Had he been legitimately injured, this episode wouldn’t elicit any hate, only sympathy. If you believe in the cause to ban court storming, exaggerating an injury only hurts that cause by burying the lede
Flip miraculously returns only a few days later and pimps a windmill dunk
Kyle Filipowski becomes Kyle Tripowski against UNC and then denies the trip
Duke takes a fat L at home against UNC (again)
Jon Scheyer apologies to the fan base after the UNC loss (again)
Cameron Crazies throw a tantrum (in the form of ice and water cups) at the UNC players
No single incident would’ve reignited my Everyday Hatred, but in combination? Oh baby, we’re back.
For example, the trip itself didn’t finalize Flip’s metamorphosis into Tripowski. The trip was another split-second, heat-of-the-moment decision that could’ve came and gone with some ownership and accountability. But instead, Tripowski decided to deny the trip and claim his foot slipped. Brice Johnson said it best: Trip eliciting sympathy and attention to a valid cause just to respond as if we’re all f*cking idiots without eyes was the moment Everyday Duke hatred re-emerged.
Everyday Hatred is a simpler, more settling hatred. The Stakes required context, history, and enshrinement, whereas Everyday Hatred relies on nothing more than the standalone, smh actions. You just want to grab a Dukie by the shoulders and shake them, asking “why do you have to act like this?? Don’t you get that this is why people don’t like you??”
But like K’s career, all good things come to an end, as did the season of renewed Everyday Hatred.
Will we hate again?
While we recaptured the beauty of Everyday Hatred, might it be as fleeting as Duke’s roster?
Duke’s parade of one-and-done players makes it harder to develop a proper re-hate-ionship, either because the players have been generally likable (Zion, Jayson Tatum, even Paolo a little) or are around for only a semester. It’s hard to grow a hatred in a single season.
I have a nightmare that Bronny James transfers to Duke. But that’s yet another flavor of annoyance — the attention-seeking, big-name collecting Duke rather than the hatred inspired by everyday actions. Tripowski is already off to the NBA, followed by Jared McCain, and seemingly every other Dukie is in the portal, leaving Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster as the lone holdovers.
As the rivalry has entered a new chapter, maybe the hatred will have to shift, too. The flames might not burn as bright every year. The names on the jersey will change, but I’m confident we’ll find new reasons to hate again.
With The Stakes behind us, this season reassured me that the hatable essence of Duke remains. Duke is gunna Duke. There is hope. Hope of hatred.
Roy, Jay Wright, Boeheim, Saban. The list of legendary coaches who opted not to have a year-long brown-nosing is long and growing
Yes, Duke had some success before K, but it wasn’t Duke, the entity, before K
At first, I dismissed the Princess Kate rumors. The doctored photo brought me in, and I chuckled at the BBL rumors. But the revelation of her cancer is the saddest, least funny explanation for her absence.
In fact, when Flip got straight up punched in the throat on a dead ball, I laughed but sorta felt bad for him and couldn’t believe there wasn’t a flagrant.
For what it’s worth, I think players should be guaranteed safe passage off the court, and I think Flip’s split-second reactions are easy to pick apart frame-by-frame.