I am returning next year for my 32nd year as a Duke fan!!!
Official announcement....
- Thread starter SwatX1
- Start date
He didn’t become a Duke fan til he was 53.
I’m coming back for my 21st!
Been a fan since 98-99!
I went the Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grad Transfer route!
Been a fan since 98-99!
I went the Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grad Transfer route!
Man, you’ve seen so much change.
If you haven’t done this, I would love to hear some stories from the past, favorite moments, etc.
That would be some Great summer reading!
I will try. Let me tell you the early 70's were tough. The cheaters were at the top of the game and we were just mediocre at best. Living where I do it was tough being at Duke fan at that time because we just couldn't seem to beat them. The heel fans at that time probably out numbered Duke fans at least 7 or 8 to one, maybe more. That's has a lot to do with the way I respond to trolling heel fans that seem to somehow slip in from under the toll bridge they live under. I'm skeptical of everyone of them. I'm trying hard just not to respond to them but it's so hard because they remind me of those early to mid 70's when they were all arrogant, entitled bunch of bandwagoners, That also has a lot to with myself not being critical of Coach K. He made Duke who we are. I've seen the dark days. Most of you have not. OFC
Sky I heard you became a fan when Duke was named Trinity College.
And you know Coach there were Duke fans before you and I. I know many of them one whon is in his 90's Dr. Kenrolled who was on the football team medical staff with the football team for years andown Coy Clayton a running back in the 50's and played in the Orange Bowl. Both men can still talk Duke athletics and one more, my dad. OFC
you are right about the early 70.s, I got out of the army in '69 and went to work for a NC newspaper. Everyone from the editor to almost every damned reporter was a tarhole grad. I was one of only 2 dukies there. It got a little better in the 90's as far as ratios went, but , we were always a minority. One good thing was that I got to cover more duke games since all the others wanted to cover the holes. That part worked out fine.
I"m going to defend the Duke teams of the '70s. There were some really good players (Gary Melchionni, Bob Fleischer, Tate Armstrong) and some great upsets (Cheaters once, Maryland at least once). Those of us who lived through those years appreciate what Coach K has done just a little bit more!
All the above players were as you say really good players and are just about forgotten as is the 50'sa and 60's players. I could go on and on about players back then, Mike Lewis, Randy Denton Bob Verga, Heyman, Mullens, Marin and Vacendak. We had a great team this year but I believe if we had Armstrong and Fleischer coming off the bench we would have been even better. Tate could shoot the lights out of the ball and even dean smith picked him for the Olympic team in 76' I believe. As for Bob Fleischer you would just had to see him play. The perfect 5 position. Rebounder, high performance from the field and free throw line and a good defensive payer. I will go as far as saying Fleischer would have started on this year's team at #5. Yes I said it. Like I said I could go on and on about these players. No they were as athlectic as today's stars. They weren't as quick, couldn't jump as high but they were fundementally sound . The problem with them not winning was coaching and not having the number of really good players to go with them. Teams that did have several talented players from the ACC in those days were Md. NCSU, South Carolina and of course the cheaters. Funny thing about the cheater fans back in those days were their fans despised Lefty Dreisell and Md. , Norman Sloan and NCSU , and their old coach Frank McGuire and his Gamecocks just about as bad as they hate Duke and Coach K today. Is there a pattern. Look out UVA and Tony Bennett you are next if not already on their hate list. Do you guys see where I'm going here and the point I'm trying to make. If for some reason W.F. ,B.C., Clemson, G.T. , Pitt or anyone else who starts beating them regularly then their team and coach will be scum bags and thugs. OFC
yeah, remember when the tarhole fans used to put up photos of lefty's bald head with a gas gauge showing empty on it. I think everyone hated the gamecocks and were glad when they left the conference.
I liked when Carolina used to beat the heels. Carolina did have some players easy to dislike though. John Roche, Ribock, Owens and a couple of others. They caused a few skirmishes. Bobby Cremmons played at that time. He was ok. OFC
Great player who got his points without being ball dominant.Bucky Waters said he was the best all round player ever at Duke until Grant got here
Loved Fleisher as a player but imo the player from that team that would have been a better fit for this team would be Chris Redding.Think he had more range and would not have clogged up the driving lanes as much as Fleisher
I think duke used to call Roche the "roach cock" along with other names. One thing I remember about covering them in football, they had the damned best looking cheerleaders of all the schools. They must have recruited cheerleaders.
Correct...As I became a Duke fan in thearly 70s while living in Virginia. Moved back to my home in Texas and been Devil fan to this day.