AJC > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 12 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USKryptonite falls on Krzyzewskiville — again?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the (many) things that earned your obedient Enemy Watch servant a lifetime contribution award in the Sportswriters Hall of Hackery was tapping out the perennial “skinny” about Duke football in the ol’ ACC preview package:
“Oct. 15 can’t come soon enough.”
This is the date on the Gregorian calendar that Dookies everywhere (and good God, they’re EVERYWHERE in Atlanta) circle in dark blue lettering, natch. It’s the date when the tents in Krzyzewskiville empty of overachieving students whose parents seamlessly come up with $40K per annum in scratch for tuition. Yes, these future Bratty Litigators and Smug Corporate Weasels flood into Cameron Indoor Stadium and jump up and down on the bleachers at the start of basketball practice, too. And we’re supposed to think that’s just so cute because Dookie V tells us so.
(I write this not because the Person At the Next Cubicle Who Peers At My Screen and Also Signs My Time Sheet just happens to be a proud UNC grad. No, no. Just a coincidence. I really believe all this.)
Well, wouldn’t you know it? Oct. 15 is the date the Yellow Jackets make another visit to forbidding Wallace-Wade Stadium, which Enemy Watch guesses may have as many bodies milling around as those packing the Gothic gym next door. Forget pigskins: The news is set to come down any day now that Coach K has been tapped to head the U.S. Olympic team.
Remember the last time Georgia Tech played in Durham? Before that season, in 2003, a Duke alumni magazine featured a lengthy piece entitled “First and Long” about the program’s long-time difficulties. And what happened later that fall? Devils 41, Jackets 17.
Yet Duke is still way, way down in the doldrums under ex-Tech assistant Ted Roof. Even its tag-team gridiron twin, Vanderbilt, has done well enough to fall out of The Bottom 10.
Which makes Enemy Watch believe these Devils could be even more dangerous this time around. See, this just isn’t another ACC game for the Jackets, it’s an ACC Coastal matchup (heh, heh), with Miami up next. Another confounding loss like the N.C. State heartbreaker could push Chan Gailey another step closer to making the Endangered Coaches list.
Halfway into a season that’s already 1-5, the biggest concern at Duke is the condition of the playing field after a Rolling Stones concert. If they’re that worried about the debris a 60-ish Keith Richards leaves behind, well, they’re not alone.
The white-hot emotional button of the campaign was touched by noted sportswriter and Dookie grad John Feinstein who uttered an obscenity while serving as a radio commentator in the Devils’ loss to Navy. It seems that Mr. A Season On The Brink was upset about a referee’s call against the Middies, who just happen employ him on their announcing team.
Which sums up what really riles up those who despise the Cult of the Dookies: They’ll do or say anything for a price.
Permalink | | Categories: Tech
