Jump on, jump off, Blue Devil fans ride the bandwagon

Looks like those guys from Sports Illustrated have been back on campus again, and it looks like they're up to their old tricks.

Yes, Duke has once again made it into the world's greatest sports weekly. This time it's Duke hoops that's gracing the glossy pages. This time it's the Blue Devils' recent fall from grace that's making big news.

And this time, all SI writer Tim Cruthers can say is "Just 217 more days until football season."

Now wait just a minute. Slow down there, turbo. Let's all take a deep breath before we go jumping off this bridge.

Isn't this the same magazine that four months ago was unconditionally singing Duke's praises? Wasn't it just 15 issues ago that SI put Blue Devil football on the map with its story on head coach Fred Goldsmith's 5-0 start? Didn't that article start by comparing Goldsmith's squad to one coached by some guy named Krzyzewski?

I know what you're saying. I can hear the cries already: "How crass!" "How insensitive!!" "How cruel can these guys be?!!!"

About as cruel as, say, you and I and 99 percent of all Duke fans out there. Because for all the great accomplishments, all the disappointments, all the ups and downs in Blue Devil athletics over the past five months, this year will be remembered, above all, as one thing: the year of the bandwagon.

You saw the good side of it this fall, when the Blue Devils turned around four years of miserable football and got off to a 7-0 start before going on to finish 8-4 with an appearance in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Along the way there were victories over Clemson and Virginia. There were thrilling losses to N.C. State and North Carolina. The goalposts fell.

But when the Blue Devils returned to Cameron for the first time this semester against Wake Forest, 1,900 were on hand to witness their 76-58 victory over the Demon Deacons. When they took on UNC in Cameron last Wednesday night, over 5,000 were in attendance. When junior center Alison Day hit a turnaround jumper as time expired to upset the Tar Heels 74-72, more than 2,000 fans stormed the court.

Wasn't it just a year ago that this same Duke team lost seven of its last 10 games, and public address announcer Barry "The Sandman" Greenberg's melodious voice was simply fading into the empty seats? Is it really that easy to make 2,000 new friends in a year? If so, would somebody please tell me how?

Then there's the negative side of this whole bandwagon thing. There's the Duke men's basketball team's 0-7 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference. There's acting head coach Pete Gaudet's 1-6 record while filling in for Mike Krzyzewski. There's the chance that the Blue Devils may miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1982-83.

And for most fans, the hope is gone. There are those who have called for Gaudet's resignation. The support for Coach K has turned into speculation as to his true whereabouts, the latest theory being that he has quit and doesn't want anyone to know.

All because of a few losses. All because of one down year after so many years of glory. All because Duke's fans are proving they are not fans at all.

There is no love here. Not at Duke. Not in the land where diehard fans die easier than Fred Sanford has heart attacks.

Here, the throngs are gone, and but a few dedicated souls remain.

But fear not, they shall return.

You'll see them when the Blue Devil men finally get that first ACC win. You'll see them when the Duke women return to Cameron to take on Maryland next week (Wednesday at 7 p.m., in case you were wondering). You'll see them wherever and whenever the Blue Devils are on top.

No doubt you'll see those Sports Illustrated guys, too.

Abe Wehmiller is a Trinity senior and an assistant sports editor of The Chronicle. Contrary to popular opinion, he is not bitter that SI has not answered his requests for a job interview.