Let's just put those "We Can Play" shirts away for a while.
No, no, this is not a "bash the men's basketball team" column. Everyone agrees that the team is full of talent, but it has simply had trouble blending together. Add Coach K's absence, and you can understand why the team is slumping. So, as the Blue Devils enter Thursday's game with arch-rival North Carolina, instead of blaming the players and coaches, let's point the blame where it belongs -- the new uniforms.
I'm not saying the new unies are bad. Well, yes, I am. They suck.
You may ask, why did the Blue Devils change? Got me. As you can tell from all the shirts around campus: "7 out of 9" Final Fours with the old uniforms, 0-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the new ones.
Look around Cameron. Do you see the Final Four and national championship banners? Do you see the retired jerseys? All without stripes on the shoulders. It's called tradition. You don't change tradition for change's sake.
I know, I'm no fashion expert. You may argue that the look works for Arizona, and Duke's new duds are not as bad as Kentucky's. But then again, Arizona has been a great choker in the tournament in recent years, and even Carolina's horrendous denim warm-ups would look nice next to Kentucky's uniforms.
The bottom line--these new uniforms haven't exactly been accumulating wins.
Why do you think Calvin Hill wore the khaki pants, white shirt and blue hat to every game? Why did he eat the same snack at every game? Superstition, my friends. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Calvin wore the same outfit because it worked. As a freshman, Grant helped his team win the national championship, so Calvin never changed his wardrobe. Got it? You change uniforms after you, say, lose seven conference games in a row.
Not before.
For you skeptics who say, "Yeah, great, but this year there is no Grant, no Bobby, no Christian" -- let's just think back to when teams led by Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker or Danny Ferry donned the classic royal and white uniforms for the last time. Certainly, people were afraid that the end of a great run was near. But the tradition continued, and Duke kept on winning. It was simply a new cast of characters that wore the same clothes and carried on the same theme -- winning.
Duke still has the talent. The Blue Devils are just missing the one ingredient that remained the same when the faces changed (coaches excluded).
But I guess every cloud has a silver lining. Look on the bright side. If we don't switch back, the bookstore can sell "7 out of 10" shirts, then "7 out of 11" shirts and so on. At least I won't have to worry about birthday presents for a couple of years.
This season, we've tried different line-ups and even different head coaches, but the team is still struggling. There is only one more thing we can do.
For the Carolina game, how about putting the old uniforms back on?
Actually, it's kind of appropriate. For the classic, blood-curdling Duke-UNC rivalry, let's revert to tradition.
Let's put back on the uniforms that plainly say "Duke." That has always been enough. No stripes, no designs. Just plain Duke.
With the old uniforms back, Duke's most hated rival in Cameron and the players and fans itching for a big win, the Blue Devils we all know and love will return.
I'll bet my shirt on it.
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