Sad as the end of Duke's basketball season may have been, let's put another spectacular year on the hardwood behind us. Now given that finals are never worth looking forward to and that three straight wins by the baseball team this past weekend aren't anything we're bound to see again soon, there's one altogether refreshing spring thing to excite us at year's end.
Myrtle Beach? Nah, that's a repeatedly sloppy weekend you'd rather not--or can't--remember. And while that used to be the tag line slapped upon the morose football program around here, it's no longer going to be the case. Starting Saturday.
Wallace Wade is sure to remain relatively silent for this weekend's annual spring game, but the scrimmage still represents the beginning of a new era when the moans and groans might, sooner than you may have expected, turn to oohs and aahs.
Ted Roof may be a simpleton when it comes to coaching philosophy, but, hey, so was Vince Lombardi. Duke's new coach certainly has the credentials to make him a legit force in the ACC ranks, but, more than anything, he has the enthusiasm to turn a program around with the vigor that Carl Franks only pretended to have.
To get off on the right foot, Roof has a returning roster talented enough that he doesn't have to carry the load alone. The most exciting of the bunch should end up being the one who sat last year, the one who's got a name to go with the aura he could bring as the emblem for Duke's turnaround: Curt Dukes. The North Carolina native might seem like he's coming out of nowhere, but he looks like your Varsity Blues-blonde quarterback, and he should have the game to prove it. The skill set he brought upon transferring from powerhouse Nebraska could, if he beats out impressive incumbent Mike Schneider, bring the team some legitimate firepower right away. And with a relatively light schedule--Navy, UConn, The Citadel and the bottom end of the ACC make for winnable but not simple matchups--Dukes and the Blue Devils could be in a bowl come winter.
And somehow it seems like this is not all just going to be hype. You can pump up the fact that we're going down to the wire into recruiting battles with Ohio State and Notre Dame and not end up with any of the players, but it's a start nonetheless. You can say the Blue Devils are rising stars in the conference and then have Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College show up to ruin the party, but that won't change everything. You can point to the University's desire to pump more money and leeway into the football program and then watch it all fall back to basketball, but it's not all in vain.
Indeed, there will be stumbling blocks in the Roof era, but that's all the more reason for the community to let hope keep springing eternal. The football team needs support, enthusiasm and interest from Cameron Crazies and from disappointed fans of the gridiron more interested in the NFL. Everyone got on their feet and for Roof when he was introduced in Cameron four months ago, but it remains to be seen whether Duke can keep the faith through thick and thin.
So, no, you're by no means lackluster if you don't go see the intra-squad game Saturday, but if you can get a break from that Evolution and Society textbook you're cramming with, you'll get a peek at the very start of football's evolution in our little society of basketball mania.
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