Way back in the first week of November, when we were all still buzzing in the afterglow of that Phillies-Rays World Series and our questions surrounding the legitimacy of the Arizona Cardinals had yet to be answered-those were the big issues in America during that time, right?-I wrote the following:
"The Blue Devils will be judged almost exclusively by what happens in March.... So, it's time for Duke to flip the script in its approach to the regular season. The first four months of the campaign? Inconsequential."
Around that same time, I told myself to be calmer this season, to not put too much weight into individual contests and see the bigger picture.
Isn't preseason naivete cute?
My autumnal sentiments, of course, didn't survive the winter, especially that frigid night when the Blue Devils were torched by 27 at Clemson.
Now we start the fifth month of the season. Now, two days removed from St. Patrick's Day and one from its effects, Duke's season officially becomes consequential.
Now, what happens over the course of the next few weekends-"few" being a nice general word that neglects to specify how many weekends that will be-will constitute the Blue Devils' answer to the questions that have been leveled against them for the last four seasons.
Questions that initially asked why Duke couldn't get past the Sweet 16 and now wonder why it can't even get that far. Questions that have dogged the Blue Devils even during the regular season, with every game dissected for signs of the team's potential for springtime blossoming (signs that are really hard to find sometimes, like, "They don't have a center!" or "They don't have a point guard!").
The regular season, then, is kind of like an SAT practice test. And nobody cares how you do on the SAT practice test.
Tonight starts the real thing. Tonight is like that morning when you're 16, when you woke up the earliest on a Saturday since "Doug" was cancelled, when you realized that all too much of your last four and next four years would be defined by noon.
In other words, good times.
Tonight, the Blue Devils start that test against Binghamton, who's playing the role of the personal information section (which can really trip you up if you're nervous).
It's a test that will do nothing less than define the team's legacy.
Lose this weekend, and no one will remember the quick rise to No. 1, the frenzied home win over Wake Forest or even the ACC Tournament title. Instead, the 2008-09 Blue Devils will be nothing more than the third straight Duke team to fall in the Tournament's first weekend-lumped into a pile of relative mediocrity.
Oh, and lose out on a cool trip to Boston.
Take care of business in Greensboro, and Duke will reach what had to be considered the bare minimum for success this season. It would rebut the short-term failures but not the longer-term ones.
But survive perhaps a pair of Big East foes in Big East country, and the Blue Devils would earn another banner in the Cameron rafters-one that matters a little more than the one taken home from the Georgia Dome Sunday.
It would also mark a more triumphant return to glory for Duke. You see, when your demise is exaggerated, your return earns the same privilege.
A trip to the Final Four, with expectations for a Blue Devil run in March lower than ever, would offer the team a chance to brusquely brush their shoulders off and announce to the sports world, "We're baaaaaaack..."
Four months of practice tests are finally over.
Is Duke ready for the early-morning alarm?
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