Duke recaptures Victory Bell
(11/23/03 5:00am)
CHAPEL HILL -- 14 times a charm.
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CHAPEL HILL -- 14 times a charm.
It is not about a bell or a heated rivalry, or even the embarrassment of finishing in last place in the ACC. The 2003 Duke-North Carolina football game is about an inflatable Blue Devil helmet.
While making children laugh is one of the easiest things in the world, accomplishing the same result in weathered adults is more difficult. The Cat in the Hat elicits giggles from both sides, but inconsistently.
Traveling on The Chronicle's tab to cover Duke sporting events is probably the greatest benefit the paper gives to its volunteer writers. I've always wanted to write a column to recount some of my experiences, to tell of how a Salt Lake City Denny's turned into a eccentric dance club at 2 a.m. seemingly in between bites of my waffle, my time with the girls at Tennessee ("Wow you go to Duke and you have dimples"), the clubs at Florida State that will probably be the closest I'll ever come to being inside the Playboy mansion, or even the Santa Fe hippies who trained cats to ride dogs. The only negative experience I have ever had was my 10-hour trip from Charlottesville to Durham during a blizzard that saw me nearly get run off the road purposely by a maniacal liquid nitrogen truck driver.
At the final weekly press conference of the tumultuous 2003 season, interim head football coach Ted Roof briefly spoke of the team's disappointments in its 40-7 loss to Clemson Saturday before discussing the subject of its greatest rival: North Carolina. Roof said that each member of the team had a "little piece" of responsibility for the loss to the Tigers, and expressed a desire for his team to "learn from [its] mistakes and move on."
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- "A thousands mile journey begins with one step," so says the famous Lao-Tse proverb. Ominously for Duke (0-1), the women's basketball team began its arduous journey for its NCAA Championship by taking a step backwards, falling to No. 3 Texas (1-0) 85-77.
I cannot decide whether I should be ecstatic or depressed about the football team's recent success. Sure, I cannot help but feel happy for all the seniors who finally won a conference game in the last home contest of their careers. I rushed the field in euphoric joy just like all of the other students, delaying the writing of my game commentary column to help bring down the goalposts.
It lasted about four hours.
When Duke University replaced head football coach Carl Franks with defensive coordinator Ted Roof three weeks ago, there was little optimism that the offense would improve. Roof was a first-team All-ACC selection as a tough-nosed linebacker at Georgia Tech in the 1980s, and he had spent his entire coaching career on the defensive side of the field.
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He speaks three languages, he survived the Sudanese Civil War and the 15-and-under English national soccer team recruited him when he was just 13 years of age. He also plays a little basketball.
Almost any basketball coach will tell you that players improve more from summer workouts than from any other method. Sophomore Mistie Bass would like to prove this theory true in the 2003-2004 season.
Though Duke played the EA Sports All-Stars Wednesday night, the men's basketball team took its time "getting into the game."
Head Coach: Pete Gillen: @ Virginia: 86-65, 6th season; Overall: 350-193, 19th year. National Championships: 0; Final Four appearances: 02002-03 Record: 16-16 overall; 6-10 in the ACC (7th)Players to watch: Devin Smith and Majestic Mapp are the keys to Virginia's '03-'04 campaign. Smith is one of the Cavaliers' leading returning scorers, and Mapp--who has been hampered by injuries--is due for a good season.
While it seems no one can predict how the football team will play on a given weekend, one thing is certain for the Duke-Georgia Tech matchup this Saturday: emotions will be running on overdrive. Saturday is both senior day and Ted Roof's first game as head coach against his alma mater and the team whose defense he coordinated just two years ago.
Athletic director Joe Alleva announced that the interview process for the head coaching job of Duke's football team will begin at the end of November or in early December for potential candidates in a meeting with the press Monday. Alleva mentioned that over 50 coaches have contacted him with interest in the job, and that five finalists will be interviewed by the athletic department. Alleva also communicated that interim head coach Ted Roof is still a major candidate for the job and will be one of the five coaches with whom Alleva will meet in about a month.
KNOXVILLE,Tenn. -- Duke should have beaten Tennessee on Nov. 1. This does not mean that the Blue Devils could have won or maybe had a chance of winning. It means Duke blew an opportunity at an unexpected victory--one more vexing than any other shortcoming in the previous five seasons.
"Take me to another place, take me to another land," goes the refrain to Arrested Development's 1990's hit song Tennessee. While the Blue Devils blasted music in their practices this week in preparation for the communication disruptions the 104,079 fans will inevitably create inside of Leyland Stadium, Duke (2-6) hopes to be singing a far different tune after its 4 p.m. matchup with Tennessee (5-2) Saturday in Knoxville.
Thankfully for the NBA, the off-season is finally over. Every summer, several youthful millionaires find themselves in trouble with the law, and as is painfully obvious, 2003 was no exception. But now that the regular season has officially begun, it's time to discuss some basketball.
Throughout its polar history, coaching football at Duke has always been a tricky affair. Luckily for the Blue Devils, interim head coach Ted Roof has thus far shown quite a knack for delusion.