Full disclosure: I'm a North Carolina Tar Heels fan. Been one my whole life. So when Duke loses or their players are embarrassed then it is a happy day for me. Both happened Saturday night when the No. 1 Blue Devils lost at Virginia Tech and sophomore guard Seth Curry was taunted for his poor showing.
Remember that Seth Curry is the son of Hokies' legend Dell Curry. Dell is the second leading scorer in Virginia Tech history. Va Tech recruited Seth, who instead went to Liberty where he was the leading scorer among freshmen in the country. After his freshman season there, he transferred to Duke. After sitting out a year, Curry has been a big part of the Devils' rotation.
Needless to say Hokie fans weren't pleased to see Seth walk into their gym. Even with Dell sitting in the crowd, there was no love for the son. He was jeered during pregame introductions. He got two quick fouls and was promptly ridiculed. He missed both shots he took, went scoreless, threw a late pass out of bounds and fouled out of the game. Not a good showing.
When he left the game, the fans at Cassell Coliseum chanted "You're not your daddy" at Seth, who look visibly shook by the atmosphere. Dell, sitting in the crowd, seemed a bit bothered by it. While it was clever and true, it did sound a bit like bullying. But were the Hokie fans out of line?
These are college kids, after all, and college kids have bad days. They make mistakes. For a crowd of fellow college kids as well as adults, is it right to ride on a 20 year old kid for not coming to your school? I know nobody likes Duke, but does that excuse fans for pummelling a kid playing for them?
I'd like to say no, but I can't. And it is because we're talking about Duke.
No, my hate for Duke isn't the reason while I side with the Hokie fans. Schools are hated by other schools all over the country. What makes them different? My reasoning is Duke's fans.
Duke is known for the Cameron Crazies. The Crazies take pride in being THE kings and queens of jeering opposing players. Ask J.R. Reid about Duke fans. Ask Grievis Vasquez. Ask a crowd of ACC players about some of the things Duke fans have yelled at them (or wrote on signs).
My point is if Duke dishes it, they have to take it.
Granted, Duke hate is pretty rough. J.J. Redick was harrassed like no other college athlete I can ever remember. The things he heard in Chapel Hill and College Park can't even be written on the bathroom wall at a seedy bar. Not only was Redick harrassed on the court, but fans gave out his cell phone number and he received tons of hate messages. As much as I hate Redick (I think he is a notch below Christian Laettner as far as Duke enemies), that's harsh.
However, I took the same stance then. If Duke is famous for their fans being jerks, then it should be okay for those Duke players to get the same treatment whenever they decide to leave Durham. Seth Curry faced a perfect storm for this. He spurned Va Tech, he went to Duke and he showed fright on his first appearance in Blacksburg. I think he would've been hounded if he went to any other ACC school. But the fact he's a Dookie means he's going to get it good.
I hope someone gave him Redick's phone number.
Remember that Seth Curry is the son of Hokies' legend Dell Curry. Dell is the second leading scorer in Virginia Tech history. Va Tech recruited Seth, who instead went to Liberty where he was the leading scorer among freshmen in the country. After his freshman season there, he transferred to Duke. After sitting out a year, Curry has been a big part of the Devils' rotation.
Needless to say Hokie fans weren't pleased to see Seth walk into their gym. Even with Dell sitting in the crowd, there was no love for the son. He was jeered during pregame introductions. He got two quick fouls and was promptly ridiculed. He missed both shots he took, went scoreless, threw a late pass out of bounds and fouled out of the game. Not a good showing.
When he left the game, the fans at Cassell Coliseum chanted "You're not your daddy" at Seth, who look visibly shook by the atmosphere. Dell, sitting in the crowd, seemed a bit bothered by it. While it was clever and true, it did sound a bit like bullying. But were the Hokie fans out of line?
These are college kids, after all, and college kids have bad days. They make mistakes. For a crowd of fellow college kids as well as adults, is it right to ride on a 20 year old kid for not coming to your school? I know nobody likes Duke, but does that excuse fans for pummelling a kid playing for them?
I'd like to say no, but I can't. And it is because we're talking about Duke.
No, my hate for Duke isn't the reason while I side with the Hokie fans. Schools are hated by other schools all over the country. What makes them different? My reasoning is Duke's fans.
Duke is known for the Cameron Crazies. The Crazies take pride in being THE kings and queens of jeering opposing players. Ask J.R. Reid about Duke fans. Ask Grievis Vasquez. Ask a crowd of ACC players about some of the things Duke fans have yelled at them (or wrote on signs).
My point is if Duke dishes it, they have to take it.
Granted, Duke hate is pretty rough. J.J. Redick was harrassed like no other college athlete I can ever remember. The things he heard in Chapel Hill and College Park can't even be written on the bathroom wall at a seedy bar. Not only was Redick harrassed on the court, but fans gave out his cell phone number and he received tons of hate messages. As much as I hate Redick (I think he is a notch below Christian Laettner as far as Duke enemies), that's harsh.
However, I took the same stance then. If Duke is famous for their fans being jerks, then it should be okay for those Duke players to get the same treatment whenever they decide to leave Durham. Seth Curry faced a perfect storm for this. He spurned Va Tech, he went to Duke and he showed fright on his first appearance in Blacksburg. I think he would've been hounded if he went to any other ACC school. But the fact he's a Dookie means he's going to get it good.
I hope someone gave him Redick's phone number.
4 comments:
If Duke fans don't like it oh well. Like you said if they dish it expect their players to get the business on the road.
My license plate reads
GO2HC
'nuff said? Tom M Duke '68
There are parts of the country where not being your own father is considered a good thing.
It's like when Bill Wyman married the 18 year old, and his 30 something son ended up with Wyman's wife's mother (who, to be fair, was a model or something, maybe 35).
Wyman, when that marriage was consumated, became his own grandfather-in-law.
they didn't "recruit" him, they offered him a walk-on spot just like his big brother, the fans can hate greenburg for that
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