Memories of 1999-2000

Will and Nell's posts have inspired me to weigh in on my allegiances this evening. From mid-1999 to mid-2000, Meredith worked for a Duke-associated nonprofit in Durham, N.C. I visited her about twice a month. We were surrounded by Duke fans (including Will), the team had a lot of memorable players (Battier, Boozer, Dunleavy), and we were invited to numerous parties to watch the games, both regular season and tournament. Will even scored tickets for us one evening, and we sat with him in the grad student section and cheered wildly. As most of you know, I don't really care about basketball at all. And I think that, as a general rule, high-level NCAA sports have exerted a corrupting influence on these supposedly nonprofit colleges. For one thing, it's hard to believe that all of this revenue isn't taxable! It's also hard to believe that these major sporting events have anything to do with the overall collegiate mission. Finally, I wonder what lessons these students learn from their exposure to constant recruiting violations, perks that operate as a kind of under-the-table payment, and "tutors" at certain programs who complete all or most of the players' classwork. Since I don't have any ties to NCAA sports -- other than being the former roommate of an NCAA cheerleader -- I participate in the pool for the fun of the pool itself. Mainly it's fun to hang out with McDows and associates, even if only on line. But part of the fun is rooting for underdogs and rooting against teams like Duke. When all is said and done, after giving it some thought today, I've decided that my fond memories of Duke-rooting in 1999-2000 outweigh the general principles that favor rooting against Duke. Go Duke!