We all like a feel good story (which is especially needed in these days), whether it’s someone finally getting to see their dreams and goals become reality, or the man finally catching the woman (or vice versa) he has always wanted after all of this time. In walks of life, there is a thirst to catch the Hollywood-style happy ending, where everything is sunshine and rainbows after numerous storms. I’m no different from anybody else, because I like the feel good stories and happy endings as well. Having said that, there are a few occasions where I don’t mind seeing the ending being a little less than happy. Such an occasion happened over the weekend, and I’m coming here to explain why I’m okay with my feelings.
Of course, I’m talking about the results of the NCAA basketball tournament’s Final Four, where Duke was sent home by their fierce rival, North Carolina, with an 81-77 loss. The win gives the Tar Heels a date with Kansas for the national championship Monday night in New Orleans. For the Blue Devils, it means the dreams of ending the distinguished career of head coach Mike Krzyzewski with a sixth national title disappears, and it also means the school will be on the receiving end of the king of bragging rights. More on that aspect soon, but with Coack K, it would be common to think the reaction from seeing one of the most storied coaching careers in any sport come to an end would be sadness. I was definitely in the camp that was happy to see it.
Understand my dislike of Duke goes back decades, to the days when the likes of Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley played for the school. Duke is right there with the Dallas Cowboys, Oklahoma Sooners (in any sport) and New York Yankees on the list of teams I like to see lose, no matter what the scenario is. College basketball is unique because the head coach is the face of the program, and we all know Coach K was the face of Duke. Fairly or unfairly, I felt the Blue Devils was a team that acted like they were better than everyone else, and I’m not just talking about sports. There was a certain amount of arrogance and cockiness I felt just watching them on television, and if things didn’t go their way, the whine train was coming, led by Coach K. That feeling was something I could never shake to this day. So every time there was a chapter added in the Duke-UNC rivalry, I was team Tar Heels, and Saturday night provided the perfect end to Krzyzewski’s career in my eyes.
While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Coach K, there’s no denying the amount of success he had in his days building the brand that is Duke. I don’t have to say how hard it is to win a title in sports, but it’s especially tough in college basketball because of the format. If a team gets into the tournament, they have to win six consecutive games to get to the prize. Krzyzewski’s teams did that five times during his run, and made the Final Four on 13 occasions (can’t forget about the three Olympic gold medals as a head coach). The standard of excellence is something that is only touched by a select number of schools in the country, and whether you love him or hate him, the man was one of the best to ever coach a team. Yes, it’s true I wasn’t a Coach K fan, but there’s no disputing the greatness he achieved during his career.
Now I come to you to ask a question. Does me being happy to see Krzyzewski go out with a loss to his biggest rival (in both his regular season home finale and the NCAA tournament) make me a bad person? I’m okay with the responses either way, but the answer to a question for myself will come in the years to follow. Did I hate Duke because of the university, or because of Coach K? If the answer is the latter, then that speaks more for the legacy left by the man than any of the accomplishments mentioned, because that would mean I miss rooting against him. No matter how I feel personally, Coach K will always get the biggest salute from me. Congrats on a wonderful career, and as much as I may want to fight it, you’ll probably be missed.
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