The most objectionable aspect of Andrew Yaffe's March 25 column, "This year was not-so-'great'" was Yaffe's assumption that Coach K truly felt that the season was "great."
Taking a single descriptor offered at the end of an emotional season and emotional press conference, and then using that word to pummel the program and Coach K seems more than a little bit unfair. As any follower of the program knows, Coach K is one of the most competitive individuals in American sport, and no one holds a team or a program to higher standards of excellence.
He proved as much this season. Coach K was the one, after all, insisting that this was just a "good" team when it was 22-1, contrary to the adoring media and fans who had already dubbed it superlative; Coach K was the one calling the team out when it started to whimper in regular season play, chastising his team for having played like it had "already accomplished something."
And yet, Mr. Yaffe used Coach K's bit of benevolence at season's end to ridicule and mock Coach K for having lost sight of the program he's been steering so well since 1980. Criticizing is one thing, but reading such condescending and unfair extrapolations in the student newspaper is discomfiting to this former Chronicle sports editor.
Michael Corey
Trinity '05
Columnist, GoDuke.com
In Chronicle columnist Tom Segal's Friday, March 28, editorial entitled "R.I.P. Blue Devils basketball dominance", he not only makes unjustified, exaggerated criticisms of the Duke men's basketball team as a whole, but also directs personal insults at specific players.
We are all disappointed by Duke's early exit from this year's NCAA Tournament, but Segal crosses the line in expressing his feelings. First, he devotes nearly half of his article to harsh criticism of Brian Zoubek, at one point referring to him as "a 'piece of dog poop'". He follows this up by pointing out the shortcomings of an ailing DeMarcus Nelson, two admittedly inexperienced freshmen, and a coach who took an undervalued team in November to #2 in the AP poll in February.
Certainly Duke's men's basketball team has some areas for improvement, but youcan be sure they'll be addressed by the hall-of-fame coaching staff -- not by some junior who seems to be more concerned about causing a stir than about
providing valuable feedback about the season.
Matt Jacobson
Trinity '11
Hey, Chronicle, guess what other Duke institution has fallen from its past esteem and seems quite the faded, second-tier operation compared to years past - much like, as you posited in recent columns, the men's basketball program? Um, your sports department. It's not that your points are completely unfounded, it's not that you're expected to spout cheerleader-like propaganda just because you're the student paper, and it's not that you don't have a right to express your opinions, obviously. It's that your writing so lacks skill, finesse, polish, guts - you know, all those things you've found absent in the men's team's performance this season. Like most everyone, I knew this year's team had holes in its roster - but damn if they weren't one of the most fun Duke teams to follow. When their season ended, unfortunately on a downward slide and a stinging final game, I was mostly disappointed that it ended at all. After exhausting what there was to read on ESPN's website, in various papers, etc., I turned to you guys, assuming I'd find the same sort of balanced, thorough, critically minded coverage that was just excellent regarding the Duke lacrosse case. Instead I got Andrew Yaffe's why-me-fest - which, again, had its valid arguments, but someone should have edited the whine out of it so it didn't trip over its own pomp and entitlement. Then there was Tim Britton's "analysis" of the Blue Devils' season, which read less like analysis and more like a Fisher Price My First Press Release for the Duke Athletic Department. Topping it all off was Tom Segal's. wait, what was that hacky piece of tripe, exactly? Was he auditioning to be the next "Monday, Monday" columnist, or a joke writer for Jay Leno? Loved the line that began, "And this is what our basketball program has come to: me. blarghy blargh blargh." (Yeah, onomatopoeia's mine.) I might suggest that Segal learn what constitutes snort-worthy one-liners during late-night dorm discussions, and then what constitutes good writing. (Also, when you start taking cheap shots at my boyfriend, Taylor King, I take it personally.) Forgive me if, as an irregular, online reader, I'm conflating sports writers with regular op-ed columnists here, but what's the difference when one of the latter chooses to anoint himself one of the former? Is anybody editing this stuff? When I worked as a news reporter and editor at The Chronicle, I was in awe of our sports department; I couldn't imagine how to write stuff that dear to Dukies, and to write it so well. Apparently, you can't envision it, either. Rose Martelli Trinity '96
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