INDIANAPOLIS — By now, you've probably seen the cover that adorned yesterday's Indianapolis Star. It shows a picture of head coach Mike Krzyzewski, replete with devil horns, a bulls eye and a cartoonish mustache, among other doodlings.
Krzyzewski was obviously upset with the illustration, calling it "juvenile" and later telling Duke's many detractors to "just keep drawing pictures."
Yesterday's front cover was not the only piece of Duke hate put forth lately by our nation's media, though. It's becoming more clear that any hack with a deadline and no creativity has penned their "Why you should hate Duke" column this week. These columns not only fleece any journalistic credibility these writers have, they are unoriginal and poorly thought out.
Nevertheless, we must chronicle this week's work.
Tuesday, Pat Forde kicked things off with a guide on which teams to pull for in the Final Four. Duke was ranked the least likable team, writing such gems as Duke's "path to the Final Four was littered with rose petals lovingly placed at [its] feet by the selection committee," its mascot is "a dork with a pitchfork," and its fans would use the Final Four as an opportunity "to act better than everyone else."
Forde was far from the worst culprit, though. That honor would go to the Miami Herald's Israel Gutierrez, who wrote a column so bizarre and poorly written Tuesday that his Wikipedia page was vandalized as a result. Last I check, it hasn't changed.
Finally, yesterday gave us an open letter from ESPN's Page 2 begging West Virginia to beat Duke tonight. While Page 2 has never been known as a bastion of journalistic integrity, certainly this has to be crossing some sort of line, no?
These stories have to be just the tip of the iceberg. What other Duke hate pieces have you guys seen this week? Leave some links in the comments.
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