Davis: Gordon Hayward was in pain late Monday night. Not the kind of pain that makes someone head for the hospital. This was emotional, heartbreaking, gut wrenching pain. Anyone who didn't feel that misery along with Hayward must have been one of two things - either a devout Duke fan or some cruel soul who hates happy endings.
Article Source: NBC SportsDuke robbed America of ending we deserved
Seeded on Tue Apr 6, 2010 3:58 AM EDT (NBC Sports)
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Duke robbed America of ending we deserved? Hardly. Ken Davis must be a republican. He certainly fits the criteria. White, fat, old and assuming he knows what America wants. Duke a flawed National Champ? Never. Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas all had their chance to
make it to the big game, where were they? Butler had to play almost a perfect game to win and they fell just short. The fact that Duke didn't have one of their best performances this year also helped keep it a close game. Maybe Duke did rob America of the ending they deserved after all. This American wanted to see the Blue Devils beat Butler by 30.
I agree, I don't know why Ken Davis is equating his own desires with American desires. I personally wanted Duke to win. They've also got a great story behind their success. They worked hard during the year, worked hard during the tournament and were able to pull off a win. Saying that Duke "robbed" America seems to bring connotations of cheating, deception, or undeserving play. That's clearly not the case here. Whether you're a Duke fan or a Butler fan, I think you have to agree that the game was well-played and each side was deserving of being a champion. It just happened that Duke played ever-so slightly better than Butler. Either way, American didn't "deserve" any kind of ending nor did Duke "rob" them of such an ending. Terrible article.
The Devils didn't ruin any ending, they won the game. As to say the other 3 #1 teams deserved to be there over DUKE is ridiculous. They didn't win the games to get there. Was this the most talented Duke team to win the title, no, but say they didn't deserve to win, you are acting like a baby.
northendlocal - "Ken Davis must be a republican. He certainly fits the criteria. White, fat, old and assuming he knows what America wants"...........Why the race comments?
Nice. Great way to celebrate sports and sportsmanship there Ken. You epitomize everything that is wrong with so called "sports writers".
Odd, from his photo Ken Davis doesn't look like a child, but he certainly sounds just like one (a very young one at that) in this article. Nobody "deserved" to see Butler win. Two GREAT teams battled it out in one of the best championship games of all time, and this guy can't appreciate that because of some irrational blind hatred of one of the most succesfull basketball programs of all time (and one with a high graduation rate and no "scandals"). Grow up Ken, and provide a more mature viewpoint or leave yours in the sandbox with the other pouting children who didn't get their way.
Waah! Waah! Best team won. Duke deserved the title, because they won every game they played in the tournament. Not worthy of a Nr. 1 seed? Please. I say this as a die-hard Carolina fan. Hard to admit, but the best team won. Butler had a good run and they had their shot. You have no idea what you are talking about. How did you get this job? The tourney allows all to have a chance. Show up and win. Duke did! Butler did not! No one got robbed. Be a gracious loser like the kids from Butler. Coach K works miracles with the smart kids who actually graduate- that is the story. Coach K doesn't go for the one and out kids headed to the NBA. Whether you like Duke or not, this is an amazing story in today's world of collegiate athletics.
If Ken Davis wanted a "better" ending, he should stick to those sappy Hollywood movies. I'm not much of a College basketball fan but even I knew that Duke deserved this win. Yes, I felt bad for Butler but that doesn't diminish the fact that Duke had a great run. Enough with the Duke haters. Ken Davis, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Ken, did someone from Duke steal your puppy when you were little? Those kids from Duke did nothng wrong, unless you call going to class, playing hard, playing with emotion, and representing their school and college basketball with class being wrong. Duke represents everything that is right with college sports, and Butler as well, so why are you hating on them so much? This dribble is what leads and gives permission to others to be poor sports. Butler deserves to applauded for their season and ability, but in no way should you or anyone else take anything away from Duke. If you want a Hollywood ending, read a book or go see a movie, this is real life!
What a silly rant. Duke robbed America of the ending it deserved? Deserved based on what? Duke one of the most flawed champions of the last 25 years? wtf?
People need to get over their idiotic envy and jealousy of Duke. This Duke team did not have any superstars like previous champions. They worked hard, played as a team, gave it their all. It was just 2 months ago that Pat Forde at ESPN listed 11 teams that could win it all, and then explained why Duke definitely could not.
Idiot writers like Ken Davis and Pat Forde are just losers, now that all is said and done. Duke faught hard, won, and they darn well deserve it. Get over it, whiners.
"Duke robbed America of ending we deserved"
Can't believe you wrote that - but in reality it's close to the truth. If we are honest, only Duke fans, and a few stragglers wanted this game to end with a Duke victory. That's not taking anything away from the Duke program, which is in a class by itself. This was the perfect scenario for a monumental moment in college basketball - and at least 95% of the population was ready for the storybook ending. So in reality - most people, though appreciative of a wonderful game, were left with a sad taste.
Mr. Davis robbed us of the time it took to read his inane commentary. Thats the only robbery here. It was a great game and both teams are to be applauded. I agree with all of the previous comments about how ridiculous Mr. Davis' point of view is.
Basketball games are not won on emotion or what's "fair". They're won by points. Duke won the game because they scored more points. If Mr. Davis and Mr. Hayward don't like it, they should blame the Butler players for not scoring more than Duke did. Why whine about a fact they cannot change? Sure, it would have provided a suitably picturesque ending if Butler had won and gotten their fairy tale. But apparently the players, on that day at that time, were not good enough to beat Duke. It does no one any service to start whinging on Duke, insinuating that they didn't "deserve" the win because they had no happy ending at stake. Last night, Duke was the better team. And complaining about Duke's win, needling on their past wins/legacy or whatever, only shows juvenility and poor sportsmanship.
Most of you miss the irony in the article. I agree with the writer! The script called for the underdog to win. I kept think, "God must have been asleep on this one!" It was a great college game for the championship. Duke certainly earned their way in and deserved to be there. And I completely agree Duke earned the win. But Butler also proved they belonged there. They did not have to "play almost a perfect game to win" - they played their game. The same game that got them to and through the tournament. It was a college game and it was fun to watch. But I would have loved to see that last shot drop in!
I don't think anyone missed the irony, except possibly you. The article title might be appropriate as many love the underdog story. This story however was a thinly veiled rant of yet another duke hater. Dick Vitale said it is simply jealously. I am not sure. Just as we love underdogs, many love to villify consistent excellence and that is really an oddity of our society. Kids that go to class, graduate and excel and a program that can produce that year after year should be applauded, not hated. The program is certainly not pure (Maggette) but it strives to be the best it can be and more often than not, Coach K has helped it accomplish just that. Possibly more difficult for me to stomach than those that wish to tear down excellence is the national press' focus on paying people for worthless trash from writers like this. Until controversy and mudslinging no longer sells, we are stuck with bums like this at a podium. By the way, Butler was fantastic and the game was a toss up. Both teams deserved to be there and either ending as the winner, deserved to be the winner.
Wow. This is the sorriest excuse for sports "journalism" I have ever read. This is pure vitriol more befitting of a 10-year-old in the school yard than a professional sports writer. (Were you actually paid to write this!?) "Duke is the most flawed national champion in 25 years." Ummm... Duke was 35-5, won both the ACC regular season and tourney championships, and finished the season winning 18 of 19 games. Were they the best team in the history of the NCAA? Absolutely not. But to imply the Blue Devils didn't deserve the title because other teams were better "on paper" is laughable. Unlike the BCS for college football, you have to earn everything in bball by winning when it counts. Duke did that, the other teams didn't. Congrats to Butler for a great season and an awesome tourney run. I understand they were the sentimental favorites and a great story, but that doesn't excuse the sour grapes and denigration of what duke accomplished. Pathetic.
I agree with you Justin but that doesn't defend this article. Sure the "cinderella" story was entertaining, and it is obvious who the world was cheering for, but this author's absurd hyperbole goes beyond entertainment and truly tarnishes both programs. It obviously insults a good team of a deserved title, robs those players from their own legacy and storylines (Smith's father? Zoubek's emergence?), and a coach who makes it so easy to hate him, but damn if he hasn't proven he's one of the best. Furthermore I am shocked at the lack of uproar from the Butler faithful regarding their cinderella label. Preseason T25, won 25 straight to get there, even Coach Stevens said they are making a statement for their program, not a one-and-done fairytale, and don't kid yourself that Stevens doesn't dream of turning Butler into a powerhouse like Duke someday. Fortunately there are better writers and better fans than Davis out there who are glad that it was one hell of a tournament: appreciating the success of injured and passed over teams like MSU and Purdue, the true cinderella stories of Northern Iowa and Cornell, the downfall of Calipari (I hate that guy), and an amazing final between two great teams and for all of it I am left with a damn fine taste in my mouth.
this entire article is "baloney", to use the author's own word. Talk about sour grapes. Perhaps Duke lacks a superstar, but they play team defense better than anyone, except maybe this Butler team.... What do you want from these champs? For all your couldas and shouldas, Butler should have had to play Syracuse with their big man, and Michigan St with their point guard, but they didn't. Would they have even been in this game if they had? who knows? And now about Duke's "easy" road to the final. Let's see, there were 3 #1 seeds ranked higher than Duke. hmmm.... ok, let's look at this. Kentucky lost to West Virgina who Duke blew out of the gym. Kansas lost to Northern Iowa??? Syracuse lost to Butler who Duke just beat.... I don't understand what this article attempted to accomplish? Two teams who play fantastic team defense and play within themselves and the team concept on offense navigated their way through the last NCAA tournament as we know it, and met in a classic final. If you like shoulda's and coulda's between who you feel are the best teams go watch college football and stay away from hoops.
It's hard to believe that NBC paid Ken Davis for that article. Pathetic whiner. One of the best championship games ever.
What a load of crap. Duke didn't rob Butler they beat them. Davis is a moron if he thinks everyone wanted Butler to win. I'm not a Duke fan and I wanted to watch a good game. It was a great game, Butler played hard but they missed too many shots. Duke was a top ranked team before the tournament, they won the ACC tournament, and the other teams fell. So don't tell me they were in the easiest bracket. West Virginia was the highest seed in the final four besides Duke and Duke kicked their butts! Davis needs to become a fantasy writer.
This is just another classic case of a writer who never played, or appears to have never been ABLE to play a competitive sport in his life and must lash out in his writing from behind his protective pulpit. All are entitled to their opinion but at least be objective and thoughtful in your writing, not disrespectful or hurtful.
As a Duke fan of course I cheered for the Blue Devils and would have been upset if they lost.
If Butler had won it would have been a positive moment and something to cheer about because a program that had never won a National Championship had finally won. But they were a 5 seed and won 25 straight games. It is almost disrespectful to the program and the student athletes on the Bulldog team to call them a Cindarella.
It is even further disrespectful for people to steal this championship from a team that was not expected to go any farther than the Sweet 16. There were no great expectations of this Duke team but they fought and perservered.
This article further illustrates the level of disrespect and disregard many in the media and journalism field have towards others. Unwilling to think of who will be hurt or how untrue the story may be, sensationalism took over and won.
You Mr. Davis are a blemish on your profession and show no concern for the hardwork that these players put in by writing this article. I hope you would be ashamed but from reading this article it is blatantly obvious that you were thinking of no one but yourself and those who have no regard for the achievements of the other great student athletes.
Be more bitter.
If Butler had won, it would have been by the pure chance of that last second shot backboarding into the hoop, which would have robbed Duke of the championship IT deserved by besting 18 of the last 19 teams it had played, winning the ACC, and going the distance when other #1 seeds lacked the tenacity and/or mental toughness to do so.
A website I frequent posted today the top "duke hating" articles written today. Having read them all, this one is clearly the worst.
Admission--I am a duke grad...but I am so sick of Duke "got the easy bracket" nonsense (as if the tourney committee made up of college administrators from around the country conspired to give Duke a break)..I'm sure Duke felt it was really easy to have to play in succession (1) A very good Baylor team with at least two NBA prospects in Houston in front of about 40,000 Baylor fans (2) A West Virginia team that was playing as well as anyone in the country till we crushed them and (3) A Butler team that had won 25 straight, is led by a future NBA star, and had about 60,000 fans cheering them on. I doubt any team has ever had to play two "road games" like Duke did to win a National title.
Oh and the 1999 final being better than this one...please...i was at both and there was no comparison. The atmosphere last night was unreal for college basketball and may never again be matched. Let's see...Mr. Davis is from Hartford---hmmm..perhaps a UCONN fan..guess I can see why he liked that one better.
In addition to all the points made above, Mr. Davis does not even have his facts straight. Duke was the 3rd number one seed, not the fourth. That fact was one of the original Duke haters' gripes when the seedings were announced. How soon we forget....even though the objective ratings more than justified the seedings...RPI, Pomeroy, Conference Champions, not having lost the last one or two games they played, etc, etc.
Start gathering your vitriol for the next season because Duke is back, big time, and K is just feeling it!
Are you serious with this article because it is one of the biggest pieces of trash I've ever read. These Duke players have played with all their heart and soul this year and deserved every win they've gotten, including the national championship. They play with respect, they don't act like thugs and are as deserving of a championship as any Duke team I've ever watched. You need to grow up and get over it - the best team won hands down. I've never posted a comment to an article written about Duke but this was hands down the most pathetic, bitter, insensitive and tasteless article I've read - you need to find a new hobby.
To put this as simply as possible:
Ken Davis, you're an idiot!
You've got to be kidding me. . .