I know it seems a bit strange to many but people who are fans of the Duke Blue Devils do actually have the same rights as everyone else.
Duke fan Michelle Picon wrote an editorial to the Duke Chronicle recaping her treatment at the Miami game last week.
They have the same right to gripe about bad calls and they have the same rights to be treated with some level of respect despite the fact that they pull for one of the most hated schools and programs in college sports. I know it is odd but Duke fans are people too.
It seems simple enough but it is actually a hard concept for some to grasp. Duke believe it or not can fall prey to the occasional bad call from time to time despite the fact that the rich alumni pay off the officials and Mike Krzyzewski threatens them with his den full of torture devices in the basement of Cameron Indoor Stadium.
And in those rare events when Duke is wronged by the officials those fans of the program have a right to argue the call and demand reparations just like every other fan base that does it. When Duke fans turn up at opposing arenas they also have the right to be treated as actual human beings and not berated for being simply a fan of the other team.
When opposing fans come to Duke, and I’ve personally been to numerous games at Cameron Indoor Stadium and witnessed such, they are for the better part treated fairly and with respect. Sure in the times when an opposing fan slips into the student section they might be the victim of some playful ribbing but most Duke fans I know expect the opposing team to bring at least a few fans to the games and treat them with a modicum of hospitality.
Apparently though Duke fans are not welcome and should expected to be treated poorly when they go to opposing arenas. Pizza thrown at them by mascots and profanity laced tirades directed at them just for being Duke fans should fully be expected and are completely acceptable because, hey, they are only Duke fans right?
Such is the case with one Duke graduate and current University of Miami grad student, Michelle Picon who attended the Duke-Miami game wearing…brace for it folks… pro Duke apparel. How dare she right? Well that is what Tom Ley of the website Dead Spin, which is to real sports journalism as The Onion is to hard news, said in his piece ripping an editorial written by Picon about her experience.
Don’t get me wrong Dead Spin is often satirical and has been known to publish some entertaining and humorous pieces but Ley’s piece on Picon and her trip to Miami’s BankUnited Center was not one of them. Ley’s premise is to simply bash Picon’s letter to the Duke Chronicle documenting her treatment at the hands of not only Miami students but school administrators.
He essentially calls Duke grads spoiled rich kids and feeds into the Duke fans have no right to complain because they win argument. I personally have no knowledge if what Picon says happened in fact happened, but if it did she certainly has the right to complain about it, even if she is a Duke graduate. Duke fans are people too.
You might not like the school, or the athletic programs but that doesn’t mean that anyone has the right to treat them with disrespect or criticize them for doing anything that any other fan does.
Ley’s assertions are narrow minded and terribly misinformed. He generalizes Duke students based on some stereotypical view that the university is comprised of nothing but well-to-do rich kids. Sure they are there but not every kid that goes to Duke comes from money. Sorry to break that to you Mr. Ley.
He also discounts Picon’s story and letter as nothing more than condescending and allows this supposed behavior by Miami fans to be brushed aside. And while Ley has the right to write his own condescending diatribe because he obviously has an issue with Duke, (really Mr. Ley who from Duke hurt you?) nowhere in his endless rant did he make a point other than to say you shouldn’t listen to a Dookie.
Really, there is nothing in his piece even moderately worth reading. I should have stopped when I saw the title had the word Dook in it. Maybe it was a joke, just another in a lot line of jabs at Duke because everybody loves to hate Duke, but lets all be honest, the joke is old and maybe its time to move on to fixating about something else.
Follow us on Twitter @DukeBlogMKline and like us on Facebook-Duke Sports Blog. Got questions or comments? Email us at dukeblogmkline@gmail.com
