Watching the stoicism displayed by Tiger Woods en route to his unprecedented fourth straight major, the lack of excitement generated by the Yankees quest for their fourth straight Word Series championship, and the senseless bickering among the defending NBA champion Lakers has led me to one conclusion: as sports fans, we must extend our congratulations to the real champions of 2000-2001, the Duke Blue Devils.
This collection of young college students, unpaid for their immense marketing contributions to college basketball, reflect the purity of athletics sorely lacking from the professional sports. Not only is the Duke program one of the proudest in basketball, but the character of this year's team displayed significantly more appeal than their counterparts of the past, which has a great deal to do with their captain and arguably the nation's best college basketball player, Shane Battier.
Shane Battier is so compelling an individual that he forces me to question what I am doing with my life. On the basketball court, he is a coach's dream: a three-time national defensive player of the year, first team all-American and the leader of a program that compiled a 133-15 record during his four year tenure on the team.
Off the court, Battier has a 3.8 grade point average a tremendous achievement for a student at Duke University the reason for his selection to the Academic All-America team. In addition, Battier participates in a campus-wide improvisational comedy group that is roughly equivalent to Dartmouth's Dog Day Players, and is President of the National Student Association of College Basketball Players. Talk about an admissions officer's dream.
Battier is comfortably supported by Jason Williams, who, despite his painfully unoriginal name, may be the most talented young player in the country. To put things in perspective, this 19 year-old All-American is an "03" at Duke, and though he could easily leave for the NBA now, he has chosen to remain in school. Since his level of talent would ridiculously surpass that of his peers by his senior year, Williams is putting in extra academic effort to possibly graduate with a degree after three years.
It is no secret to my friends that Mike Dunleavy has been my favorite player for this entire basketball season. A pure shooter with great range, on a team without two bona fide superstars, Dunleavy, another "03", would be the go-to player.
Instead, he settled for playing an instrumental role at Duke as a fundamentally sound spot shooter. The silky smooth small forward illustrated his importance to the team in the NCAA Championship game by hitting four three pointers in the second half.
His classmate, the 7-footer Carlos Boozer, along with senior Nate James, played unselfishly throughout the season in the best interests of the team despite the lesser role it often afforded them. That's a lessons that many athletes can learn from.
I have to say that of all the Duke players, the one I enjoy watching the most is Chris Duhon. An 18-year old "04," Duhon is the first person younger than me I have ever watched play basketball on national television, a worthy stat.
Coming out of high school the most highly touted point guard in America, Duhon elected to spend his first season supporting Jason Williams, knowing that to truly improve he should have a mentor on the court and seek a coach like Mike Krzyzewski who will help him mature as a person and a student off the court.
What Krzyzewski has done for Duke basketball makes me proud to be a basketball fan. He has produced 15 years of graceful, fundamentally sound and entertaining basketball, an impressive feat in a sport where teams are reshuffled every 2-4 years. In the process, he has produced such fine citizens as Shane Battier and his predecessor, Grant Hill.
This year was my favorite as a college basketball fan; my first as a college student. To watch basketball games, knowing that the players I watch on T.V. are living through the same experience that I am allows me to become more attached to them than professional athletes who base their careers on money and opportunity for personal accolades.
Many of these players have no illusions of NBA grandeur, yet still give 100 percent for their teams and for their schools, displaying an immense amount of heart in their final games, such that one can feel far greater sympathy for them in their toughest moments than for, say, a dejected David Duval.
The NBA has a slogan: "I love this game." To the Duke Blue Devils, thank you for making college basketball such an easy sport to love.
