“I’m sorry,” said Coach K, addressing the crowd at Cameron Indoor after a stunning loss to our beloved Tar Heels. Holding his hand up to hush the crowd, he said “No no, this is unacceptable and I apologize,” he continued, explaining that this should not have happened.
For a moment, I thought there had been an incident – something controversial, that would spoil the celebratory nature of what was coming … a tribute to the Coach and his legacy at Duke.
Had someone cursed at the Heels or their coach? Had the students chanted profanity-laced things at the players or Carolina fans? Were there punches thrown in the game that landed key players on the bench, unable to deliver in a close game?
No. Those were all things that have happened in the past. No, the crowd, top heavy with famous former players and celebrity Duke parents, was pretty well behaved at the last regular season game and Krzyzewski’s last game ever on Duke’s “Coach K Court.” The “unacceptable” thing was that Duke lost.
He assured the crowd that the season is not over, [cheers, applause] and that more banners will rise to the rafters at Cameron [cheers, applause]. Then the coach took his seat and listened to speeches and watched videos all paying tribute to college basketball’s winningest coach. Well earned. No argument from any serious fan of the game and the UNC-Duke rivalry, including me.
But here’s the thing …
Remember all the fuss about whether or not Carolina should hold some kind of tribute to Coach K because of his enormous impact on the game, the rivalry and the amazing fever that takes over our community at this time of year? Remember that (it’s like two weeks ago)?
My comment at the time was that Carolina’s most admiring tribute to Mike Krzyzewski would be to stomp his team at their last home game on March 5th. That’s RESPECT. That’s how my grandfather taught me to play board games. If I showed a hint of displeasure that he was beating me, he effectively asked “Do you want to play the game or do you want me to just tell you that you’re wonderful?”
He surely DID think I was wonderful, but the handful of times that I did beat him at Parcheesi, it meant the world to me because I knew that ever since I was about seven he was always trying to win. Like Krzyzewski, my grandfather was a teacher – a very good one, too.
So, yeah, it was Coach K’s last game coaching at Cameron, but it was also UNC Coach Hubert Davis’s first game (as head coach) at Cameron. The classy thing to do would be to congratulate Coach Davis on a game well played, demonstrating great preparation for his players and welcoming him (and incoming Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer) to the greatest rivalry in all of college sports.
That would be the elevated thing to do, but Coach K was just too pissed off to get there.
If you want to let your players know that you’re disappointed in them, the locker room is the place for voicing your displeasure. Not on Saturday.
Unscripted, before his tribute ceremony, Mike took the mic and talked about how his players were going to hear about it from him … that they had not played well and that it’s unacceptable to lose … even to a great program in a gigantic rivalry where all bets are off. Nope. He just couldn’t allow for the acceptance of that defeat.
When Roy Williams retired, he said that he wasn’t up to the job anymore. Many of us has the urge to shout that down, but Williams brought receipts – several very specific examples of games where he had made critical errors as a coach. In examining this and understanding the high standard of excellence that he wanted for the program, he decided to step aside.
There was no sense of blame, just an appreciation for excellence and the desire to pass the torch in order to maintain it. Williams is a humble, generous person and his retirement press conference demonstrated that.
It’s regrettable that Coach K let his famous temper get the better of him. I’m hopeful that he’ll get two more chances to get stomped by the Heels and he can have another go at it.
Go Heels. Beat Dook.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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Well shot said. Now that it’s in the past. Your wish was partially granted. I’ll take a victory in the Final 4 over the ACC Tournament. I have to say both would be better. If I had to pick one , I’d go with the way it went. UNCHD!!!!!
Have enjoyed being a tar heel since the seventies. Many sweet memories and some not so sweet. I put beaten dook twice at the end of k’s career close to ’82 and ’05. He showed his true colors,no strange thing to me. I’ve seen it for years. What a great time to be a TARHEElL.
I hope to hear a chant of
VERY. ACCEPTABLE
along with TAR. HEELS
every time we whoop them in the Dean Dome forever more.
Let this be our TRIBUTE to him.
How ’bout them TAR HEELS!
Amen Jim!!! I too have been a TARHEEL since the late 70’s & my days as a coed there with The G. O. A. T, Worthy, Perkins, Brad Doherty and Matt Daugherty from the ’82 team were glorious. Those were the days when Carolina fans were given the name of the “wine and cheese” crowd. And that’s because Carolina fans didn’t get too excited back then because UNC could be behind by 10pts with 20sec left and no one responded because we all knew Dean Smith would “fix” it and we would win because UNC dominated the entire ACC until the arrival of Jim Valvano and that guy we’ve already forgotten about….. I think his name was Coach “K”crybaby. 1982 was a long time ago and I remember being at the game and winning but I’m not sure even that brought out the emotion I had when we beat Duke at Duke. What a Krybaby!!!! And I hope everyone is as happy as I am that we have 4 returning starters next season who will work their asses off over the summer so they can put another ass whooping on Dook, no matter who their Coach is. Duke sure didn’t bestow any welcoming recognition for Hubert Davis, produce a fanfare for Dean Smith or Roy Williams but seems to resent Carolina for not recognizing him and gifting him something as many schools did. Good riddens Coach K.
Do you remember “F You. Dean!” I think we all knew who and what Coach K was! Go Heels.
I’ve been a Carolina Fan since the late 1940’s when basketball was the White Phantoms and my oldest sister lived in Spencer Dorm while Charlie Justice #22 ran, threw, and also the best punter in the country was all over Kenan Stadium and should have won one or 2 Heisman Trophies!!
Coy Carson and Bob Paxton led Southern Conference basketball scoring
y’all are true UNC Homer’s. Win 2 games out of hundreds but forgot you couldn’t win the end game when it counted
Coach K was a great coach but not really
a classy guy.
Coach K looks & acts like the rat from Charlotte’s Web. He lacks class & passes that on to many of his players. To semi-quote Clara from Lonesome Dove I despised him then & I despise him now. It’s NOT HIS WORLD so he & all the Dookies need to get over themselves!