The class that saved Coach K saved me.
Flicking through the cable TV guide last night, I stopped at the ACC Network to see what was on. It said “ESPN Films presents The Class That Saved Coach K.” I remembered that was the special that tipped off the ACC’s new channel, so I pressed the play button.
What I got was almost 30 minutes of silly videotape about Krzyzewskiville on the Duke campus before home games. I have always thought that was the dumbest thing students could ever do, sleep in tents for a month or two at their $80,000 school. The footage was filled with nerdy, non-athletes, painting themselves up and waiting to get into the Carolina game that they all got into anyway.
But I soon learned the guide had it wrong and that was a filler before “The Class That Saved Coach K” came on. And I was riveted by the feature that followed, centered on a dinner with Mike Krzyzewski and the members of his first Duke teams. It was so well done, telling the stories in their own emotional words, I had to watch.
From seeing the then 33-year-old coach surprise the media when introduced, to the 1983 freshman class that went 11-17 and lost by 43 points to Virginia in their last game of the season, when most Dukies wanted Coach K gone, to the next three years of building a Final Four team. To hear them all describe it was mesmerizing.
The 1984 game at Cameron, when top-ranked Carolina eked it out and Coach K accused the ACC of having a double standard for Dean Smith and his Tar Heels, to those Blue Devils having their defining moment with the upset of UNC in the ACC tournament.
How that team with Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson — after adding Tommy Amaker the next year — had gone from worst to first in the ACC, winning the 1986 regular season, ACC Tournament and almost bringing home a national championship against Louisville in Dallas.
All athletic teams have some moments and memories to cherish, but to review how Duke basketball was hatched made me realize all over again that is, surely, one of the greatest stories in all of sports.
Thirty-three years later, watching the peach-fuzzed faces on grainy film and hearing the 55-year-old men and the 72-year-old head coach describe how special it was, and still is, was captivating, even for a Carolina guy, who happened to find it on TV. Truly, an hour well spent.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing OutRoy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps UpDean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) StarBen Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and AmbitionsGarrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID DebateClemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft DodgersCarolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To CarolinaUNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra MotivationCarolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›
