When you think it can’t get any worse at Duke, it does. Like what in the heck is going on over there? The lacrosse scandal has been terrible and embarrassing, and with everything that’s been thrown around, who knows at this time what happened in this sad and bizarre case. But say even if the charges against the players prove to be false, all those who took part in that debauched party should serve some penalty for horrible judgment.
But on top of that is basketball star J.J.Redick, recently charged with a DUI and then a boating accident which involved Duke A.D. Joe Alleva and his son, with the son later charged with a DUI. You bet that was the last thing somebody in the Duke administration needed to happen.
Now, sophomore Zach Asack, who was slated to be the Blue Devils starting quarterback this fall, has been suspended for plagiarism. Asack says he takes full responsibility for his actions. I guess so, because it's not easy to blame somebody else for that.
Now Duke is now left with just two untested scholarship quarterbacks for the 2007 season and against a schedule that includes Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Alabama, Florida State and Miami on consecutive weeks. Whomever came up with that needs to be investigated.
The thing is, I think Ted Roof knows football and can be a good head coach. But he’s going to have a tough time proving it. When he took over from Carl Franks in 2003, he put some energy into the dormant program. There was actual excitement on that Duke sideline in his first game against N.C. State, albeit on a loss.
And later, Duke’s first win over Carolina since 1989 showed some promise for the future. But since then, despite improved recruiting there's been nothing but a lot of losses, and this year will be a more of the same.
And I guess a big question is, does anyone care? And you know what I mean if you’ve ever been to a Duke home game.
It’s fun at this time of the year to start talking football, making predictions, trying to guess what will happen. But football is never fun if you’re a Duke fan. It’s always like “We’ll just skip that, but wait until basketball”. But even that may not bring a sense of joy, not with Carolina ready and loaded and poised to turn the balance of power back to the light blue.
Yeah, but things do come full circle and things do change, Duke lacrosse is set to be reinstated in 2007.
