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Duke Vr Kentucky

10/22/07 | By Raul Morales | www.BackgammonBestPlayer.com

When I was twelve, I learned a valuable lesson: Duke sucks. I remember it like it was yesterday which is weird because I don't care for Kentucky basketball specifically and for sports generally. I'm a big fan of sports betting however. And I like to wager unwieldy sums of money on blackjack and in online casinos. My compulsive behavior stemmed from this Kentucky-Duke game. It ruined my life.

For those who don't know, Kentucky and Duke played in the regional final in the NCAA tournament to determine who would go to the Final Four. Kentucky's program had been sanctioned because of some impropriety by the drunken Eddie Sutton and had fallen from its hitherto prominence. I don't remember what the sanctions were; he had been gambling or bribing potential players or something. He was loathed thoroughly.

The sanctions had just ended and Rick Pitino was the new face of a rejuvenated team that was making inroads in the sport once again. Duke, on the other hand, was the most powerful team in the country and led by that fascist pretty-boy Christian Laettner. Duke was expected to win the NCAA tournament; Kentucky not so much.

Duke and Kentucky met in the regional final. I was really unaware of what was going on; I was learning how to play backgammon of all things while my parents were riveted to the TV. It was an intense game. Neither team could get the lead. My parents were yelling at the TV; something I'd never seen before. There was a palpable tension in the air. I wanted to play backgammon but my focus was directed to the tv.

I don't remember much of the game to be honest. It seemed to be an interminably long game, though. It couldn't have been more than a couple of hours or so but it seemed to stretch on for nearly a day.

At halftime, to calm himself down, my dad showed me how to play blackjack and we played a few hands of poker. He related tales of his days in Vegas when he worked out west one summer. He talked of the sleazy casinos and the rigged poker tables. I doubt the poker tables were rigged but he always had an excuse for why something didn't work out his way. For some stupid reason, he liked to play keno even though every idiot knows keno is the one of the worst casino games you can play. It was strange to hear him relate these tales of debauchery. Halftime was nearing an end; his storied ended abruptly and he once again transfixed by the TV. Even before the second half started, the invectives were flung anew at Billy Packer (apparently he despises Kentucky for some reason). So they say.

The second half commenced and continued much like the first half. It looked like Kentucky was going to win. Even at twelve, I knew they wouldn't. I had begun to suspect that life was unfair and favored the wealthy and powerful. That basic tenet was lost on my parents - and the entire state of Kentucky - but I was already assured of the result. Kentucky - as a team, a people and a state - always loses. I was so sure of this, I would have bet everything I had, have and will have on the craps table.

The game was nearing its completion and Kentucky was winning. I was surprised - annoyed really - to find myself hoping that Kentucky would actually beat Duke, that the underdog would win and that maybe life wasn't so unfair. Kentucky had the lead. Duke scored and Tony Delk, of Kentucky, fell and was viciously and deliberately stomped on by Christian Laettner. They replayed the stomp over and over; the Kentucky team was protesting to the officials. At the very least, Laettner should have been given a technical foul; he should have been ejected and called a dirty player. But, nothing happened. At the end of the game, Kentucky was up by one point with 2.1 seconds remaining. Duke inbounded the ball by throwing a pass across the court to - who else - Christian Laettner who pivoted and shot and scored the winning basket as time expired. Sports betting nearly had a field day; sport betters must have been on the edge of their seats the entire time.

That is one of the most vivid memories of my childhood; that's pretty depressing but it provided the foundation for the prism through which I view life and the world at large. A violent and arrogant player wins the game for a team composed of the privileged while the underdog nobodies from a backwater state lose despite their effort. Oh well, Duke sucks and Laettner's pro career was a joke.