Mike Krzyzewski has claimed this year that Duke gets no respect from the media. It seems like a silly claim, considering that they are ranked in the top five in both the Associated Press and coaches' poll. But national respect isn't really the chief source of his beef, it's the local coverage provided by the Raleigh News & Observer.See, the N&O is, unfortunately, a North Carolina (meaning: Tar Heel) paper. It's located in Raleigh, home of the N.C. State Wolfpack, which makes that pretty awkward.
If you don't believe me re: coverage, just take a look at the various college sections; N.C. State, who already won in overtime today, has two January 17 articles. Carolina, who hasn't even played yet, has three today. And Duke has three too ... only one of them is the N&O firing back at Coach K.
As for Coach K's comments: We've covered Duke extensively in the past and will continue to do so. We even sent a reporter to China last summer to cover Krzyzewski's coaching of the U.S. men's team in the Olympics.Me-ow. K's comments were vastly more applicable before North Carolina lost two straight to Boston College and Wake Forest, even if the local and national bandwagons have righted themselves following a fairly meaningless win. But they apparently still resonate with N&O Executive Editor John Drescher, since he decided to pen this himself right around midnight Friday.
Coach K, you've received a fair deal from us. To tell you the truth, we didn't know you cared about us. We thought you only cared about ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.
This probably won't be the last time you hear about K and the N&O, although you can bet everyone will be keeping a closer eye on the coverage of the Devils in the coming weeks. Especially with the Carolina matchup only a few weeks away.
