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Extreme Crazies: Viking Guy

February 20, 2008

Posted by under Crazies Feeling Blue

ED VENIT

“Viking Guy” > Washington, DC
Duke ‘98, G’07  > phD in Biology
Background Info
I came to Duke in the Fall of 1994 as an undergraduate.  I changed my major about six different times, finally settling on Biology in my junior year.  I completely fell in love with Duke during my time as an undergrad, and when I graduated in 1998, I just couldn’t leave.  So, I got a job on campus working first as a research assistant, then as an administrator.  In the Fall of 2001, I started a PhD in Biology, studying under the same professor who had been my advisor in undergrad.  My dissertation work explored division-of-labor systems in colony-forming marine animals, and I like to think that I contributed something to the general advancement of human knowledge.  Just as I fell in love with Duke as an undergrad, I fell in love with Durham as a grad student.  Both are incredibly special places.  I finished up my PhD in the Spring of 2007, and I am now working as a consultant at an Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC.

Most Memorable Duke Game (Seen In Person)

Oh man, there have been so many!  My favorite has to be my final game in Cameron as an undergrad, the 1998 UNC game.  Duke (led by Wojo, Langdon, Brand and Battier) was #3 in the country, UNC (with Jamison, Carter, Cota and Haywood) was #1.  The Crazies had been camping out for six weeks in some exceptionally miserable weather, and K-Ville was churned into a muddy morass.  The anticipation had built, and we were psyched.  And UNC came out and promptly stomped us for the first 28 minutes.  With 11:38 to go, we were down by 17 and barely clinging to hope.  Then something amazing started happening.  Wojo fed Brand for a layup, then we got a defensive stop, then a three, then another layup, another stop, and so on.  Suddenly, we had clawed our way back into the game.  And as we crept closer and closer, the Crazies began to swell.  This sound wasn’t like anything I’ve heard from the Crazies before or since — there were no distinct cheers, and there was no change between offense and defense.  This was a just continuous, sustained, earth-shattering, guttural ROAR — a noise that was so all-encompassing that you literally could not hear yourself yelling into it.  And is just didn’t stop, not even for timeouts.  The Crazies were determined to throw every ounce of their being into crushing UNC.  McLeod blew past Jamison for a layup to tie the game at 75-75, then Carrawell took the lead with a little floater in the lane with a minute to go.  I thought my head might explode.  Haywood bricked two free-throws in the final seconds, and then suddenly I found myself swept onto the court in a rush of humanity.  It was one of the most ecstatic moments of my life.

Where did the concept of “Viking Guy” originate?

He just sort of happened.  Viking Guy didn’t exist when I was an undergrad.  I was just a regular Crazie.  When I started grad school, my mom asked me to wear something on my head so that she could pick me out from the crowd on TV.  I told her I had this shiny viking helmet left over from a Halloween costume, which should be pretty easy to pick out.  I guess it worked.  I later added the Wojo jersey in honor of my fellow 1998 classmate and a fake gold chain for no good reason at all.  The sunglasses, of course, were necessary to preserve my anonymity and protect my secret identity as a mild-mannered grad student.  That was the one rule for standing in the front row of the grad section: you needed to wear sunglasses just in case your advisor saw you on TV.

What motivated “Viking Guy” to be front and center leading the Crazies every game in Cameron?
Too much beer?  Honestly, I don’t really know why or how it happened.  I certainly didn’t set out to create Viking Guy or to be a Cameron ringleader.  I just started showing up for game a few minutes before everyone else.  Then I met Jeff Kovacs (“Mullet Man”), who is an absolute force of nature and a truly passionate heckler.  The grad students lacked leadership in Cameron at that time, so we just sort of stepped in and filled the vacuum.  It turned out to be a lot of fun, so we just kept doing it.  We met a lot of terrific people and developed some lifelong friendships.  Before we knew it, the whole experience had taken on a life of its own.  Sitting here typing this, I still can’t really explain why we kept doing it.  I guess it was just really, really fun.  All of this, of course, taught me a valuable lesson:  Never show up early for anything, or pretty soon you will find yourself on national television, wearing a ridiculous costume, telling the point guard from Butler that he looks like Smeagol.

Cameron In Three Words?
I’ll do it in five: “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”  (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” — the inscription over the Gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno)

d
Duke Basketball In Three Words?
Not a chance

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2/17/08 Duke in the NBA

February 17, 2008

Posted by under NBA Devils

NBA.com Duke Stats

Click here to view live stats of Duke players in the NBA.
Top Performer
The NBA All-Star festivities are underway in New Orleans this weekend, and the Blue Devils have a representative on the team for the fourth consecutive year and eleventh time in the last 13 All-Star games as Carlos Boozer has made the Western Conference roster for the second straight year.  This will be Boozer’s first chance to compete in the game itself, since he was forced to sit out last year’s contest with an injury.

Carlos enters the game on a tear after posting three straight 20+ point, 10+ rebound games leading up to the All-Star break.  After making a habit out of posting double-doubles throughout his NBA career, Boozer hit a milestone Wednesday night with his first triple-double in a win over Seattle, finishing with an astounding 22 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists (against zero turnovers), and 5 steals!  Led by Boozer, the Jazz are the hottest team in the NBA, with an 18-3 record in their last 21 games.

Carlos Boozer powers to the rim for two of his 22 points February 13th as part of his first ever triple-double.

Boozer to Beijing this Summer?
While proving to be one of the most dominant low-post players in the NBA over the past two seasons, Carlos has earned attention from Team USA as well.  Unable to participate in the FIBA Americas Championship last summer while his son, Carmani, was preparing for a bone marrow transplant for sickle cell anemia, Boozer is a strong candidate to participate in the Olympic Games this summer in China, according to the team director, Jerry Colangelo.  Check out this article for more.  Boozer has experience in the Olympics, having played for Team USA in Athens, Greece in 2004, but this trip would be doubly special, since it would reunite Carlos with Coach K, in an attempt to follow up their 2001 NCAA Championship with an Olympic gold medal.
Line of the Week
Grant Hill is about to get some awfully big company in Phoenix with Shaquille O’Neal getting ready to join Suns in their quest for an NBA Championship.  Shaq is reportedly set to make his Suns debut on Wednesday against the Lakers, but in the meantime, Phoenix needed someone to step up and provide some of the scoring and rebounding Shawn Marion took with him to Miami in the trade.  Last Wednesday night, Grant more than filled the void, with 26 points on 11-of-18 (.611) from the field, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.  The addition of a healthy Grant Hill has pushed Phoenix to the top of the Western Conference standings so far this season, and if both Grant and Shaq can stay injury-free through the playoffs, the Suns have a great chance to be the last ones standing after the NBA Finals.
Landlord Moved to Sacramento
Shelden Williams was traded on Saturday as part of a five-player deal between the Atlanta Hawks and the Sacramento Kings.  The move should be a positive one for Shelden as he will have a greater opportunity to contribute in the Kings frontcourt.

Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update
Luol Deng is recovering from his Achilles tendon injury but still has no definite return date.  He may be back for the Bulls’ February 20th matchup with New Jersey.  Elton Brand is also on schedule as he rehabs from his ruptured Achilles tendon, but likely will not be back in the Clippers lineup until March.  In the meantime, Carlos Boozer, Corey Maggette, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., and Grant Hill continue to post big numbers to keep the Blue Devils competitive and poised to make a run once Deng and Brand return.

1.    Connecticut Huskies:  12,969.2
2.    North Carolina Tar Heels:  12,795.4
3.     Duke Blue Devils:  10,837.0
4.    Florida Gators:  8901.5
5.    Arizona Wildcats:  8596.4
6.    Kentucky Wildcats:  7757.5
7.    Kansas Jayhawks:  6923.8
Scoring summary:  one point for each point scored, 1.5 point for each rebound, two points for each assist, steal or block, 0.5 points for each 3-pointer made, and -1.2 points for each turnover.  Field-goal percentage is included by subtracting 0.2 points for each field goal attempt and adding 0.5 points for each field goal made, which would mean you break even by shooting 40% from the field.

Quote of the Week
“[Carlos Boozer’s] game is something we don’t have much on [the Team USA] roster – you know, a power forward with an inside post-up game.  We really wanted him last summer.  It would have been a great addition.  And he just couldn’t do it.”
-Jerry Colangelo, Managing Director of USA Basketball’s senior men’s national team (February 16, 2008)

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Catching Up with Quin Snyder

February 11, 2008

Posted by under Q&A

On coaching the NBDL’s first-place Austin Toros:
There are these great competing forces here.  To me, that’s the challenge of the whole thing.  For players, you have this survival component.  There is this instinct of self-preservation that goes with the challenge of trying to get them to play together as a team, to value the team.   You try to get them to understand that they can get to where they want to go by doing it this way.

On dealing with the rigors of the less glamorous D League:
When the water goes out at the hotel before the game, if you can’t shower, the whole team can’t shower.  But I love that part of it.  I do.  And I love the anonymity.  I wouldn’t trade that right now.  I’m in the moment a lot, which is awesome for me.  That’s always been a struggle.  My mind races a bit.

On Coach K:
Well, you know, he’s more than a mentor for me.  He’s a father.  When you raise someone like I feel that he raised me, the relationship is not always easy.  There’s things that happened where he had to be hard on me.  And at the time when you are at a certain age, you don’t always understand that.  But I think that as I have gotten older, particularly when I am going through tough things, he stands tall.  

On his thoughts as a former player when watching Duke play today:
I was number 14.  I think about that.  I think about the guy that wore it after me — Nate James.  That guy is one of the strongest people that I have ever been around.  So just to use that jersey metaphor, whether it is the number or just the jersey itself, it’s a tradition, it’s an honor, and it’s a responsibility. 

On his decision to attend Duke back in the 1980s:
I am grateful that I had my eyes open at eighteen.  Twenty years ago, you know, they didn’t have DVDs, so Coach K carted an old video projector across the country.  I don’t know if it even fit in the overhead.  He probably had it under the seat.  He started rolling the tape and showing me footage of Johnny Dawkins, and everyone wants to be Johnny, myself in particular.  And he said, “You know Quin, you can be a white Johnny Dawkins.”  And man, I thought whatever color I am I don’t care, I can be a Johnny Dawkins.  But the impression that made on me — you know most people would think that was a humbling thing.  Here’s the head coach of Duke coming in with a video projector and rolling the reel of film.  Watching him put it on and put the tape together, I just thought this was a man I really admire.  This was a man that I wanted to be around and I knew that I would be coming with him.   I look back on that decision with pride, with gratitude.  It has probably shaped my life as much as anything I have done.

On what he remembers best about Coach K’s coaching style:
Definitely his ability to adapt.  You don’t stay at the top of your profession for twenty years unless you can adapt.  And I think that he’s always trying to get better.  The other thing that stands out also is the freedom that he gives his players.  That’s a unique thing — To be as in control of the game as he is and still have confidence to let your guys play and make mistakes, that juxtaposition is very unique. 

On Duke’s national exposure and tradition of tough schedules and big games:
People never shoot down.  They shoot up.  No matter what that metaphorical bullet is, pressure or attention to detail or whatever, I remember us playing Georgetown and Dikembe Mutumbo and Alonzo Mourning.  Dick Vitale was saying that our guards can’t play.  It was fun.  It was really fun.  Coach used to have a saying — it takes fire to make steel.  If you come here, you are going to go through the fire, probably more than any other place.  It’s not for the faint of heart.  But if you put it on the line, when you come out you’re steel.  That’s not a bad thing.

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2/10/08 Duke in the NBA

February 10, 2008

Posted by under NBA Devils

NBA.com Duke Stats
Click here to view live stats of Duke players in the NBA.

Line of the Week
Chris Duhon always had a knack for stepping up big when his team needed him at Duke, and on Thursday in Oakland, he showed he could still raise his game to another level when necessary.  Former Duke teammate Luol Deng has been sitting out in Chicago for a couple of weeks with a sore Achilles tendon, and with both Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon also on the sidelines against Golden State, the Bulls needed someone to carry the scoring burden.  Duhon stepped in with a career-high 34 points on 11-of-16 (.688) from the field and 4-of-6 from long range, 9 assists, and 3 steals to lead the Bulls to a road upset over last season’s Cinderella team, the Golden State Warriors.  It was the Bulls’ first win in Oakland since 1998 and moved Chicago into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with New Jersey.
Former Duke teammates Carlos Boozer and Chris Duhon at the February 9th Bulls-Jazz game

Top Performer
It’s starting to look as if Elton Brand may have some company as the go-to guy for the Clippers when he comes back from his Achilles tendon injury next month. Corey Maggette has been featured here multiple times in recent weeks thanks to his impressive performances over the course of the season, but more recently he has become unstoppable on the court. The only thing that can slow him down these days, it seems, is the flu. Maggette missed four games this month with the illness, but his performances both before and after sitting out have been remarkable. Corey has scored over 30 points in three of his last four games, including 35 points on 5-of-5 from long range, nine rebounds, and two assists Friday night to lead the Clips to a win over Toronto. That performance was a followup to his 33-point, 8-rebound, 3-assist, 5-steal game two nights earlier against Boston.
McRoberts Plays Well for Portland
Josh McRoberts returned from his brief stint in the NBA Developmental League to play his first extended minutes of the season on Friday and responded very well, recording 6 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist in just over 11 minutes of action.
Redick in a Tough Situation
Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy admits that J.J. Redick can be a very productive NBA player. The ACC’s all-time leading scorer has shown in practice and in his brief appearances in games this season that he can still fill it up from all over the court. However, scoring is not Orlando’s problem, and Van Gundy feels that his other options at the shooting guard position can fill necessary defensive and rebounding roles. With the NBA trade deadline fast approaching, this has led to several articles about J.J.’s future in Orlando, and here’s the latest. According to Van Gundy and Magic General Manager Otis Smith, Redick shouldn’t expect to be packing his bags anytime soon. They’ve seen his talent in practice, and with several of their guards testing free agency this summer, Smith would much rather keep Redick around for next season than risk seeing him scoring in bunches for other teams this year.
Hill and Shaq Team Up in Phoenix
The Phoenix Suns know that their chance to win an NBA Championship is now. That’s why they acquired Grant Hill in the off-season, a move which has been called “a dream” by Phoenix Coach Mike D’Antoni. This week the Suns made another move that they hope will bring Grant and his teammates a ring, trading Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. The move puts more responsibility on Hill’s shoulders to take over Marion’s scoring and defensive duties, but after three Final Fours in four seasons at Duke, Grant is no stranger to pressure situations.

Duke Blue Planet NBA Fantasy League Update
Slowly but surely, the Blue Devils are getting healthy again. Corey Maggette, Grant Hill, and Chris Duhon have all recently recovered from illness or injury, and Luol Deng and Elton Brand appear to be a few weeks away from returning to the court. Once everyone is healthy for this first time all season, expect to see Duke making up ground on the leaders quickly. For now, they continue to hold their ground in the third position.
1.    Connecticut Huskies:  12,306.7
2.    North Carolina Tar Heels:  12,025.4
3.    Duke Blue Devils:  10,305.5
4.    Florida Gators:  8475.7
5.    Arizona Wildcats:  8038.5
6.    Kentucky Wildcats:  7335.4
7.    Kansas Jayhawks:  6587.2
Scoring summary:  one point for each point scored, 1.5 point for each rebound, two points for each assist, steal or block, 0.5 points for each 3-pointer made, and -1.2 points for each turnover.  Field-goal percentage is included by subtracting 0.2 points for each field goal attempt and adding 0.5 points for each field goal made, which would mean you break even by shooting 40% from the field.
Quote of the Week

“You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the greater Phoenix area who isn’t happy having Hill as part of the first-place Suns. ‘Everything you heard about him is true,’ D’Antoni said. Teammates have taken to tapping Hill’s high basketball IQ. During a recent practice, Stoudemire grilled Hill about helping him become a better ball-handler. ‘He’s a smart guy,’ Stoudemire said. ‘Who wouldn’t want his advice?’”

-Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix (January 29, 2008)

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Krzyzewski Center Officially Opens

February 9, 2008

Posted by under Center of the Universe

 

 

The Krzyzewski Center opened officially on Friday with a grand opening ceremony and remarks from Director of Athletics Joe Alleva, Athletics Faculty Representative Martha Putallaz, Richard Brodhead and Coach K.  The men’s and women’s teams have already started using the facility and the academic center for all Duke student-athletes will open in the coming days. 
 
 
K Center Highlights
*56,000 square feet
*18 months of construction
*Total cost: Approximately $15.2 million
*2 practice courts modeled after Coach K Court (12 baskets)
*Expansive team theater with widescreen HD projector
*Stunning weight room adjacent to the practice courts
*Locker room exclusively for former players/guests
*Courtside cardio room with three large flat panel TVs
*Separate video rooms for the men’s and women’s teams
*Academic center with massive study area
*Four private tutoring/study rooms
*State-of-the-art computer stations
*Fully-equipped conference room and classroom
*10 offices for student-athlete academic support staff members
*Events hall for team meals and gatherings
*Expanded Duke Athletics Hall of Fame
 
Player Comments
“The facility is awesome. It is a big-time place.  With the weight room, the courts, the aerobic rooms, the different meal rooms, our media room where we will do our scouting, it is big time.  I think it is going to be great for player development.  It is going to be a great thing for us.  When you see trees go down and then they’re leveling the grounds, you definitely want to see the finished product.  I think it is just about done.  We’ve been in there a few times.  It looks great.  That facility is probably the best facility like that in the world.”
-DeMarcus Nelson
 
“The new facility is unbelievable.  Everything is first class.  It is just unbelievable.  The weight room, which we just started to get into, it is five times the size, having the new courts and the new facility with the computers and the classrooms — It has a little bit of everything.  It is big time.”
-Greg Paulus
 
K Center in the News
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