I disagree with you here. I do think that part of draw to Duke is based on the team as a whole, which is usually majority caucasian. Many, if not all of the NBA players he referenced transcend the game, and it just so happens that they are black, as are the majority of NBA players. Many of those guys are known to people, regardless of how closely they follow the NBA. Furthermore, while I'm not a Duke fan, I do prefer college basketball to the NBA, and as a college fan I can understand where his point is coming from because the ratio of blacks to caucasians in college basketball is smaller. Basketball is THE sport that can be divided along racial lines, if for no other reason than the uniform. Shorts and tank tops leave little to hide behind, as opposed to a helmet and facemask, so it's easy to look at skin color, tattoos, piercings, etc. and decide that person is different from you. Unfortunately, many people connotate tats and cornrows with thugs and gangbangers, thus something they can't/won't support. Very few cornrows and tats to be found on the Duke roster, which makes them appealing to "white" America. Even Boozer (who is covered in tats) and Maggette (I believe he has several) were "clean cut" while at Duke, IIRC. Grant Hill, Shane Battier, and Jason Williams were clean cut and well spoken to boot. Duke vs. UNLV and Duke vs. Michigan (Fab Five) are prime examples of racial bias. Who were the stars on those teams? Duke was lead by Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley; UNLV by Larry Johnson, and Stacey Augmon; and Michigan by Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and Juwan Howard. That made it very easy for "white" America to pull for Duke in those games, because it became representative of something else, not just a basketball game. I'm caucasian, and I don't pretend that this bias isn't fact, not just in basketball but in many aspects of life.
lol: Can we use the pot calling the kettle...... maybe not.
