HATRED!

In less than 48 hours the men's and women's college basketball champions will be crowned. On the men's side there is a David vs Goliath match-up with the Duke Blue Devils facing the Butler Bulldogs. On the women's side there is the much anticipated rematch between #1 and #2 with the Uconn Huskies vs. the Stanford Cardinal. While the storylines are not the same, one thing is true, both finals contain a team that the country loves to hate.
From the time Coach K arrived on Duke's campus and the basketball team started winning games hatred towards the devils came from all directions. People hate them because they win too much, they get too many calls, they get all the media, and people just dont like them. As a former Duke hater myself, I must say what bothered me the most was their unbelievably irritating fans. Now that I have become one myself, I understand even more why people hate Duke so much, they are good, they know it, don't mind showing it and don't care who hates them. Coach K has even gone as far as saying he loves the fact that people hate Duke as it provides his team with more motivation. That is good for his team as on Monday the only people in the WORLD supporting Duke will be nestled in a small place called Durham, North Carolina.
Then there are the Uconn Huskies and their now 77 game winning streak. Why wouldn't anyone hate them, they havent lost a game in 2 YEARS. In those 77 games they have won on average by 30 points and have yet to have a team come within single digits. No one likes a bully that beats up on people smaller than them and never taking on a real challenge. But Uconn beats up on teams its on size, teams in the top 10. So who can they pick on? Right now that team is Stanford and on Tuesday everyone in the world will be cheering for them to bring down the wicked witch of the east. Lucky for the Huskies their coach also loves to be hated.