Obviously, like all Duke fans, we would have liked to have won the game against West Virginia, but it didn’t happen, and as we understand it, there’s a pretty good reason why.

A good part of the team, from Coach K down to the bench, was afflicted with the flu at the worst possible time.  We didn’t say anything about this after the Belmont game, because a) we didn’t want to give anyone any insider info, and b) we didn’t want to take anything away from what Belmont did.

But there’s a reason why the announcers have been saying Duke was playing tired, and that’s it.  It’s rotten luck, but what can you do?  It happened, and you move on.  Happened to Duke in a different way in 1966, when Bob Verga had the flu and was too sick to play. It was only him, but it was enough to cost Duke a shot at the title.

A lot of people have written in to tell us that they’re disappointed in the team’s performance, angered even.  For our part, we can only ask this: did they give their all?  Did they play with courage and heart?

In our opinion, yes, and under very challenging circumstances, too.  We’re very proud of them, more so now than at any time in the year.  It takes a lot of guts to do what they did Saturday.  We were really hoping they could overcome it because we felt that if they got past that game, they could get to the regional finals.  UCLA would be a mighty hill, but they could have gotten there.

On the other hand,  one of the saddest things when Duke ends a season early is that you learn just how fickle and spoiled some fans are, and unfortunately, just how ignorant and foolish many are as well.

We’re obviously not referring to everyone. Most of you are really supportive and understand what this team accomplished this season (more on that in a minute).

It’s been amazing to us, though, to see how many “fans” just blew a gasket after what has been a brilliant season, how they witnessed an incredible effort, incredible passion, incredible resourcefulness, and dismissed it all as unacceptable.

Really, think about it, and don’t make the measuring stick the tournament.  This is a team with no center, other than Brian Zoubek, who was injured for much of the season.  Kyle Singler took a lot of it on, to the tune of 30 stitches in his face.  Lance Thomas picked up a lot of it, too, despite being so skinny.

They won 28 games.  They beat Marquette, Wisconsin, Davidson (those guys are much better than most people realize), just barely lost to Pitt, and beat the top seed in the tournament on the road.

Coach K completely overhauled his offense and played his bench extensively (this was a recent criticism from many of the geniuses in the stands, you may recall), forced other teams to adapt to him, and did all this with seven underclassmen.

And that’s not good enough.  The recruiting isn’t good enough, the playcalling isn’t good enough, the substitutions aren’t good enough.  For some people, the coaching isn’t good enough. Pardon us, but that’s insane.

What’s happened at Duke is that only Final Fours and titles are acceptable to too many people, who have no knowledge of struggling and hard times and consequently can’t appreciate a 28-win season.  We said a few years ago that Duke fans were turning into what we’ve always detested about UNC fans, and that winning on such a consistent level had obscured the hard work that went into building this program.

It’s worse now than it was then.  A lot of us are riding on the bandwagon, doing none of the sweating, none of the hard work, and bitterly decrying those who do.  Hey you up front! Work harder! Move faster!  Entertain us!

It’s ugly, and frankly it’s delusional.  A lot of people have convinced themselves that winning is a birthright at Duke. We’re here to tell you that it’s anything but.  Duke hit the skids in the 70s and then again after Bill Foster left.  A lot of people – one hopes not the same unhappy bunch now – wanted to run Coach K out of town.

Whenever he leaves, at whatever point that is, a lot of the magic is going to probably go with him, and then we’ll realize the truth all over again:  what has happened at Duke is almost miraculous.

Almost. It’s the result of hard work and high intelligence, and treating the results – 28-6! – as if it’s unacceptable is very likely to get us something more along the lines of 6-28. If that comes to pass, we hope those of you who have been such harsh critics will be there to offer  your solutions.

Again, we realize most of you are really good, passionate fans. This isn’t meant for you guys.