Shout out to everybody that made day one of our March Madness Party a blast!

For many sports fans, this time of year feels like Christmas!   March Madness is a holiday for many sports fans.  It brings together the hard core and casual fans who cheer for the Blue Bloods and the Cinderellas.  It is truly up there with Summer as one of my top 2 favorite times of year!

The "I Hate Christian Laettner" 30 for 30 came on ESPN Sunday night.  It was a great look into a player who took over college basketball as the most hated and most celebrated player ever.  4 consecutive Final Fours and 2 National Championships... we will probably never see another play accomplish with Christian Laettner did!

Click the link below to see my latest article for Duke Report called "March Madness Effect".  It takes a look into the social and economic impact of March Madness.  

Tune in to my Twiiter account @Skeelow22 or here as I'll be sending out updates from my annual Skeelow's March Madness Party!   GO DUKE!

Duke hasn't played their 1st game of the ACC Tourney and a tweet from @dukeblueplanet comes out today that Duke will play in the 2K Sports Classic next November along with VCU, Wisconsin, and Georgetown. If recent success from these teams is any indication, this looks to be a stacked tourney. Throw in the Champions Classic Tourney, the rugged ACC schedule, and most likely a couple more strong out of conference opponents... and Duke looks to have a crazy strong schedule again next year. Take note colleges on the bubble right now with a weak schedule. You want to go dancing? ... Then play a tough schedule!

Pic is of the recent tweet from Duke Blue Planet.

Photo above is how I like to see Chapel Hill on a Saturday night after Duke pulls off the win in the Dean Dome... SILENCE! ... It's a beautiful thing!  :) 

What a ride it's been!  Duke Basketball closed out the season last Saturday with the sweep over UNC beating them by a score of 84-77.   In the past 3 weeks, Duke has played in some exciting games.  Let's look back about 3 weeks ago...  UNC was able to take Duke to overtime in Cameron before Duke pulled out the win 92-90.  After the win benches were set on fire that night as the Cameron Crazies celebrated the win.  Pic below of the crowd celebrating is from my buddy Shaker a Cameron Crazie. 

After the 1st UNC win , Duke went on to beat Clemson at home and then traveled to Blackburg to take on Virginia Tech.  My VT buddy Nick and I were in the stands for this game.  Blacksburg brought out an electric crowd for this game even with the snow coming in that night.  

Virginia Tech was able to take Duke to overtime.  Virginia Tech was knocking down the 3's but Okafor and company were able to pull off the win in overtime by a score of 91-86.  Okafor had 30 points after being out the game before recovering from a sprained ankle.  The crowd brought their A game trying to help the Hokies but the Blue Devils were just too much for the Hokies that night.  Link below will take you to a video I took of the opening of the game as VT plays Enter Sandman to hype up the fan base.   

Duke then went on to beat Syracuse and Wake Forest at home.  This past Saturday Duke finished the sweep over UNC at the Dean Dome.  Duke is on a strong run.  Back in late January, after the Notre Dame loss and the dismissal of Rasheed from the team, I wrote an article stating the "3rd Duke Basketball Season Starts Today" (link to article below)... since that time Duke is undefeated and are the most battle tested team in the nation heading into Greensboro this Thursday where they will play the winner of NC State/Pittburgh.

With having the ACC player of the year and easily the #1 NBA draft pick in Jahlil Okafor and arguably the best back court in the nation in Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones,  Duke has a great chance of cutting down the nets in Greensboro and going deep in the NCAA Tournament. 

I'll be in Greensboro Thursday for the Duke game.  Look for some pics from the game on @DukeReport Twitter.  If you are there and see me, stop and say hello.  Always cool to meet other Duke fans. 

GO DUKE! 

 

Shout out to Quinn Cook on 4 years of hard work as a Duke Basketball player! I remember talking with Quinn 5 years back in his senior year at Oak Hill Academy as they were playing a game at Franklin County High School. Quinn was excited to be a Duke basketball player. It's hard to believe he's now playing his last game at Duke tonight against Wake Forest. Here's to hoping Duke pulls off the win over Wake and Cook and company head to Chapel Hill to pull off the sweep over UNC. Cook is a great example of a player doing hard work and seeing the payoff. Cook has improved from freshman to his senior year where he has been asked to play at point guard and shooting guard throughout his career. Cook is at the top of his game his senior year where Cook and Tyus Jones form arguably the best guard combo in the nation. Over the years I've always felt a closer connection to Duke players who came out of highschool from VA. It started with JJ Redick out of Roanoke who played at Cave Spring (a big rival for Franklin County)...then went with Nolan Smith (another former Oak Hill player) who played in VA but from Maryland...and now I say thanks and good luck to Quinn Cook! I for one will be cheering hard tonight in Cooks last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Here's to hoping Cook plays his last final college game in APRIL ;)

Thanks for all your hard work at Duke Quinn Cook! And as Quinn would say #NOOMEE