This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
to that too. They get to see these are life-long relation- ships. They learn the value of that. And in turn, our kids create that balance for our dad. We had the family together last summer out in Vegas


after a detour on the way back from Napa Valley for the annual Jimmy V Wine Celebration. We were sitting there talking about the upcoming season and what’s going to happen as we always do each summer around our trips to the Jimmy V event. Our dad often will say, “We are going to be good.” He has said that a lot over the years. And he has been right. We’ve been really good. I say “we” like I have something to do with it. Obviously I do not, but he makes you feel like you do. “We are going to be really good,” he said in Vegas. “We are going to be really good. We have great kids.” He just said that over and over and over again as the season went on. “We have the best kids, the best parents.” It was just such a feel- good outlook on the season from the very begin- ning. I could see it coming in Vegas and then it felt like it started with the team at Countdown to Craziness. It was like nothing we had ever done before. We didn’t take ourselves too seriously, although we worked hard and put great effort into ev- erything. There was some levity to it and I think our dad took that into the season. Duke Basketball is serious and it is important, but you are allowed to laugh and enjoy yourself too and have fun. That’s what I saw him do from


the very beginning of the season. Great relationships were in place with his players, and he was going to enjoy his team and have fun all the way. And we did have fun all the way. We won often, Cam-


eron was rocking, and the Crazies were the best as usual. But I can also recall sitting there at Lu- cas Oil Stadium with the clock ticking down on the national championship game having a different kind of fun. Up by a point with under a minute to go, it definitely wasn’t a time for the signature Nolan Smith smile. In those moments, I was just thinking that these boys, this team, deserved to win. They had gotten that far so it was going to happen. We were going to win. However, it’s like you have the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The angel says, “Look how hard they’ve worked, they play well togeth- er, they’ve come so far.” The bad devil is saying, “What if they don’t win? Then what happens? If Duke doesn’t win, the seniors will be so upset.” I let the posi- tive voice speak more. Looking at our bench, our coaches never lost confidence. Our team didn’t


either. They were calming. They seemed like they were ready to do this, and they did it. Our dad’s reaction to the national championship was similar to his other three in his level of happiness. He could not be happier for the players, the school, the fans, the program, his coaches, himself, and our family. But this year seemed different because he was so reflective.


“We are going to be really good,” my dad said in Vegas. “We are going to be really good. We have great kids.” He just said that over and over and over again as the season went on. “We have the best kids, the best parents.” It was just such a feel-good outlook on the season from the very beginning.


170 DUKE 2010


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com