The boys over at the Duke Basketball Report miss Dean Smith. I’m with them.
I grew up as a pretty rabid UNC and Dean hater. I thought they were pretensious and snide and damn if they didn’t always win. Infuriating. Over the years, I mellowed on them, in large part because I married a big Tar Heel fan. I now consider Coach Smith one of the great coaches, not just in college basketball history, but all sports.
Still, I kind of miss those days when I could hate and respect Dean and his teams. Liking everyone isn’t always as much fun.