coach K gave me a virus

For most of the last week, I've been sick. A hacking cough has been the main problem, but a fever came along with it for a couple of days. I'm pretty sure I can trace all this back to Mike Krzyzewski.

I covered the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament in Washington, D.C. One of the teams involved was Duke. The Blue Devils had a rough weekend, with a near loss to Belmont in the first game and a second-round loss to West Virginia. One of the stories on the opening day was the sickness of their coach, Krzyzewski, who had just about lost his voice before the opening press conference and reportedly coached the opening game with a 104 degree fever.

I never actually talked to Krzyzewski, but I did talk to most of the Duke players in the locker room, including DeMarcus Nelson, who spent most of the weekend coughing his way through answers to the questions posed to him. About a week after all that, my cough started to show up, and the week-long adventure of dealing with a virus started.

I'm convinced I caught a Duke virus, which doesn't make me any more inclined to root for the Blue Devils in the future. I am wondering, however, if I can somehow make some money off putting it up on eBay.

Howard

I feel I need to update a previous post on Howard University basketball.

My first game at Howard, there weren't any ticket takers at the door. There weren't any tickets. Anyone could walk right in, no questions asked. Apparently this was simply for a low-interest game and a rare home game early in the season (Howard had a total of two non-conference home games). Since then, there have definitely been ticket takers. I've had more trouble getting into Howard games than anything else, because no one is ever quite sure what to do with me as a media member.

This isn't really a knock on Howard or its staff. Mostly, I enjoy going to the games at Howard. But as a low-budget, non-winning team in D.C., they don't get much media coverage. Most of the time, I'm it, as the AP representative. And since they don't often have to deal with media and media passes, the people working the door usually have no idea how to deal with me. I actually had more trouble getting into a Howard game without a pass than I did getting into a Capitals game when the AP forget to let the Capitals know I was coming.

I was impressed by the fan support at Howard last night. Even though the Bison had lost 11 of 12, the stands were mostly full (spurred on, I'm sure, by the fact the game was televised on ESPNU). And, as usual at a historically-black school, the band was awesome.

"The Office" as athletic inspiration

And not the basketball episode. At a recent George Washington basketball game, the pep band broke into the theme from The Office during a timeout. In my experience, pep bands' exploration of the TV theme genre generally consists entirely of the Sportscenter music. Perhaps The Jeffersons' "Moving on Up."

The Office strikes me as an odd choice. There's no message behind that song that could possibly be construed to push your team to greater accomplishment. Of course, I'm guessing the band didn't intend any message beyond "this is a cool show and its music easily lends itself to instrumental arrangement."

Tonight I'm at Howard University for a men's basketball game. Eight minutes before tip-off, and there are not quite 40 people in the stands. It's probably the sparsest crowd I've ever seen for a game, and I covered plenty of Southern Miss women's games. Unfortunate. I don't know if there's any past tradition here, and I'm sure the Thanksgiving break has something to do with it, but I always hate to see a team playing in front of empty seats.

My first clue they weren't expecting a huge amount of people? There weren't any ticket takers at the door. There wasn't anyone at the door. Just walk on in and have a seat.


UPDATE: A few more people did just that. It appears the crowd is now easily in the triple digits.