The Fake Duke Fan Theory

A sign of gratitude

So in the last post, I made reference to a thought that, in addition to their prolonged success and exposure, that Duke snagged poser fans due, in part, to their being a predominantely wealthy, white private school.  The great LB editors suggested I get the facts before making conclusions (novel concept not followed in these pages), and shockingly loyal reader, brother-in-law, and ironically, UNC grad did the research for me, and allowed me to come to a definitive answer to my question...


Maybe.
"What the F*CK, LB???  F**KING MAYBE???"  Now, now, Siri.  Let me explain.  First, though, here's the link where I'm getting the info.

- Duke has a remarkably diverse student body, nearly 45% minority overall, with nearly 27% of Asian descent.  Insert Asian's being smart stereotype.  In addition, only 15% from North Carolina, not surprising, as Duke is, indeed, a private institution.

Has influence, coulda been a Dukie.

- Speaking of being private, bro-in-law pointed out that "Duke was formerly Trinity Collge.  It moved to Durham late in the 19th century from Trinity, NC (town SW of Greensboro) because two wealthy Durham residents (from tobacco & electric utilities, one of whom was Washington Duke) donated land and money, and was renamed Duke University in 1924 because the Duke family kept donating more & more money."  Well, I guess some rich people have some influence there.

-  Then there's this article from Duke's own university newspaper which says, in part, "Administrators told trustees at the board's December meeting that one in five members of last year's entering class would not have been admitted without connections to the Office of Development or the Athletic Department."

A few things about that... 1. That article is from 2001, and it's the most recent I could find, I was too lazy too look up anything more recent, it's the only one the bro-in-law sent about this;  2.  They're probably not the only University it's the case;  3.  Being private, they can pretty much admit whoever they want within the law;  and 4.  Holy s**t that's 20% coming in as athletes or potentially large donors/influencers.  That seems reeeeeeeally high to me.

In the end, it's pretty much impossible to find out if the poser Duke fans are either a bunch of upper middle class and rich white people unless we jack them all with truth serum, steal their W-2s, and do a poll.  The data says eh.  The logic test says it's definitely possible.  In reality, Duke hoops have been successful for a long time, just like the others in our Top 5.  And that probably has more influence in the end.  And does it even matter?  It's sports.  Be a poser fan if you want.  Just know that we true fans break wind in your general direction.

The only D I will ever publish

A final little Duke tidbit... apparently some UNC fans like to call it "the University of New Jersey at Durham."  (Trust me, the NJ part is high insult).  Anyways, threw it in the Googles, and found this little Top 10 list ripping Duke, good stuff.  Check it out here.  Find that type of sports fun and more at twitter.com/logicalbetting, and as always, contact us at logicalbetting@gmail.com.  Bar room question answered and MLB predictions next week.  Did I mention I called 3 of the last four Cy Young winners?  Good.