Bleeding Duke Blue

I really am. Bleeding. All over. It's on my hands. It's getting all over my nice, institutional white carpet. I'm not gonna get my damage deposit back from The Landlord. I'm not gonna get my buzzer beater from the Most Hated Player in college basketball. I'm not gonna get that no. 4 hanging from the rafters.

Yet.

I think our Devils have lost a little blood. And when I say blood, I mean to the heart. That pumping muscle just isn't pumping as hard as it could anymore. It's been through a lot, after all:

-The GW loss--JJ's 41 points & Sheldon's worst game of the season.
-JJ's 3-point record.
-JJ's Duke scoring record.
-JJ's ACC scoring record & JJ's lowest scoring night of the season.
-JJ and Adam Morrison's battle for the season scoring average.
-The FSU faux pax.

That's a lot of pumping. Too much for this year's seniors. This was no '98 Senior Night comeback. This was no Steve Wojcieshowski slapping Cameron Court. UNC didn't choke on the line this time. This was DeMarcus Nelson catching fire and waiting for the rest of his team to catch up. This was JJ wanting the win so badly that he went stone cold. This was Lee Melchioni scraping himself off the floor and still seeing us down by 10. This was, to quote Tim Rice and Elton John, "a step too far."

This means that no matter how much they wanted it, these kids didn't have enough heart left in them to get it. Greg Paulus is not Steve Wojciechowski. JJ Redick is not Trajan Langdon. (In fact, JJ's better than Langdon. He's smashed all of Langdon's old school records. And yet, he's somehow inherited Langdon's streakiness since the emotional ardour has started winning out.)Sheldon is not Elton Brand. (Tyler Hansborough is not Antawn Jamison, for that matter.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is, "JJ and all you other seniors, Take a week off. Go to class. Play Halo 2 online with Adam Morrison. Go out with your girldfriends. Play 1-on-1 at the playground. Just relax.

And give 'em all HELL come tourney time."