I hate Christian Laettner

[Paul OLeary]

'Sup, Strawman?

Not a strawman as I said: "I love how people that hate CL, have to reach and and say his sucked in the NBA" Knowing the haters like you would respond. I just went all Laettner on you lol.

 

[Cowtown]

Those chants they showed during the 30 for 30 were brutal. Wow. Amazing how far we've come when that was actually considered acceptable.

Understood. American sports fan culture needs to evolve. Just because you bought a ticket does not mean you have permission to act like an a$$hole. The HS gyms where i live have signs up advising all (who can read) that unacceptable behavior is grounds for removal. As a ref I've never played that card, but I've approached a few idiotic fans and said something like, "Hey buddy, how about you just lighten up and let the kids play basketball? That's why we're all here, isn't it?" Never had a problem after doing that (fortunately!). Fan assholism, especially at the amateur level, has got to stop. It's an embarrassment to us all. Let the kids play!

 

[HoustonCuse]

I also think this reopens the race discussion. Why is one of the 5 hate-able things "being white" lol? It's true, it's just so strange.

In regards to Devo, he wouldn't be as hated by some if he was black. It's just the truth.

Your point is proven by Jonny Flynn. He was waaay more of a punk and showed way poorer sportsmanship than Devo. Flynn was a much more polished personality though and did a good job masking his punk stuff.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

heres the thing though. as great as those duke teams were...they weren't rolling people. They were in many a dog fight during the regular season and the post season. Just goes to show you how superior the level of play was in those days. Teams were loaded for bear. There was a clear separation between the major schools the "mid majors" The mid majors had no chance.

People believe that the parity we see in college basketball is a function of the mid majors getting better when in fact its a function of the top teams falling back in talent towards the middies.

 

[dundundun]

Your point is proven by Jonny Flynn. He was waaay more of a punk and showed way poorer sportsmanship than Devo. Flynn was a much more polished personality though and did a good job masking his punk stuff.

Flyyn seems like an odd player to use for this argument. When did he ever act like a punk?

 

[phillydad]

Be careful saying the word hate

Agree. In fact, the only thing I hate IS hate.

 

[texascpa]

Agree. In fact, the only thing I hate IS hate.

Sorry, but I hate asparagus, mushrooms and peas. HATE THEM!

 

[tbonezone]

i honestly didn't find this piece all that compelling . pretty much a straight biopic lacking any sort of emotional hook. i came away with no new insights into CL. boohoo his big brother teased him . his own teammates admit he was a doosh. and i wonder why they selected rob lowe to narrate. "and i'm 7 ft. a$$hat rob lowe ..."


(p.s. who the names siblings chris and christian ? "and these are his sisters susanne and susannah.")

 

[CusefanATL]

In a college career you can play in a maximum of 24 games in the tournament. He played in 23.

technically not true any more. You can play 28 now - but that would be a bad thing.

 

[donniesyracuse]

There was a clear separation between the major schools the "mid majors" The mid majors had no chance.

Ha, Navy, Rhode Island, and Richmond had a chance.

 

[CaptainJ]

People don't employ for 14 years if you suck.

I agree with everything you said, other the couple of exceptions to this part. Government and government funded jobs(school teachers, etc) can employ you for life after a sometimes short period of performing at a mediocre or higher level to attain "tenured" status, or whatever the various equivalents of such are. But yes, what you say is generally true in sports, especially considering the shorter window.

 

[BlackKnight76]

Flyyn seems like an odd player to use for this argument. When did he ever act like a punk?

He had his moments...his windmill dunk at the end of a really crappy game against USF comes to mind. Wouldn't call him a "punk" but I see where the argument's coming from.

 

[orangecuse]

i honestly didn't find this piece all that compelling . pretty much a straight biopic lacking any sort of emotional hook. i came away with no new insights into CL. boohoo his big brother teased him . his own teammates admit he was a doosh. and i wonder why they selected rob lowe to narrate. "and i'm 7 ft. a$$hat rob lowe ..."

I liked it, but definitely didn't care for Lowe's narration of it. Would've preferred this dude a lot more...

 

[HoustonCuse]

Flyyn seems like an odd player to use for this argument. When did he ever act like a punk?

Oh man. If watched games carefully, you would see a ton of stuff after whistles, etc. I remember one time after a bang-bang fast-break play, a Syracuse player was reaching down to help up an opposing player who got clobbered. In the background you hear Flynn "Man, don't help his a$$ up!!" There was stuff like that all the time with him.

 

[Calilivin28]

I've never watched the entire Duke/UK classic of 92 but how did he not get ejected for stomping on someone? Really shows how different today's game is compared to then cuz with instant replay today, he would be ejected and be suspended multiple games.

 

[longislandcuse]

I've never watched the entire Duke/UK classic of 92 but how did he not get ejected for stomping on someone? Really shows how different today's game is compared to then cuz with instant replay today, he would be ejected and be suspended multiple games.

I get that you can't do that, but that "stomp" was pretty tame imo.

 

[CaptainJ]

Oh man. If watched games carefully, you would see a ton of stuff after whistles, etc. I remember one time after a bang-bang fast-break play, a Syracuse player was reaching down to help up an opposing player who got clobbered. In the background you hear Flynn "Man, don't help his a$$ up!!" There was stuff like that all the time with him.

I didnt know about that. Actually I was at a point in my life where I wasnt able to watch as many games as I can now with streaming.

Be careful though. Your theory may be correct. I saw one member get ripped a new one(or two) when when I spoke of the several times he partied with BMK. You may offend some people who weren't aware of these things. Myself, I usually tend to want to know more. It helps with objectivity. Seriously, I'm curious if your hypothesis may be correct. It kind of would be like the story of Eminem in 8 Mile, no? Not that I am remembering any of the details at this point.

I've never watched the entire Duke/UK classic of 92 but how did he not get ejected for stomping on someone? Really shows how different today's game is compared to then cuz with instant replay today, he would be ejected and be suspended multiple games.

Yeah, at least Devo never stomped anyone(in a game at least).

 

[Forza Azzurri]

4 Final fours
3 Championship games
2 Championships
2 buzzer beaters in the NCAA tourney
Owning Mourning and O'Neal when he played them.

Who had a better college career? If you say Walton, Kareem, going back further, Russell, Robertson? Maybe.

He reminds me of Jimmy Connors. What makes them great also makes them insufferable. Some great players don't have the inner demons or whatever the psychological make up it is that draws out greatness, but some do and Laettner was one of those.

I don't hate him, but I'm glad I don't have to play the cards that he got dealt.

To me his coming out party was the elite eight game against Alonzo Mourning...

Laettner just dominated Mourning that day.

I seem to remember that G'town was a #1 seed and was heavily favored.

I also remember rooting hard for Duke that day - as I did two years later for them against UNLV.

By '92, however, I was sick of Duke and rooted for the Fab Five in the final that year...

Laettner never bothered me and he was a terrific college player...

 

[oli44]

We recruited laettner. I remember when he announced for Duke, I was pretty surprised because we were getting pretty much everyone we wanted in those days. I don't think we were seriously considered by him.

DC and Laetner on the same team would have been...interesting ?

 

[Forza Azzurri]

DC and Laetner on the same team would have been...interesting ?

If Laettner would have tried to bully DC, he would have had a very short career at SU...

He would have started out like Biff in 1955 and ended up like Biff#2 in 1985...

 

[Full_Rebar]

I've never watched the entire Duke/UK classic of 92 but how did he not get ejected for stomping on someone? Really shows how different today's game is compared to then cuz with instant replay today, he would be ejected and be suspended multiple games.

Timberlake got right up and laughed. If he had gotten up and rushed at Laettner, it might have cause the refs to think differently. It wasn't a big stomp, and it followed Laettner getting shoved into the support, which would have gotten the Kentucky player at least a flagrant under today's rules.

Oh and it was an Elite 8 game, and if Okafor/Towns/Kaminsky did the same thing this year, they would get a flagrant, and would not be ejected either.

 

[OrangeAl]

I remember going to see Laettner play at Manley Field House in the Empire State games, hoping that we'd get this in-state prospect. Even then the talk was that he never even considered us. That's probably the biggest thing I have against Christian Laettner. Like DC, he's the guy you hate when he's on the other team, but root for when he's on your team.

 

[longtimefan]

I remember going to see Laettner play at Manley Field House in the Empire State games, hoping that we'd get this in-state prospect. Even then the talk was that he never even considered us. That's probably the biggest thing I have against Christian Laettner. Like DC, he's the guy you hate when he's on the other team, but root for when he's on your team.

He was on Dan Patrick's show last week, and he said that he only considered ACC schools because the ACC was the best league.

 

[BuffOrange]

Oh man. If watched games carefully, you would see a ton of stuff after whistles, etc. I remember one time after a bang-bang fast-break play, a Syracuse player was reaching down to help up an opposing player who got clobbered. In the background you hear Flynn "Man, don't help his a$$ up!!" There was stuff like that all the time with him.

And? "That's the good ol' days when opponents didn't want to be friends" says every old white guy.

 

[kirbivore]

K went to four straight final fours?

5 in a row starting in 1988 and ending in 1992. Expand from 86 - 94 and they made it 7 out of 9 years