We've done enough loving on March Madness this week. March Madness is a wonderful time of the year, but it is also to be hated on: The fluffy mascots dancing around like they own the place, the pepped-out pep squads cheering like they actually believe in something, the crabby coaches, the clueless announcers, and the…

Here's a piece in today's Wall Street Journal from Ben Cohen, Duke '10, former Deadspin intern and author of An Illustrated History of Duke Basketball: A Legacy of Achievement, this column on why you shouldn't hate Duke, and this series of columns on why you should like Duke.

On Saturday, No. 3 Duke beat No. 5 Miami 79-76 in a revenge match for Hurricanes' January throttling—"they even slapp[ed] the floor in an apparent jab at the Blue Devils' tradition"!—and as Coach K. said, it was our privilege.

It's March! College basketball really started mattering last weekend, during the bracket buster match-ups, but we weren't ready. Now we're ready. It's time to start getting to know these teams, so your March Madness picks can be ill-informed, instead of uninformed.

It's been a rough week in the sports world for those of us who put faith in our fellow man and woman. From NASCAR drivers' alleged bigotry, to NFL execs wanting to know if Manti Te'o is gay, to a youth hockey coach being sentenced for tripping a little kid, it's tough to look at the sports world and see much good…

Virginia fans stormed the court in Charlottesville last night, after the unranked Cavaliers defeated No. 3 Duke, 73-68, and Mike Krzyzewski was a bit rankled by the lack of protection for his team. He reportedly "hollered an F-bomb at a fan" and later suggested that he and his team hadn't been properly shielded by…

A wonderful thing happened in Charlottesville, Va., last night: the Virginia Cavaliers defeated No. 3 Duke, 73-68. Duke losses are always something we, united in our reasonable hatred of the Blue Devils, can collectively appreciate; that this one came against an unranked bubble team playing on its home court made…

Remember when Brian Zoubek opened a cream puff shop in New Jersey and named it Dream Puffz? It was super adorable because Zoubek said things like, "I love to make cream puffs," and ""I'm just a fat kid, at heart." But now, sadly, Zoubek's dream of owning a cream puff shop has come to an end. Dream Puffz is closed, and…

Maryland upset Duke yesterday 83-81 and the students rushed the court after Quinn Cook's desperation half-court shot clanged off the rim. It was a good game made great by the history between the two schools thanks to conference affiliation. Both Maryland and Duke were charter members of the ACC when it was founded in…