Why the Madness goes beyond March

Well, it does in my world.

No disrespect to my wife of four years, but the Duke Blue Devils have been the most loyal thing in my life. For 25 years I’ve faithfully relied on them to lift my sports spirits from the complacency, anxiety, depression, anger and frustration provided by my favorite baseball, college and NFL football teams.

Duke has been my Jerry Maguire. My precious. My everything. I could write ballad.

It’s been a simple relationship. No strings attached. No games. They win; I cheer. They overcome; I brag. They drive hate; I defend. They lose; I exhale. Most importantly, they’re always there.

No filthy scandals that lead to probation. No decade-long stretch of ineptitude. No quarterback controversies … or lack there of. No overpaid free agents or draft busts. No weak bullpen. No post trade deadline let downs. Just simple, authentic winning – 13 conference titles and four national championships.

I remember the first as if it was yesterday, the unexpected peak to a shocking Final Four in Indianapolis that gave me bragging rights for years in school. Anybody root for UNLV anymore?

But the last may be the most special.

It was the first championship my young family has been able to share together – nine months before my wife’s Super Bowl celebration and technically five months before my little girl was born.

They way she yells and screams in fun I’d like to think she picked that up in the womb during that stretch of March and early April. She’s very observant and sharp. A talented young little Crazy she is.  

At 19 months old her latest development – and most popular with the wife – is the emphatic slap of the couch cushion, the ottoman, the coffee table … anything within arms reach. Where would she pick that up?

I confidently take the stand and testify that her most recent outburst of rage has no direct relation to Duke’s end-of-the-season embarrassment against North Carolina. It’s the Madness I claim The Madness.

- Jaime North