An Open Letter to Chris Cusack

**** UPDATE at https://devilwolfing.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-joke-within-the-joke-we-must-go-deeper/

Dear Chris:

Go pro. 

Seriously, drop out of Duke right now, go buy yourself a catchy domain, and start practicing trying to look surprised when your blog is over-run by furious hate mail that you’ll parlay into growing a mindless cult following that will eventually drive you to mainstream notoriety like many before you have done (I’m talking to you Gregg Doyel). 

I mean, what’s there to lose?

Okay, enough of trying to mimic your disgustingly douchey piece on Kyrie Irving and the decision that he has in front of him.  I get your intentions … you set out to write something light-hearted, something to ease the tension that any non-championship off-season brings.  You danced around the actual issues in front of Kyrie Irving … the pending NBA lock-out, the chance to win a collegiate championship, the personal legacy.  Those are all very real factors weighing in the decision that Irving must make by the end of this month. 

But as a writer, as someone who I’m assuming has aspirations to become a sports journalist, you forgot the one aspect of journalism that draws the line between you and me.  You write with an audience in mind while I get to hammer out my personal feelings on my own website without any obligation to inform or to persuade whoever might stumble upon this blog by accident.  Your “article” is not about Kyrie’s decision, it’s about how his decision impacts you as a fan.  And as a writer for Duke University’s student publication, your voice represents the sentiments of the entire student body – and you failed to properly listen to the voices of those around you on campus before jumping in and making the assumption that everyone is on board with you.  I can assure, Mr. Cusack, they are not on board with you.

Aside from your mis-alignment with the opinions of Duke Nation, you also make some horrible mistakes in your analysis of what makes a “Duke Great”.  The idea that Will Avery is any less of a Blue Devil than his fellow program-mates is extremely short-sighted.  Why is he less of a Blue Devil?  Because he left school early?  Well you go on to mention a guy like Carlos Boozer as being an example of a “true Blue Devil”, and he stayed just one year longer than Avery did.  They both left under similar circumstances: against Coach K’s advice.  Boozer, despite being advised to wait a year, entered the NBA draft after his Junior season and wasn’t drafted until the 2nd round.  Carlos has carved out a successful place for himself in the NBA since then, and also left Duke with a championship ring.  Is that your criteria?  If Avery and Maggette and Deng had won rings, they’d be “Duke Greats” too?

Let me tell you something about a “Duke Great”.  In 2004, Luol Deng was absolutely unguardable.  Additionally, he was one of the most beloved members of the Duke community, was a model student, and was a loyal friend to many on and around campus.  His departure after his freshman season put such a tremendous burden on the Duke basketball program that it wasn’t really until last season that Duke returned to Coach K’s definition of solid ground.  Was he selfish?  Did he miss out?  Deng was picked 7th in the NBA draft that season and suffered through a few injury plagued seasons before again becoming the elite player he was during his freshman season at Duke.  But off of the court, Luol has done extensive work for young boys left orphaned by war in his native Sudan.  By leaving Duke, he put himself in a position to earn the resources to literally make the world a better place to live in.  So how do you view Luol?  Do you see him as a selfish basketball player who ruined his college years because of greed and a desire to play basketball at the highest level?  Just interested to know if Deng meets your criteria as a “Duke Great”. 

But let’s get back to you for the sake of this letter.  You’re an extension of Duke University, and that is a reality that a good number of writers for student publications struggle with.  I’m guessing that you wrote for your high school’s student paper, which meant that you probably had around 500 to 2000 readers depending on the type of school you attended.  Further, you knew your readers personally.  You sat beside them in class, you maybe even played sports with them.  Your friends most likely read your column and were impressed with the seamless connection of words and phrases and gave you a “good job, man” before moving on to something more important.  In short, you’re used to writing for yourself – being a representative of only yourself.  You could be controversial, you could be off-color, you could write a group-think piece to rally your readers around you.  Not anymore.  Now when you write, you represent me as well.  And most importantly, you represent Kyrie Irving.

When you give us 500 words on why it’s important for you that Kyrie Irving should stay at Duke, what do you expect to accomplish from that?  Do you expect Kyrie to read your letter and think “Wow, Chris.  I’m sorry my decision has such of an impact on your enjoyment of Duke basketball and your opinion of me as a person.  I’m staying.”  The reason you’re coming off as a douche is extremely simple … Kyrie’s decision is about what’s best for Kyrie and his family.  It’s not about how you view him compared to other Duke players who had different decisions to make.  You are not in any position to provide input into this decision, and to trivialize the decision like it’s a random coin toss is to trivialize the commitment of a guy who just risked his entire future to play three more games in a Duke uniform.  Who are you to question his place as a Blue Devil?

I recently got around to watching the brilliantly written “The Social Network”, and the first thought that entered my mind when I read your column this morning was the image of a drunk and bitter Mark Zuckerberg sitting in his dorm room blogging about the girl who just broke up with him.  I honestly think that’s your best move the next time you get a thought in your head to tell someone else in detail how they should approach the biggest decision they’ll likely ever face.  Get drunk and write a blog.  Some people make a very good living doing just that.  And who knows … maybe you’ll get inspired to invent the next big social media breakthrough while you’re at it.  Here’s an idea … what about a website that lets you browse through other people’s life-decisions so you can provide your input on what they should do based entirely on your own personal biases and needs?  Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.

**** UPDATE at https://devilwolfing.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-joke-within-the-joke-we-must-go-deeper/