Deacons Finally Demonized

I believe in Wake Forest.

I spent most of the afternoon looking for coverage of Wake's three game winning streak (first since December!) but it's been drowned out by Syracuse excitement and Sendek hatred. After all, victories over a weak FSU squad and a weakening State crew won't garner the same excitement as what's happening in Madison Square Garden, and no one in the media gets excited about a team about to face the Blue Devils. No one sees a good team back from the brink, they just see the weaknesses in the opponents, the disappointment behind and ahead. But me? I believe.

I want this to be the team everyone saw in preseason. I want the Williams v. Williams epic matchup we expected in January. I want Wake's NCAA dreams to last one more day. And I think it can - the collection of walk-ons, freshmen, and out-of-the-wildnerness Chris Ellis that have rejuvinated this team will have to avoid wilting under Duke's perimeter defense, but this is a sputtering Blue Devil team that's limped its way into the home stretch. While this Wake Forest team reminds me of Herb Sendek's 1997 squad, the one that came out of the Les Robinson Invitational to stun top seed Duke and become the only ACC tournament team to win three games and not cut down the nets. A bunch of who-dats with a few leaders dejected in their senior season. A team that could get the entire Greensboro Colesium on their side as they scraped their way to Sunday.

And that team? They lost to Carolina in the finals. I could stand to relive that, as well.