More Roy vs K If You Can Stand It

The media apparently has not gotten enough of K vs Roy

So it has been two weeks since Roy and Mike Krzyzewski go in a verbal sparring match over injury reports and for reasons that pass all understanding some intrepid reporter decided to revisit it by asking Krzyzewski about it on Monday. The response was most interesting as reported by ACC Now:

Krzyzewski said Monday that he did not say “unlike other schools, we don’t release our injuries,” in a post-game radio interview with Duke broadcaster Bob Harris on Feb. 17 after Duke’s loss at Wake Forest.

The N&O asked for and received a copy of the audio file of Krzyzewski’s original post-game comments from the Duke athletics department on Monday.

The audio clip, which verified what Krzyzewski said Monday on the ACC teleconference, included the following passage:

“[Nolan Smith] hyperextended his knee. You know, we don’t put out all our injuries, you know, but we’re injured too, you know. I mean everyone’s injured.”

A few things that strike me about this.

1. Yes, 850 the Buzz missed the boat on this one which is highly unusual for them. Adam Gold, who I have had the pleasure of sitting in studio with, told ACC Now that they had a Duke source for the quote they ran in their original blog post which apparently set off the controversy. That quote included the words “other schools” which made it appear Krzyzewski was calling out UNC for their public release of injuries to the media.

2. ACC Now notes in their post that they asked Duke for the audio clip and received it after Krzyzewski’s denial he said “other schools.” No one thought to do this before? It did not cross anyone’s mind at the N&O or anywhere else to ask to hear the quote in question? I guess not which may actually speak to the credibility 850 enjoys since people ran what they quoted without checking further into it.

3. Why didn’t Duke just release the audio two weeks ago and put an end to this whole fiasco right then and there? Someone at Duke must have know 850 got the quote wrong and they were also aware that Roy had responded to that comment. If this was the case I am not sure what reason Duke had for sitting on the audio which would have corrected the erroneous public record and essentially ended the controversy. It is not like Duke or Krzyzewski was enjoying positive PR from what was happening and a quick press release with the audio would have doused the flames so we could have all not wasted time talking about. If it was as “stupid” as Krzyzewski says it was, then why not kill the story outright?

4. While Krzyzewski denies he was calling out another team because he did not use the words “other schools” I would argue the “You know, we don’t put out all our injuries, you know, but we’re injured too, you know” line seems like only a slightly more vague version of the incorrect statement. He is obviously still talking about the public release of injury info and by saying “too” he is drawing a similarity between his team and someone else. Since UNC had been releasing such information and the injury angle had been played out in the media concerning UNC, the context frames his statement to point at UNC.

So there you have it. Much ado about nothing really, now let’s be about the business of winning the ACC.