ESPN Calls Game For Duke Only Minutes After Tip-off

Viewers watching last night’s Duke-Presbyterian game on ESPNU were shocked when the network, with only 2 minutes having elapsed in the first half, officially called the game for the home team Blue Devils.

Subsequent to the tip-off, fans were treated to a Gerald Henderson lay-up and a Kyle Singler 3-point basket, putting Duke ahead 5-0 with 18:02 still left in the first half. It was at that point that both those in the stands of Cameron Indoor Stadium and at home were told that ESPN was ready to call the contest for the Blue Devils.

“Though Presbyterian isn’t the best team in the world, I was still amazed that ESPN would call the game that early,” remarked Duke 1L and huge men’s basketball fan Travis Staydrin. “I guess they were confident that, with only 5% of the game’s results in, they could reliably predict the eventual winner.”

Fans at home watched as Mike Patrick called the play-by-play for the game's first few minutes. He then interrupted his commentary to relate that “I believe we are ready to announce a winner in the game.” ESPN’s logo flashed on the screen, followed by a team photo of the Blue Devils with the word “winner” superimposed. Coverage was sent back to the studio where analysts Jay Bilas and Bobby Knight broke down the news.

“ESPN can now say that that the Duke will win this game," remarked Bilas, a former player for coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad. "The performance of the [Presbyterian] Blue Hose so far combined with information we have from various polls clearly indicates that this contest is essentially over."

The polling referred to by the ESPN analyst included both the AP and Coach's poll that have Duke ranked 5 and 8, respectively. ESPN also conducted an entrance poll of the game's crowd which overwhelmingly said that the Blue Devils would win this contest. Moreover, a recent Reuters/NBC/Zogby survey of over 1000 likely fans concluded that 99% of men's basketball enthusiasts believed Duke would beat Presbyterian. The other 1% were angry, disillusioned Tarheel fans.

According to ESPN's Director of Statistical Analysis Norm Friedman, the network also takes into account each team's stats before calling any matchup.

"Presbyterian finished a dismal 5 and 25 last year in the Big South and starts a team mostly consisting of players 6'3" and smaller," said Friedman. "Duke, on the other hand, returns an extraordinarily talented, multifaceted team from one of the better conferences in the country. The Blue Hose have as much of a chance winning against Duke as a black -- uh, gay man, does of becoming president."

Despite ESPN's early call, the Blue Devils played on, eventually cruising to an expected, effortless win. Coach Krzyzewski emphasized that he didn't let the network's prediction affect how his team performed.

"I underscored to our guys that no matter how easy a contest may seem, we should never give up even one ounce of our intensity," stated Coach K. "Though I do admit ESPN's calling of the game did make me willing to put in our white bench players much earlier than I planned."

Presbyterian's coach, Ronny Fisher, felt that ESPN's call was premature, especially considering the network's dubious track record with regards to predictions.

"What ESPN did was not only unfair to our players - no one is going to play as hard once the game has been called - but also a sad replay of the network's embarrassing performance during that infamous 2004 Florida game," fumed Fisher. "Everyone remembers Brad Nessler calling the game for the Gators early in the second quarter but it turned out to be a nail-biter. In the end, it was actually Kentucky that won after referees, studying the replay, determined that Rajon Rondo had indeed beaten the buzzer by a mere .537 seconds. You would think that this time a reputable sports-gathering organization like ESPN would be more careful."