Interview – Conor O’Neill

Listen here.

Conor O’Neill, who you all know from his work for Duke and Deacons Illustrated, stopped by for a great talk about instant replay, the importance of local journalism and the changing landscape of sports media, what to expect from the Blue Devils and Wake football teams next season and why Duke-Wake Forest should be a bigger rivalry. Duke-Miami 2015 gets a fairly detailed discussion, too. And, if that weren’t enough, we also have a little conversation about basketball which will require some clarification from me. So, let me take care of that now.

We recorded the interview on Thursday night. The next morning, while I drove down to see my parents, Dad got a call from Coach K. Yes, that Coach K. A friend of my brother’s from high school somehow got in touch with Coach K or his people and Dad got a surprise call. Coach K wanted to make sure Dad was eating and gaining weight during chemo. They also talked about the legacy that teachers have through their students. Thank you, Coach, for doing that. We can’t put into words just how much we appreciate your kindness.

So, while some may interpret a few comments I made about the state of the roster when Coach Scheyer took over as critical of how Coach K left things, I want to be clear that what I was saying is that Coach K is the finest human being who deserves nothing but praise and anything that could be considered as criticism of him is simply heresy. And I, for one, will never engage in such criticism as I am a totally positive person who only sees the good things in life and strenuously avoids negativity. The below is my motto

Thank you, Coach K, and my brother’s friend, for the phone call. It really picked up Dad yesterday.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Mastodon, on Reddit, on Post, or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!