We’re Americans, with a capital ‘A’, huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We’re the underdog. We’re mutts! … We’re mutants. There’s something wrong with us, something very, very wrong with us. Something seriously wrong with us – we’re soldiers. But we’re American soldiers! We’ve been kicking ass for 200 years! We’re 10 and 1!

– John Winger (Bill Murray), Stripes

America may be the biggest and most powerful country the world has seen since Britain decided to quit naming most of the world after its monarchs, but we still love the underdog. No one’s making a movie about the big school with the great facilities that won the Indiana high school basketball championship as expected.

Once upon a time, Mike Krzyzewski and Duke were the underdogs challenging the long reign of Dean Smith and North Carolina in the ACC. No one had a clue of what was to come. True story: In a freshman dorm at Duke in the fall of 1987, someone said it was a shame we had all arrived after all the good basketball. And no one doubted it.

That’s changed a bit. The well-mannered runners-up with the unruly trend-setting crowd have become champions once, twice, three and now four times. By 2001, most people were sick of seeing Shane Battier on ESPN, no matter how likable and admirable the guy was. And seriously, what was up with that “Who’s your daddy Battier” chant?

Duke is also seen as a place of privilege, and as a standout Salon piece points out, Americans have mixed feelings about that. They’re not even consistent in how they apply that prejudice to basketball. Why would Duke be any more evil than Georgetown, another private school where the rent is a lot higher than it is in the crime-infested neighborhoods around Duke?

The hatred just seems to hit new levels each year. Last night, two MLS PR reps past and present were ripping Duke on Twitter and Facebook, everything from complaints about refs favoring “Puke” to a simple “screw you, Duke.” The snarky link aggregator Fark punctuates links that have nothing to with Duke with “Duke sucks.” The Indianapolis Star, where four of my former co-workers have recently worked, ran an illustration with childish scribbling on Coach K’s face.

Bear in mind … this is the coach who helped end the USA’s eight-year drought in major championships by winning Olympic gold 20 months ago.

All successful teams go through this. The Yankees. Manchester United. In many Olympic sports, the USA.

All overexposed teams go through this. I know plenty of transplants in the D.C. area who hate all the D.C. teams because they’re sicking of hearing about them on the radio.

No, that’s not rational. But neither is the fact that I had an emotional investment in last night’s game just based on the fact that these guys go to school where I used to go to school. I watch so little basketball these days that I still don’t know the difference between the Plumlees. So many players have departed Duke in the past four years — Boateng, Boykin, McRoberts, Henderson, King, Williams, Czyz — that it’s hard to know who’s who. (Imagine if Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith leave early along with senior starters Jon Scheyer, Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas! We’ll learn more about the Plumlees in a hurry.)

That irrationality isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Big-time sports might not be possible without it.

The question is this: Are we capable of enjoying the spectacle for what it is, without the irrational attachments?

The Millennial generation might be doing just that. Snowboarders generally cheer for each other; in fact, most of the “action sports” genre is built on action, not results.

We also see it at the Olympics. Ski jumping fans don’t cheer against ski jumpers. Biathlon fans don’t cheer misses. No one at the Olympic Park was holding up a sign saying, “*&^# you, Petter.”

This might be the topic of my second book. We’ll see.

On to the news that has nothing to do with Duke, Tiger Woods, baseball or the iPad:

– Soccer: FIFA refuses to let Iranian women wear headscarves. Insert joke about Sepp Blatter’s “short shorts” comment here. (AP)

– Soccer: Welcome back to the Premier League, Newcastle. Missed you this year. (BBC)

– College basketball: If the NCAA persists in the unpopular idea of expanding the tournament to 96 teams, will it run into legal trouble on antitrust grounds? (Huffington Post)

– Curling: Pete Fenson and the U.S. men fought back into the World Championship playoff race with an extra-end win over France. They’re 3-3. (USOC)

– Cycling: Oscar Friere fumes after controversial sprint finish in Tour of the Basque Country. (Reuters)

– Boxing: Italy 8, USA 4 (USOC)

– Soccer: Good read on the tight French league race with a couple of potential Butlers in the mix. (Reuters)

And did I need to tell anyone we have a Champions League doubleheader today? It’s CSKA Moscow-Inter Milan at 12:30 ET on Fox Sports Channel, then Barcelona-Arsenal on Fox Sports Net at 2:30 p.m. You can also catch Barca-Arsenal delayed on Fox Sports Channel at 5.