Duke Men's Lacrosse Takes National Championship In Sudden Death Overtime

The current seniors were freshmen and sophomores when the Duke Not-a-Rape case was the main story about Duke Lacrosse.

Why isn't this being covered as a major feel-good vindication story? Why no Rocky trumpet-fanfare? Where are the inevitable Phoenix-from-the-ashes metaphors and lessons about the triumph of will over adversity?

Guess they were more evitable than I realized.

Seems to me a few years ago we were invited to learn all sorts of lessons from Duke's Men's Lax. Now... no lessons to be had!

Because, of course, the innocence of the Duke Lacrosse Men embarrassed the left. That is their crime now -- not having raped a woman, but the more egregious offense of having embarrassed the left.

And the MFM knows its enemies from its friends.

Video recap from ESPN.

Thanks to Russell.

Actually... Okay, this happened yesterday, I guess, so it's premature to ask my rhetorical questions about the non-coverage.

So, fine: After a week, when there's been no Rudy-esque coverage, then consider my questions posed.

This Just In... Sure, they're "innocent," but I know they did something.

Like... exist.

Memories... A flashback to false accuser/serial lunatic Crystal Mangun's recent arrest.

Just before midnight on Feb. 17, in Durham, N.C., police responded to a call about a domestic dispute. The voice on the line was a child's. "Please hurry," she said. "My mom is going to die." Authorities arrived to find a woman fighting with her boyfriend. She'd lit his clothes on fire in the bathtub and, according to police, was threatening to stab him. Her children, who are 3, 9, and 10, were in the next room. She was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and battery, communicating threats, injury to personal property, identity theft, resisting a public officer, five counts of arson, and three counts of misdemeanor child abuse, according to The News & Observer. It was the kind of report that would normally not go any further than the local news page of the Durham paper. Except the woman happened to be Crystal Mangum, who falsely accused three members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape and assault four years ago. The case, of course, exploded into a national news story and brought down the Durham district attorney. As the reporter who covered that case for NEWSWEEK, I am sorry to say that I wasn't at all surprised by the most recent events.

...

At the time of the rape accusations, Mangum was a mother of two, working as an escort, and taking classes at North Carolina Central University. NCCU was the first publicly supported black liberal-arts college in the country, but it has struggled over the years to get adequate funding. The distance between the campuses of Duke and NCCU was a few miles and a lot of resentment. Students I spoke with at NCCU's campus soon after the rape charges were filed had no doubt that the lacrosse players were guilty but would beat the rap. One student told me, "This is a race issue. People at Duke have a lot of money on their side." Another student said, "It's the same old story. Duke up, Central down." He said he wanted to see the Duke students prosecuted whether they were guilty of not. "It would be justice for things that happened in the past," he said. For me, it was one of the more eye-opening moments of the whole case.

Eyes opened? Sure, and then promptly shut again.

posted by Ace at 06:29 PM

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