[NU Sports] Duke

[cherron604 at aol.com]

Another intriguing fact - when I read that Duke President Douglas Knight tried to take Duke in the Ivy League direction, I wondered whether he had something in common with our local 'football de-emphasizers', Bob Strotz and Robert Maynard Hutchins.? I googled Knight and found?about 8 biographical sketches, fairly interesting reading.? He was a Yale man,?1946 PhD, President at Lawrence College in Wisconsin at age 38, but only served as Duke president for 6 years (63-69).? Campus protests, including a sit-in at the President's residence, seemed to sour him, and he resigned.? He then became fairly prominent in the telescope industry (surprising for an English PhD and poet), and eventually he reconciled with Duke.

Hutchins had at least 20 sketches out there, as one would expect.

Googling Bob Strotz turns up only 2 sketches, his New York Times obituary and an excerpt from the NU 150th anniversary book by Jay Pridmore.? Strotz was president for 15 years (1970-85, not quite as tumultuous as Knight's?60's tenure), but there never appears to be much written about the man, good or bad (and I know there's a good deal of both).

In 100 years, somebody will see Bob Strotz' name somewhere, wonder who he was, and probably not find too much information (except at the NU archives).? As a guy who researches a lot of history, I find that lack of information kind of sad.

Chuck Herron?? Tech '85


-----Original Message-----
From: cherron604 at aol.com
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 8:07 am
Subject: [NU Sports] Duke



Nothing yet on the Duke website about any changes for Saturday's game - but a 
'youth day' event with church youth groups and a Christian rock group was 
postponed until the Virginia game, due to the expected inclement weather.

Duke drew a very large crowd to their win over James Madison, and new coach 
David Cutcliffe wants more on Saturday.? 

I liked Duke as an opponent a lot better when they didn't care about football...

An interesting article about Duke's decline, from the best team in the ACC in 
the mid-60's to one of the worst in the country.? It mentions that two of the 
Blue Devil's opponents - Navy and NU - offer proof that recovery is possible.? 
Also interesting fact that both Bud Wilkinson and a young Bobby Bowden let it be 
known that they were interested in the Duke job, but the administration wanted 
to de-emphasize the sport - in 69 the Trustees voted down an administration 
proposal to drop scholarships and leave the ACC.? Interesting stuff, but I'm not 
sure I like too many programs reviving...

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94352&SPID=1841&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=1570321

Hope we have a nice contingent down there - not sure yet whether Charlotte 
offers less risk as an airport destination, or whether things will be ok at 
RDU...how are other people leaning on travel plans ?

Chuck Herron?? Tech '85
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