Duke Lacrosse
The athletic success of the Duke lacrosse teams for men and women is quite admirable. The Duke lacrosse men’s team is regarded as one of the leading teams in the present era of NCAA lacrosse, along with Cornell, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins.
The Duke lacrosse team of the present is the most successful in the history of Duke lacrosse. In the past three years, they made the championship finals twice, but lost to Johns Hopkins both times. The 2007 season was especially exciting as the Duke team tried relentlessly to level the score until the final seconds of the game. In the end, they fell 12-11 to Johns Hopkins. Zach Greer and Matt Danowski are the best players in the present Duke lacrosse team. The Duke women’s lacrosse team, however, has not enjoyed much success.
The Duke lacrosse team for men had been involved in a controversy that threatened the reputation of the team. Three Duke lacrosse players were suspected of assaulting and raping a Durham woman. This Duke lacrosse case started in March 2006 when an African-American exotic dancer named Crystal Gail Mangum made the accusations. The Duke lacrosse accuser said that she was abducted by three Duke lacrosse players and was raped in the residence of the captain of the team.
The Duke lacrosse assault case caused so much controversy that the university authorities cancelled all the remaining playoff games for the 2006 season. Issues on Sharpton and Duke lacrosse also emerged as Al Sharpton, a civil-rights activist based in New York, pressed charges on the team for the racial discrimination experienced by the Duke lacrosse rape victim. However, the Al Sharpton Duke lacrosse issues ended when the charges were dropped. Some say that the Sharpton Duke lacrosse issues should not be brought forth since they believed that Sharpton was only an opportunist who wants to take advantage of the incident to become famous.
For more information about the Duke lacrosse rape case, you can search for public opinions at various web sites on the internet. Just go to a search engine and enter the search term ‘Duke lacrosse + hoax’ and you will be shown many links that will lead you to discussions about the incident. The scandal aside, you can find out about the new and improved Duke University men’s lacrosse team by reading the 2007 articles about the Duke lacrosse team social class, which are available at the University’s official homepage.
The Duke lacrosse team has many supporters throughout the NCAA. Duke lacrosse merchandise that features the Blue Devils logo is very sought after by NCAA lacrosse fans. If you are truly a Blue Devils fan, you may want to purchase a Duke lacrosse shirt or a Duke lacrosse t-shirt to show support for your favorite team.