The New Duke

by Dante on Sep 26, 2007 9:57 PM PDT Comment 3 comments

I was reading a book by Hunter S. Thompson called "Hey Rube." The book is a compilation of the sports columns he wrote for espn.com, and a few original pieces. For those of you unfamiliar with HST, he is the writer of such classics as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," and his "gonzo" style journalism is more about how he experiences certain events than the events themselves. At any rate, the sports columns are more about politics and gambling than sports, as these are some of HST's lifelong interests.

There is a column in the book, in which HST talks about betting with your heart instead of betting with your head. He thinks that the sucker is someone who always bets for his hometeam, or bets against a proven winner, like Duke. This column came out in 2000 (to provide background, it is the same column in which HST predicts for Gore to have no more future in politics, haha). Anyways, this is what got me to start having those oh-so-pleasant thoughts about Bruin basketball.

We have a team that no rational person would bet against - the best team defense in the country, the top freshman in the country, the best coach in the country, back to back final 4s, and the list goes on. I just thought it would be relevant that merely 7 years ago, Duke was THE national powerhouse, and UCLA was a second thought.

After reading HST's column from 2000, I thought about college basketball, and I thought about politics. My, how the times have changed.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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OT: Dr. Thompson -- Role Model Extraordinaire

Hunter S. Thompson, aka Raoul Duke, has had a significant impact on my career.

No, not the drug part -- but the Gonzo part. When I was young, I tried to incorporate his mantra: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" into all I did.

Hunter Thompson was one of the great social critics of our time. His "Fear and Lothing on the Campaign Trail" is, perhaps, the best coverage of a political campaign ever written.

I first read HST when I was a young lawyer representing poor people and farm workers against the powerful interests that controlled the Central Valley of California. I found that interjecting the Gonzo into my practice and approach to work gave me a dimension of unpredictability that worked well.

There is no more screwed up bunch of people than a law faculty and the Gonzo helped me navigate through the messy process of getting tenure and surviving in an environment dominated by the politics of scarcity. While I was teaching, I did pro bono cases and criminal defense work; HST's principles gave me an edge, in dealing with criminal justice system, that the sane lawyers did not have.

Later, when I started making films, I found the Gonzo was the equalizer while dealing with the dark forces that control "the business". I had this quote from HST framed on my office wall:

"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason."

For those of you who don't know of him, or his work, there was a very good documentary, on his life, done by Starz "Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride". (As an Emmy voter, I get screening cassettes. Starz sent out the Thompson documentary inside a box that was a full size replica of a red IBM Selectric typewriter. The box is on display in my office -- a constant reminder to travel my own path in all I do.)

I have a great fondness for the work of HST and suffer his loss. RIP Hunter.

sjh

PS. For those of you who do know his work, his companion, in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was not a large Samoan but rather Oscar Zeta Acosta a Chicano lawyer/activist and one of the founders of the Brown Pride movement. I had the honor of "representing" Acosta when a warrant was issued for his failure to appear for a traffic ticket in Merced, CA. I was practicing in Madera, CA at the time and took care of the warrant for him. A couple of years later, Acosta disappeared while traveling in Mexico. Acosta wrote two great books that encapsulate the energy of the political upheaval that started in East Los Angeles and spread, on behalf of Brown people, throughout the country. "Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo" was made into a movie. "The Revolt of the Cockroach People" is one of my favorite books.

So, Dante, you put up an innocent sports post and look what you get. The reminiscences of an old man discussing his heroes.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Sep 27, 2007 5:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

wow

in 40 years, I wish that I will have lived the life that could contribute to that kind of post.

66, that post connected to me more than any other post I've ever read on BN. As a current undergrad at a university in New England, I have been planning to go to law school, because of my aspirations to one day use my education to help the underrepresented and fight corruption.

I am really at a loss for words .... though I do not attend UCLA, inside my heart I will always be a bruin, and after reading that post, I am remembering that I am proud to be a bruin.

Thanks 66.

by Dante on Sep 27, 2007 12:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I can share

a HST in my life.......maybe not as nobel as 66, but none the less....

My experiences as a young undergrad on campus were very much shaped by Fear & Lothing. It was more of a manual to live by and experience.....one of my favorite HST quotes is...

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."

I partied my way through UCLA, in fact I actually had an intimate HST moment during school......any one familiar with his writing knows that he gonzo'd the Super Bowl.......hence when the Super Bowl was in San Diego in 1998.......some of my fraternity brothers and fellow HST disciples of course had to make it a mission.....no room, no tickets, no problem.

On our way down to San Diego we heard HST was giving a lecture in San Diego......we knew our mission was not going to be complete unless we heard our anti-hero speak. As it should be we started playing speed quarters in the morning with tequlia shot penalties for poor form....and I am not sure of the bong actaully hit the table ever..........we went of to hear HST speak.....as you can imagine there were hundreds of other idiots just like us with the same idea making the lecture hall pretty much one notch below the Attica Riots.

HST finally came on to speak.........it was so rowdy that you could barely hear him speak.......nothing too special was said and he ended up walking off because the crowd was too wasted to listen...........but as he was walking off I had my moment of connection.....my friend brought an nerf football......by the side of the stage where he was exiting I yelled "catch."

If you can believe it, I played catch with HST for a few minutes....he actually caught and threw the ball back and forth with me a couple of times.

It was the highlight of an extraordinary weekend of debauchery and 50 yard line seats.

POSTSCIPT:

A year later, after I gratuated and trying to get a job in a Big Eight accounting firm......HST touched my life again. As you can imagine, I went from being an "A" student to being a "B" student because of my "lifestyle" choices. I barely had the minimum 3.5 GPA to even get a screning interview with any Big Eight firm.

I remember cursing HST....postulizing that if I had partied less and studied more getting a job would be a whole lot easier.........anyway, I finally got an offer from Price Waterhouse and had an epic 6 years in the firm.......however,it leads me to another HST quote:

"When the going get's weird, the weird turn pro"

by RDO on Sep 28, 2007 4:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs