Inside college basketball’s most intimidating road environment, the 9,300-seat cauldron of hate and hostility known as Cameron Indoor Stadium, Pittsburgh wing Blake Hinson approached his teammates before tipoff with a seldom-heard complaint.
The Cameron Crazies were being too friendly.
“I don’t know if it was reverse psychology or they were trying to screw with me but they were saying hi and being really nice to me during warmups,” Hinson told Yahoo Sports. “I said to my teammates, ‘I don’t enjoy being liked by the opposing fans. Heckling is what I live for.’”
By the end of Pittsburgh’s 80-76 upset victory over shorthanded Duke this past Saturday night, Hinson no longer had to worry about Blue Devils fans treating him too kindly. He had become the most hated man in Durham, the inspiration for numerous middle fingers, the focus of the college basketball season’s most unforgettable image so far.
Each of us is defined by the enemies we make, not the friends we keep. It is good to have enemies. It is good to have Blake Hinson. H2P.
