FanHouse Duke University

There is a story behind the Duke and North Carolina rivalry, but like any really good tale, or an Alex Rodriguez interview, facts have just a bit part to play.

It's been added to and embellished piece by piece like an heirloom quilt, its numbers tweaked as needed like the weight of a brag-about bass or the age on your wife's driver's license.

And the true origins, before Larry Brown and Art Heyman first went octagon in 1961, and before Dick Vitale ever spittled and bay-beed his way to prominence crowd-surfing the Crazies, have been lost in the kind of haze the general populace of Duke's west campus quad or Franklin Street will find itself in later tonight.

There's not much novel about the Blue Devils being No. 1.

In fact, they've done it more times than Tiger Woods has won golf tournaments, than Detroit Lion fans have brown-bagged it to Ford Field and almost as many times as Mike Krzyzewski advised you on your choice of credit card, insurance or any of the other products endorsed with a smile by college basketball's top coach.

But whether the three-time national championship coach and his team admits it, there is something different this time around. This No. 1 comes with a question mark. At least, until Wednesday night's road game against Wake Forest.

Nothing is more of an absolute certainty in this world than a rich kid filing a lawsuit because he wasn't treated fairly and then the real story coming out.

After Andrew Giuliani, son of former mayor Rudy Giuliani, was kicked off the Duke golf team, he filed a lawsuit claiming he was "illegally terminated from the team in February." After it was shown that Giuliani might have been released because of his mediocre golf record for a top-15 golf school, new reports have come out that it might have been because he was a bit of an ass.

One of the first things (head coach O.D.) Vincent did as coach was meet with each of the 13 players for four to five hours to go over the "very thick athlete code of conduct," the source said. Each player agreed in writing to obey the rules.

But Andrew soon became disruptive, teammates said.

"There was a lot of bullying," the source said. "I guess the guys didn't dislike him; they were cautious of him. He just kind of got a little pushy."

Andrew was accused of hurting two teammates in a football game and allegedly threw an apple at a teammate, sparking a fistfight.

There are probably a lot of reasons to sue a collegiate sports program for kicking you off the team without any previous knowledge of the happenings.

If the coach tried to seduce you with flavored candles in his apartment or the athletic director forced you to do a Starry Night shot and you declined or if the mascot of the college was seen dry-humping your girlfriend on the JumboTron and you complained.

One reason not to sue is if you're dropped from the squad because you suck at the sport.

As we noted yesterday, Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy, is suing Duke University because he was "illegally terminated from the team in February."

As Andrew complains of wrongdoings, the numbers just sit there smiling, explaining what went down. Giuliani has played in four tournaments in his first three seasons at Duke and was probably not going to get much time on the links this season as five of the top six golfers on the team are returning for 2008-09.

His scoring average was 75.75, extremely mediocre at the college level, and he shot as many rounds (1) in the 80s as he did breaking 72. For a team currently ranked 15th in the nation, a guy like that is extremely disposable.

Playing collegiate sports is a tough gig. You're up at 5 AM, doing sprints before workouts before class before practice. You hang, play and party with the same group of teammates you travel with.

So, when the coach decides to dismiss you from the team, what's the first logical step to take? Yep, you guessed it, sue the coach and the university.

Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, is suing Duke University after being kicked off the team by head coach O.D. Vincent, claiming he was "illegally terminated from the team in February."

"[Men's golf coach] O.D. Vincent announced to the team that he was unilaterally canceling Andrew's eligibility to participate in the University's Athletics Program immediately and indefinitely. Andrew and his teammates were shocked. Andrew had no prior notice of what was about to happen. At no time was Andrew ever given an opportunity to defend himself; instead he was summarily dismissed," the lawsuit read.

Now, I'm sure it kills you to be tossed to the curb by your coach, but it isn't like Andrew is winning Nobel Peace Prizes or anything. This is the same kid who said he wasn't going to campaign for his father because he didn't want it to get in the way of his aspiring professional golfing career.

In Washington today, the remaining members of the Duke Lacrosse team who were not originally prosecuted for rape by the city of Durham, North Carolina announced that they were filing suit against both the University and the city for the emotional distress they suffered over the course of the case.

In all, more than three dozen current and former students will take part in the lawsuit that was filed today in Federal court in North Carolina. Pictured above is Steve Henkelman, father of former Duke lacrosse player Erik Henkelman, speaking his piece about the suit today at the National Press Club.

Previously, the three former students who were falsely accused of the crime, Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, filed suit separately against former Durham prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city and the University. They reached a settlement with Duke in June while the other cases are still pending.