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US Rep.: ‘If Duke played the Taliban, I’d pull for Taliban’

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United States Rep. Brad Miller has been serving the good people of North Carolina’s 13th district for nearly a decade. He has had a hand in healthcare, financial, and education reform in this country, but a few weeks back, he made a bold statement about another issue that concerns his constituents: college basketball.

“I make no pretense that I am at all half-hearted in my support for Carolina,” he told the AP. “Nobody in North Carolina would trust a politician who claimed to be neutral on a matter as important as college basketball.”

Then the big one.

“I have said very publicly that if Duke was playing against the Taliban, then I’d have to pull for the Taliban,” Miller said.

The comment sounded more like something you’d hear jokingly amongst friends than something you’d hear a US Representative so proudly decree, but, nonetheless, it sounds like Miller is much of a fan of the Cameron Crazies.

The state of North Carolina had two teams in the Sweet 16 (NC State and North Carolina), with Miller’s Tar Heels advancing to the Elite Eight with an overtime win over Ohio and NC State going home after a loss to Kansas.

It must be a tightrope for politicians in the Tar Heel State, considering they’re rallying for support across all college basketball denominations. But, for Rep. Miller, he seems to be taking the road that favors reality and genuineness, conviction and consistency of opinion.

There will be no pandering to the special interests from Rep. Miller, no talking up one side and doing the same to the other; at least not when it comes to basketball.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_