HOW TO BECOME A CAMERON CRAZIE
As I have mentioned previously, my son Taylor is a senior at Duke University. This time of year he is known as a Cameron Crazie. I imagine you might be wondering what a “Cameron Crazie” is. Well, let me explain how to become a Cameron Crazie.
The distinctive title has been hard won. It took living in a tent with 12 other Duke students for a full 6 weeks and 2 days to earn this title.
Why would my son live in a tent in front of Duke’s Cameron Stadium, in a place known as Krzyzewskiville ( or K-ville for short), for 6 weeks and 2 days……
in a tent mounted on shipping pallets to avoid the entry of rain or snowfall……
in the dead of winter, with temperatures below freezing at times……
with hundreds of other Duke students that are not exactly tidy?????
Well, it was because he wanted to attend last night’s Basketball game when Duke faced their arch-rival, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “Tar Heels”, in the final game of the final year Taylor will be a student at Duke University. In order to attend this game, in a stadium that holds a mere 9,314 crazie fans……
students must participate in the Duke ritual known as “tenting”. Men’s basketball is the most popular sport on campus, and is a significant component of student life.
Tickets to the games are free to students, but because of the very small size of the student section in an already small stadium, students line up for hours in advance to get into a regular home game. But admittance into a Duke-Carolina Game is so sought after that the ritual of tenting was conceived. It is a way to reward the most diehard student fans with admission to this one particular matchup against Duke’s cross-town rival. It has been described as one of the most exciting sporting events on the planet! This ritual began back in 1986 when a group of students decided to pitch a tent in front of the basketball stadium the night before the Duke/UNC game. By the time doors had opened, approximately 75 tents had been erected on the lawn in front of Cameron Stadium.
In order to insure the fairness of tenting, Duke University has developed a very specific set of rules, regulations and etiquette for tenting which can be found on a website dedicated to the ritual. The number of tents is capped at 100, with 12 students occupying each tent. Tenting involves erecting a tent on the grassy area in front of Cameron Stadium in the area known as K-ville.
K-ville was named after Mike Krzyzewski, often called Coach K……
who is the much adored coach that has helped Duke’s Basketball program become one of the best in the nation.
There are different categories of tenting based on the length of time and number of people who must be in the tent. This year being his last, Taylor decided to take the most rigorous course of all, known as Black Tenting. He started tenting on January 19 and finished last Wednesday, March 5th, just prior to the big game last night. Thankfully, Taylor will graduate from Duke a happy young man, as Duke carried Carolina the entire game, coming out the victor in a 93 to 81 upset. He and his #16 Tent-Mates were a very happy lot!
With this victory we all slept well last night. But no one slept better than Taylor, who after 6 weeks and 2 days finally returned to the comfort and warmth of his Duke University dorm room.
GO DUKE!!
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Celia
