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Spelling bee
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Cameron Crazies have to go to class too**
When things are going well for a team, sports writers always have to find something to pick on. And since the Duke basketball team started the season 4-0, it seemed the perfect opportunity to chastise the student support.
Granted, Monday's night's game played right into their hands. An hour before the game against S.C. State, you could count the number of fans sitting down in the student section. Writers who have been covering Duke basketball for years called it one of the worst crowds they had ever seen. Some people had the study crunch before exams. But most likely it was because there was no Dick Vitale. No television cameras. And worst of all, no big-time opponent. Thus, no students.
Even with Monday's paltry attendance, a commentary in Blue Devil Weekly by Johnny Moore went a tad too far in chastising Duke's Sixth Man. After describing a recent higher emphasis on academics at the University, Moore stated, "Basketball games, once the top item on any Duke student's social agenda, are now being placed second to academics."
Well, Mr. Moore, I think most students, faculty and probably head coach Mike Krzyzewski will agree academics should always be above attending basketball games. Students may come to Durham as big-time hoops fans, craving the chance to become a part of the tradition of the Cameron Crazies. But at the same time, students will say that they came to Duke primarily to get an education, not to lose their voices and be on national television. No one here would spend $20,000 dollars per year just to cheer an athletic team.
Moore continues to belittle the student population by saying, "It's not like the Duke home basketball games take away a great deal from visits to the library during the week. Only four home games come on weekdays, when classes are in session."
For the ignorant in the crowd, let's do a little basic math on the time a typical student spends to wait for a game. Doors to Cameron open one and a half hours before the game. That's not including the time you spend in line. For the die-hard fans, standing in line can be an all-day affair, with some students starting at 8 a.m. for a 7 p.m. game. Not a lot of time? Yeah right.
Moore's right saying we don't have classes on weekends. So that means no one studies on weekends, right? Maybe Johnny Moore can convince all teachers not to have any assignments due on Mondays so we can attend home basketball games.
If he can't convince the administration to make that change, maybe his complaints can lead to these two innovations. How about a P.E. class called Cameron Cheering, where students can receive class credit to attend basketball games? The final exam could be camping out for the UNC game.
Or even better, get sports writers like Johnny Moore to write excuses for students on why they couldn't take an exam or turn in a paper on time. Something like, "Please excuse Joey from taking this test today. He had to cheer at a basketball game. Signed, Dick Vitale."
OK, those ideas are a little radical. But Mr. Moore doesn't stop while he's ahead. No, he goes on and compares undergraduate attendance with graduate student attendance, pointing out that graduate students have to camp out for one weekend and BUY their tickets. One weekend? I camped out 10 days last year for the North Carolina game, and three years ago, froze my buns off in 20 degree weather for about 20 days to get the privilege of watching Duke play Michigan.
And this camping out business is serious stuff. Extracurricular activities are thrown aside for the excuse, "Sorry, I have to be in the tent at that time." Students even hold class group meetings in Krzyzewskiville. For the grad students, camping out for tickets is probably their social highlight of the year. Lots of kegs and pizzas. And tents? Who needs them when you can sleep in the RV and watch television?
What Mr. Moore also forgets in praising graduate student attendance is a graduate student buys a little packet of tickets way before the season begins. One obnoxious grad student proudly waved his admission to the Chapel Hill game in my face the day of the Illinois game. With that ticket, he will be able to walk into Cameron at tip-off and be guaranteed a seat. No camping out. No waiting in line.
As far as buying tickets is concerned, Cameron would become The Marketplace of West Campus if students had the tickets already paid for. The thought would be, "The damn things are paid for, so instead of losing money, we might as well go." The fans would be less than cheerful if they felt forced to go to a game.
Even worse, only 2,000 of the approximately 6,000 undergrads would get a chance to see a Duke game all year. Grad students may complain, claiming they have 500 seats allotted for 4,000 students. But the fact remains the team is composed of undergrads, so when undergraduates cheer, it's not only for their team, it's for their classmates.
What makes the current policy for undergraduate admission to basketball games so great is that it allows as many people as possible to see at least one game. Moore's idea of having students pick up tickets might work, but students would still have to stand in line to get the tickets. And Moore suggests selling those extra seats students don't use. How about selling all the empty seats in the upper deck--the ones season-ticket holders own--first?
Yes, the current policy for undergraduates may have some kinks in it. And the students should go to every game they can, even when Duke or the opponent is bad. But the Cameron Crazies are still rated by Sports Illustrated as the seventh-best fans in the nation. Why? Because we stand in line. We camp out. With Johnny Moore's policy, there would none of that. And no Krzyzewskiville. Think about the consequences before you make a change.
John Seelke is a Trinity senior and associate sports editor of The Chronicle. John will be the person in Cameron next semester with the blue hair.
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