Just like last year, the first game of the Duke-Maryland series resulted in a victory for the Blue Devils.
But unlike 2001's impromptu blaze, fire-crazed revelers celebrated in a more lawful manner with an officially sanctioned celebration where thousands of fans gathered and flames licked the night sky. At 10:10 p.m., students gathered in the middle of Clocktower Quadrangle and signaled that the real basketball season has begun. Houses B and C were the first to have their benches sacrificed and, after an industrious student lit a handle's worth of vodka, the benches ignited and started the bonfire.
With some fans throwing bras into the fire and others standing on their benches protecting them from the flames, students remained divided on whether the rivalry with No. 3 Maryland has now eclipsed that of unranked North Carolina. Some students said the UNC game would not be special this year because of its lackluster record.
"I'm not all that excited about the Carolina game this year.... To me, this
Freshman Benjamin Burnham, who was wearing nothing but a tight blue Speedo and sparkles, disagreed. "Maryland [players] are a bunch of wannabes," he said. "There's no way they can replace UNC. All these teams come and go, but Duke is forever."
A total of six benches were thrown into the fire, including those from York, House DD and House EE.
"[Our bench] took us really long to build it," said junior Ginny Stone, president of House P. "If the crowd demands it, we'll let it go. But I'd like to save it for the UNC game or the national championship if possible."
Other selective houses celebrated the bonfire from afar, fortressing their benches for what they hoped were greater victories to come.
"We just built [our bench] a while ago. We don't want to let it go now. Maryland's not worth it!" said sophomore Jenny Gibbs, a resident of House D.
"We want it to be a close game before we burn it, like the national championship or something,"
Emergency Medical Services agents, who characterized the night as relatively tame, responded to only a handful of calls, including one student who was cut on a splinter from the bench at Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
Meanwhile, one of the newest Dukies, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, was enjoying the campus in all its merrymaking for the first time.
"It's my first bonfire. I'm not a virgin anymore," he said.
The burning continued well beyond 1 a.m., as fans tossed their last flammable objects into the fire. Cardboard boxes followed a stuffed Curious George doll, with random wooden planks for more fuel.
And of course, students could not help but look ahead, with scattered chants:
"Go to hell, Carolina, go to hell!"
Matt Bradley, Matt Brumm, John Bush, Dave Ingram, Ana Mate, Jennifer Song and Ryan Williams contributed to this story.
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