First Year Focus

Why Duke?

A lot of people have asked me why I chose Duke over other schools. Well, that's very simple. It was basketball.

DUKE IS IN THE HOUSE, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, had to use up some restless energy. Ever since Midnight Madness, I've been acting frighteningly like Dick Vitale.

Yup, Midnight Madness finally hit last Friday. (For those of you who aren't obsessed with college basketball, picture a giant party in Cameron Indoor Stadium, with special guests Coach K, Dicky V, and numerous ESPN cameramen. That's Midnight Madness - the first official day of NCAA basketball season.)

Basketball, as I'm sure you know, is life. Or at least that's the way it is here for most of the students. Many of us waited three hours in the driving rain on Friday night just to see Dicky V go wild and watch the basketball team play a 12-minute scrimmage. Others got up at ungodly hours (like 4 in the morning) to wait in line for armbands and thereby insure that they'd have good seats. There was even talk of bringing out the tents.

Fortunately, tenting won't start until later - hopefully, not until January or February, when it's even colder and wetter up here. But the Cameron Crazies were out in full force anyway on Friday, and that includes me. A piece of advice: if you're going to paint a blue 'D' on your face, use face paint, not fingernail polish. Trust me, blue is nice on the nails, but nail polish remover can be hell on the complexion.

Yes, that was probably the one thing I learned on Friday night. Oh, and one more thing - Cameron isn't half as much fun without someone to cheer against. Granted, it was an exciting way to kick off the season, and I did get to shake Dicky V's hand. But it was awfully hard to decide who to cheer for during the scrimmage (do you yell for Wojo, our feisty senior "bulldog," or freshman phenom Will Avery?) We Cameron Crazies were a little subdued.

All the same, it's going to be an awesome season, so don't look for us to be subdued at all once we get some different jerseys into Cameron!

For those of you who are still a little confused, here's a glossary of terms to be used until March (when we take the trophy home.)

Blue Planet - the new Duke bball poster. Currently resides over my bed.

Cameron Crazies - ME! And the other 5,999 undergrads.

Chris Burgess - BIG BIG frosh. That's all I can say.

Coach K - if I have to define that for you, why are you even reading this column?

Elton Brand - frosh who looks like a football player, but plays like an Olympian.

Jay Heaps - okay, he's just a walk-on. But hes also a soccer star... and really hot.

J. D. Simpson - another walk-on who can walk on into my room any time he wants.

Ricky Price - senior on academic suspension. Calls himself "Pretty Ricky."

Roshown McLeod - senior who's dating my roommate (life is NOT fair!)

Shane Battier - the '97 top recruit in the country... and we got him, naturally.