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  1. #61
    (1) I dont think anyone can really expect an article to be written about college basketball fans, addressing the topic of when fans go too far, and not expect to see the Cameron Crazies in there somewhere. When I first read the thread I didnt find it offensive (and my anti-Duke sense is pretty strong). Even if someone just looks at the picture, and they see a Duke student holding up a sign that says "Fear the Classroom," they would have to be a complete lemming to think that is over the proverbial line.

    (2) I have no problem with the blog response. It's tent 1's blog and they can write what they want. However, when I read the blog post my initial response was that it was just pouring fuel on the fire. The primary dig at Duke fans are that they are whinny elitists who think they are just the meat AND the potatoes. In no way do I think that is valid (I was a proud Cameron Crazy for 4 years), but the blog post did nothing to temper that view.

  2. #62

    Here I Am

    I'm going to do something that may not be the smartest thing I've ever done but oh well, this is getting ridiculous. I wrote that blog entry. And I will admit that after looking back on it and looking at all this conversation it does sound a little crazed and whiny.

    My initial (over)reaction was to the photo gallery of abusive fans. I personally don't view the Crazies as abusive when you compare them to many other fan sections around the country. To see us featured multiple times in there - and for what we thought was an awesome dig at MD based on fact - I got a little upset. Also, I believe the photos accompanying the online article might have changed and I know I saw the earliest version - but when they are talking about all sorts of abusive and vulgar actions in the text, they also represented that text with pictures - and I didn't think our picture from the MD game was the best choice.

    I wrote the entry as a fun rant - I like to do that. I can assure you I'm capable of proper grammar and style when I write papers - but this wasn't a paper I was turning in - it's a blog. I understood the dramatic tone I was taking but didn't realize how strongly people would react to it - perhaps I went too far in my rant but I often find I get carried away when I start writing something like that. So sorry if I riled your feathers; SI riled mine and it appears more than it should have – I’m over it.

    As for tent 1 - we're proud of being tent one; our senior captain especially, who has been tent 2 for the past 3 years. Yes, we've been obnoxious about it and we likely could have benefited from toning it down - but we're just a group of really good friends who have fun together. We're not so exclusive and if it appears that way it's likely because we enjoy each others' company so much and only had the chance to really get to know the top few tents during pre-blue that it seems that way. If you've ever tented with a group of your friends you can find it will make or break friendships - and sometimes it can be better to band with people who are more acquaintances than anything else. But we found that our friendship has gotten stronger. We're all avid fans like everyone else in KVille who has decided to brave the long and sometimes cold season (the warm weather has been great this year however) and while KVille is an event all its own, we're all really there for one thing: helping to beat the Tar Heels.

    Maybe its too late to be writing this defense and even apology but better late than never. So here it is: I'm sorry that some people have come to hate us. While I'm not willing to accept full responsibility for that I'll take some of the blame - we could have and should have toned down the obnoxiousness of our tent 1 pride. We could have mingled in the late-night party scene more - perhaps tent 1 next year should place one of its tents in the center of KVille so as to not be as isolated as they can become on the fringes. But tenting is essentially over, so those of you tenting on the boards - let's just all have fun the next 2 nights for p-checks and lets all channel any pride or animosity into making the floor of Cameron shake and the decibels reach unbearable levels on Saturday night.

    See, I have a tendency to ramble. It’s perhaps a fatal flaw.

    GTHC

  3. #63
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    I hope not to re-ignite the debate about whether the layout of the original SI article lumped the Crazies in with Oregon's homosexual slurs directed at Kevin Love, but Grant Wahl's mailbag today re-addresses the fan behavior issue and answers some e-mail from fans.

    I think his answers to questions are pretty good. I particularly liked his response to an e-mail from a man (from Lexington, KY ) about the Cameron Crazies being held responsible for other teams fans personal attacks on players. He responded that "Duke fans are no angels, but should they be held responsible for Oregon fans who are unable to match their creativity and resort to profane chants?"

    This quote really nails the essence of this issue for me. Everyone has different opinions of what crosses the line, but I loved majoring in smartass for a couple of months out of the year without getting extremely personal or profane.

    Also, I was at the Loren Woods Wake game that Charles from Philly's e-mail mentions. While Chris Carrawell may have came out to address the students before the game also, I distinctly remember Coach K coming out before the game asking the students to lay off Woods because of his friendship with his high school teammate, Carrawell, and because his issue (he was having some psychological issues, IIRC) wasn't something that should be mocked by opposing fans.

  4. #64
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Quote Originally Posted by tbyers11 View Post
    Also, I was at the Loren Woods Wake game that Charles from Philly's e-mail mentions. While Chris Carrawell may have came out to address the students before the game also, I distinctly remember Coach K coming out before the game asking the students to lay off Woods because of his friendship with his high school teammate, Carrawell, and because his issue (he was having some psychological issues, IIRC) wasn't something that should be mocked by opposing fans.
    Before the St. John's game in '00, K made the same request regarding Erick Barkley and prep school/qualification issues (I believe - don't remember 100%).
    Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.

    You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner

    You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke

  5. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by pfrduke View Post
    Before the St. John's game in '00, K made the same request regarding Erick Barkley and prep school/qualification issues (I believe - don't remember 100%).
    I do remember--Barkley was being investigated by the NCAA for eligibility issues. The whole thing was really shaky, and in fact the Crazies actually chanted "Stop the Witch Hunt" at several points during the game (which was nationally televised) including while Barkley was at the free throw line. Several days later Barkley wrote a very nice, sincere letter that appeared in the Chronicle thanking the Cameron Crazies for their support. I also remember the Loren Woods game referenced in the third letter in Grant Wahl's mailbag. I spent eight years (undergrad and Ph.D.) as a Cameron Crazy, and though nothing comes close to Coach K's 500th, I actually remember those two games fondly (even though we lost to St. Johns!).

    As for the original article, I did have a problem with Wahl's talking about the Crazies ridiculing Maryland within a few sentences of the shameful actions by Indiana and Oregon fans this season. That, along with the fact that three of the pictures with the article were Duke-related, seemed a little too close to accusing Duke fans of similar behavior. But I agree where the line should be drawn is part of the point, and after reading Wahl's responses in his mailbag, I'm convinced he wasn't just idly bashing Duke to draw readers. Of course, I may be biased since one of the letters was mine

  6. #66
    With regard to Grant Wahl's responses to questions on the SI fan behavior article in his online mailbag this week, this is an excerpt from Wahl's view of the Crazies:

    But opposing coaches have diverging views on the Crazies. One coach of a Top 20 team told SI that he thinks Duke's fans are the most foul-mouthed and distasteful that he's seen, "but then they're held up as the best ones." But then Roy Williams told me, "I think Duke several years ago did some things to get their crowd back across the line. I thought they did a nice job of it." At UNC and at Kansas, Williams has dealt with two of the most vocal rival fan groups in the nation: Duke's Crazies and Missouri's Antlers. ("Every year I got a call at 3 o'clock in the morning for the two or three nights before we played Missouri," he says.) But Ol' Roy also credits administrators at Duke and Missouri for taking an active role in improving their hardcore fans' behavior. "I think they should be applauded for that," he says. "And this is coming from a North Carolina/Kansas guy."

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...the.bag/1.html

    Not surprising Ol' Roy gives a backhanded compliment. As for the less favorable comment from the "coach of a top 20 team" it sounds like classic Gary, but the Terps are not in the top 20. Any guesses as to the coach who is not a big fan of the atmosphere at Cameron?

  7. #67
    I'm guessing Rick Barnes

  8. #68
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC
    I'm guessing Pat Summitt.

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