Va Tech game - non-basketball observations

[Kimist]

What was with the heavy-set goon in the orange (Va Tech) shirt who came out from the bleacher area onto the court, often approaching the Duke bench, during every timeout? He was obviously not a coach, nor an assistant coach, nor a member of the training staff.

Also, around the 6:10 break in the second half, another guy appeared and stood just behind the foul line on the court.

Are these guys the Blacksburg mafia, and since they originated from and "disappeared" a couple of rows up into the bleachers why are they even allowed on the court in the first place?????


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I get amused by the "please don't use your camera for flash photos" announcement by the PA guy, but many/most of said flashes are coming from the strobe lights in the rafters.

Perhaps I must be missing something.



Dang good night for basketball, I must say. One can assume the carowhina crowd will be somewhat quiet at work on Monday.

k

[aimo]

He was sitting behind the Va Tech bench, right next to the scorer's table. That and his shirt made us assume he was some sort of Hokie official wannabe. The Duke stadium officials were asking him questions, too.

And the flashes are coming from stupid people who don't have a clue and who don't know how to turn the flash off their cameras. They are all over the (upper) stands.

[juise]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4htcM9V0qag

I love those top 5 highlights reals that Duke Blue Planet puts together. As someone who didn't get to watch the game, these highlights showed me some of the truly terrible camera angle that Fox put forth last night. (I know that some preferred to keep such comments out of the postgame thread, so I'm putting it here.)

[HateCarolina]

I see your comment about the camera angles and was wondering if I was the only one who has noticed that Fox Sports South consistenly uses bad camera angles....what the heck is up with that? Also in regards to the VT fans...having grown up in Richmond, VA I have to say that their fans tend to be "country"...nothing against that just a neutral observation....

[PallasAthena]

I actually saw the same guy doing the same thing at the game before the Virginia Tech game. He is wearing stadium credentials, an ear-piece, etc. The second guy (same style shirt, same piping, but navy blue) has also done that standing-in-front-of-the-visitors-bench in earlier games. Sometimes he wears a suit.

I was thinking that maybe they are from an outside security contractor, hired to protect the visitors bench or Coach K Court from unseemly invasions during timeouts. Seems a bit much. And why orange?? And they don't exactly look like they are ready to tackle somebody and through them to the floor.

There seem to be soooo many kinds of security at games. Those people in yellow windbreakers, who are they? I saw two state troopers at the end of the game, standing under the end-zone camera. Couldn't tell from the far end of the stadium if they were NC or VA troopers, but I'm guessing VA, since it is a state school. I don't think I've ever seen NC troopers in the Indoor unless they are with the NC State team.

[getmoney22]

Good Mornin DBR members! As a first time poster, long time reader, lets go ahead and sum up Fox Sports as pathetic! I am sure some (most) of you watched the unc/bc game and suffered through the awful camera angles, late commercial breaks, and mediocre commentary; which continued right on through our devils game. The positive we can take from this is we only have 2 more games on the Sunday night ACC game.

Further... (possibly appropriate for another thread) As much as I read on this site I have not seen a comparison between Gerald and Grant? Other than the fact than few people realized Grant's atheletesism, as opposed to all of us seeing G's, there are many similarities...... I'll pause my comments and let you all chime in for now...

[slower]

Further... (possibly appropriate for another thread) As much as I read on this site I have not seen a comparison between Gerald and Grant? Other than the fact than few people realized Grant's atheletesism, as opposed to all of us seeing G's, there are many similarities...... I'll pause my comments and let you all chime in for now...

This looks like a perfect opportunity for one of Greybeard's wacky equations. Let's see...Grant minus 2 inches, but plus more muscles, blah blah blah. I can hardly wait!! :D

[jv001]

Good Mornin DBR members! As a first time poster, long time reader, lets go ahead and sum up Fox Sports as pathetic! I am sure some (most) of you watched the unc/bc game and suffered through the awful camera angles, late commercial breaks, and mediocre commentary; which continued right on through our devils game. The positive we can take from this is we only have 2 more games on the Sunday night ACC game.

Further... (possibly appropriate for another thread) As much as I read on this site I have not seen a comparison between Gerald and Grant? Other than the fact than few people realized Grant's atheletesism, as opposed to all of us seeing G's, there are many similarities...... I'll pause my comments and let you all chime in for now...

Great to have you post, keep it up. I see some of Grant in Gerald but not as much as I would like. Grant was one of Duke's best players ever. I just hope I can say that about Gerald b4 he leaves. Go Duke!

[III]

I'm fairly certain I saw the same guy in an orange shirt at the Loyola game, and suspect he's part of a crew hired by the stadium.

[gw67]

I agree with jv001 re Hill/Henderson comparison. Grant was one of the greatest players in Duke history. He was twice All ACC 1st team, once All ACC 2nd team and was conference POY, All American and national defensive POY in 1994 when he carried the Devils on his back. Henderson is very athletic and has made big improvements in his game during the past two seasons. He is a very good college player who continues to get better but, other than both players being outstanding leapers, it is not fair to compare the two players at this time, IMO.

gw67

[mapei]

For me the comparison is that they can both jump out of the gym, dramatically moreso than anyone else on the court, generally. But I don't see Gerald as coming close to Grant in anything else, at leasy not yet.

[jimsumner]

Dahntay Jones probably is a better comparison for Henderson,

[jv001]

Dahntay Jones probably is a better comparison for Henderson,

Dahntay is a much better comparison. And I think Gerald has a chance to be
better if he stays for his senior year. Go Duke!

[Hurley2Hill]

What I wanna know is how these opposing fans always wind up in the center of the student section behind the basket.

[summerwind03]

Hurley2Hill, that's an easy one. That's the grad student section, so there are always a number of grad students who went as undergrads to the school we're playing.

[-jk]

What I wanna know is how these opposing fans always wind up in the center of the student section behind the basket.

They're grad students who went to undergrad at the opposing school.

-jk

[Kimist]

... And the flashes are coming from stupid people who don't have a clue and who don't know how to turn the flash off their cameras. They are all over the (upper) stands.


Well, not quite........

Next time you are in Cameron look up and you will see several strobe lights in the rafters above the court. They go off frequently during active play, and far "out-shine" any puny flashes from a cell phone or similar.

My point was I thought a request by the PA guy to refrain from flashing was a bit senseless in light (:D) of what was already occurring separate from anything under the fans' control.

(Whether someone thinks a flash at a great distance will improve the picture quality is a completely different topic.)

k

[mgtr]

I am a super big fan of Hendo, and delight in his abilities. If I had had his ability (hey some days I was doing well to find the court, let alone the basket), I would have been delighted. But, based on evidence so far, and he is onlyh a junior, he is in no way a Grant Hill.
Now, if he works hard and listens to Coach K, I think Hendo can get there by the time he graduates, but not yet. Actually, I think there is no real limit to the upside of Hendo. I would love to see his name and number in the rafters.

[bjornolf]

Also in regards to the VT fans...having grown up in Richmond, VA I have to say that their fans tend to be "country"...nothing against that just a neutral observation....

Really? That's interesting. My wife went to Tech and grew up in farm country outside of Staunton, VA, and she has a different opinion. Almost all her family and friends and even acquaintences (everybody knows EVERYBODY in and around Staunton...it's one of those towns) are UVA fans. People from the country seem to be mostly UVA fans, while people from the cities tend to be VT fans. My wife's perception may stem partly from the fact that VT draws a LOT of out of state students from NY and NJ, as well as from the more densely populated areas of NOVA and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads. They are sort of the public university version of Duke in that way (the drawing a lot of students from NY and NJ part I mean). All I can say is that I see a LOT more VT fans around here (northern Virginia) than UVA fans, but I see a LOT more UVA fans than VT fans when we visit her folks down there.

Now, maybe in cities like Richmond, the "upper crust" people are all UVA fans and grads, while the blue collar folks are VT fans. That would make sense. That's the perception of most people I've talked to... UVA is the "fratboy"-infested school for the rich kids, while VT is for the working class kids. UVA IS much more selective, and the tuition is quite a bit lower at VT, where they tend to concentrate on "application" education as opposed to "theory" education. My wife told me that the saying where she grew up is "It's harder to get into UVA, but it's harder to STAY at Tech."

Just a few thoughts relayed mostly from my wife.