Mr Blue Devil
01-19-2010, 12:51 PM
I left Jacksonville at 8am Sunday morning and made my way to Durham. It took about 6 and a half hours which is not too bad, but what a boring drive!
I parked on Ninth Street and headed to The Duck Shop. Being broke, I held off on buying anything but did grab a one-sheet of this year’s team with “autographs” and a Scheyer schedule on my way out the door.
I headed down and grabbed a seat at the bar at Charlie’s and ordered a few $1 Coors Lights. Great bar and I would hope it is usually packed during game time. The walls were covered with replica jersey’s posters, photos, and magazine covers.
I paid the tab and headed up to Dain’s to check it out. I grabbed one of Durham’s own Triangle Belgian Whites. It was delicious. Very cool small pub but I certainly looked out of place in my Duke gear. It appeared you need a beard, piercings and to be an artist to drink there but I really enjoyed it either way.
My brother called me and I had to meet him at the hotel so we could be outside Cameron at 4:45 to meet Mason for a tour of the facilities.
We met up with Mason around 4:45. What a great kid. He is so friendly and down to earth. He took us for a tour of Duke’s facilities. We got to see the practice gyms, as well as the weight and cardio rooms. Everything is embroidered, stamped, or carved with the Duke logo, down to every single dumbbell. It is all top notch. We met and spoke with Coach Stephens for a few minutes as my brother had previously met him on a few occasions. He said how hard Mason worked and he was getting bigger.
We checked out where the team watches film and then headed up to the admin offices where the coaches have their space. It was awesome to see the main hallway where every signed team poster was proudly displayed since the first year they started doing them. I mentioned how I was going to make sure and pick up the Goodfellas poster and Mason grabbed me 3, rolled them up and gave them to me.
We headed down to the locker room and Nolan, Miles and a few others I didn’t get to see where next door watching the Jets game. The locker room was incredible. They had replicas of each of the National Championship trophies and a 60 inch TV. It was awesome.
We then took the same walk the players take out on to the floor in Cameron.
After seeing the facilities, I simply cannot understand why a player who is offered by Duke wouldn’t choose to come to Duke. They are the best in the country and everything is done to perfection. Walking through the halls and seeing life size posters of all the players of the year, defensive players of the year, ACC Champion teams, title teams, NBA players, etc, there is no doubt Duke is the best.
We asked Mason where we could grab some food and he walked us through campus to the union center and into Dillos (is that the name?) Mexican place. He asked what other games I had been to and I told him about my first game in 1992 when Clemson came to visit and I got to see Hurley, Laettner, Hill, etc. It later dawned on me he would have only been 1 years old at the time!
Mason headed back to get some shots up and we ate dinner.
We headed back to Cameron and found out our tickets were in the line with the recruit tickets. We had to wait to 7pm to get in but were waiting in line with Rusty LaRue’s father. He was a nice guy and was talking to other Wake fans in line about how great Cameron was to see a game in.
We got our tickets and went to our seats. We were 2 rows back from the bench, the best I have been in yet. One of the scouts for the Bulls (Dave somebody) noticed my brother and came to speak to him and introduced himself. Funny guy, said he was headed to Texas/K State next. My brother went and shot some footage of Duke’s warm-ups (which will be on his You Tube channel soon).
Josh’s parents came and sat right in front of us. My brother introduced them to me, very nice people. His mom mentioned how much they loved the family atmosphere at Duke and it was a big factor in Josh’s decision. She loved that down the road you knew you always had a place back at Duke as a coach, assistant, etc. Josh soon came out from the player’s locker room and sat with us. Quincy Miller and his friend showed up a few minutes later as well and sat next to Josh.
Ross was not in attendance, he couldn’t make it and Justin Anderson wanted to make it but my brother was unable to give him a ride due to his work with several programs.
The players took the bench and K came out and shook hands and spoke quickly with both Josh and Quincy.
Josh’s parents introduced us to Mr. Scheyer as well. He is very nice. Jon’s mom is also more attractive in person
Few notes from the game:
1) Aminu is good, VERY good. He plays so quietly and just gets it done. He has this poker face and just plays the game very well. I would love to have seen him in a Duke unfiform.
2) Ishmael Smith is quick. Like Ty Lawson quick. I never saw Ty play in person but Smith is incredible.
3) The officiating was horrible, on both ends. It was so lop-sided in the calls they made. Some of the most obvious fouls were never called while little touches got blown on immediately. One of the refs was a real smart I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. too. It was funny to me to hear him call Coach K Mike. Almost like it is disrespectful! In my mind, even Mickie doesn’t call him Mike. “Coach K, could you please take out the trash?”
4) Miles was awesome and Mason is very explosive to the rim. They are both going to be incredible over the next few years.
5) Nolan has become the player everyone thought he could be. He has easily stepped in and filled in where G left off. He is not quite as explosive but he will be next year.
6) Josh seemed to really just soak everything in and didn’t show too much emotion.
7) Quincy was very in to the game in the first half from what I could tell, yelling and cheering with the crowd. He was more quiet in the second half.
It was a very good and physical game as you all know. I really like Wake’s team, except for McFarlene, he seemed like an I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.. The officiating was so poor and the whistle was constantly being blown that neither team could get in any sort of rhythm.
After Kyle’s hard foul, K was giving it to the ref and then Kyle air-balled the FT. K looked dead at the ref and said, “Kyle Singler doesn’t just miss free throws”.
It was very cool to be so close to the action and watch the entire staff work. During a huddle every assistant, manager, etc, has a specific function. And listening to Coach K was incredible. Of course most of the words I cannot repeat in case children are reading
After the game we hung out and my brother got a chance to speak with Quincy some. We waited for Nolan who came out to speak with us. He is so nice, he came out specifically to talk to my bro and got bombarded by fans for pictures, autographs, etc and he graciously signed everything and took every picture.
I got some good insight on a few recruiting tips which I just cannot share, but one could be good, and one potentially won’t go our way.
I parked on Ninth Street and headed to The Duck Shop. Being broke, I held off on buying anything but did grab a one-sheet of this year’s team with “autographs” and a Scheyer schedule on my way out the door.
I headed down and grabbed a seat at the bar at Charlie’s and ordered a few $1 Coors Lights. Great bar and I would hope it is usually packed during game time. The walls were covered with replica jersey’s posters, photos, and magazine covers.
I paid the tab and headed up to Dain’s to check it out. I grabbed one of Durham’s own Triangle Belgian Whites. It was delicious. Very cool small pub but I certainly looked out of place in my Duke gear. It appeared you need a beard, piercings and to be an artist to drink there but I really enjoyed it either way.
My brother called me and I had to meet him at the hotel so we could be outside Cameron at 4:45 to meet Mason for a tour of the facilities.
We met up with Mason around 4:45. What a great kid. He is so friendly and down to earth. He took us for a tour of Duke’s facilities. We got to see the practice gyms, as well as the weight and cardio rooms. Everything is embroidered, stamped, or carved with the Duke logo, down to every single dumbbell. It is all top notch. We met and spoke with Coach Stephens for a few minutes as my brother had previously met him on a few occasions. He said how hard Mason worked and he was getting bigger.
We checked out where the team watches film and then headed up to the admin offices where the coaches have their space. It was awesome to see the main hallway where every signed team poster was proudly displayed since the first year they started doing them. I mentioned how I was going to make sure and pick up the Goodfellas poster and Mason grabbed me 3, rolled them up and gave them to me.
We headed down to the locker room and Nolan, Miles and a few others I didn’t get to see where next door watching the Jets game. The locker room was incredible. They had replicas of each of the National Championship trophies and a 60 inch TV. It was awesome.
We then took the same walk the players take out on to the floor in Cameron.
After seeing the facilities, I simply cannot understand why a player who is offered by Duke wouldn’t choose to come to Duke. They are the best in the country and everything is done to perfection. Walking through the halls and seeing life size posters of all the players of the year, defensive players of the year, ACC Champion teams, title teams, NBA players, etc, there is no doubt Duke is the best.
We asked Mason where we could grab some food and he walked us through campus to the union center and into Dillos (is that the name?) Mexican place. He asked what other games I had been to and I told him about my first game in 1992 when Clemson came to visit and I got to see Hurley, Laettner, Hill, etc. It later dawned on me he would have only been 1 years old at the time!
Mason headed back to get some shots up and we ate dinner.
We headed back to Cameron and found out our tickets were in the line with the recruit tickets. We had to wait to 7pm to get in but were waiting in line with Rusty LaRue’s father. He was a nice guy and was talking to other Wake fans in line about how great Cameron was to see a game in.
We got our tickets and went to our seats. We were 2 rows back from the bench, the best I have been in yet. One of the scouts for the Bulls (Dave somebody) noticed my brother and came to speak to him and introduced himself. Funny guy, said he was headed to Texas/K State next. My brother went and shot some footage of Duke’s warm-ups (which will be on his You Tube channel soon).
Josh’s parents came and sat right in front of us. My brother introduced them to me, very nice people. His mom mentioned how much they loved the family atmosphere at Duke and it was a big factor in Josh’s decision. She loved that down the road you knew you always had a place back at Duke as a coach, assistant, etc. Josh soon came out from the player’s locker room and sat with us. Quincy Miller and his friend showed up a few minutes later as well and sat next to Josh.
Ross was not in attendance, he couldn’t make it and Justin Anderson wanted to make it but my brother was unable to give him a ride due to his work with several programs.
The players took the bench and K came out and shook hands and spoke quickly with both Josh and Quincy.
Josh’s parents introduced us to Mr. Scheyer as well. He is very nice. Jon’s mom is also more attractive in person
Few notes from the game:
1) Aminu is good, VERY good. He plays so quietly and just gets it done. He has this poker face and just plays the game very well. I would love to have seen him in a Duke unfiform.
2) Ishmael Smith is quick. Like Ty Lawson quick. I never saw Ty play in person but Smith is incredible.
3) The officiating was horrible, on both ends. It was so lop-sided in the calls they made. Some of the most obvious fouls were never called while little touches got blown on immediately. One of the refs was a real smart I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. too. It was funny to me to hear him call Coach K Mike. Almost like it is disrespectful! In my mind, even Mickie doesn’t call him Mike. “Coach K, could you please take out the trash?”
4) Miles was awesome and Mason is very explosive to the rim. They are both going to be incredible over the next few years.
5) Nolan has become the player everyone thought he could be. He has easily stepped in and filled in where G left off. He is not quite as explosive but he will be next year.
6) Josh seemed to really just soak everything in and didn’t show too much emotion.
7) Quincy was very in to the game in the first half from what I could tell, yelling and cheering with the crowd. He was more quiet in the second half.
It was a very good and physical game as you all know. I really like Wake’s team, except for McFarlene, he seemed like an I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.. The officiating was so poor and the whistle was constantly being blown that neither team could get in any sort of rhythm.
After Kyle’s hard foul, K was giving it to the ref and then Kyle air-balled the FT. K looked dead at the ref and said, “Kyle Singler doesn’t just miss free throws”.
It was very cool to be so close to the action and watch the entire staff work. During a huddle every assistant, manager, etc, has a specific function. And listening to Coach K was incredible. Of course most of the words I cannot repeat in case children are reading
After the game we hung out and my brother got a chance to speak with Quincy some. We waited for Nolan who came out to speak with us. He is so nice, he came out specifically to talk to my bro and got bombarded by fans for pictures, autographs, etc and he graciously signed everything and took every picture.
I got some good insight on a few recruiting tips which I just cannot share, but one could be good, and one potentially won’t go our way.