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View Full Version : Alumni/ae ponying up free trip to NCAA tourney games for Duke student



towerview road
03-22-2011, 10:48 AM
Did anyone see this in today's Chronicle?

"We just returned from watching Duke’s nail biting win over the Wolverines and we were whole-heartedly dismayed by the lack of passion exhibited by the Duke students in attendance. The Wolverine fans unarguably out-cheered the notorious “Crazies” from beginning to end. As hard as the Duke cheerleaders and pep band tried, they weren’t able to get the Crazies off their butts for the first 25 to 30 minutes of the game. We know the seats at Time Warner Cable Arena are more comfortable than the shoe-worn bleachers of Cameron Indoor, but we would hope that Duke’s quest for a back-to-back championship would be enough motivation to get the Duke students to cheer for every offensive and defensive series. Coach K needs to focus 100 percent of his time on his players and the game, and he shouldn’t have to personally pump-up the crowd like he did in the second half.

In an effort to take some of the burden off Coach K, we would like to sponsor the airfare and cost of admission for the most passionate Duke student to attend the rest of the Duke Men’s NCAA tournament games and be a “rally captain” to lead the Crazies in 40 minutes of cheering to try and give our Blue Devils a “home court” advantage away from Cameron. To be considered, post a short 1-minute video to YouTube pleading your case and copy the link in the comments section of this letter on the Duke Chronicle website by noon on Wednesday. Go Duke!!"

Dennis and Elizabeth Chen

Pratt ’02 and Trinity ’00

http://dukechronicle.com/article/how-crazie-are-you

Duke alumni/ae are clearly the best! I hope some Crazies take advantage of this and participate. Currently there are 0 comments on the site.

DevilWearsPrada
03-22-2011, 12:38 PM
Thats a wonderful thing to do!

However, the seats behind the bench (behind the Duke bench in Charlotte), were mainly Duke staff and family. The first 2 rows were the K family and the other wives/small children of the other coaches. I think actually the first 4 rows were of coaches and their family. Then the next few rows, perhaps 4-10 were family members of the players and their guests. Even former Duke football players were in attendance.

Across from that section, were other Duke staff, such as the athletic director, his family, Pres Brodhead and wifey, Duke football staff, Duke athletic department staff and their families, some retired Duke staff, and I was told only 12 Iron Dukes and their families had tickets in the downstairs section.

My good friend was sitting in the downstairs section, and after the unc wash game, I went downstairs to sit. We were cheering in the back of the section and standing the 2nd half when Duke had the ball, and cheering LETS GO DUKE and then DEFENSE and REBOUND! The Duke students that were sitting downstairs, were to my left were cheering, except they were in the back of the section. Way out of TV camera view.

I had many people texting me in the arena, and asking why didnt the DUKE SECTION stand and cheer! And folks at home said the same thing. THATS a GOOD QUESTION!!!

During the first game vs Hampton, the 2 downstairs Duke sections hardly stood ! Let alone cheered. I stood and clapped on every basket and free throw! And had on the Lighted Blue Devil Horns.

The Cameron Crusties have been given the best seating in the coliseum, but yet dont cheer or stand!

We did our part in the back of the section (Sunday) and cheered. Many in the 15 or so rows in front of us, didnt do their part. : (

I would say that 80% of the Charlotte arena were Tarhole fans. Alot of them were cheering and clapping for Michigan.

Several Duke students, were sitting upstairs. Along with their parents. And Duke fans were sitting in various sections. UPSTAIRS, THO.

I was personnaly ashamed at how little the lower sections stood or clapped or cheered, until the last 5 mintues. Duh, the team needs support the entire 40 minutes of playing time! Especially this past Sunday vs Mich. Tough and rough game.

THE Cheerleaders and Pep Band were great. Of course! They are spirited and passionate about the Blue Devils.

Hope passionate fans make it to California for the games!

towerview road
03-22-2011, 05:19 PM
*Bump* In case any current Duke student didn't see the article.

There is now ONE comment - and it's from a pro-Heels person!

Come on Duke students, sign up!

thewoosh31
03-22-2011, 06:26 PM
OMG I know Dennis!

I had no idea he was doing this.

Will have to spread the word via my FB to the younger Dukies.

Duke: A Dynasty
03-23-2011, 12:32 AM
DO you have to be a student

anon
03-23-2011, 01:31 AM
I sat in the lower Duke section in Charlotte as an undergrad on Friday and Sunday. I promise you that our area was loud, almost to the point of absurdity—not all of the "traditional" Cameron cheers replicate well to a small section of a big arena. The twenty or so rows in front of us were full of, yes, crusty Iron Dukes and, in front of them, folks with direct connections to the program (families of the players). This area was not as vocal, nor would I typically expect them to be. (I'd expect that the booster clubs of the other teams were similarly reserved in their support.)

This is a very generous offer, but I think the donors' original complaint may be slightly incorrect.

Richard Berg
03-23-2011, 02:25 AM
Keep in mind you can't really stand up in tourney venues. All standing does is piss off the people behind you, unless your ENTIRE section of expensive-ticket-holders is on board with the idea. Sometimes not even then (I've had this argument with many stadium officials @ DUMB venues).

-jk
03-23-2011, 06:59 AM
Keep in mind you can't really stand up in tourney venues. All standing does is piss off the people behind you, unless your ENTIRE section of expensive-ticket-holders is on board with the idea. Sometimes not even then (I've had this argument with many stadium officials @ DUMB venues).

That's why they put the students at the back of the section...

-jk

weezie
03-23-2011, 08:30 AM
I sat in the lower Duke section in Charlotte as an undergrad on Friday and Sunday....The twenty or so rows in front of us were full of, yes, crusty Iron Dukes and, in front of them, folks with direct connections to the program (families of the players). This area was not as vocal, nor would I typically expect them to be. (I'd expect that the booster clubs of the other teams were similarly reserved in their support.)


Well, the point is now becoming moot but the WA section was roaring and easily heard.

When K yelled at the Duke section to start cheering, the only two who immediately jumped up were his wife and daughter.

I sure wish I could have moved over there from our seats behind the mi bench. We were verbally assaulted each time we cheered and even had a cup tossed at our backs.
Whatever...it takes all kinds, I suppose.

Native
03-23-2011, 08:47 AM
God, if I were there right now...

Well, my decision comes back in less than a week so I'll know for sure then! Do you think they'll let me do it if I'm newly admitted? :o

cf-62
03-23-2011, 09:56 AM
Thats a wonderful thing to do!

However, the seats behind the bench (behind the Duke bench in Charlotte), were mainly Duke staff and family. The first 2 rows were the K family and the other wives/small children of the other coaches. I think actually the first 4 rows were of coaches and their family. Then the next few rows, perhaps 4-10 were family members of the players and their guests. Even former Duke football players were in attendance.

Across from that section, were other Duke staff, such as the athletic director, his family, Pres Brodhead and wifey, Duke football staff, Duke athletic department staff and their families, some retired Duke staff, and I was told only 12 Iron Dukes and their families had tickets in the downstairs section.

My good friend was sitting in the downstairs section, and after the unc wash game, I went downstairs to sit. We were cheering in the back of the section and standing the 2nd half when Duke had the ball, and cheering LETS GO DUKE and then DEFENSE and REBOUND! The Duke students that were sitting downstairs, were to my left were cheering, except they were in the back of the section. Way out of TV camera view.

I had many people texting me in the arena, and asking why didnt the DUKE SECTION stand and cheer! And folks at home said the same thing. THATS a GOOD QUESTION!!!

During the first game vs Hampton, the 2 downstairs Duke sections hardly stood ! Let alone cheered. I stood and clapped on every basket and free throw! And had on the Lighted Blue Devil Horns.

The Cameron Crusties have been given the best seating in the coliseum, but yet dont cheer or stand!

We did our part in the back of the section (Sunday) and cheered. Many in the 15 or so rows in front of us, didnt do their part. : (

I would say that 80% of the Charlotte arena were Tarhole fans. Alot of them were cheering and clapping for Michigan.

Several Duke students, were sitting upstairs. Along with their parents. And Duke fans were sitting in various sections. UPSTAIRS, THO.

I was personnaly ashamed at how little the lower sections stood or clapped or cheered, until the last 5 mintues. Duh, the team needs support the entire 40 minutes of playing time! Especially this past Sunday vs Mich. Tough and rough game.

THE Cheerleaders and Pep Band were great. Of course! They are spirited and passionate about the Blue Devils.

Hope passionate fans make it to California for the games!

Your definitely in the right vein here, but you're dead wrong when saying that the people in the Duke section were Cameron Crusties.

I am a Cameron Crusty. I did my stint as a Crazy, including a few years after graduating. I now sit upstairs in the corner and do whatever I can (cheer at appropriate times, yell at poor reffing from Karl Hess, etc.). You cannot stand upstairs during play (there are a few exceptions) because there are usually old (and I mean OLD) people behind you that just can't stand for extended periods of time.

Now I can tell you that all the Cameron Crusties I know -- including some that sit at mid-court -- were never given the option of buying the "Duke" tickets. We had to fend for ourselves, which is why the vocal fans were upstairs - as those were the seats that were available.

The "Duke" ticket holders last weekend were - I think someone else put it - Iron Duke Crusties. And they're so much more than that - they are the Crusty Iron Duke Crusties. Don't expect different this weekend. Only the biggest donors will be visible on TV - or even part of the game. The vast majority of Duke seats (90%) are in the upper deck (man, do these arenas suck or what?). I am biting the bullet, though, and accepting my crappy seat (what's sad is that the NCAA has sold out the schools for more money (surprise!!!!). Back in the day, at least 2/3 of the school seats would be lower level. Now, the NCAA can just make too much money selling those seats to the public.

This is the way of ticket-based donor incentives. If you are a recent grad, all I can say is "start donating now" if you want to be in those seats before YOU are a crusty crusty.

PumpkinFunk
03-23-2011, 02:52 PM
Keep in mind you can't really stand up in tourney venues. All standing does is piss off the people behind you, unless your ENTIRE section of expensive-ticket-holders is on board with the idea. Sometimes not even then (I've had this argument with many stadium officials @ DUMB venues).

Yeah, this is the huge issue. They won't even let the bands stand up much during games, even if we're on the floor level without people behind us, because of the stadium rules. The bigger problem, as cf-62 noted, is that the people who get the seats at these locations tend to be older alumni who have been contributing for many, many years. For Anaheim, they didn't even offer seats to students. For ACC tournaments, it's been same deal except with Atlanta 2 years ago. For Charlotte, they offered a very small number in the student section. Same with Greensboro last year. Houston, they offered but very few were taken. What happens is that the athletic department decides how to spend their ticket allotment, which means that except for the Final Four, where there are specially designated student areas, there are not any seats that must be allotted to students. In an area without a huge Duke fanbase, such as Houston, they can get away with offering more to students over the lower-priority Iron Dukes, but in North Carolina, they can easily sell those tickets to alumni who are paying a huge amount, so they do. Students who do get tickets get ones that are very far away.

From the experience of a friend who bought tickets in Houston, being a student in the Duke section and standing and cheering loudly actually results in the other Duke fans getting angry. My friend was with another student and one of the members of the K family or a player's family gave them tickets to sit in the back of the family member sections for the Baylor game after watching them cheer for the Purdue game without anyone helping them out. The families of the players and coaches want other people to help cheer with them, but unfortunately, most of the people who buy the tickets seem intent on sitting and staying quiet.

cf-62
03-23-2011, 03:29 PM
Yeah, this is the huge issue. They won't even let the bands stand up much during games, even if we're on the floor level without people behind us, because of the stadium rules. The bigger problem, as cf-62 noted, is that the people who get the seats at these locations tend to be older alumni who have been contributing for many, many years. For Anaheim, they didn't even offer seats to students. For ACC tournaments, it's been same deal except with Atlanta 2 years ago. For Charlotte, they offered a very small number in the student section. Same with Greensboro last year. Houston, they offered but very few were taken. What happens is that the athletic department decides how to spend their ticket allotment, which means that except for the Final Four, where there are specially designated student areas, there are not any seats that must be allotted to students. In an area without a huge Duke fanbase, such as Houston, they can get away with offering more to students over the lower-priority Iron Dukes, but in North Carolina, they can easily sell those tickets to alumni who are paying a huge amount, so they do. Students who do get tickets get ones that are very far away.

From the experience of a friend who bought tickets in Houston, being a student in the Duke section and standing and cheering loudly actually results in the other Duke fans getting angry. My friend was with another student and one of the members of the K family or a player's family gave them tickets to sit in the back of the family member sections for the Baylor game after watching them cheer for the Purdue game without anyone helping them out. The families of the players and coaches want other people to help cheer with them, but unfortunately, most of the people who buy the tickets seem intent on sitting and staying quiet.

P-Funk has a very good point about something important. The parents (and coaches' families) are extremely vocal - and cheer loudly most of the time. I've had the good fortune of witnessing this in Maui. They are great fans. Now, they aren't going to do the "Crazie" thing - do clever cheers, taunt the other players or school, etc. BUT they will cheer loud and often.

Dr. Tina
03-23-2011, 03:29 PM
I offer myself to be adopted by the K family or any Duke player's family, so I can cheer on the guys with them. Those Curry Mom inspired "The Ones Behind the One" t-shirts were awesome!

Just saying....lol