Attending a game @ Miami

[gsexton]

Has anyone ever attended a game at Miami, I am going to the game on Wednesday?

[MartyClark]

Has anyone ever attended a game at Miami, I am going to the game on Wednesday?

I was there a few year ago when Paulus, Scheyer, Zoubek et al were playing together. Miami ran up a big lead and Duke pulled it to within 2 or 3 by the end.

It's a relatively small arena, I'm thinking 7,000 people or so. It was fairly loud but a lot of it was amplified stuff rather than actual crowd noise. Not having been to many Duke games, I was surprised at the "F... you Paulus" chant every time he went to the free throw line.

I thought it was a good experience. I'd go there again.

[blazindw]

I went to law school at the U so the only bball games I went to were when Duke played (2 men, 2 women). It seats 7000 and is far and away the most amped crowd of the season. Great sightlines and easy to get in and out of the arena. There are two main parking garages within walking distance, the Ponce de Leon garage and the Pavia Garage located on campus. Allow extra time to get out as traffic onto Ponce de Leon Blvd and US-1 will be thick. Enjoy!

[Neochina]

I went to law school at the U so the only bball games I went to were when Duke played (2 men, 2 women). It seats 7000 and is far and away the most amped crowd of the season. Great sightlines and easy to get in and out of the arena. There are two main parking garages within walking distance, the Ponce de Leon garage and the Pavia Garage located on campus. Allow extra time to get out as traffic onto Ponce de Leon Blvd and US-1 will be thick. Enjoy!

Love going to games in Coral Gables. They always fill the student section (behind basket) for Duke. Very respectful crowd. This is arguably the biggest regular season game since the Rick Barry years. Can't wait.

And they sell dippin dots!

[msdukie]

I've gone to almost all of the Duke @ Miami games and will be there Wed. night with 4 others. There are about 100 tickets left. I wouldn't call the crowd "respectful" (or knowledgeable for that matter). Go to Shake Shack for dinner before the game, it's about a block away. I would expect to see a large Duke contingent in the Gables.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

I will be there in Duke gear. Should be fun, looks like a sellout, even stubhub is running dangerously low on tickets.

[gsexton]

Thanks for all the info. I am in Miami now get set to go to the game. Should be a fun night!

[BattierD12]

So I was one of the six Duke students that were shown in the student section throughout the night (we all go to grad school here after graduating from Duke in '11 and '12).

That was one of the worst experiences of my life, and that doesn't even include the game results. Three of my friends got in line at 10:30 this morning and we had pretty good position. The rest of showed up at 3, and shortly after, we started hearing it from the crowd (typical, almost Maryland-esque. whatever.). Then their mascot threw pizza at us and hit one of my friends with the pizza cardboard box. Whatever, what do you expect.

As we're about to enter the stadium, a couple of the deans pulled us away from the line (while the Miami fans continued filing in behind us) and tried to get us kicked out because we weren't supporting Miami. "We don't appreciate people coming in our stadium and trying to make some statement to get on TV with opponents' uniforms on. You clearly aren't here to support Miami, so you have no business here." This all despite the fact we paid our $65 student activity fee to get tickets to these games and that you see people in other uniforms in every college everywhere (including at Duke in the grad student section). I told one of the deans simply "I know you're all new to basketball and probably don't know any of this but this is how it works at other more tolerable schools" (he was not too happy with that, but we were getting irritated with their nonsense). After enough complaining, they finally let us in but not without another 100 Miami fans going in before us (effectively removing our advantage coming early).

We get in the student section, get taunted with cheers that centered around every obscene body part and every possible cuss word (honestly gotta wonder what the U Miami LGBT community had to think hearing certain cheers and spew coming from their fellow students cheering in unison). But hey - this happens at Maryland, FSU - whatever. We get empty water bottles, popcorn buckets, and other stuff thrown at us throughout the game (and those pool noodles being whacked on our heads). Did I see any security guard in sight? Nope. But we took it all in the stride, didn't make a fuss, and just laughed it all off.

We stayed until the very end because we were not going to give them any satisfaction of them forcing us out, but god, there is a problem from administration down that needs to be addressed. Made us appreciate so much more the environment we had at Duke and (reading up on our history) the efforts Uncle Terry and Coach K did to make our court and crowd a classy bunch.

Didn't help that getting back to my apt I was flooded with Facebook posts from my classmates that included stuff like our loss being compared to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy (because it's always alright to compare sports to tragedies that killed 110 people).

Keep it classy Miami. They may have destroyed us by 27, but man I'm always proud to be a Dukie.

[DUKIE V(A)]

So I was one of the six Duke students that were shown in the student section throughout the night (we all go to grad school here after graduating from Duke in '11 and '12).

That was one of the worst experiences of my life, and that doesn't even include the game results. Three of my friends got in line at 10:30 this morning and we had pretty good position. The rest of showed up at 3, and shortly after, we started hearing it from the crowd (typical, almost Maryland-esque. whatever.). Then their mascot threw pizza at us and hit one of my friends with the pizza cardboard box. Whatever, what do you expect.

As we're about to enter the stadium, a couple of the deans pulled us away from the line (while the Miami fans continued filing in behind us) and tried to get us kicked out because we weren't supporting Miami. "We don't appreciate people coming in our stadium and trying to make some statement to get on TV with opponents' uniforms on. You clearly aren't here to support Miami, so you have no business here." This all despite the fact we paid our $65 student activity fee to get tickets to these games and that you see people in other uniforms in every college everywhere (including at Duke in the grad student section). I told one of the deans simply "I know you're all new to basketball and probably don't know any of this but this is how it works at other more tolerable schools" (he was not too happy with that, but we were getting irritated with their nonsense). After enough complaining, they finally let us in but not without another 100 Miami fans going in before us (effectively removing our advantage coming early).

We get in the student section, get taunted with cheers that centered around every obscene body part and every possible cuss word (honestly gotta wonder what the U Miami LGBT community had to think hearing certain cheers and spew coming from their fellow students cheering in unison). But hey - this happens at Maryland, FSU - whatever. We get empty water bottles, popcorn buckets, and other stuff thrown at us throughout the game (and those pool noodles being whacked on our heads). Did I see any security guard in sight? Nope. But we took it all in the stride, didn't make a fuss, and just laughed it all off.

We stayed until the very end because we were not going to give them any satisfaction of them forcing us out, but god, there is a problem from administration down that needs to be addressed. Made us appreciate so much more the environment we had at Duke and (reading up on our history) the efforts Uncle Terry and Coach K did to make our court and crowd a classy bunch.

Didn't help that getting back to my apt I was flooded with Facebook posts from my classmates that included stuff like our loss being compared to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy (because it's always alright to compare sports to tragedies that killed 110 people).

Keep it classy Miami. They may have destroyed us by 27, but man I'm always proud to be a Dukie.


That sounds brutal, classless, and completely uncalled for. I am impressed that you all stuck it out despite the abuse. I am sure many people couldn't even manage to watch the game to the end from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

Thankfully, it was but one game and I expect that you and your friends will have the chance to show your classmates what a classy fan does after a victory later in the season.

It will be interesting how Miami plays in their next few games. They need to consolidate this victory with wins over lesser teams (i.e., like holding serve after a big break in tennis). If they are not able to do that (see NC State), I have my doubts about their winning the ACC Regular Season.

[moonpie23]

If they are not able to do that (see NC State), I have my doubts about their winning the ACC Regular Season.

they are 5-0 in conference play with 4 road wins......after the embarrassing beat down they handed duke last night, i'd say they are looking pretty stout...

[CameronBornAndBred]

I will be there in Duke gear. Should be fun, looks like a sellout, even stubhub is running dangerously low on tickets.
All y'all who went for the first time are not allowed back.

[Furniture]

Battier

What a horrific experience!

[blazindw]

So I was one of the six Duke students that were shown in the student section throughout the night (we all go to grad school here after graduating from Duke in '11 and '12).

That was one of the worst experiences of my life, and that doesn't even include the game results. Three of my friends got in line at 10:30 this morning and we had pretty good position. The rest of showed up at 3, and shortly after, we started hearing it from the crowd (typical, almost Maryland-esque. whatever.). Then their mascot threw pizza at us and hit one of my friends with the pizza cardboard box. Whatever, what do you expect.

As we're about to enter the stadium, a couple of the deans pulled us away from the line (while the Miami fans continued filing in behind us) and tried to get us kicked out because we weren't supporting Miami. "We don't appreciate people coming in our stadium and trying to make some statement to get on TV with opponents' uniforms on. You clearly aren't here to support Miami, so you have no business here." This all despite the fact we paid our $65 student activity fee to get tickets to these games and that you see people in other uniforms in every college everywhere (including at Duke in the grad student section). I told one of the deans simply "I know you're all new to basketball and probably don't know any of this but this is how it works at other more tolerable schools" (he was not too happy with that, but we were getting irritated with their nonsense). After enough complaining, they finally let us in but not without another 100 Miami fans going in before us (effectively removing our advantage coming early).

We get in the student section, get taunted with cheers that centered around every obscene body part and every possible cuss word (honestly gotta wonder what the U Miami LGBT community had to think hearing certain cheers and spew coming from their fellow students cheering in unison). But hey - this happens at Maryland, FSU - whatever. We get empty water bottles, popcorn buckets, and other stuff thrown at us throughout the game (and those pool noodles being whacked on our heads). Did I see any security guard in sight? Nope. But we took it all in the stride, didn't make a fuss, and just laughed it all off.

We stayed until the very end because we were not going to give them any satisfaction of them forcing us out, but god, there is a problem from administration down that needs to be addressed. Made us appreciate so much more the environment we had at Duke and (reading up on our history) the efforts Uncle Terry and Coach K did to make our court and crowd a classy bunch.

Didn't help that getting back to my apt I was flooded with Facebook posts from my classmates that included stuff like our loss being compared to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy (because it's always alright to compare sports to tragedies that killed 110 people).

Keep it classy Miami. They may have destroyed us by 27, but man I'm always proud to be a Dukie.

That's exactly what happened when I was a law student there (we played down there twice while I was there, and it happened both times). The first game, me and 5 law students (all Duke grads) were THE first 5 people in line and they did the "hold up" move to us as well...of course, when they realized we were law students (I called my dean, who had to verify that we were students), about 200 people had gone in and they made us sit in the back of the section. We were taunted the whole game, but we did win both times.

They even did it to me at a women's game there when Duke played. I would go to your dean and complain, which is what I did since I had a great rapport with the law school administration when I was there. It's not right and it's not something they're used to except when FSU comes to town. I'm sorry it happened.

On a personal note, I'm both the regional chair for Duke DC as well as the president of Miami's DC alumni chapter...needless to say, my phone never stopped buzzing with Facebook posts and text messages from people I haven't heard from in years who came to gloat. I'm mentally recalling everyone who did--even the Michigan folks who taunted me because now they're in position to be #1--because when we come back, I'm not going to say a word. It's days like this that remind me that no matter when the good times are good or the bad times are bad (or even ugly), the one thing that matters is that I'm a Blue Devil and I'm damn proud of that. The fact that people constantly gloat to me personally about our setbacks makes me smile...because that means we're always the team they're striving to become.

So chin up, Battier...I know what you're going through. Glad we got some Duke Blue representing down there still!

[Dev11]

So I was one of the six Duke students that were shown in the student section throughout the night (we all go to grad school here after graduating from Duke in '11 and '12).

That was one of the worst experiences of my life, and that doesn't even include the game results. Three of my friends got in line at 10:30 this morning and we had pretty good position. The rest of showed up at 3, and shortly after, we started hearing it from the crowd (typical, almost Maryland-esque. whatever.). Then their mascot threw pizza at us and hit one of my friends with the pizza cardboard box. Whatever, what do you expect.

As we're about to enter the stadium, a couple of the deans pulled us away from the line (while the Miami fans continued filing in behind us) and tried to get us kicked out because we weren't supporting Miami. "We don't appreciate people coming in our stadium and trying to make some statement to get on TV with opponents' uniforms on. You clearly aren't here to support Miami, so you have no business here." This all despite the fact we paid our $65 student activity fee to get tickets to these games and that you see people in other uniforms in every college everywhere (including at Duke in the grad student section). I told one of the deans simply "I know you're all new to basketball and probably don't know any of this but this is how it works at other more tolerable schools" (he was not too happy with that, but we were getting irritated with their nonsense). After enough complaining, they finally let us in but not without another 100 Miami fans going in before us (effectively removing our advantage coming early).

We get in the student section, get taunted with cheers that centered around every obscene body part and every possible cuss word (honestly gotta wonder what the U Miami LGBT community had to think hearing certain cheers and spew coming from their fellow students cheering in unison). But hey - this happens at Maryland, FSU - whatever. We get empty water bottles, popcorn buckets, and other stuff thrown at us throughout the game (and those pool noodles being whacked on our heads). Did I see any security guard in sight? Nope. But we took it all in the stride, didn't make a fuss, and just laughed it all off.

We stayed until the very end because we were not going to give them any satisfaction of them forcing us out, but god, there is a problem from administration down that needs to be addressed. Made us appreciate so much more the environment we had at Duke and (reading up on our history) the efforts Uncle Terry and Coach K did to make our court and crowd a classy bunch.

Didn't help that getting back to my apt I was flooded with Facebook posts from my classmates that included stuff like our loss being compared to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy (because it's always alright to compare sports to tragedies that killed 110 people).

Keep it classy Miami. They may have destroyed us by 27, but man I'm always proud to be a Dukie.

You just described the Comcast Center experience verbatim, right down to the popcorn buckets and the LGBT slurs. Kudos for sticking it out.

[miramar]

I was up in general admission since I like to be able to stand during games, and it's pretty close to the court behind the basket on the opposite side of the student section.

While I have no doubt that the students were classless (I also remember the FU Paulus cheers) the adults were OK. I heard a few comments, but mostly people were being funny and feeling sorry for me.

I honestly don't know why Larranaga and Shalala (who is usually at the game) put up with the nonsense in the student section. Shalala especially is so concerned about UM's image, so this is something she should deal with, but it seems that they are mostly interested in selling tickets. Also, all of the noise comes from the student section and fills up the entire arena, so I guess that they are willing to put up with such nonsense in order to get a real ACC basketball atmosphere, warts and all.

Finally, when Larranaga was hired I told every UM grad I know that he was a huge improvement over Haith, and unfortunately I was right.

[Danke Shane]

I'm pretty sure I've been to UNC @ Duke games, where I've seen "students" decked out in UNC gear down in the Duke student section (TV side). Yeah, even though it sucks I can't imagine the same thing happening in Cameron (opposing fans being held back, etc.)

[Wander]

I'm pretty sure I've been to UNC @ Duke games, where I've seen "students" decked out in UNC gear down in the Duke student section (TV side). Yeah, even though it sucks I can't imagine the same thing happening in Cameron (opposing fans being held back, etc.)

Robertson scholar tenting? (Don't know - is that ban still in effect these days?)

[Mabdul Doobakus]

I went to Miami for med school and went to a few football games, and can confirm that the students, in general, are pretty nasty at sporting events. And this is coming from a lifelong Hurricanes fan. They always seemed more interested in foul language and tearing down the other team than in supporting their own team.

[BattierD12]

I went to Miami for med school and went to a few football games, and can confirm that the students, in general, are pretty nasty at sporting events. And this is coming from a lifelong Hurricanes fan. They always seemed more interested in foul language and tearing down the other team than in supporting their own team.

That last part is pretty funny because my friends and I noticed that in the first few minutes of the game, every time they were on defense, the students were just attacking us and the team like crazy, and then when they were on offense, it was stunningly quiet. But in the end, they supported their team well - hard not to when you watch a domination like that.

[DUKIE V(A)]

they are 5-0 in conference play with 4 road wins......after the embarrassing beat down they handed duke last night, i'd say they are looking pretty stout...

Miami has had a great start to the ACC season no doubt. My comment was more geared to the fact that many teams who beat Duke seem to follow the win up with some suspect losses. It will be interesting to see whether Miami consolidates their big win or follows the path of many others who were unable to sustain their momentum after beating Duke.

[matt1]

My mom went to Duke (class of '91) and then to Carolina for law school. One time, she was watching a Duke-UNC game at a bar just off campus in Chapel Hill, and Carolina fans threw beer bottles at her.

[gumbomoop]

they are 5-0 in conference play with 4 road wins......after the embarrassing beat down they handed duke last night, i'd say they are looking pretty stout...

A correction: Miami has 3 ACC road wins to date. This doesn't change the fact that they're now stoutly on top, with, arguably, a slightly easier ACC schedule from here on than Duke, NCSt, and UNC.

I've been tooting the 'Canes' horn for awhile, and of course last night they looked so good, but they could lose a few road games. Long before the late-season rematch in CIS, their game at NCSt on Feb. 2 should be a doozy. They should be 7-0, with 4 road wins by then.

[brevity]

I honestly don't know why Larranaga and Shalala (who is usually at the game) put up with the nonsense in the student section. Shalala especially is so concerned about UM's image, so this is something she should deal with, but it seems that they are mostly interested in selling tickets. Also, all of the noise comes from the student section and fills up the entire arena, so I guess that they are willing to put up with such nonsense in order to get a real ACC basketball atmosphere, warts and all.

Duke has had a following for so long that it's easy to forget the steps you need to take to build a fanbase at home:

1. Get fans.
2. Get fans to behave.

[Cameron]

So I was one of the six Duke students that were shown in the student section throughout the night (we all go to grad school here after graduating from Duke in '11 and '12).

That was one of the worst experiences of my life, and that doesn't even include the game results. Three of my friends got in line at 10:30 this morning and we had pretty good position. The rest of showed up at 3, and shortly after, we started hearing it from the crowd (typical, almost Maryland-esque. whatever.). Then their mascot threw pizza at us and hit one of my friends with the pizza cardboard box. Whatever, what do you expect.

As we're about to enter the stadium, a couple of the deans pulled us away from the line (while the Miami fans continued filing in behind us) and tried to get us kicked out because we weren't supporting Miami. "We don't appreciate people coming in our stadium and trying to make some statement to get on TV with opponents' uniforms on. You clearly aren't here to support Miami, so you have no business here." This all despite the fact we paid our $65 student activity fee to get tickets to these games and that you see people in other uniforms in every college everywhere (including at Duke in the grad student section). I told one of the deans simply "I know you're all new to basketball and probably don't know any of this but this is how it works at other more tolerable schools" (he was not too happy with that, but we were getting irritated with their nonsense). After enough complaining, they finally let us in but not without another 100 Miami fans going in before us (effectively removing our advantage coming early).

We get in the student section, get taunted with cheers that centered around every obscene body part and every possible cuss word (honestly gotta wonder what the U Miami LGBT community had to think hearing certain cheers and spew coming from their fellow students cheering in unison). But hey - this happens at Maryland, FSU - whatever. We get empty water bottles, popcorn buckets, and other stuff thrown at us throughout the game (and those pool noodles being whacked on our heads). Did I see any security guard in sight? Nope. But we took it all in the stride, didn't make a fuss, and just laughed it all off.

We stayed until the very end because we were not going to give them any satisfaction of them forcing us out, but god, there is a problem from administration down that needs to be addressed. Made us appreciate so much more the environment we had at Duke and (reading up on our history) the efforts Uncle Terry and Coach K did to make our court and crowd a classy bunch.

Didn't help that getting back to my apt I was flooded with Facebook posts from my classmates that included stuff like our loss being compared to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy (because it's always alright to compare sports to tragedies that killed 110 people).

Keep it classy Miami. They may have destroyed us by 27, but man I'm always proud to be a Dukie.


Love going to games in Coral Gables. They always fill the student section (behind basket) for Duke. Very respectful crowd. This is arguably the biggest regular season game since the Rick Barry years. Can't wait.

And they sell dippin dots!

For what, the Green-Orange game?

That account above from BattierD12 is a disgrace. Reminds me of my visit to Ohio State. Buckeye supporters compose one of the five most intolerable fan-bases on the planet. Any sport. Aside, of course, from foriegn soccer, whose fans will actually murder you.

[Neochina]

Shameful that the Miami students crossed certain boundaries. In no way excusing their behavior. This is definitely an issue the administration should act upon.

That said, don't think the experience of these grad students was at all indicative of the duke fans who were in attendance. I was on the opposite side of the arena. Took some ribbing, but nothing even remotely offensive. Walking thru the concourse during halftime and exiting after the game, inundated with boisterous chants of "its all about the U" as opposed to the duke-based obscenities I'm used to hearing from other fan bases.

There had to be over 500 others wearing Duke colors. Anyone else care to chime in on their experience? Willing to bet that mine was far more typical.

Saw Duke get killed at Cole Field House (circa 2001?). Miami fans not even in the same ballpark as the cretins at Maryland.

As a former Miami resident, I'm thrilled with the success of the Miami basketball program. (will always hate the football team)

Miami remains my favorite ACC roadtrip. Going back for the UNC game in 2 weeks. Direct flights are cheap and plentiful (even from Denver). Hope to see even more Duke blue in 2013.

[miramar]

Duke has had a following for so long that it's easy to forget the steps you need to take to build a fanbase at home:

1. Get fans.
2. Get fans to behave.

Fans throughout South Florida are notorious front runners, so if UM continues to win the fans will show up, at least until the first losing streak.