is Playing in Charlotte really a "home-court" for the Devils?

[Kewlswim]

Hi,

Dick Vitale ranted about how winning the ACC will be more important than ever for Duke or Carolina so as to be able to play in Raleigh and then in Charlotte. I buy that it is an advantage to play in Raleigh, but I don't think Charlotte is AT ALL a Duke town. In fact I feel that city hates Duke enough to make it a disadvantage to play there. Am I missing something? Was he thinking that Duke fans in Durham could drive to Charlotte easier than say going to an Eastern city?

GO DUKE!

[gep]

Hi,

Dick Vitale ranted about how winning the ACC will be more important than ever for Duke or Carolina so as to be able to play in Raleigh and then in Charlotte. I buy that it is an advantage to play in Raleigh, but I don't think Charlotte is AT ALL a Duke town. In fact I feel that city hates Duke enough to make it a disadvantage to play there. Am I missing something? Was he thinking that Duke fans in Durham could drive to Charlotte easier than say going to an Eastern city?

GO DUKE!

oops... I just posted in another thread that I thought Duke fans fill up Charlotte pretty well... and essentially makes Charlotte a "home" game. Obviously, I don't know the details... :confused:

[Kewlswim]

oops... I just posted in another thread that I thought Duke fans fill up Charlotte pretty well... and essentially makes Charlotte a "home" game. Obviously, I don't know the details... :confused:

Hi,

I stand corrected. Maybe Charlotte has turned into more of a Duke town than what I remembered.

GO DUKE!

[YmoBeThere]

It has been a while since I have lived in Charlotte, but I don't think the city was against Duke. I lived in Greensboro for awhile(during the JJ Redick era) and there were so many fans coming from southern Virginia, that while it didn't have the volume of Cameron, etc. that I thought it was more than a neutral court in our favor against UNC-G and BC.

[Uncle Drew]

Charlotte has and always has had a TON of UNC alums in and around the city. It's why the Bobcats chose Felton and May a few years back because they knew alums would show up to watch. It's also a key reason the Panthers chose Peppers, though that selection has been more favorable to the city's football success than I think May and Felton ever will for Basketball. Not that if Duke were to get a high seed and play there fans wouldn't show up in vast numbers. But if they do anything like they did a few years ago and have UNC and Duke playing at the same site in the first round you can count on UNC fans out numbering Duke fans 2 to 1. For whatever reason in the state of North Carolina Duke is a second class citizen to most of it's residents and media. Duke has had success there just as UNC has, but the fan base in the city runs powder blue for the most part.

Dukes best place to play outside of Cameron is the Meadowlands hands down. Even MSG would be able to sell out with Duke playing there. Greensboro isn't a bad site for Duke to play. But Charlotte is about as much a home away from home for Duke as Lawrence Joel.

[devildeac]

oops... I just posted in another thread that I thought Duke fans fill up Charlotte pretty well... and essentially makes Charlotte a "home" game. Obviously, I don't know the details... :confused:

charlotte a Duke town? You gotta be kidding me. I would bet there are more unc alums there than there are Dukies in the entire state of NC. And, btw, when a recent ACC tourney was there, the pro-holes crowd booed our team AND cheerleaders. classy bunch.

[Wander]

If we were playing Hawaii in Charlotte I think we'd have a quasi-home advantage, but certainly not against Davidson.

[Matches]

Charlotte is without question a UNC town, but we can fill up the Bobcats Arena with Duke fans. Playing the first two rounds in Charlotte would be a nice HC advantage so long as UNC isn't also there. We had a nice HC adv. in 1999, not so much in 2005.

Sadly, under the pod system it's almost certain that UNC will be there in 2008, so we're better off going elsewhere.

[Lord Ash]

Definately not a hometown. I would say against Davidson it was away.

[DU82]

Charlotte is without question a UNC town, but we can fill up the Bobcats Arena with Duke fans. Playing the first two rounds in Charlotte would be a nice HC advantage so long as UNC isn't also there. We had a nice HC adv. in 1999, not so much in 2005.

Sadly, under the pod system it's almost certain that UNC will be there in 2008, so we're better off going elsewhere.

To clarify, the first and second round games are in Raleigh, the Eastern Regional is in Charlotte. Not likely that both Duke and the Evil Ones will be there together. It certainly is a possibility in Raleigh, which would likely be divided a little more evenly than Charlotte was a couple of years ago. (But still more ignorant fans than Duke fans.)

[Matches]

Thanks for the clarification. I've got no interest in sharing a court in Raleigh with the Heels either, though. Ship us off to Atlanta or Florida or something for the first two rounds.