Which Games Would You Choose?

[Rich]

I might have an opportunity to see a Duke game in Cameron this year for the first time since graduating 20 years ago and am bringing a buddy of mine who's never been to Cameron. Tickets to one of the following games are available to me so I need to rank them in order of preference. The two most important factors are: (a) the likelihood of a good game (rather than a blowout) and (b) a raucous crowd. How would you rate these games (which are listed in schedule order)?

1. Virginia Tech
2. Georgetown
3. NC State
4. Maryland
5. Virginia
6. Miami
7. Wake Forest
8. Florida State

[BlueintheFace]

Check to see which ones are night games and on weekends with regards to raucous crowds (though any game will of course have a raucous crowd). That being said...

1) Wake Forest- Should be really close...
2) Miami- Should be close
3) Maryland- Always great for the crazies... so much material
4) Georgetown- Should be super loud, but not sure how good they will actually be
5) Virginia Tech- Crazies hate them but they are bad this year

[bigj4194]

my $0.02...
1) VT is 4 days before classes start...it should be fun to heckle them and I know that I will be here, but I am not sure if we will be at the top of our game as some of the crazies wont be here yet...that said...i will be doing my part in harassing them
2) Georgetown should be a great game from a crazie perspective as in previous years it has been almost to capacity in the student section, plus a lot of students have friends that go to georgetown who still give them hell about beating us 3 years ago (I know that I do)
3) As Blueintheface said Maryland is always going to be great and my goal this year is to make Vasquez cry...we almost had him last year MD is also very early in the semester so people should not have that much work yet.
4) NC State - this is also a good one as there is a lot of material and it is still early again so there should be a lot of people there. Last year one of the NC State players threatened to "bash the face in" of one of the Line Monitors during pregame warm-ups...it will be a good year to heckle NC State again this year.
5) Virginia, may be good, may not be that great though as Singletary has graduated
6) Miami - this will be a good game and a close one i think. students will show up to this as we did lose to them last year.
7) Wake is also like Miami...going to be a great game and students will show up.
8) FSU is the senior game for the students so the section may be a slightly different feel yet it will still be full.

Hope this helps your decision making thoughts

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I'd pick Maryland hands down. There is nothing better than watching Gary sweat through his suit in the first half. It's always intense - probably the best rivalry of the games available to you. It's so much fun watching their fans piss and moan and then sit dejectedly through the final minutes of the game as they get their rear ends handed to them.

[MulletMan]

From a competetion standpoint, I would say:

1. G'town
2. Wake
3. Miami

From a heckle/Crazies are fun to watch standpoint I would say:
1. Maryland

Oh wait... that's pretty much the only one you need to be at if you're purely interested in Crazies v. Players v. opposing coach.

Sweat Gary, sweat! Sweat Gary, sweat!

Games before classes start (like VT) are notoriously empty.

Enjoy your trip, and let some of us know if you need advice on parking, pre-game activity, etc.

[MulletMan]

my $0.02...
5) Virginia, may be good, may not be that great though as Singletary has graduated
6) Miami - this will be a good game and a close one i think. students will show up to this as we did lose to them last year.
7) Wake is also like Miami...going to be a great game and students will show up.
8) FSU is the senior game for the students so the section may be a slightly different feel yet it will still be full.

Hope this helps your decision making thoughts

You are the HLM, but I must respectfully disagree with this part of your post. There is no way that if you had one game to attend you should take UVa over Wake or Miami this year. UVa is going to be HORRENDOUS. I mean, just awful. Wake will be a great game... especially because I think its the only time we see them this season, and, after having been in LJC for the game last year, I think they will be giving us fits... they're a good team.

[bigj4194]

You are the HLM, but I must respectfully disagree with this part of your post. There is no way that if you had one game to attend you should take UVa over Wake or Miami this year. UVa is going to be HORRENDOUS. I mean, just awful. Wake will be a great game... especially because I think its the only time we see them this season, and, after having been in LJC for the game last year, I think they will be giving us fits... they're a good team.

MulletMan...I completely agree with you and my post comments about UVa was more about the Student Section than the competition standpoint. Singletary was a great motivation for heckling the team, so my comment about "may be good, may not be" was in reference to heckling. I was kinda all over the place in my post, but MulletMan is correct...Miami and Wake are going to be the best in competition and both better than UVa in student section enthusiasm.

Thanks for noting my flaw MulletMan...you are right.

[Rich]

I'd pick Maryland hands down.

Having lived in DC for 6 years I would love be there in person to root against Maryland and I know the crowd will be great. My only concern is that Maryland is expected to have a down year this year (right???) and I'd hate to waste my one game at a blowout. Don't mean to woof or throw a jinx out there, I'm just asking. Can I expect the Terps to be a decent game?

[Edouble]

To me, the clear answer is Wake. They (the team) are so high on themselves, they are really going to want to knock us off. Do you remember Chris Paul's frosh year at Cameron? Wake came in knowing they were going to win, and we took care of business. Chris Paul was almost crying. From interviews and articles I've read, I'm getting that their super-frosh have a lot of that same attitude. At that point in the season, they're going to have won some games, a lot of people will be saying how great they are, they will be Digger Phelps "dark horse" team, and they will be thinking that they can woof their way into Cameron and come out with a win. You can be sure that our fans and players are going to be sweating blood to protect our home turf.

I'd say the Wake game will be the most competative and the best showcase for our fans. Plus, if it's a blow-out, it's more fun to blow out a cocky team like Wake than a crappy team like UVA.

[Ignatius07]

Having lived in DC for 6 years I would love be there in person to root against Maryland and I know the crowd will be great. My only concern is that Maryland is expected to have a down year this year (right???) and I'd hate to waste my one game at a blowout. Don't mean to woof or throw a jinx out there, I'm just asking. Can I expect the Terps to be a decent game?

I think you have to take Wake hands down - I think we'll probably split with them this year, and both games at this point would seem to be competitive contests.

If for some reason you want to take more into account than just competitiveness, I would say Maryland and then maybe Georgetown. I'm from the DC metropolitan area as well, and I always enjoyed the Maryland games just because I hated them so much. I would probably not pick Georgetown actually, since they will be better next year (ie it will be a more competitive game next year), and it will be relatively easy to get tickets for the 09-10 game at the Verizon Center in DC.

[wilson]

To me, the clear answer is Wake. They (the team) are so high on themselves, they are really going to want to knock us off. Do you remember Chris Paul's frosh year at Cameron? Wake came in knowing they were going to win, and we took care of business. Chris Paul was almost crying. From interviews and articles I've read, I'm getting that their super-frosh have a lot of that same attitude. At that point in the season, they're going to have won some games, a lot of people will be saying how great they are, they will be Digger Phelps "dark horse" team, and they will be thinking that they can woof their way into Cameron and come out with a win. You can be sure that our fans and players are going to be sweating blood to protect our home turf.

I'd say the Wake game will be the most competative and the best showcase for our fans. Plus, if it's a blow-out, it's more fun to blow out a cocky team like Wake than a crappy team like UVA.

I'd vote for Wake as well, for exactly these reasons.
I'd go for the twerps second, even though they're not our rivals.
After that, I'd just close my eyes and pick one...there's no such thing as a bad game in Cameron.

[MulletMan]

Thanks for noting my flaw MulletMan...you are right.

Don't worry... once I actually start posting again during the season you will quickly learn that I have more flaws than many.

I find it nearly impossible to have a conversation on the interweb. I'm like the total opposite of Jumbo.

[PumpkinFunk]

I'd take Wake or Miami, hands-down.

If you want to see us play Georgetown, go see in the Verizon Center next year.

Maryland is a fun game as a student, but they're gonna be utter pottymouth!pottymouth!pottymouth!pottymouth! this year, so the game itself will be worse.

VTech you'd be able to get bleacher (student section) seats, I believe, and they won't be bad, but the game environment won't be the same due to the lack of a student section.

Other than those 5, the rest on your list aren't worth it.

[taiw93]

If it were my choice, I'd go for Wake or Maryland, just b/c of the fact that they are more traditional rivalries. Wake should be the better team this year, but Maryland is usually the most hyped-up game of the season for the crazies (save for UNC). However, the Georgetown game will be a good one and will be easy travel-wise, 'cause you won't have to take off from work since it's a weekend game - and a holiday weekend (MLK) at that. Your choice should w/o a doubt come down to those three games, plus the Miami game - any of those four would be a good choice. That's my 2 cents.

[Wander]

Here is a list of those teams in the order of how good they will be next year:

1 Wake Forest
2 Virginia Tech
3 Georgetown
4 Miami
5 Florida State
6 Maryland
7 NC State
8 Virginia

The top four are NCAA tournament teams, so I think any of those would be worth it. Unless you're a gambler, and you want to take the risk that you may get to see Vasquez cry, I'd pick Wake.

[Bluedog]

my $0.02...
5) Virginia, may be good, may not be that great though as Singletary has graduated
6) Miami - this will be a good game and a close one i think. students will show up to this as we did lose to them last year.
7) Wake is also like Miami...going to be a great game and students will show up.
8) FSU is the senior game for the students so the section may be a slightly different feel yet it will still be full.

Hope this helps your decision making thoughts

You are the HLM, but I must respectfully disagree with this part of your post. There is no way that if you had one game to attend you should take UVa over Wake or Miami this year. UVa is going to be HORRENDOUS. I mean, just awful. Wake will be a great game... especially because I think its the only time we see them this season, and, after having been in LJC for the game last year, I think they will be giving us fits... they're a good team.

Where did bigj4194 say he'd choose UVa over Wake or Miami? His descriptions make it clear that Miami ("this will be a good game") and Wake ("going to be a great game") are superior to Uva ("may be good, may not be great though"). I think you thought he was listing them in order of preference...he just listed them in order the OP posted them (although NC St and MD are switched). Obviously, he wasn't suggesting that the best game was Va Tech which is listed first!

My opinion: Wake.

[Got_Duke]

Definitely GEORGETOWN

[BlueintheFace]

actually, the more I think about it, the more I say Georgetown. I remember the Mich St. game a few years back. Besides the Carolina games, it was the best crowd in Cameron in my four years. There just aren't that many huge games in the fall so the crazies put it all out there for the one big one when it comes along.

Also, The rising senior class of crazies has been pretty committed and loud the last three years and will have the freshmen ready to go (and hopefully the pitiful rising sophomores too... maybe they will get a little louder this year).

[MulletMan]

Where did bigj4194 say he'd choose UVa over Wake or Miami? His descriptions make it clear that Miami ("this will be a good game") and Wake ("going to be a great game") are superior to Uva ("may be good, may not be great though"). I think you thought he was listing them in order of preference...he just listed them in order the OP posted them (although NC St and MD are switched). Obviously, he wasn't suggesting that the best game was Va Tech which is listed first!

My opinion: Wake.

Ooooooohhh... Rain-BOWS!

Now I see.

[Edouble]

actually, the more I think about it, the more I say Georgetown. I remember the Mich St. game a few years back. Besides the Carolina games, it was the best crowd in Cameron in my four years. There just aren't that many huge games in the fall so the crazies put it all out there for the one big one when it comes along.

Also, The rising senior class of crazies has been pretty committed and loud the last three years and will have the freshmen ready to go (and hopefully the pitiful rising sophomores too... maybe they will get a little louder this year).

To make a fair comparison, Michigan State was a Final Four team that year, plus it was part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge which always raises the stakes a bit, as we are undefeated in said Challenge. I would compare this year's Georgetown game more to the DePaul game in 1999. A big game, yes, but Georgetown just took some hits in the past two offseasons, personel-wise, and I don't see them being much of a challenge for us on our floor.

Of course, it took a Horvath bank three pointer for us to beat DePaul. But I think that the overall significance of the game mirrors DePaul more than Michigan St.