Opposing players and the Crazies

[Lord Ash]

Tonight, after being waved at for a solid four minutes, Johnson from UAB went over to take a seat... and as he started to sit, the Crazies started to cheer "SEE YA!" and? He didn't sit, and a little sneaky smile came over his face. The Crazies laughed, and eventually got him, and gave him a nice round of applause to boot... makes everyone smile, and while the player fouled out he DOES get a nice last laugh.

I always LOVE it when an opposing player has a good time with the Crazies, and the Crazies have always loved it too. General Grievis loved being at Cameron... and who was it who took that dollar in the shooting contest?

Anyone have any good stories of the Crazies and opposing players who have played along?

[OldPhiKap]

Tonight, after being waved at for a solid four minutes, Johnson from UAB went over to take a seat... and as he started to sit, the Crazies started to cheer "SEE YA!" and? He didn't sit, and a little sneaky smile came over his face. The Crazies laughed, and eventually got him, and gave him a nice round of applause to boot... makes everyone smile, and while the player fouled out he DOES get a nice last laugh.

I always LOVE it when an opposing player has a good time with the Crazies, and the Crazies have always loved it too. General Grievis loved being at Cameron... and who was it who took that dollar in the shooting contest?

Anyone have any good stories of the Crazies and opposing players who have played along?

I'll give you a good coach one. When we played NC State sometime in the mid-80's, Jim Valvano was on the sideline giving the refs an earful. The crowd shouted "sit" "sit" "sit" -- so he sat on the floor at the corner of the coach's box, criss-cross-applesauce, still giving the ref an earful.

I want to say I saw him do a lay-up with his team in warm-ups one of those games, too, but I may not be remembering it correctly. I'll blame the distance of time for that.

[gam7]

This was before my time, but didn't Dennis Scott eat a twinkie that a Crazie threw at him?

[moonpie23]

This was before my time, but didn't Dennis Scott eat a twinkie that a Crazie threw at him?

props on the sig line....

[Lord Ash]

This was before my time, but didn't Dennis Scott eat a twinkie that a Crazie threw at him?

I think it was Scott, but I didn't remember so didn't post it... someone I am sure will have the story... I hope?

[OldPhiKap]

I think it was Scott, but I didn't remember so didn't post it... someone I am sure will have the story... I hope?

Dennis was, um, a bit soft around the middle.

[cspan37421]

This was before my time, but didn't Dennis Scott eat a twinkie that a Crazie threw at him?

That sounds like an urban legend. Dennis Scott was sometimes the butt of food jokes among the Crazies for his Barkley-esque physique (esp. as he progressed through his years in a GT uniform). I'm not saying it didn't happen, it just seems to fit the caricature a bit too well.

[OldPhiKap]

I remember when we played LSU Shaq's freshman year ('90, maybe?) he went up for a slam but was a bit far from the basket. So, instead, he did a really nifty draw-down-and-under while in the air and it went in perfectly.

The crowd started chanting "Shaq can't slam! Shaq can't slam!"

The look on his face -- one of those "you kids must be kidding me" smiles -- was priceless. He definitely enjoyed the joke.

[OldPhiKap]

That sounds like an urban legend. Dennis Scott was sometimes the butt of food jokes among the Crazies for his Barkley-esque physique (esp. as he progressed through his years in a GT uniform). I'm not saying it didn't happen, it just seems to fit the caricature a bit too well.

IIRC, the Twinkie was left on the edge of the scorer's table by a student. Going second or third hand, though -- not there.

[davekay1971]

IIRC, the Twinkie was left on the edge of the scorer's table by a student. Going second or third hand, though -- not there.

I was there. Dennis had trimmed down remarkably in the off season and we had brought the twinkies to throw. Dennis did, indeed, pick up a twinkie (one which was still in the wrapper) and ate it. He also accepted a challenge from the crazies to shoot it from near halfcourt in warmups. My memory says he drained it, but I'm not sure about that detail. But, heck, he drained everything else he put up that night, so why not?

[Faustus]

There is a famous story from back in the early 70s when Maryland had a kid named Brian Magid who was no great player but did have legendary range, and during warm-ups a Duke student hopped out onto the court and laid a dollar bill on the floor about 35 ft. from the basket as a challenge. Magid dribbled over to the spot, nailed the shot, smiled to the crowd, picked up the bill and slipped it into his shorts to wild applause. I suspect someone on the forum can confirm/correct this Tale From the Past. (I graduated in '75 but somehow don't recall actually witnessing it myself.)

[sagegrouse]

There is a famous story from back in the early 70s when Maryland had a kid named Brian Magid who was no great player but did have legendary range, and during warm-ups a Duke student hopped out onto the court and laid a dollar bill on the floor about 35 ft. from the basket as a challenge. Magid dribbled over to the spot, nailed the shot, smiled to the crowd, picked up the bill and slipped it into his shorts to wild applause. I suspect someone on the forum can confirm/correct this Tale From the Past. (I graduated in '75 but somehow don't recall actually witnessing it myself.)

Magid played two years at Maryland, 1976 and 1977, before transferring to George Washington for his last two years.

Here's a link to the Magid story by Al Featherstone.

sagegrouse

[4decadedukie]

There is a famous story from back in the early 70s when Maryland had a kid named Brian Magid who was no great player but did have legendary range, and during warm-ups a Duke student hopped out onto the court and laid a dollar bill on the floor about 35 ft. from the basket as a challenge. Magid dribbled over to the spot, nailed the shot, smiled to the crowd, picked up the bill and slipped it into his shorts to wild applause. I suspect someone on the forum can confirm/correct this Tale From the Past. (I graduated in '75 but somehow don't recall actually witnessing it myself.)

I have heard the same story countless time, I believe it is true (although I cannot substantiate it), and I really want be believe it is true. With this said, were this to happen today, I suspect Maryland would receive some sort of NCAA violation for a player accepting unsanctioned monetary benefits.

[Verga3]

I remember a lot more moments where our opponents did NOT play along...they are legion.

I do, however, remember in the early 80's when Duke grad and Maryland Coach, Lefty Driesell was in Cameron. Everybody remembers those skull caps behind the MD bench. Really funny, and Lefty was always a good sport about it. Does anyone else remember the game (2nd half) where Lefty called a timeout and reached back quickly at a heckling Cameron Crazy to rubbed his skull-capped head for luck? I also think once during pregame warmups he even borrowed a skull cap to try on...What a character.

[gam7]

During the late '90s I recall a "you can't dunk" chant during a Wake Forest pre-game layup line, leading to a Wake player dunking and shattering the backboard. Player and crowd got good laughs out of it.

Also, I remember Jeff McGinnis having a lot of back and forths with the Crazies. In particular, I remember him pointing and laughing at my favorite sign in Cameron history. McGinnis was rumored to have slept with Phil Ford's wife and the sign said, "McGinnis, have you driven a Ford lately?"

[mbd1mbd1]

During the late '90s I recall a "you can't dunk" chant during a Wake Forest pre-game layup line, leading to a Wake player dunking and shattering the backboard. Player and crowd got good laughs out of it.

Football player and basketball walkon Ed Kargboogarogie (something like that).

[grit74]

"You shot the sheriff."

broke him up.

[dukestheheat]

So, when I was at Duke, we used to throw tennis balls over the court while the players were warming up before the game. At any one time, there'd be three cans of balls popping over the court, and usually, each was confiscated by the Cameron Police. Funny thing is they never came out and said we couldn't throw them, so throw we did.

I did have a not-so-great interaction with Clemson's Horace Grant and the tennis ball that landed with me, so I'll leave it at that.

Tech had a guy who didn't seem like he could dunk (at all), at least in the warm-ups. Remember, back then we'd get into Cameron 1.5 hours before the tip so we a lot of time to mess with the poor victims. Well, we got on this guy with the 'you can't dunk' cheer, and I remember Dennis Scott leaning over to him whispering to him, and the guy goes over, grabs a basketball and proceeds to dunk two-handed with a twist and his back to the goal as he slammed it through.

I truly detested King Rice. They beat us by 20 my last year at Duke, and I'd been in line for two years it seemed, waiting to get into that game. After the game, we were all pretty stunned and as I was leaving the court, here comes the King out of the dressing room to do an interview for ESPN. He runs right by me (six inches) and gets in my face and yells 'HAAAAAAAAAAA!'.

Anyway, some of the best times in my life were spent right there in Cameron and I wish for those days to somehow channel back for me. Back then, I didn't really have to pay any bills. Now, a bill seems to come in the mail every two days.

And, JR Reid was known for moving people out of the way in the lane with his backside. Well, they'd put a brand new sound system in Cameron, and we put up that old rap song 'Doin' the butt', and the Blue Devil comes out with at least 5 pillows stuffed into his backside and a Reid jersey on and that song is blaring over the new sound system while the Holes are warming up; we would insert 'JR's gotta big ole butt! Oh yeah!!' into the lines of the song. Reid saw this and seemed pretty inflamed by this little skit. Reid also was involved in some altercation at Shooter's Disco over in Raleigh, so we merely got a good chant going about that, singing 'let's go to Shooter's' (clapx5). This really, really honked him off.

dukestheheat.

[jimsumner]

The Magid story is definitely true. Saw it myself.

One time Lefty showed up on crutches. One of the Crazies sat right behind him with cructhes. Lefty loved it.

Mrs. Norman Sloan used to sing the national anthem at State games. When State played at Duke, students would dress in drag and ostentatiously sing along with the NA.

Sloan was not amused. Actually, not much amused Norm Sloan. A starker personality contrast than that between Sloan and Valvano can scarcely be imagined.

My favorite occurred in the middle 1980s, when Carolina came to Cameron. Steve Hale was out with a punctured lung. The students chanted in-hale, ex-hale, in-hale,ex-hale at Hale. He loved it. Kudos to all concerned.

[Faustus]

The Magid story is definitely true. Saw it myself.

One time Lefty showed up on crutches. One of the Crazies sat right behind him with cructhes. Lefty loved it.

Mrs. Norman Sloan used to sing the national anthem at State games. When State played at Duke, students would dress in drag and ostentatiously sing along with the NA.

Sloan was not amused. Actually, not much amused Norm Sloan. A starker personality contrast than that between Sloan and Valvano can scarcely be imagined.

My favorite occurred in the middle 1980s, when Carolina came to Cameron. Steve Hale was out with a punctured lung. The students chanted in-hale, ex-hale, in-hale,ex-hale at Hale. He loved it. Kudos to all concerned.

Thank you Jim, and others above. If it was '76 or '77 that would explain why I didn't get to see it. I was, however, present at what must have been the year or two before that when Maryland did lose, and Len Elmore last night again referred to only losing in Cameron once in his career. What he failed to add, of course, is that Maryland was heavily favored in all of those games... Let's take them down yet again this Sunday for old time's sake.