One of my dreams came true last night. After a dozen years of watching Duke basketball on TV, I finally got to see them play live. The game wasn’t in Cameron, but you can’t have everything, including a winning team.
The Duke – Virginia game was the last in a set Dave and I had tickets for. In the course of this season, I have moved from politely rooting for the home team to a becoming a fan. The games have been everything a college basketball fan could want, full of excitement, incredible shots and questionable calls on the part of the officials. From our seats way up in the nose-bleed section, we’ve had an excellent vantage point of the John Paul Jones Arena. At earlier games, I was surprised by all the empty seats in the stands and the relatively small student attendance given the size of UVA. In comparison, students cram onto the bleachers in Cameron, unable to sit because there simply isn’t enough room. Last night the JPJ was packed!
From my lofty perch I could see a sea of orange with the random dots of blue scattered about. In the moments before the tip-off, the band, cheerleaders and dance team led the home team fans in cheers lifting both the level of excitement as well as volume. The UVA fans were out for blood; blue blood!
Once the play began, the noise was deafening. The fellow beside me decided he would cheer extra loud when I discovered I was rooting for Duke and clapped in my left ear most of the game. I, in turn, retaliated with a hearty cheer when Duke scored, although that didn’t happen as often as I would have liked.
As the game wore on and my Blue Devils struggled to take the lead (which sadly they never did), I saw many Duke fans retreat quietly to the exit. Faithful to the bitter end, I cheered my team on despite their failure to score and the dirty looks I received from the UVA fans around me when I clapped in approval for a Duke basket.
When the game finally ended, the UVA fans rushed the court, celebrating their victory over the giant. Dave and I left in silence. Sure, we were disappointed to see our team lose, but more than that, we’d learned just hard it is for any team to take the court as visitors to any home court. Granted, all arenas are loud and the cheers are the same with the home team’s name “inserted here”. At this level teams are accustomed to playing with the noise, but just from sitting in the seats in the nose bleed section, I could feel the difference between cheering for a team vice jeering against them. I was both stalwart and intimidated, proud and humbled.
So, I guess my dream coming true wasn’t what I had expected it to be. It would have been nicer if my team had won. It was after all, just one game and not their last. There will always be another game and Duke will probably always be my team because I have followed them so closely for so many years but next year, I’m sure I’ll be back in the nose bleed section of the John Paul Jones Arena, cheering for UVA, unless of course my Devils come back to town.
Footnote: Duke has won 17 of the last 19 games played against UVA….. I’m just saying.