At a certain point during Duke’s rise to iconic status during the Mike Krzyzewski era, the university began to consider a new arena. They even had a location picked out: up the hill on what is now Coach K Highway, near the 15/501-147 ramp, if memory serves.
They had to consider it, but in the end, no one had the heart to walk away from Cameron Indoor Stadium. Now 86 years old, or seven years older than Coach K, Cameron has developed the sort of aura and atmosphere that money just can’t buy.
Advertisement
This is why we thought that UNC and NC State made terrible mistakes when they built such big arenas. For all their flaws, Carmichael Auditorium and Reynolds Coliseum had similar mystiques. Nothing was more depressing than going to a State game during the Herb Sendek era and watching the Wolfpack play somebody like UMBC or Alcorn State with 3,000 listless, yawning people present. It was just awful.
So Duke made the right decision, and the legend that is Cameron just keeps growing. It may be apocryphal, but there’s a story that when Shane Battier arrived for his recruiting visit, the first thing that he did was to rush to Cameron and peek through the door windows. It’s hard to understand what it means to people from a distance, but clearly, it means a lot.
In this video, Duke Basketball celebrates the Cameron Crazies, but mostly, it’s in reaction to great plays.
Obviously, without great players, you’d get the Sendek-era atmosphere in Durham. Fortunately, the players and the fans feed off each other in Cameron, and have for nearly 90 years. May it continue forever.
Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line
