Hostylefax: The Triangle

If they actually knew how to read, many Penn graduates might be pleased to read that Duke modeled Cameron Indoor Stadium on The Palestra. The buildings are similar from the outside in that they are built to match the campus around them. And there are similarities on the inside in terms of shape and upper deck design. An empty Cameron doesn't look like much to honest, all wood paneling and old-English "D's" But when it's full, well... sometimes my job legitimately wows me. The Cameron Crazies are legendary. But to hear them up close, the pride they take in it, the organization that goes into it, and the sheer number of taunts they have, it's pretty incredible. On TV it looks only like screaming.

Here are some chants I heard during my two days there that I hadn't actually heard anywhere else:
"I'm blind, I'm deaf, I want to be a ref," on a bad call
"Three fouls, no points," repeatedly when a guy picked up his third foul after failing to score.
"You, you, you," done with pointing when an opposing player commits a foul.

But there was also some creativity to it as well. I was there for a four-team tournament that included Columbia. During the first game, a guy in a Columbia shirt was eating pizza and the fans started chanting "Guy with Pizza," and pointing at him. The Columbia fan ignored it, even after being informed of what was happening. When you went to Columbia, I explained to another reporter, you're well conditioned to ignore any yelling directed at you that might be coming from a gym. Any way, two timeouts later, two Duke fans showed up and handed him another box of pizza, to the delight of the gathered students.

Columbia's basketball team also has a chance to be pretty decent this year. The Lions have some pretty reliable guards, decent size on the inside and the ability to fill it up from outside. It might be worth your time.

I don't have much to say about the Triangle in general, other than it's a pretty cool name for a region. People who actually did some touring liked Chapel Hill, but I didn't go. And anything I saw that said Raleigh on it was attached to an ad for Hooters or similar. And Durham's downtown was largely unimpressive. It's mostly tobacco buildings and banks. I did find a decent seafood restaurant for lunch, recommened by Fritz. But if you get a chance, it's totally worth checking out a ball game. And if you're doing it this year, contact me and I'll see if I still have my parking pass, which is good for the entire season.