The Aussie Robertson Scholar: Losing my Cameron Virginity

I finally lost my Cameron virginity

Ok, I have a confession, no wait two confessions.

1) Until the National Championship game last Monday night, I had never been inside Cameron Indoor Stadium…and I’m a sophomore.

PSA: For those who don’t know (aka non Blue Devils) Cameron is Duke’s stadium used primarily for basketball and also volleyball games. It’s a typical bleacher style affair and looks pretty much like any other except for the National Championship and former star players’ banners hanging from the ceiling.

2) I also didn’t know you could have or lose your “Cameron virginity” but apparently it’s a thing and I definitely lost it. Though my friend Christina called me “the world’s worst Duke fan” for having not been before, I would like to defend my previous lack of experience with Cameron. I’ve never been into sport, none of my close friends were down to line up for hours or even sleep in snow-covered tents for a game and I never really bought into the hype.

Until last Monday.

After realizing that watching the game in my common room was a terrible idea I decided to go watch it on T.V in Cameron with friends from my sorority. You may remember, however, that I live at UNC this semester, Duke’s rival school. So it was glad in full Duke gear, devil hat and all, that I left my dorm at UNC to watch the game. I was spotted. I was booed. Let’s move on.

Arriving at Cameron where my best friend Shelby had saved me a spot in line, I got instantly pumped. I was surrounded by a wave of blue clad students, dancing and chanting whilst many of them swigged the usual cheap alcohol. We didn’t have to wait long before we were let into Cameron. The team coordinating entry was trying very hard to maintain control but quite honestly a few Cameron Crazies were ready to charge.

We got our spots on the lower level, showed off our best Blue Devil spirit for the cameras and prepped ourselves for what was going to be A Very Important Game. Duke had not won a National Championship since 2010 and everyone was dying for us to steal this year’s.

The game began and quite honestly I got sucked into what is very clearly a cult. A super exciting, energizing, consuming cult. I shouted “De-fense”, held my arms out in front of me for good luck on free throws, booed the ref and screamed and clapped with the rest of the stadium. And you know what? It was so much fun!!

At some point I said to Shelby, “I would rather we lose and have an exciting, close game than it be a steal.” At halftime with a score of 31-31 I was beginning to deeply regret those words. I mean what? I would rather an interesting game than have us win by a mile??? Don’t worry I’ve learned my lesson.

As the game continued Wisconsin started pulling ahead to a 9-point lead and I was getting very, very nervous. I looked at the packed stadium around me and imagined all these defeated, blue-painted people sadly filing out of the stadium…not a spirited picture.

Then Duke really kicked into gear. Freshman, Grayson Allen who was in my 12-person class last semester (I'm cool by association) seemed to score over and over again. As the time ran quickly out we were pulling ahead and a win was so tangible it was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. The score had danced back and forth so much that it was only then, in the final 3 minutes that I think the stadium truly collectively thought “I Believe That We Will Win”.

You could sense it all around you. People were screaming, jumping up and down, looking at each other and saying “oh my God”, “Oh my God”. With those three minutes left people started preemptively storming the bleachers gathering just below the T.V on the court. I think everyone’s heart was beating as fast as mine. Things can change in seconds in basketball and that’s what we were down to. No way could we let a win, so close we could taste it, slip through our fingers.

With Duke in the lead, the entire stadium shouted out the countdown to the buzzer… “3-2-1”. Then everyone completely lost it. We all stormed onto the court, hugged strangers, sent snaps, jumped up and down and snatched at the News and Observer’s front pages floating down with our victory spelt out.

That’s the thing, it really felt like our victory. No matter that I’ve barely touched a basketball in my life, no matter that everyone in Cameron was miles from the live event and no matter that we didn’t spend years training for this game. As we burnt benches in traditional-celebration style with helicopters overhead and reporter’s on the ground, as we made the Shooter’s club owners obscenely wealthy in our celebration, as we abandoned homework and sleep – we felt like collective champions.

Duke has many issues that can divide and challenge us, one of which I shall discuss in another post. This game cannot and should not negate that.

However, that evening connected us as a community of Blue Devils. Yes it is somewhat superficial, yes it is just a game and yes there are more important things in the world… but bleeding Duke blue and bearing witness to a great moment in Duke’s basketball history thrilled me, connected me to a campus I’m not even living on this semester and gave me hope that if we can unite with such fervor over an orange ball and a number on a screen… maybe we can mobilize that sense of community for greater things.

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I have two confessions:

1) I risked my life going to class at UNC the next day wearing Duke gear #sorrynotsorry I missed the first bus back...no time to change