Duke-Carolina on the brain; Southern in the heart

A writer’s career never reaches its summit until a memorable event pushes it over the top.
Some are soon forgotten.
Some are often refreshed by photograph.
And some are burned into memory and never forgotten.
Last week was one of those rare unforgettable cases. From the time The DIGEST conveniently arrived in Durham, N.C., as Duke prepared to play North Carolina inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, it had already been decided that members of our staff would make the two-and-a-half mile ride to the campus that is home to three NCAA national championship trophies.
If nothing else, we merely wanted to witness the spectacle that is the Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry and peruse through Krzyzewskiville, the makeshift tent city of Duke students who camp out for days before big home games. But, there was nothing normal about this basketball game.
That night a different college experience became clear. Everything was louder, bigger and brighter. Students had been camping out in front of Cameron since January anxiously waiting. There were people with their faces painted with the Blue Devil logo. People cheering and others waiting in line. Those same people drenched UNC fans in blue and white paint when they arrived.
Those same people showed a level of school pride almost foreign to Southern.
The stage was set.
At SU things are much different. There are so called rivalries such as the Bayou Classic and SU-Jackson State.
But those games fail to compare to Duke-Carolina basketball. These events draw media coverage from the likes of ESPN and tickets sell out in seconds.
Sure, SU is no Duke, but even at its biggest games on its grandest stage, tickets can be purchased hours before.
Keep in mind an SU fan has never thrown paint on another fan as part of a pregame ritual as well.
Therefore, SU has a lot of ground to cover in order to step up its rivalry game act.
Now, let’s get into the games atmosphere inside the arena.
Friday night, Duke’s women hosted Clemson and we were courtside. Walking into the gym felt the same as a high school facility. Glancing onto Coach K Court didn’t seem so illustrious. The second level seats made of wood and bottom level bleachers gave the cramped building a vibe that there was nothing special about Cameron.
But this couldn’t be true. Could it?
Inside of Cameron on the second floor is a basketball hall of fame including coach Mike Krzyzewski’s office, a list of Duke All-Americans and various pictures from years past. There are also the three championship trophies and Christian Laettner’s Converse he wore in the 1992 championship game.
There is also a shrine of Duke’s individual national champions and plenty banners hanging from the rafters.
Other than Cameron, the Gothic-inspired campus is most known for its chapel located at the center of campus. Besides being in a central location, the chapel stands out because it doesn’t exactly look like the other buildings on campus.
Anyone on campus for the first time could walk past Cameron without knowing because the Gothic architecture makes all the buildings look the same.
At SU, the architecture is quite different, but The DIGEST office is almost the same.
Upon entering the Harris Hall office, the room seems similar to any other office, laced with Mac computers and several printers. But once you’re fully inside, everything changes.
Like Cameron there are memories. There are awards from years past lining the walls and pictures as well. There is a white board with story ideas similar to Coach K’s white board used to draw up plays.
There is also a logo on the door reading The Southern Digest, strikingly similar to that of Coach K’s logo on the floor in Cameron.
As for me, Duke’s campus and all it has to offer will never be forgotten. Neither will SU nor The DIGEST. It’s all committed to memory.