Duke basketball is famous for many things, but perhaps what elevates the program from the rest of the country's college teams is its fans, the Cameron Crazies. Over the last several decades, the Crazies have become a force in their own right, converting the lawn in front of Wilson Recreation Center into their own tent city--christened Krzyzewskiville after their beloved head coach, transforming Cameron Indoor Stadium into a fearsome place for opponents to play, and endearing the media with their dedication and creativity.
This year, however, there has been grumbling coming from the tents of Cameron when the subject of the Crazies comes up.
"The Crazies this year have not been as good as they have in years past," said senior Jason Levine, who is tenting. "I would say there has been a steady decline over the last three years."
That cankerous sentiment has been emitting from the locker rooms of Cameron as well.
"Because of the exposure we get as a school and as a community people sometimes say that things get old and stale," senior center Casey Sanders said. "[The Cameron Crazies] have class [to attend]. Duke is not getting any easier. Taunting at times has been a hit-or-miss situation."
Sanders' and Levine's claims might be legitimate. Although they have a reputation of being the basketball team's most loyal fans, the Crazies have left many empty seats in the student section this season. The student section, which has a 1,250-1,300 person capacity, filled to a maximum for three ACC games prior to the Maryland game; but only 500 hundred or so students watched the Butler game two weeks ago and approximately 800 students came to the conference contest against Clemson last week, according to Head Line Monitor Jeremy Morgan.
Against North Carolina there were still student section seats available at tipoff.
In addition to the low attendance numbers, there have been less students tenting this year than in previous ones. While a little more than 100 tents were registered for the North Carolina game, that number has dropped to approximately 65 for the Maryland game.
The Crazies have also been criticized for their lack of creativity, a characteristic that initially made them famous.
"Apathy, that's the attitude of the Cameron Crazies this year," sophomore Tom Parisi said. "The cheers have been poor to quite poor, definitely not the originality we are known for.... It is more of a social event now. People come out, they get to be on TV, have a nice time. It has become something you tell your grandkids about."
There are many possible for reasons for the decline in student spirit this season. One is weather--some tenters attributed the drop in the number of tenters to the severe weather Durham has experienced this winter.
K-ville has been under attack from rain, snow, and freezing temperatures for most of the tenting period, and unlike last year-when there was a break in the tenting schedule between the North Carolina and Maryland games-this season's schedule dictated a back-to-back tenting games.
That lack of break has translated into more than a month of straight camping time for many tenters. That, too, has been responsible for scaring off prospective tenters.
Morgan, however, does not agree.
"Every year people complain [about the last year's Crazies being better] to the point of mythical proportions," Morgan said. "Next year people will complain. The Crazies have such a reputation that people expect every chant and cheer to be earth-shattering."
And despite all the criticism they have received this year, many still say the Cameron Crazies are still the most dedicated college basketball fans in the country.
"I am not sure if we can call us the craziest fans in the land, but people [at other colleges] still key on us," Welsh said. "The bottom line is that we are the only people to sleep outside for weeks at a time to get tickets to a basketball game. The state of the union in K-ville is strong."
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