I haven't asked around, but I'll bet I was the only Duke student who heard the phrase "All Aboard!" this weekend.
The words were shouted at me at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, as I stood on the platform of the Greensboro Amtrak station.
Two hours earlier, I had left the College Republicans State Convention in Winston-Salem, walked five blocks, and boarded a rusty van called the "Amtrak connector." The destination on my ticket read "DNC," short for Durham, North Carolina.
Those who only know me as a conservative columnist are probably wondering why I willingly left a just-commenced College Republicans function and boarded a train to Durham. Well the reason is simple: I was headed to the Duke-Georgia Tech football game.
I have worked for the football team as a manager the past three years and have in turn personally witnessed over half of Duke's record 30 consecutive ACC losses. So when I learned that the CR convention was the weekend of the Georgia Tech game, I didn't know what to do. Yes, I wanted to go, and yes, enough of the other managers were working at the game so that I didn't have to. But having been at the N.C. State and Tennessee games the last two weeks, I felt like Duke was poised for a win. And I realized that I would regret it forever if I missed the streak finally being broken.
Having neither a car nor the audacity to ask a friend to make the round trip, I began to search for methods of public transportation in my quest to get back to Duke before the game. I soon learned of a train called "The Carolinian" that travels across the state daily.
The train only makes each stop once per day, but after checking the times I learned that the connector leaves Winston-Salem at 8:15 a.m., just in time for the 9:29 Greensboro train which stops in Durham at 10:37--over two hours before kickoff. And the trip's cost was a mere $12. It was a sign. I belonged at Wallace Wade Stadium.
So there I was, all alone on my first ever train ride. I thought about the column I was working on, tentatively titled "Jimmy Carter: Bad President, Bad Person." I would preview the 39th President's Nov. 18 visit to Durham and explain how outrageous it is that a vicious and outspoken left-wing ideologue is portrayed by the media as a gentle and kind man who all should revere as an admirable humanitarian.
But once the Blue Devils took a 17 point lead in the 3rd quarter, I realized that the fight against liberalism could wait. After all, I had already defied the Party once by choosing the game over the convention.
So here goes. What I and everyone else at the stadium saw Saturday was amazing. It was a shellacking. A beat down. A good old-fashioned passionate whuppin'.
But it was about more than a win.
It was about Duke's veteran offensive line digging down deep and paving the way for senior Chris Douglas to turn in a 218 yard, Heismanesque performance against the best rushing defense in the ACC and move 10 yards away from Duke's all-time rushing record.
It was about a Ryan Fowler, Matt Zielinski and Terrell Smith-led defense that, on Senior Day, relentlessly blitzed the quarterback and smothered ball carriers until the gun sounded.
It was about quarterbacks Mike Schneider and Chris Dapolito playing mistake-free football while passing and rushing their way to first down after first down.
It was about quarterback Adam Smith and running back Alex Wade standing injured on the sideline for the win yet still cheering their teammates on.
And it was about the players and fans chanting "Raise the Roof," and "The Roof is on Fire," references to interim Head Coach Ted Roof, who showed himself to be crazy enough to randomly rotate quarterbacks and use defensive players on offense, yet smart enough to kick a field goal on a second quarter 4th and 1 in order to establish a crucial two-score lead.
It was about seeing hundreds of students starved for a conference win rush the field and rip down a goalpost.
It was about more than football. It was about Duke.
About an hour after the game, I finished carting the towels and cooler from the visitor's locker room (don't worry liberals, it's a work study so I'm not being exploited), left the Yoh Football Center and returned to my room. I had just received an e-mail:
"How about those BLUE DEVILs-- What an exciting game that must have been! We just decided that we need to be at the UNC game when the Duke Blue gets the bell back!!! Can you get us tickets?? Love U--Mom."
Coach Roof and the boys, not only have you made a conservative leave a College Republicans convention at 7:45 a.m. to board a train, you have driven two people to make an eight-hour trip from Munroe Falls, Ohio to Chapel Hill, N.C. because they are now convinced that you'll win a game you haven't won in 13 years.
Keep it up.
Nathan Carleton is a Trinity junior. His column appears every other Tuesday.
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