Fire up Cameron by turning down the heat

Is it just me, or were the fans and crowds a little blasé at Sunday's game against Cornell? Here Duke was having a tough time against a team we should have handily beat, and the sixth man is itself struggling to sustain a good motivating cheer for any more than 15 seconds.

What's the problem here?

Perhaps it's that walking into Cameron these days has become more like walking into a rest home. At first it's nice and warm and cozy, but midway through the first half, it's so hot, simply doing the "Whoa, whoa" cheer as I bounce from side to side makes me dizzy.

And I'm not the only one. Just to make sure, I took a mental tally at the beginning of the second half. In a 10 second left-to-right glance around the student sections, I caught 6 people yawning. Yawning-at a basketball game?!

Several people around me also stopped moving around during the second half, complaining that they were getting lightheaded or dizzy due to the heat.

Coach K mentioned something about turning up the heat in Cameron during the GPSC campout this year, but of course I didn't think he was serious. Apparently he was, as it clearly is warmer in there than in previous years.

This is a bad move. Aside from it being a cheap gimmick to gain an advantage during home games, it stifles the energy levels of the Cameron Crazies. If the temperature in Cameron were actually comfortable, people would be more willing to jump around, shout and be cheery. But with it already so hot, the last thing people want to do is get hotter.

I urge Coach K and Facilities Management to consider turning down the heat in Cameron during home games. Doing so makes it more conducive to a rowdy student section.